Microsoft is standing firm on the system requirements for Windows 11. It is closing a loophole to install Windows 11 without TPM that had been open since 2021.
Those who need to install Windows 11 must have a PC with TPM 2.0 chip. Microsoft has been enforcing the requirement from day one and does not want to deviate from it. Every loophole discovered by users is closed by Microsoft sooner or later. So did a loophole that had been open since 2021.
The deliberate workaround plays with keys in the Registry Editor to activate Windows 11 without TPM 2.0. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_SYSTEM_SetupMoSetup, and if necessary, create the key MoSetup key. Next, add a DWORD (32-bit) value with the name AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU and set the value to 1. Then download the Windows 11 installation media and start the installation.
So although the workaround makes a run for the system requirements, Microsoft placed it on the list of approved ways to install Windows 11, with appropriate warnings admittedly. Until it suddenly removed it from the list, Neowin noted. That doesn’t mean the trick no longer works, but Microsoft no longer wants to participate in it. Opening this backdoor, by the way, still required a TPM 1.2 chip.
At your own risk
Microsoft has had strict system installation requirements since the early days of Windows 11. PCs that don’t meet the requirements are “officially” not allowed to upgrade by Microsoft, even if that would soon put functioning PCs on the scrap heap. Still, Microsoft sometimes keeps the door ajar: it says upgrading on an unsupported PC can be done “at your own risk. The presence of a TPM 2.0 module is not in question.
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On Oct. 14, 2025, support for Windows 10 will end. The operating system is still wildly popular, but Microsoft doesn’t know about giving in. Millions of PC owners face a dilemma this year: upgrade now or pay extra to use Windows 10 longer? If your PC does not meet the TPM requirement, Microsoft is forcing you to buy a new PC.