Why can’t my computer run Windows 11?

Why can’t my computer run Windows 11?

Q I’ve installed Windows 11 Home on a (nearly) compliant laptop and it works, even though the processor wasn’t on the recommended list. However, I can’t install it on my desktop PC, even though it’s supposed to be fully compliant. When I try downloading Windows 11, it reaches 85 per cent before reporting that it’s returning to Windows 10. I’ve been through all the settings several times, checking that I have TPM 2.0 and that the hard drive is set to GPT and so on. Is the problem that Windows 11 is currently available only in the Home version, or is Pro being upgraded as well?

Greg Delamare

A Let’s work backwards here. Both Home and Pro editions of Windows are eligible for a free upgrade. If you start with Windows 10 Home, you get Windows 11 Home. Upgrade from 10 Pro and you get 11 Pro. So that’s not the problem.

You sent us your PC’s specifications, and it does seem to be compatible with Windows 11. As such, something else must be going wrong. The Windows 11 upgrade roll-out is a colossal effort for Microsoft, so it’s inevitable that some configurations will hit difficulties.

Your upgrade seems to have encountered a problem and reverted to Windows 10. It’s likely that in the next few weeks or months Microsoft will figure out the cause and fix it behind the scenes, so the next time you try to upgrade using Windows Update, it might go smoothly.

If you can’t wait for Microsoft to fix it, you could try forcing the installation by downloading Microsoft’s free media-creation tool (from www.snipca.com/40999 – see screenshot) and using that to perform a manual upgrade. But, for the reason stated above, we’d suggest holding off for a while longer.

If you want to know why your computer can’t upgrade to Windows 11, ask us and we’ll explain in this box every issue

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