Upgrading to Windows 11 on Unsupported Hardware

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:

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:

1. Copy the Windows 11 installation ISO image files to your local drive;
2. Clear the contents of the appraiserres.dll file in the sources folder:Clear-Content C:\Win11_ISO\sources\appraiserres.dll -Force
3. Then run the setup.exe file 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

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.