Tech giant Microsoft has released the first Windows 11 Insider Preview build to the Dev Channel, Build 22000.51, and users are reporting being unable to install it for not meeting minimum system requirements.
Last week, Microsoft announced Windows 11 and members of the Windows Insiders Program would get their first chance of testing the preview builds this week.
Just after the announcement, Microsoft said that Windows 11 will require TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chips on existing and new devices.
“The Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) is a chip that is either integrated into your PC’s motherboard or added separately into the CPU,” explains David Weston, director of an enterprise and OS security at Microsoft. “Its purpose is to protect encryption keys, user credentials, and other sensitive data behind a hardware barrier so that malware and attackers can’t access or tamper with that data.”
This requirement caused quite an uproar as it would cause many computers which run Windows 10 perfectly to no longer be compatible with Windows 11.
However, Microsoft stated that Windows Insiders who are already running in the ‘Dev’ channel could still install the Windows 11 preview builds even if they don’t meet minimum system requirements.
“While we recommend that all PCs meet the full hardware requirements for Windows 11, we are allowing some limited exceptions as we apply these new restrictions.”
“All Windows Insiders who have already been installing builds from the Dev Channel on their PCs up through June 24, 2021 will be allowed to continue installing Windows 11 Insider Preview builds even if their PC does not meet the minimum hardware requirements.”
For devices that do not meet the minimum system requirements, the Windows Insider Program settings warns:
“Your PC does meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11. Your device may continue to receive Insider Preview builds until Windows 11 is generally available, at which time it is recommended to clean install to Windows 10.”
When existing users in the ‘Dev’ channel try to install the preview build, a setup program is launched called ‘WindowsUpdateBox.exe’ that states that the device does not meet hardware requirements.
This error is shown even for users on the ‘Dev’ channel who were told they could still install the Windows 11 preview builds.
Even more frustrating is that users receive messages about missing system requirements even if they use modern hardware such as an RTX 3060 and a 10th generation Intel CPU, as reported by bleepingcomputer.
