I'm considering getting a new notebook to replace my old netbook. I've heard mixed things about running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware. Specifically, if I install it on such a system, will it block updates? I've seen that Microsoft blocked updates for the 24H2 version and I wonder if the same will happen soon with 25H2. Has anyone had experiences with this?
4 Answers
Security updates come through every month, but when it’s time for a feature update like 25H2, it looks for the supported hardware again. You might need to do a bit of work to bypass that check.
I’ve been running Windows 11 on my first-gen i5, and it still gets security updates without any issues. You just need to manually install the feature upgrades like from 23H1 to 25H2. It’s not too hard—and it keeps everything intact without losing your files.
Exactly! I’ve done the same on a couple of older machines. If you monitor the updates and do the manual installs, it works just fine.
How exactly do you do the manual install? Is it just downloading an ISO or something?
From my experience, the version you install is pretty much what you stick with. My work laptop has unsupported hardware and it's stuck at 23H2 with no updates. If you can, I'd recommend getting a supported device or switching to Linux if your applications allow it.
Right! Older versions will get blocked eventually, but 25H2 is the final version for now. Just have to see if the bypass is needed for ongoing upgrades.
That’s not necessarily accurate. My machines kept getting updates until I installed 25H2, and now they're fine with updates for that version.
I managed to install 24H2 and it was super easy to update to 25H2. Just used the enablement package. My CPU is unsupported, but I still get all the cumulative updates.
And remember, you can get daily updates for things like Windows Defender, so it's not all bad!