Windows 11 Compatibility Check Failed Check TPM CPU and Secure Boot Separately
The checker gives one red verdict for three separate gates. Split them up and many "unsupported" PCs turn out to be one firmware setting away from a fully supported upgrade.
✍️ Technical Anshu🪟 Windows 10 / 11⏱️ 6 minute read
🎥 Watch the full upgrade process in the video above — this guide explains the order, the options and the risks around it
Before you bypass anything, find out exactly what your PC fails. TPM, Secure Boot and the processor are checked independently, they fail for different reasons, and two of the three can often be fixed for free in the BIOS. This page is the diagnostic step the whole upgrade decision stands on.
tpm.msc and msinfo32 - the two screens that tell the truth
tpm.msc Status: TPM is ready for use Specification Version: 2.0
msinfo32 BIOS Mode: UEFI Secure Boot State: Off
PC Health Check This PC does not currently meet Windows 11 requirements - Secure Boot
👆 One PC, three screens (values recreated as examples) — the failure is a setting here, not the hardware
1
Run the Check and Write Down the Actual Failures
Do not start from the headline "this PC can't run Windows 11". Start from the list. Microsoft's free PC Health Check app names each failed item separately, and each one has a different meaning:
TPM 2.0 — a security chip (or firmware equivalent) used for encryption and sign-in protection.
Secure Boot — a UEFI firmware feature that only lets trusted boot software run.
Supported CPU — the processor must be on Microsoft's list, roughly Intel 8th generation and newer, or AMD Zen 2 and newer.
The basics — 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, UEFI firmware and a DirectX 12 capable GPU. Old PCs rarely fail these.
2
TPM — Often Present, Just Switched Off
Press Windows + R, type tpm.msc and read the status. Three outcomes matter:
"TPM is ready for use", version 2.0 — you pass this gate already, whatever the checker summary said.
Version 1.2 — the chip exists but is the older standard. Some documented upgrade routes accept TPM 1.2; the fully supported road does not.
"Compatible TPM cannot be found" — before believing it, enter the BIOS and look for PTT (Intel) or fTPM (AMD) and switch it on. On many machines from 2016 onwards the firmware TPM was simply never enabled.
3
Secure Boot — a Firmware Setting, Not a Part to Buy
Open msinfo32 and read two lines: BIOS Mode and Secure Boot State. If BIOS Mode says Legacy, the disk is almost certainly partitioned in the old MBR style and Secure Boot cannot engage until that changes — a bigger job, and one reason some old PCs are genuinely hard cases. If BIOS Mode says UEFI but Secure Boot State says Off, it is usually one BIOS setting away from passing.
Careful: flipping firmware from Legacy to UEFI on a PC that was installed the old way can stop Windows booting until the disk layout matches. Change one thing at a time, and know how to change it back.
4
The CPU — the One Gate a Setting Cannot Open
If TPM and Secure Boot pass and the checker still refuses, it is almost always the processor list. There is no BIOS setting that makes a 6th generation Intel CPU a supported one. This is the honest dividing line of the whole topic:
Fails only on TPM or Secure Boot, both fixable in firmware → fix them, upgrade the supported way.
Fails on the CPU alone, everything else present → the PC is a bypass candidate if you accept the risk — this is the classic 7th generation Intel situation.
Fails on CPU and has no TPM at all, Legacy BIOS, spinning hard disk → read the companion guide about PCs that are simply too old. There is also a hard floor beneath everything: recent Windows 11 versions will not even boot on very old CPUs missing the POPCNT and SSE4.2 instructions, and no bypass crosses that.
🔴 Do not bypass a failure you have not named. If the only problem is a switched-off TPM, the bypass buys you nothing and costs you support.
🎥 Watch the Full Upgrade Video
See the one-click upgrade method demonstrated step by step on the Technical Anshu channel, then decide with the facts on this page.
The checker says my CPU is not supported but everything else passes. What are my options?
That is the most common bypass situation — typically a 7th generation Intel or first generation Ryzen PC with TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot present. Your honest options are: stay on Windows 10 with ESU for a while, upgrade with a bypass route and accept that Microsoft treats the PC as unsupported, or replace the PC when budget allows. There is no setting that makes the CPU supported.
Is TPM 1.2 enough for Windows 11?
Not for the supported road — Windows 11 asks for TPM 2.0. A TPM 1.2 machine sits in the middle: some documented upgrade routes proceed with 1.2 present, but the PC remains unsupported in Microsoft's eyes either way.
Why does PC Health Check fail my PC when tpm.msc shows TPM 2.0 ready?
Usually one of the other gates — Secure Boot off, Legacy BIOS mode, or the CPU list. Read the checker's detailed list rather than the headline, then verify each item in tpm.msc and msinfo32 as shown on this page.
This guide is based on the Technical Anshu Windows 10 to Windows 11 upgrade video • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments — you will get a reply 🙏