Software tower · floor

How to upgrade to Windows 11, and what if you cannot

How to upgrade to windows 11 became an urgent question rather than an optional one when support for Windows 10 ended. The upgrade itself is the short part of this floor. What to do when the upgrade is refused is the part most pages handle badly, and it is where the money is at stake.

You are in one of three situations

And only the first one is the question people think they are asking.

The PC qualifies The upgrade is offered through Windows Update and costs nothing. This is the easy case and it is most of the reason this page exists.

The PC does not qualify Far more common than the coverage suggests, usually because of one requirement rather than the whole list. There is a documented option that buys you two more years — below.

You do nothing Microsoft is plain about what that means: “Support for Windows 10 is discontinued, but the software will continue to function.” It keeps working. It stops being patched.

Windows 10 reached the end of support on 14 October 2025. After that date Microsoft provides no “Technical support of any issue”, no “Software updates”, and no “Security updates or fixes”. Nothing switched off — the difference is invisible on the day and grows every month afterwards.

What a PC has to have

Microsoft’s published minimum requirements, read 21 August 2026.

Component	Minimum
Processor	“1 Ghz or faster with 2 or more cores and appearing on our list of approved CPUs”
Memory	“4 GB”
Storage	“64 GB or larger storage device”
Firmware	“UEFI … and Secure Boot capable”
Security chip	“Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0”
Graphics	“Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver”
Display	“High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally”
Setup	“Windows 11 Pro for personal use and Windows 11 Home require internet connectivity and a Microsoft account during initial device setup”

The two rows in bold are the ones that stop most machines, and neither is about speed. A perfectly fast computer can fail on TPM 2.0 or Secure Boot alone — sometimes because the feature is present but switched off in firmware, which Microsoft acknowledges by pointing to “steps you can take to enable this”. Worth checking before concluding the machine is finished. And note the last row, which surprises people at the worst moment: a Microsoft account and an internet connection are required during setup.

If the PC cannot be upgraded, you are not out of time. Microsoft: “the consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program can protect your Windows 10 device till October 12, 2027.”

That is the sentence to read before buying a computer in a hurry. An unsupported machine is not a machine that must be replaced this month; it is one with a dated horizon and a decision to make calmly. Almost every page urging immediate action about this has something to sell.

The upgrade route itself, when the machine qualifies, is unremarkable and free: it is offered through Windows Update, and Microsoft’s own compatibility check tells you where you stand before you start. If it is offered, the honest advice is to take it — and to take a backup first, which is advice that applies to every operating system upgrade ever made and is ignored every time.

The part to be careful about is what the internet suggests when the answer is no. There are widely shared methods for installing Windows 11 on hardware that does not meet the requirements. This floor is not going to walk you through one. Not out of caution for its own sake, but because the requirements the machines fail are the security ones — TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot — and a route around them delivers an operating system whose update path and support position are, at best, unclear. If the reason for upgrading is security, a workaround that removes security features has answered a different question.

The related searches show where people are in the process. How to install windows 11 is somebody past the decision. Windows 11 minimum requirements and how much is windows 11 are people working out whether it applies to them and what it costs. And when did windows 11 come out is often asked by somebody trying to date the machine in front of them — which, as it happens, is a reasonable first move: a PC bought before late 2021 is the one most likely to fail the two rows above.

Where to start

Four ways in.

“Will my PC take it?”: Start at checking the machine
“It qualifies. What now?”: Go to doing the upgrade
“It does not qualify.”: Read when it cannot
“I want to stay on Windows 10.”: That is staying put

Checking the machine

Ten minutes that decide everything else. Most refusals come down to one setting rather than one missing component.

The compatibility checkMicrosoft’s own tool, what it reports, and how to read the answer it gives.Being built

TPM 2.0, in plain termsWhat it is, why it is required, and how to tell whether yours is present but switched off.Being built

Secure BootThe other common refusal, and the firmware setting behind it.Being built

Approved processorsThe list requirement that no setting can change, and how to check yours against it.Being built

Doing the upgrade

The straightforward path, done in the order that means a bad day stays a small one.

Back up firstThe arrangement that turns a failed upgrade into an afternoon rather than a disaster.Being built

Through Windows UpdateThe offered route, what it keeps, and how long it takes.Being built

The Microsoft account requirementRequired during setup, which catches people who wanted a local account.Being built

After the upgradeWhat moved, what is missing, and the settings worth changing on the first day.Being built

When it cannot

The situation most of this search is really about, and the one where a calm decision saves the most money.

Extended Security UpdatesMicrosoft’s documented option running to October 2027, and who it is for.Being built

Unsupported installs, honestlyWhat the workarounds remove, and why that matters more than whether they work.Being built

Another system on the same PCWhat it is genuinely good at now, and the honest list of what is still awkward.Being built

When replacing is the answerWhat to do with a machine the manufacturer has stopped supporting.Being built

Staying put

A legitimate choice for a while, provided it is a choice rather than a delay. This wing is about doing it with your eyes open.

What stops arrivingNo technical support, no software updates, no security fixes — Microsoft’s own three lines.Being built

Reducing the risk meanwhileWhat still helps on an unpatched system, and what stops helping.Being built

Getting your files offThe step that matters whichever way the decision goes.Being built

What this tower will not do

It will not tell you to buy a new computer. Microsoft has published a date two years out for machines that cannot upgrade, and any urgency beyond that is somebody else’s sales calendar.

It will not walk you through installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware. The requirements those machines fail are the security ones, and a workaround that removes them has not solved the problem you had.

And it will not pretend the upgrade is nothing. It is an operating system change on a machine holding your work, and the floor that says “back up first” is not filler. What holds instead is simple: every requirement and date on this page is quoted from Microsoft’s own support documentation.

Where this page got its facts

Microsoft Support — Windows 11 system requirements — support.microsoft.com, read 21 August 2026.
Microsoft Support — Windows 10 support ended on October 14, 2025, including what stops being provided and the consumer Extended Security Updates programme — support.microsoft.com, read 21 August 2026.

Written by Alberto Gulotta

Founder and editor of AI Tools Primer, writing from Palermo, Italy. Thirty-five years of taking computers apart, starting with a Commodore 64 — the long version is on the about page.

Something wrong on this page? Write to aitoolsprimer@gmail.com and it gets fixed.

Written on 21 August 2026.

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