Windows 11 24H2 Update Won’t Boot on Old Hardware

An upcoming Windows 11 update will mean that Windows 11 will no longer boot on some old machines.

Windows 11 has specific requirements for installation, but it is currently possible to bypass the requirements and install Windows 11 anyway.  If your computer doesn’t meet Microsoft’s official requirements, however, Microsoft will not provide support if anything goes wrong, as their first solution would be to get new hardware.

The upcoming 24H2 update for Windows 11 will change the requirements for booting up, meaning that some installations of Windows 11 could stop working.  As it relates to very old computers, most users will have nothing to worry about.

Specifically, Windows 11 will require the CPU to be equipped with an instruction that was first seen in CPUs in 2008.  If you have a computer from around that time that has been made to run Windows 11 anyway, there’s a chance that the new update will stop the computer running altogether, even if everything else is fully functional.

Old computers are often kept running for as long as possible to avoid having to buy new hardware, but eventually the increasing hardware requirements for newer versions of operating systems make it unfeasible.

If you have any questions or concerns about updates or older hardware, just get in touch.