If you are looking to make your PC ready for Windows 11, read on to learn about how to make your pc compatible for a Windows 11 upgrade.
Step 1: Download the official Microsoft PC Health Check app from here https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp
Step 2: Run the PC Health Check App to determine if your PC is compatible
Step 3: If your PC is compatible, Microsoft will notify you when Windows 11 becomes GA. If you are interested in trying the beta version, consider joining the Windows Insider Program.
Step 4: If your PC is not compatible, I am going to share easy fixes for 2 issues that I encountered.
Secure Boot Support
To setup secure boot properly you need three things
- The disk on which windows is installed must be using GPT partition style and not MBR. To check what partition style your disk is using, follow these steps
- Open diskmgmt.msc from command prompt or run
- Right-click on the disk (not volume) in which your windows volume exists and click properties
- Click on the volumes tab and check the partition style for your disk. It should be GPT.
- If your partition style is MBR, you can convert it to GPT using a third-party tool or from the command prompt within the windows recovery environment. Keep in mind that changing partition style is dangerous if you are not sure of what you are doing. Refer to the following article for detailed steps on changing the style from MBR to GPT. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt
- Once you have confirmed that Windows is installed in a disk with GPT partition style, you need to enable secure boot within your BIOS settings. The exact setting depends on your bios manufacturer but in Asus Motherboards it is available in the boot menu.
TPM (Trusted Platform Module) Support
There are four possibilities for TPM support.
- Your system already supports TPM. You can verify this quickly by opening tpm.msc in command prompt or run
- The firmware in your system support TPM but it is not enabled. If you have an AMD CPU, look for fTPM in the advanced settings of your BIOS. If you have an Intel CPU, look for PTT in the advanced settings of your BIOS. Once you find the setting, enable it and recheck TPM status in tpm.msc
- Your motherboard has a TPM header in which you can plug-in a TPM module. In this scenario, you will need to buy a compatible TPM module and attach it to the TPM header on your motherboard.
- Your motherboard does not support TPM. In this case, you will need to upgrade to a new motherboard that supports TPM.
Once Secure Boot and TPM are enabled, re-run the PC Health Check App and you should be greeted with a message that says your system can run Windows 11.
Hope this article helped you prepare your PC for Windows 11 upgrade. Please share your experience in comments.