Microsoft details Windows 11 requirements after upgrading unsupported PC and hardware

With the support for Windows 10 winding down, Microsoft, AMD, Asus, Dell, among other vendor companies, are urging users to upgrade to Windows 11. For those running older hardware that can not upgrade to the latest Windows OS due to ineligibility, Microsoft officially recommends purchasing a new system, and per the company's suggestion, it is even better if it is a Copilot+ PC.

If you are not familiar with what that is, a Copilot+ PC is essentially a system that meets a certain threshold of AI processing performance, 40 NPU TOPS, so that they can be labelled as such. While a user does not strictly need a Copilot+ PC, Windows 11 24H2 and most of the new app features are drenched with Copilot and AI bits (even relatively minor changes are getting quite the focus).

Microsoft has in fact updated the official CPU guidance on its support documentation to reflect this change so that users are aware of the differences between what qualifies as Copilot+ (AI) PC and what does not.

Thus, per Microsoft's advice, if you were to go and get a new piece of hardware like the processor, which was perhaps no longer supported, or buy an entirely new PC, you could be wondering what happens to Windows 11 eligibility and support if you make this change.

Microsoft understands this and as such, sometime earlier this year, the company put up a new support article about the topic. Neowin noticed it while browsing.

The article covers in detail how users can proceed with checking Windows 11 upgrade eligibility after moving to a new PC. The company says that users can check the availability of Windows 11 via the PC Health Check app to see if the OS recognizes and green-flags their newly upgraded hardware.

Microsoft also notes that users may need to be patient as it can "take up to 24 hours for Windows Update to refresh eligibility info" as it is "based on intelligence models that consider hardware eligibility, reliability metrics, device age, and other factors."

In case however the Windows 11 eligibility assessment is not automatically refreshing, or you wish for the upgrade to be offered sooner, Microsoft has also provided steps to toggle the Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser (assesses device compatibility for receiving upgrades) manually. The company has explained how to proceed with it via the Task Scheduler, a native Windows tool that allows users (mainly developers) to automatically run routine tasks. There is also another way to do it via the Command Prompt.

However, they require elevated privileges and if you are not all too familiar with such instruments, you are probably better off handing it to someone more tech-savvy (like someone who reads Neowin!).

You can read the support article in full here on Microsoft's official website.

Source

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Posted Monday 4 August 2025 at 4:07 am AEST (my time).

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