Update, June 25: Microsoft has released an update to the Windows 11 PC Health Check App with more detailed messaging on why a computer may not be able to update. The messages include lack of TPM, secure boot being turned off, too small a system disk or an unsupported processor.
We just made updates to the Windows 11 PC Health Check App. It now provides more detailed info on requirements not met. This should help in cases where folks assumed CPU compat issues were TPM related https://t.co/hTWMe16DWO pic.twitter.com/eZLTZMOdjTJune 25, 2021
Tom's Hardware staff writer Michelle Ehrhardt took her PC with an Intel Core i7-6700K, which isn't on the official list of supported processors, through the health check, and was told she'll have to stay on Windows 10.
Original story is below:
Microsoft reportedly plans to improve the upgrade tool used to check a system’s compatibility with Windows 11 ahead of the operating system’s official release. The tool has been widely panned for reporting that systems are incompatible with Windows 11, but not giving any indication as to why the system is incompatible.
”Sorry for the irritating experience!” Steve Dispensa, the VP of PM for Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Windows Commercial, tweeted in response to a complaint about the upgrade tool. “We're going to improve the PC Health Check app over the next couple of weeks. Hopeful that the first update will be out tomorrow.”
The initial update isn’t available at the time of writing. That means it can still be frustrating to figure out why a system won’t be able to run Windows 11. However, right now, the primary issue appears to be the operating system’s requirement of Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) 2.0, which many PCs don’t have by default.
This lack of clarity—and the difficulty associated with enabling TPM 2.0 in firmware or adding the hardware to a system—has resulted in some backlash to Windows 11. Sure, the operating system makes big changes to the Microsoft Store and gaming on Windows, but that hardly matters if people can’t prepare their PCs for the upgrade.
Dispensa hasn’t offered more information about how Microsoft plans to improve PC Health Check in response to these criticisms. But he did offer some consolation to folks who are trying to figure out if they’ll be able to update their company’s infrastructure to Windows 11 whenever they deem the operating system ready.
“Yep, we'll be releasing analytics for IT departments to assess their fleet for Windows 11 compatibility,” Dispensa tweeted. “Basic tools will be out in a few days, with full integration into MEM analytics this fall.”
We should know more about how Microsoft will make PC Health Check more useful (and how it will respond to the backlash regarding the TPM 2.0 requirement) soon. In the meantime, at least the company said during yesterday’s announcement that Windows 11 would be a free upgrade for all Windows users.