Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. Features

Microsoft is hindering Windows 11 on custom-built PCs

By

I had an issue with my PC over the weekend. At some point, I noticed a bit of text in the bottom-right corner of my monitor that said: “System requirements not met. Go to Settings to learn more.” Deep in raids in Destiny 2, I ignored the message, assuming it was related to Wallpaper Engine or one of the dozen other apps running in the background on my PC at any given time.

On Monday morning, I found out that this message comes from Microsoft on PCs running an unsupported Windows 11 install. But that’s the problem — my PC supports Windows 11.

Recommended Videos

Microsoft is hindering custom PCs with Windows 11, not only with an incessant insistence that builders carefully study Windows 11’s system requirements, but also from a lack of guidance on how custom PCs can use the new operating system.

Related

On background

An Asus TPM chip in a motherboard.
A TPM is usually soldered to the motherboard, but add-on modules are available, too. Image used with permission by copyright holder

There’s a storied history here, but here are the Cliff Notes: When Microsoft announced Windows 11, custom PC builders were sent into a panic when Microsoft’s PC Health Check app said their machines wouldn’t be supported. They were, but Microsoft didn’t clarify that. The main issue came down to the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which was normally disabled on off-the-shelf motherboards.

Microsoft responded with more guidance on the system requirements, and it looked like everything was peachy. However, in February, we learned that Microsoft was testing a watermark for unsupported Windows 11 installs. Now, that watermark is here, including on my supported PC.

The issue, once again, comes down to TPM. Motherboard vendors have updated their boards to ship with TPM enabled, but Microsoft is ignoring the large swath of custom, supported PCs that don’t have TPM turned on. And like a vicious cycle, Microsoft is back to telling users their machines aren’t supported without offering an ounce of guidance.

Nowhere to go

A message that shows up on unsupported Windows 11 installations is highlighted by a red box.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Back to the watermark. It tells users to go to the Settings menu to learn more, which I did. That sends you to a webpage that explains unsupported Windows 11 installations, but doesn’t offer any solutions for PCs with the watermark. It basically reads, “sorry, you’re out of luck,” stretched across seven paragraphs.

The only useful link is to Microsoft’s PC Health Check app, which provides detailed solutions if your PC doesn’t support Windows 11 or isn’t configured properly. That’s another problem, though: You can’t use the PC Health Check app if you already have Windows 11 installed. So, if you’re seeing this message, which you can only see on Windows 11, you can’t use the tool that Microsoft recommends to solve the problem.

Currently, the message is limited to Windows Insider builds, according to reports and my own experience. Microsoft hasn’t announced the watermark in any changelog, but its move to the Beta and Release channels for Windows Insiders suggests it could roll out to the general release soon enough.

It’s one thing that the watermark is annoying. It’s another thing that a user could have upgraded to Windows 11 months ago with supported hardware only to see this message and not know how to get rid of it. Even more frustrating, you can only downgrade to Windows 10 for 10 days after installing Windows 11, giving custom PC builders an ultimatum between dealing with the watermark or doing a clean install of Windows 10.

Bad to worse

The split-screen feature from Windows 11 is visible on a device.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

I had a lot of criticism for Windows 11 at the time of its announcement, mainly aimed at the TPM requirement. Microsoft addressed a lot of the issues I had, but the new watermark is a regression. We’re back to square one, and that’s bad news for Microsoft.

Since launch, we’ve learned that Windows 11 adoption has slowed. It’s hard to know why adoption has slowed, but I’d wager there are plenty of PC builders out there who saw one of Microsoft’s several messages about unsupported installs with supported hardware and gave up. There are also murmurs of Microsoft testing ads within Windows 11’s File Explorer, only compounding issues for the OS.

Windows 11 is a genuinely great release. Unfortunately, Microsoft is failing the many custom PCs that run Windows with it. At the moment, custom PCs that run into an issue like I have are left without any announcements or guidance from Microsoft, as well as a watermark that’s as annoying as it is inaccurate.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Lead Reporter, PC Hardware
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
The Windows 11 Android app dream is dead
A photo of the TikTok app running on a Windows 11 laptop

Microsoft first brought over the option to run Android apps natively in Windows 11 in 2021, but the dream is coming to an end after just a few years. Today, the company quietly updated its documentation for the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) to indicate that it will be ending support for the feature on March 5, 2025. Amazon has also published updated guidance for the same issue about its Amazon App Store on Windows 11, which powers the WSA.

What's causing this change is unknown, as Microsoft did not dive into specific details. Left to speculate, we can assume it's due to either lack of use or licensing issues, but until we hear more, it's left ambiguous.

Read more
Microsoft may fix the most frustrating thing about Windows updates
Windows 11 updates are moving to once a year.

Most Windows users will agree that one of the most annoying things about the operating system is the updates. While Windows Updates are necessary, they often tend to come up at the worst possible time, interrupting work and gaming sessions with persistent reminders that the system needs to reboot. Microsoft might be fixing that problem in the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 build, but it's still too early to bid farewell to those ill-timed reboots.

As spotted in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26058, Microsoft is testing "hot patching" for some Windows 11 updates. Hot patching refers to a dynamic method of updating that often doesn't change the software version and may not even need a restart. In the context of Windows 11, it's pretty straightforward -- Windows will install the update, and you won't have to reboot your system.

Read more
A new Windows 11 hardware system requirement may be incoming
A man sits, using a laptop running the Windows 11 operating system.

Microsoft appears to finally be putting its foot down on how far back it's willing to go when it comes to supporting older hardware. As of the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 build, Microsoft will require that your processor supports the POPCNT instruction. If you're wondering what that is and whether this will affect you, you're not alone.

This new addition was spotted by Bob Pony on X (formerly Twitter). According to the user, if the CPU doesn't support the POPCNT instruction or it's disabled, Windows won't work at all. Multiple system files now require this instruction, starting with the Windows 11 kernel. Long story short -- no POPCNT, no Windows 11 24H2.

Read more