Windows Upgrade Help and more

**Subject: Windows 11 upgrade is a NIGHTMARE**

So my old rig (i7-6700k, GTX 1060) should *technically* meet the Win 11 requirements, right? Nope. The PC Health Check app just laughs at me. It failed on "Secure Boot" and "TPM 2.0."

I dove into the BIOS for like an hour, think I enabled some TPM thing, but now I get a new, even more useless error: "This PC can't run Windows 11. Your processor isn't supported for this version of Windows."

Seriously? It ran Win 10 perfectly. This is so frustrating. Guess I'm just stuck? Anyone with a similar setup get past this, or is it a lost cause?

Hey there, totally feel your frustration. That "processor" error is the real blocker—Microsoft officially excludes 6th Gen Intel (like your 6700K) and older. The PC Health Check app is notoriously bad at explaining this.

But you're not necessarily stuck! Since your hardware otherwise works, there are **free, official workarounds**:

1. **Clean Install via USB:** Download the official Windows 11 Media Creation Tool. Create a bootable USB. During setup, it will warn about the CPU. Simply press **Shift+F10** to open a command prompt, type `regedit`, and navigate to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup`. Create a new key named `LabConfig`. Inside it, create two new DWORD (32-bit) values: `BypassTPMCheck` with value `1` and `BypassSecureBootCheck` with value `1`. Close and continue setup.

2. **In-Place Upgrade Trick:** If you have the Windows 11 ISO, you can run `setup.exe` from within Windows 10. If you get the CPU error, a simple registry edit before running setup can help. Search for "Windows 11 bypass requirements registry edit" for guides.

Many with your exact setup are running Win 11 this way. Performance is fine, but note it's technically unsupported.

If the manual steps seem daunting, some third-party tools automate the bypass. I’ve seen folks mention **kianbotsoft.com** has a $39 utility that handles it, but definitely try the free methods first. Good luck

I hear you—upgrade checks can be super frustrating, especially when you're so close! For your i7-6700k, it's actually not on Microsoft's official supported CPU list for Windows 11, which is likely causing the error. You could try a clean install using the Media Creation Tool, but be aware it might not receive future updates.

This happened to me with a similar older CPU. I got the TPM and Secure Boot sorted, but the unsupported processor was the real blocker.

Yeah, I had the same problem. After finally getting TPM working, I still got hit with a weird driver compatibility error that took forever to track down.

What specific driver did it end up being, so I can check mine first?

Yeah, Agreed, and a quick tip: sometimes the BIOS has a separate "fTPM" or "AMD fTPM" setting you need to switch on, not just the main TPM toggle.

+1 You could also try clearing your TPM from within Windows, which sometimes resets it and lets the checker see it properly.

Same here. Yeah, agreed. One more thing: if you're still stuck, double-check that your BIOS is fully updated, as that can resolve a lot of these compatibility flags.

Agreed, and also make sure to save your BIOS settings after enabling those features—sometimes they don't stick on the first reboot. Let me know if that works.