Can Your PC Run Windows 11? What Toronto Users Should Check First

If you read last week's post on Windows 10 end of support, you already know Extended Security Updates can keep an older PC protected until October 12, 2027, but only if you enrol. For most households, though, the better long-term move is to upgrade to Windows 11. The question we hear most often is simple: does my PC even qualify?

The two-minute check

You don't need to guess from your PC's age. Microsoft gives you two ways to check on the PC itself:

• PC Health Check. Download Microsoft's free PC Health Check app and click Check now. It tells you straight away whether your PC is eligible and, if it isn't, which requirement it failed.
• Windows Update. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. If your PC qualifies, you'll usually see an offer to upgrade to Windows 11 right there.

Either one takes about two minutes, and it's far more reliable than going by how old the PC is.

What Windows 11 actually requires

These are the main requirements from Microsoft's specifications page:

• Processor: 1 GHz or faster with 2 or more cores, and the model has to be on Microsoft's approved list. In practice that generally means Intel 8th generation Core or newer, or AMD Ryzen 2000 series or newer. A handful of older models also qualify.
• Memory: 4 GB of RAM or more.
• Storage: a 64 GB or larger drive.
• Firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable.
• TPM: version 2.0.
• Graphics: DirectX 12 compatible, with a WDDM 2.0 driver.

Most PCs bought in the last five or six years clear the memory, storage and graphics requirements without any changes. The two that actually stop people are the processor and the TPM.

The most common false "no"

This one is worth knowing before you decide your PC is too old. PC Health Check often says no because the TPM is switched off in the firmware settings (still often called the BIOS), not because the PC doesn't have one. Most PCs from the last several years have a TPM built into the processor. Intel calls it PTT and AMD calls it fTPM. Microsoft notes that most retail motherboards, the kind used in home-built desktops, ship with it turned off.

To check without restarting, press the Windows key + R, type tpm.msc and press Enter. If it says no compatible TPM can be found, it's most likely just switched off.

To turn it on:

1. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery, and under Advanced startup choose Restart now. Then pick Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Firmware Settings and Restart. You can also press the setup key as the PC starts, usually Delete, F2, F10 or Esc.
2. Look under a Security, Advanced or Trusted Computing menu for an entry called TPM, Security Device, Intel PTT or AMD fTPM, and set it to Enabled.
3. Save and exit, then run PC Health Check again.

This one setting is behind a lot of the "unsupported" results we see.

If your PC really doesn't qualify

If PC Health Check names the processor, no setting will change that. The processor is part of the hardware. You have two real options:

• Keep using Windows 10 with Extended Security Updates until October 2027, and plan a replacement in the meantime.
• Replace the PC with one that comes with Windows 11, and move your files across.

If you're not sure the message is really about the processor, have someone take a look before you spend money on a new PC.

So which one are you?