Microsoft's free PC Health Check tells you if your PC is Windows 11 compatible and names the exact blocker - TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, or CPU - so a BIOS toggle or new PC decision is clear. SA buyers diagnose free before spending.
Before you spend a rand on an upgrade or a new machine, you can find out for free whether your current PC will run Windows 11 and, more usefully, exactly what is stopping it. Microsoft's PC Health Check does that in seconds: it scans the hardware, gives a pass or fail, and names the specific blocker, whether that is TPM 2.0, Secure Boot or an unsupported CPU. That single answer decides whether you flip a BIOS setting or budget for a replacement.
Download Microsoft's free PC Health Check app, run "Check now", and it tells you if your PC meets Windows 11 requirements and which component fails. The three usual blockers are TPM 2.0, Secure Boot and CPU age. Two of those are often just disabled in BIOS and cost nothing to fix.
Windows 11 has a short list of hard requirements that trip up older machines. Knowing them turns a vague "incompatible" message into a clear action.
A Trusted Platform Module version 2.0 is mandatory. It is a security chip, and on most machines from the last several years it exists but is switched off in firmware. In BIOS it is usually labelled fTPM on AMD boards or PTT on Intel boards. Enabling it is a toggle, not a purchase.
The PC must boot in UEFI mode with Secure Boot capable and enabled. Older installs running in legacy BIOS mode will fail this even on capable hardware. Note that Microsoft's original Secure Boot certificates began a scheduled expiry from 24 June 2026, so keeping firmware and Windows updated matters going forward.
This is the blocker you cannot toggle away. Windows 11 generally requires Intel 8th-generation Core or newer, and AMD Ryzen 2000-series or newer, broadly processors from around 2018 onward. If your CPU predates that, no BIOS change helps and a new platform is the honest answer.
You can size up compact, fully Windows 11 ready machines in the mini PC range at Evetech if a replacement is on the cards.
Get the PC Health Check app from Microsoft's site, install it, and open it. At the top is a "Check now" button under the Windows 11 introduction. Click it and within seconds you get one of two results.
A green pass means the machine meets every requirement and can upgrade. A red fail is the useful one: it lists the exact reason, such as "This PC must support TPM 2.0" or "The processor isn't supported". That named blocker is your decision point.
If the failure is TPM or Secure Boot, restart into BIOS (usually Delete or F2 at boot), enable fTPM or PTT and Secure Boot, save, and rerun the check. If the failure is the CPU, treat it as a buying signal rather than a fixable fault.
It is worth dwelling on how often a "fail" is really a switched-off feature rather than missing hardware, because this is where people waste money. A machine bought in the last five or six years almost certainly has the security chip and Secure Boot support physically present; they are simply dormant in firmware out of the box or left disabled by a previous installation.
The routine is the same on most boards. Restart and tap the BIOS key during boot, commonly Delete on desktops or F2 on laptops. Find the security or advanced menu, enable fTPM on an AMD system or PTT on an Intel system, then enable Secure Boot, which may require switching the boot mode from legacy to UEFI first. Save and exit, boot back into Windows, and rerun PC Health Check. A result that was red a moment ago often turns green with no parts bought at all.
One caution: if your drive was set up in the old legacy MBR style, switching to UEFI can stop the machine booting until the disk is converted. If you are unsure, note the failure and get a hand with it rather than guessing, since the goal is a free fix, not a reinstall.
If the tool returns a green pass, you have breathing room and a decision to make on timing rather than hardware. Microsoft is steadily tightening the screws: support windows close, and staying on an unsupported version eventually means paying for extended security updates or running without patches, neither of which is a good place for a machine you rely on. A pass today means you can upgrade on your own schedule instead of being forced into a rushed buy later.
It also reframes any future spend. A PC that already passes is worth investing a little in, more memory or a bigger drive, because the platform has a future. A PC that fails on the CPU is the opposite: money spent on it is money spent on a dead end, and the sensible budget goes towards a replacement instead.
The whole value of checking first is avoiding two expensive mistakes: buying a new PC when a free BIOS toggle would have done, and sinking money into RAM or storage for a machine whose CPU will never qualify. Run the tool, read the named blocker, and let it steer the spend. If the verdict is a new machine, compare current options in the PC best sellers at Evetech so you land on something that passes out of the box.
Usually not. Most recent machines have TPM 2.0 built in but disabled in firmware. Enabling fTPM (AMD) or PTT (Intel) in BIOS and rerunning PC Health Check typically clears the failure at no cost.
Not through any supported path. The CPU requirement is a hard line, roughly Intel 8th-gen and AMD Ryzen 2000-series or newer. If your processor is older, a new platform is the realistic route rather than a workaround.
Yes. It is Microsoft's own free tool, downloaded from their site. It only reads your hardware configuration to report compatibility and does not change any settings on its own.
TPM 2.0 is a security chip that stores cryptographic keys, while Secure Boot is a UEFI firmware feature that blocks untrusted code at startup. Windows 11 needs both, and both are commonly disabled by default and enabled in BIOS.
If the check says your CPU will not make the cut, do not throw money at the old machine. Browse current, Windows 11 ready builds in the mini PC range at Evetech and buy something that passes the moment you switch it on.
Usually not. Most recent machines have TPM 2.0 built in but disabled in firmware. Enabling fTPM (AMD) or PTT (Intel) in BIOS and rerunning PC Health Check typically clears the failure at no cost.
Not through any supported path. The CPU requirement is a hard line, roughly Intel 8th-gen and AMD Ryzen 2000-series or newer. If your processor is older, a new platform is the realistic route rather than a workaround.
Yes. It is Microsoft's own free tool, downloaded from their site. It only reads your hardware configuration to report compatibility and does not change any settings on its own.
TPM 2.0 is a security chip that stores cryptographic keys, while Secure Boot is a UEFI firmware feature that blocks untrusted code at startup. Windows 11 needs both, and both are commonly disabled by default and enabled in BIOS.
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