Microsoft caught scrubbing official guide for installing Windows 11 on ineligible PCs

Microsoft has been caught red-handed scrubbing its official guidance on installing Windows 11 on a PC that doesn't meet the operating system's official requirements.

3

Old guidance (left) versus updated guidance (right)

Ahead of Windows 10 support ending in October this year, Microsoft rolled out some guidance on how Windows 10 users can still upgrade to Windows 11, even if their system doesn't meet the operating system requirements. For those wondering, this guidance was for systems that don't have TMP 2.0, a hardware-level requirement for Windows 11, and the guidance was a workaround users could implement so they weren't left behind on an old operating system that will become exponentially more vulnerable to security exploits. However, that guidance has now been scrubbed from Microsoft's website.

The now-removed guidance informed users how they could tweak a Registry Key, which bypasses the Windows 11 requirements and enables the operating system to be installed on the officially unsupported PC. Notably, the tweak to the Registry did come with a warning of potential system instability with the additional risk of critical errors that may result in a complete system reinstallation. However, some users would prefer running these risks than going out and getting new hardware.

3

Now-deleted Windows 11 workaround instructions for unsupported PCs (Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The instructions on how to tweak the Registry have now been removed by Microsoft, which can be seen in the above side-by-side image of the new webpage and old webpage. Microsoft's new guidance can be found here.

• Read more: Microsoft will officially watermark old PCs that install Windows 11