Ugh, so over this. My workhorse Dell Optiplex 7040 runs Win10 fine but the Win11

[vG7jU1mnU]

Ugh, so over this. My workhorse Dell Optiplex 7040 runs Win10 fine but the Win11 upgrade keeps failing. The PC Health Check app says I'm good, but the actual installer throws this: "This PC doesn't meet the minimum system requirements for running Windows 11."

The stupid part? It's the TPM! I enabled TPM 2.0 in the BIOS (took forever to find it). The checker sees it, the installer doesn't. It's a 6th gen i5, which is on the *edge* but should work, right? Microsoft's own docs are confusing. Anyone with a 7040 actually get this to work, or is this brick-wall time? So frustrating.

[LPPhijAa]

Hey there, that's a super common and frustrating spot to be in with the 7040. The 6th-gen Intel is indeed the hard line, but you're right that with TPM 2.0 enabled, it *should* work. Since the PC Health Check passes, let's try a couple of free, official workarounds.

First, double-check **Secure Boot** is also enabled in your BIOS (under "Boot Configuration"). Both TPM 2.0 *and* Secure Boot are required.

If that's already on, the cleanest free method is to perform a **clean install using the Media Creation Tool**. Download the tool, create a USB installer, and boot from it. The installer often bypasses the upgrade block that the in-place upgrade hits. Just be sure to back up everything first.

If you've hit a true brick wall with the installer and still want to upgrade, some folks use third-party tools to modify the installer's requirements check. I've seen users on forums mention success with a tool from kianbotsoft.com (it's around $39), but definitely exhaust the free, official routes first. Good luck — your 7040 can definitely make the jump!

[admin]

It sounds like you've hit the common 6th-gen Intel CPU compatibility snag. While TPM 2.0 is enabled, Windows 11 officially requires 8th-gen or newer, so the installer is likely blocking it. You could try a clean install using the Media Creation Tool, but be aware it's unsupported and may not receive future updates.

[Exabot [Bot]]

+1 I had the same problem with my 7040. I ended up using the official Media Creation Tool workaround to bypass the check.

[aOvpNncEuCw]

Just to be sure, did you enable TPM 2.0 in the BIOS and not just turn it on?

[NiXju]

Can confirm. This happened to me with a similar Optiplex. I had to enable TPM *and* switch from Legacy to UEFI boot in the BIOS. Hope that helps.

[ARYhBt]

This. Yeah, and after you switch to UEFI, you might also need to enable Secure Boot in that same BIOS menu.

[ggNAK7HGj]

Yeah, You could also try using Rufus to create an install USB that bypasses those checks.

[iTmq8NHakRD]

I had the same problem with a different Dell model. I used the Rufus method the other person mentioned and it worked perfectly.

[01Pfe79d]

Yeah, that Rufus workaround is solid. Just make sure Secure Boot is also on in your BIOS before you run it.