When it comes to my computers not meeting a minimum spec requirement is my living nightmare. Considering the RTX 2080 and Intel Core i9-10900K at the heart of my system — it’s not something I thought I’d ever have to deal with. Imagine my surprise, then, when I figured out that my beefy gaming PC can’t run the latest version of Windows.
Microsoftjust announced Windows 11, and the new operating system brings Android apps to Windows and multiple improvements to theWindows gaming experience. Assuming my machine was compatible, I downloaded Microsoft’sPC Health Check appjust to double-check, and I was swiftly informed that my PC doesn’t support Windows 11.
The Windows 11 system requirements don’t call for much. Compatible devices need a dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and at least 64GB of storage. The system requirements also call for Trusted Module Platform (TPM) 2.0 support, which is apparently where my gaming PC got tripped up.
And I’m not the only one. In fact, Microsoft hastemporarily removed the PC Health Checkapp to avoid the confusion and further clarified the TPM requirement, saying it canreduce malware by up to 60%when combined with other security measures.
Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0
TPM comes from a chip on your motherboard. It’s a dedicated processor that handles hardware encryption, allowing users to sign-in through Windows Hello and use BitLocker on Windows 10.Since 2016, Windows has required PC manufacturers to include a TPM 2.0 chip on machines running Windows 10, but that doesn’t account for the DIY market.
Many consumer motherboards don’t come with a TPM chip installed. My Asus Tuf Gaming Z490-Plus board, for example, doesn’t have one. This has caused a lot of confusion for people checking to see if their computer supports Windows 11. It’s not immediately clear that TPM is the cause of the problem, and there’s not a clear-cut solution for enabling it.
You can check if you have a TPM chip by hittingWindows Key+Rand typing intpm.msc. If you have one, you’ll see a window with its details.
Asus and others sell dedicated TPM modules for around $50 that you can slot into compatible motherboards. Scalpersquickly capitalized on demand, buying up the limited stock of these modules and selling them on the secondhand market for around $100.
Thankfully, you shouldn’t have to upgrade anything if your components were manufactured after 2016.
How to enable TPM
Although most consumer motherboards don’t come with a TPM chip, they do come with TPM firmware. This comes through Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT), which looks and acts like TPM inside of Windows. Every motherboard is a little different, but you can enable the setting in your BIOS. Annoyingly, this setting is disabled on a lot of off-the-shelf boards.
Reboot your PC and spam theDeletekey until you enter the BIOS. Unfortunately, there’s no telling where you’ll find the TPM setting. Look around for aSecurityorAdvancedtab, keeping an eye out for a setting related to TPM or PTT. For my Z490-Plus motherboard, I had to change a setting fromDedicated TPMtoFirmware TPMin theAdvancedtab.
After that was done, I rebooted my PC to find that it did, indeed, support Windows 11. As long as you have a motherboard from the last few years, you should be able to enable TPM in your BIOS, too.
Another TPM workaround
This is only a temporary solution, though. Once Windows 11 is officially released, you’ll eitherneed a motherboard with TPM support(hardware or firmware) or you’ll need to revert back to Windows 10. Hopefully, there won’t be too many people stuck with that choice.
