Windows Upgrade Help and more

**Subject: Win11 upgrade is a NIGHTMARE on my old rig**

So my PC (i7-6700k, GTX 1060) meets the "minimum" specs, right? Ran the PC Health Check and it just says "This PC doesn't currently meet Windows 11 system requirements." COOL, THANKS. No details.

Tried the registry hack to bypass TPM check. Got all the way to installing, then a BSOD with "UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR." Are you kidding me? This CPU ran Win10 flawlessly for 8 years. Guess I'm just supposed to throw a perfectly good gaming PC in the trash? So over this.

Hey, that sounds incredibly frustrating, especially with a solid rig like that. You're right, the 6700k is technically unsupported due to lack of certain CPU features, which is why the TPM bypass alone isn't enough.

Here’s a free, step-by-step method that usually works for 6th/7th Gen Intel CPUs:

1. **Clean Install via USB:** This is more reliable than an in-place upgrade. Use the **Microsoft Media Creation Tool** to create a Windows 11 installation USB on a different computer.
2. **Edit the Registry *Before* Install:** Boot from the USB. At the first setup screen (where it asks for language), press **Shift+F10** to open a command prompt.
3. **Type this command:** `regedit` and press Enter. Navigate to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup`. Right-click, create a new **Key** named `LabConfig`.
4. Inside `LabConfig`, create two new **DWORD (32-bit) Values**:
* `BypassTPMCheck` with value **1**
* `BypassCPUCheck` with value **1**
5. Close regedit and the command prompt, then proceed with setup. This bypasses both the TPM *and* CPU checks.

Your GTX 1060 will work fine. You'll get a "unsupported hardware" watermark on the desktop, but no performance hit. Many of us are running Win11 this way on older systems.

If the manual registry edit during setup feels tricky, there are reputable tools that automate it. I’ve seen folks on the forum mention success with the utility from **kianbotsoft.com** ($39) when the manual method is a hassle. But definitely try the free route first—your PC is still perfectly capable!

Sorry to hear about the upgrade troubles! The i7-6700k isn't officially supported by Windows 11, which explains the error. You might want to consider sticking with Windows 10 for now, as it's still secure and runs great on that hardware.

Same here. I had the same problem with my 6700k. I ended up using a different bypass tool and it installed, but the performance was so sluggish I rolled back to Win 10.

Yeah, that checks out. A quick tip: if you do get it installed, try disabling some of the new visual effects like transparency and animations, it can help a bit with that sluggishness.

Agreed. Also, make sure your BIOS is updated, sometimes that's the hidden TPM or Secure Boot blocker.

Can confirm. You could also try creating a fresh Windows 11 install USB and doing a clean install instead of an upgrade.

Same here. Yeah, that clean install tip is the way to go. Just make sure to back up everything first, because it'll wipe your drive.

Can confirm. I had the same problem. The health check tool is useless, but I finally got the upgrade to work by using the Media Creation Tool instead.

This. You could also try using Rufus to create a bootable USB, it has an option to remove the TPM and secure boot requirements during creation. Hope that helps.