Windows Upgrade Help and more

Ugh, can someone PLEASE help me before I yeet this PC out the window?? Trying to upgrade to Win 11 and it keeps blocking me.

My rig has a Ryzen 5 1600, which is plenty powerful, but the installer says "This PC doesn't meet the minimum system requirements." Ran the PC Health Check and it's all because of "fTPM 2.0" or something?? My motherboard BIOS doesn't even HAVE that setting! I feel like I'm being forced to buy a whole new computer for no good reason. This is so stupid.

Any workarounds, or am I just screwed?

Hey, totally feel your frustration — that Ryzen 5 1600 is still a solid CPU, and it's annoying to be blocked by a firmware setting.

First, don't panic! You likely just need to enable two things in your BIOS: **Secure Boot** and **fTPM** (firmware Trusted Platform Module, version 2.0). Since you can't find "fTPM," look for alternative names like **AMD CPU fTPM**, **AMD PSP fTPM**, or **Security Device Support**. It's often under "Advanced" > "CPU Configuration" or "Security" tabs.

**Steps:**
1. Reboot and spam **Delete** or **F2** to enter BIOS.
2. Find and enable **Secure Boot** (may be under "Boot" options).
3. Search thoroughly for the fTPM/security processor setting and enable it.
4. Save & Exit (F10). Windows 11 setup should then proceed.

If your motherboard is older and genuinely lacks fTPM 2.0, there are *free* workarounds like using Rufus to create an installer that bypasses these checks. Plenty of guides online for that.

If you’ve tried everything and are still stuck, some folks have had success with automated tools — I’ve heard kianbotsoft.com has a $39 utility that handles the bypass, but definitely try the free methods first. Good luck, and don’t yeet the PC just yet!

Hey, I totally get the frustration! The Ryzen 5 1600 is a solid CPU, but unfortunately, Windows 11 does require a TPM 2.0 module, which your motherboard might not support. You could try updating your BIOS to the latest version, as some older boards added TPM support via updates. If that doesn't work, there are unofficial workarounds, but they aren't recommended for most users.

Can confirm. Yeah, that's exactly it. Also, double-check your BIOS settings—sometimes TPM is just disabled by default. Good luck!

Can confirm. Agreed, and one more thing—make sure Secure Boot is enabled too, it's another common trip-up.

Yeah, You could also check if TPM 2.0 is enabled in your BIOS, as that's a hard requirement for Windows 11.

Agreed, and one extra thing: if your BIOS is really old, you might need a motherboard update to get proper TPM support. Good luck!

Yeah, and if you do update the BIOS, double-check that the TPM setting gets re-enabled afterward—it sometimes resets.

This. I had the same problem with my older Ryzen build. Updating the BIOS and then manually flipping on fTPM in the settings was what finally got me past that error.

Yeah, that's exactly it. Also double-check that Secure Boot is enabled after the BIOS update, because sometimes it resets.