Install WhyNotWin11 – What causes ‘This PC can’t run Windows 11’ 

Microsoft unveiled Windows 11 at its MS Build Event 2021 and announced to bring its insider’s preview builds latest by the upcoming Thursday. Users all over the world are pretty hyped and couldn’t wait to install the new OS. If you are one such user and are waiting for the ISO file, go and check whether your PC is compatible with Windows 11 or not. We say so because there’s no point in waiting around and find that you can’t install the new OC.

Basically, Microsoft has brought a new app this time that checks if your PC can or can’t run Windows 11. Although it’s a great app, it doesn’t specify for what reasons your device is going to deject the new operating system. To know the exact causes, you may take the help of an app titled “WhyNotWin11”. This app is developed by Robert C. Maehl and is readily available on Github. 

WhyNotWin11 is a lightweight app that is only 980 kb in file size and can perform a compatibility test pretty fast. Running this tool will diagnose the hardware components like Architecture, Boot Method, CPU Compatibility, TPM version, Secure Boot, and others. 

Get the reasons behind ‘This PC can’t run Windows 11’ Error 

In this tutorial, we have explained how to check if your device is compatible to install Windows 11 using two software. They are –

• Why Not Windows 11
• Windows PC Health Checkup

1] Check Windows 11 Compatibility using WhyNotWin11

Though Microsoft brings an official app that checks and confirms whether you can install Windows 11 on your PC, there’s another app that does this task better. Here’s a direct link to this executable file.

Once you have downloaded the file and installed it on your device, use these steps to know if your PC is compatible with Windows 11 or not –

• Double-click over its icon to start the WhyNotWin11 software.
• When the UAC window prompts, hit Yes to authorize the app opening. 
• This app will immediately start scanning your PC for hardware compatibility. 
• Wait for a few seconds and you will see some of the sections being red while the rest would be green. The red ones indicate your PC lacks those hardware requirements. 
• In case each and every component on this app displays Green, your PC is all okay for Windows 11 installation. 

2] Check if you can install Windows 11 using Windows PC Health Checkup

If you want to officially test your device for Windows 11 compatibility, install and run Windows PC Health Checkup app instead. Here’s how to perform this task –

• You need to first download and install the Windows PC Health Checkup app.
• After the installation completes, double-click over its icon to launch this program. 
• If your device meets all the system requirements laid down by Microsoft, you will get a message – “This PC can run Windows 11”.

• If the Secure Boot or TPM is disabled on your PC, you will get the below error message instead –

“This PC can’t run Windows 11“

• As stated above, you will get this error message only if your device doesn’t either of the following –
  • Secure Boot
  • Disabled TPM
• You may find both these settings inside the BIOS. Go and check the current status of both by booting your device into the BIOS. 
• All modern computers support Secure Boot and TPM version 1.2, so you need to worry about it. Just read this tutorial on how to enable Secure Boot and TPM on your PC.

That would be all for now.