Microsoft’s Windows 11 PC Health Check App Is Back And Better Than Ever

by Brandon Hill — Tuesday, September 21, 2021, 11:05 AM EDT

Shortly after Microsoft announced Windows 11 earlier this Summer, it made its PC Health Check available to let Windows 10 users know if their device met the minimum requirements to upgrade. However, the app did more to frustrate users with its unclear error messages and lack of explanation for why systems were labeled as incompatible with Windows 11.

"Based on the feedback so far, we acknowledge that it was not fully prepared to share the level of detail or accuracy you expected from us on why a Windows 10 PC doesn't meet upgrade requirements," wrote Microsoft in June. It then removed the app as it integrated tweaks to make it more user-friendly.

The PC Health Check app is now back, and anyone (not just Windows Insiders) can download it to see if their system is worthy of Windows 11. As it currently stands, these are the basic requirements necessary to upgrade to Windows 11:

Processor: 64-bit capable 1GHz processor (dual-core or better)
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB
System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable
TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
Graphics card: DirectX 12 compatible or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
Display: High definition (720p) greater than 9 inches diagonally, 8 bits per color channel

The requirement that has stymied most users is the mandatory TPM 2.0 support. However, Microsoft has also caught flak by leaving out first-generation Ryzen 1000 and 7^th generation and older Intel Core processors. Microsoft later updated its processor requirements to include the following 7^th generation chips: Core X-Series, Xeon W-Series, and Core i7-7820HQ.

With the updated PC Health Check app, users can now get a clear picture of where their current system is lacking or if they have the "all clear" to proceed with the Windows 11 upgrade. I ran the utility on an ASUS VivoBook 15 laptop (F512JA-OH36) and was glad to learn that it is fully compliant with Windows 11.

If you want to try out the PC Health Check App and make sure that you are prepared for the big upgrade, click the download link at the bottom of Microsoft's Introduction to Windows 11 website.

Tags: Microsoft, (nasdaq:msft), windows 11, pc health check

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.

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