In this article, we’ll look at how to update a computer running Windows 10 to Windows 11 23H2 on unsupported hardware (without a TPM chip and with older CPU models. The presence of a hardware TPM chip, Secure Boot, and a new CPU (released after 2017) are Microsoft’s minimum requirements for installing Windows 11. If your PC doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, it will be considered incompatible and will not be offered an upgrade to Windows 11 through Windows Update.
Microsoft announces it will not release build 23H2 for Windows 10. This means: Windows 10 will end support on 14 October 2025. After this date, security updates and patches will no longer be available for Windows 10 computers (except for LTSC editions). This means that 22H2 will be the final version of Windows 10.
If you try to manually update Windows 10 22H2 to Windows 11 on an old computer by using an ISO image with build 23H2, you get the following message:
- The process isn’t supported for this version of Windows
- The PC must support TPM 2.0
You can use the setup.exe program on the Windows installation ISO image to check that your computer’s hardware is compatible with Windows 11 (use the official Media Creation Tool to create a Windows 11 installation ISO image). Mount the ISO image, open the command prompt, and navigate to the virtual CD/DVD drive:
cd d:\
Run the command:
./setup.exe /auto upgrade /noreboot /DynamicUpdate disable /Compat ScanOnly
In this mode, Windows Installer performs a compatibility check without performing an update.
There is an official way to bypass the hardware requirement by using the AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU registry parameter (link). Run the following command to create this registry parameter
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup /f /v AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMorCPU /d 1 /t reg_dword
You can then upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 23H2 using setup.exe on the installation image while keeping your personal files and apps.
The AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU registry parameter allows the old CPU and the presence of a TPM 2.0 chip to be ignored, but a TPM 1.2 chip is still required. You will not be able to update in this way if the TPM is missing. The following PowerShell command checks for the presence of a TPM chip on the computer:
Get-TPM
If the TPM chip is missing (TpmPresent=False), upgrading to Windows 11 without checking hardware compatibility is possible.
Open a command prompt and run the Windows 11 update wizard in special mode:
./setup.exe /product server
Or:
D:\sourcs\setupprep.exe /product server
In this mode, the Windows 11 installer thinks it’s installing Windows Server Edition and doesn’t check the CPU and TPM chip.
After performing the update in this mode, the regular Pro edition of Windows 11 will be installed on the computer. Check your Windows 11 version and build number with this command
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion ' | select ProductName, DisplayVersion, CurrentBuild
Replacing the appraiserres.dll file on the installation image is another fun way to upgrade to Windows 11:
- Copy the Windows 11 installation ISO image files to your local drive;
- Clear the contents of the
appraiserres.dllfile in the sources folder:Clear-Content C:\Win11_ISO\sources\appraiserres.dll -Force - Then run the
setup.exefile and continue with the Windows 11 upgrade.
To silently upgrade your computer to Windows 11, you can use the setup.exe command-line options:
start /wait d:\setup.exe /Auto Upgrade /Quiet /DynamicUpdate disable /showoobe None /Telemetry Disable /compat IgnoreWarning /NoReboot
You should also disable the new Feature Update Protection option, which block the delivery of new versions of Windows:
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /f /v DisableWUfBSafeguards /d 1 /t reg_dword
Many older computers not formally compatible with Windows 11 are still in use in the enterprise. Presumably, as we get closer to the end of the support date for Windows 10, Microsoft will offer additional W11 upgrade options on unsupported hardware for enterprise customers.
9 comments
thank you very much for your help, i was stuck after installing a windows server 2019 it crushed my system.
i have tried reinstalling with no luck until it kept restart each time i boot with a usb until you help me thanks
Thanks for this guide, I’m wondering what could happens to the those unsupported computers which are upgraded to Windows 11… In my company we have many computers which are totally capable to work fine with W11 but are unsupported by Microsoft, so I’m considering the risk of an upgrade… 😉
creating a security risk doing this commercially.
The issue is that certain features require some special CPU instructions, but they aren’t enabled by default and not needed for a personal use case.
Will a W11 install as described above receive regular security updates ?
thanks
Microsoft has confirmed that devices running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware will continue to receive security patches and other updates through Windows Update, but these devices are not guaranteed to receive all feature updates in the same way as supported devices.
For what I understand, this isn’t acurate. Microsoft has not guaranteed that W11 PCs using unsupported hardware will receive any updates. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-on-devices-that-don-t-meet-minimum-system-requirements-0b2dc4a2-5933-4ad4-9c09-ef0a331518f1
At the moment, my test Win 11 VM, running on unsupported hardware (no TPM and no secure boot), gets all the security updates. Of course, there is no guarantee from MSFT that these devices will continue to receive updates in the future.
Thanks for the proof.👍
Thx so much for this