Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

HarleyQuinn · Oct 30, 2025

Guys too many unstable updates lately for 25h2, even supported devices having problems. My system started acting weird so I installed 23h2(always wanted to try this lol) i will compare performance between these two version for old device.

spapakons · Oct 30, 2025

I have upgraded to 25H2 26200.6901 and haven't seen any serious issues. The recent automatic change from Light mode to Dark Mode depending on time was a new feature of Microsoft Power Toys called Light Switch which I disabled. Also latest Microsoft Edge defaults to gray in Light Mode instead of the default accent color (blue) but I temporarily chose a custom theme to avoid it. Nothing too serious.

HarleyQuinn · Oct 30, 2025

spapakons said:
I have upgraded to 25H2 26200.6901 and haven't seen any serious issues. The recent automatic change from Light mode to Dark Mode depending on time was a new feature of Microsoft Power Toys called Light Switch which I disabled. Also latest Microsoft Edge defaults to gray in Light Mode instead of the default accent color (blue) but I temporarily chose a custom theme to avoid it. Nothing too serious.

may i ask is your tpm and sb both disabled?

what do you see when you go to Security > Device security > Core isolation details

spapakons · Oct 30, 2025

HarleyQuinn said:
may i ask is your tpm and sb both disabled?

what do you see when you go to Security > Device security > Core isolation details

I have an unsupported computer (see 2nd system specs) which originally had a small 120GB SSD. So in order to avoid the extra system partitions of GPT, I deliberately created a Legacy BIOS MBR installation. Motherboard is set to UEFI + CSM in order to boot both UEFI mode and Legacy BIOS mode, so Secure Boot is disabled. Also my motherboard doesn't have a software or hardware TPM module. This spares me the issues associated with Secure Boot, certificates and automatic drive encryption in 24H2 and 25H2.

Since I use virtual machines only once or twice a month, I have disabled Memory Integrity so I don't have the performance penalty associated with it. Also because I use older drivers which might have issues, I have also disabled Local Security Authority protection and Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist just in case. Of course I cannot recommend anyone to do it, but it is a workaround if you have issues with old drivers and not use virtual machines. So mostly useful for an old unsupported computer. In Windows 11 compliant computers try all three enabled and disable only Memory Integrity if you see a performance drop.

Buddywh · Oct 30, 2025

HarleyQuinn said:
Guys too many unstable updates lately for 25h2, even supported devices having problems. My system started acting weird so I installed 23h2(always wanted to try this lol) i will compare performance between these two version for old device.

I'm running 25H2 26200.7019. No problems at all... running secure boot, updated 2023 keys and using the TPM1.2 module with a Bitlocker'd C drive. Motherboard is pretty old and using a 2014 UEFI BIOS. That's my older machine, and of course I have a couple newer ones too, configured similarly except they have TPM2.0 devices and so pretty much what Win11 expects.

HarleyQuinn · Oct 30, 2025

In 25h2 device security section had 3 or 4 protection enabled, sometimes i had to close few to install drivers. But in 23h2 there is none it says this. When i check tpm module it says its not activated on bios. If its not activated on bios then how the heck 25h2 was able to use my tpm 1.2 module

I am really confused

HarleyQuinn · Oct 30, 2025

HarleyQuinn said:
Guys too many unstable updates lately for 25h2, even supported devices having problems. My system started acting weird so I installed 23h2(always wanted to try this lol) i will compare performance between these two version for old device.

My device was actually running pretty good on 25h2, i said "weird" because i thought recent windows update automatically opened virtualization in my system without my permission. I got a bit paranoid. But at the end seems like 25h2 was just doing something more secure

Buddywh · Oct 30, 2025

HarleyQuinn said:
My device was actually running pretty good on 25h2, i said "weird" because i thought recent windows update automatically opened virtualization in my system without my permission. I got a bit paranoid. But at the end seems like 25h2 was just doing something more secure

Windows does use virtualization for some things (like Memory Integrity) simply if you have it (SVM for AMD) enabled on your CPU. But you have to install Sandbox at a minimum, and Hyper-V, Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Hypervisor Platform to get all of the virtualization services that provide for it's full spectrum of capabilities.

spapakons · Oct 30, 2025

Last time I tried to enable the virtual machine feature and hypervisor my PC wouldn't boot, so I disabled them.

Buddywh · Oct 30, 2025

spapakons said:
Last time I tried to enable the virtual machine feature and hypervisor my PC wouldn't boot, so I disabled them.

I enabled SVM in my FX6300 along with Memory Integrity, even installed Sand Box and ran a virtual Win11 session for a while. But the machine always locks up eventually so apparently SVM in these FX processors just isn't capable enough. No big deal, it was mostly a lark anyway so uninstalled it all.

spapakons · Oct 31, 2025

HarleyQuinn said:
In 25h2 device security section had 3 or 4 protection enabled, sometimes i had to close few to install drivers. But in 23h2 there is none it says this. When i check tpm module it says its not activated on bios. If its not activated on bios then how the heck 25h2 was able to use my tpm 1.2 module I am really confused

TPM 1.2 is not enough, official Windows 11 requirement is TPM 2.0

HarleyQuinn · Oct 31, 2025

spapakons said:
TPM 1.2 is not enough, official Windows 11 requirement is TPM 2.0

yes i know, I'm saying tpm module itself also provide protection, just tpm 2 has more advance feature with more complex algorithms. When i was in 25h2 in settings Security > Device security i was able to see
*Core isolation
*memory integrity
*local security authority protection
*microsoft vulnerable driver blocklist

but in 23h2 Security > Device security is empty.

HarleyQuinn · Oct 31, 2025

Buddywh said:
Windows does use virtualization for some things (like Memory Integrity) simply if you have it (SVM for AMD) enabled on your CPU. But you have to install Sandbox at a minimum, and Hyper-V, Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Hypervisor Platform to get all of the virtualization services that provide for it's full spectrum of capabilities.

I have never changed any virtualization setting on bios, it's disabled for ages. I think 25h2 decided to use my tpm chip even tho it is 1.2

HarleyQuinn · Oct 31, 2025

when i do HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity regedit, event log shows error 'no tpm found or BIOS'

What if microsoft found a way to access my bios now in 25h2?

spapakons · Oct 31, 2025

Windows can use older version TPM 1.2 for security, but the official requirement is for version 2.0. No mystery here. I have neither but I also have access to Memory Integrity options. Probably they work in software, like they did in Windows 10.

HarleyQuinn · Nov 1, 2025

I don't think i explained myself well. I don't have tpm 2.0, i have 1.2 chip. When I tried to install drivers in 25h2 system gave me error code and not let me install these old drivers (because it was a threat) Whenever i closed memory integrity i was able to install drivers.

My point is even tho i have not touched any bios setting after I rolled back to 23h2 when i try to install same old drivers, i was able to do it without stuck any security process. I checked core isolation setting it was empty "hardware security not supported" I checked event log and saw some errors "virtual based protection not activated on BIOS"

This means only one thing which is compared to 23h2, 25h2 found some way to access my kernal and made my pc more protected?

Memory integrity, also known as Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI), prevents malicious code from being injected into processes with low-level access to the Windows kernel.

"Some of you won’t see a “Memory Integrity” section within the “Core isolation details” menu. This is because you don’t have Hardware Virtualization switched on. This is a setting within the BIOS of your computer"

What is Memory Integrity?

Memory Integrity is a security feature in Windows. Here's how it works, and how to enable it.

www.corsair.com

Buddywh · Nov 1, 2025

HarleyQuinn said:
When I tried to install drivers in 25h2 system gave me error code and not let me install these old drivers (because it was a threat) Whenever i closed memory integrity i was able to install drivers.

Did you try disabling the Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist setting in Windows Security > Device Settings > Core Isolation?

I'm pretty sure later Win11 builds have gone to a model where Windows wants drivers to be signed or it blocks them by default. Generally speaking, that does make it more difficult to use legacy hardware that's been abandoned by manufacturers if Microsoft doesn't provide a signed driver through Windows Update or the Microsoft Store.

So breaking that security layer is probably where you should be focusing your attention. I imagine there could be a Local Security Policy setting you could change to loosen that up if disabling MVDB doesn't do it, perhaps even specify exactly which drivers to allow.

HarleyQuinn · Nov 1, 2025

Buddywh said:
Did you try disabling the Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist setting in Windows Security > Device Settings > Core Isolation?

Hey I didn't disable anything related to security. I like the way how windows used to warn me before installing some vulnerable driver and leaving me choice to install or not(in 25h2). But in 23h2 it doesn't check just installs.

I agreed with you, I also think Win11 builds have improved model where windows wants to make sure we dummy users not doing something stupid, because later on a thread in reddit would ruin their reputation

My pc is pretty old, shipped with win 7 when moved to win11 last year I bought license and activated. I was even downloading some paid apps from microsoft store. I was chatting with copilot. I mean I think microsoft aware of me, aware of us all unsupported users and they just let us use new builds. They let us install security updates.. Honestly I am not complaining them taking admin rights or what so ever to make my pc more secure because I had no idea what even tpm or sec boot or virtualization mean lol

I asked you guys because I wanted to understand logic behind, it is interesting how suddenly i ended up protected by my 1.2 tpm chip. I will install 24h2 build now, want to check this one as well.

Buddywh · Nov 1, 2025

HarleyQuinn said:
Hey I didn't disable anything related to security. I like the way how windows used to warn me before installing some vulnerable driver and leaving me choice to install or not(in 25h2). But in 23h2 it doesn't check just installs.

I agreed with you, I also think Win11 builds have improved model where windows wants to make sure we dummy users not doing something stupid, because later on a thread in reddit would ruin their reputation

My pc is pretty old, shipped with win 7 when moved to win11 last year I bought license and activated. I was even downloading some paid apps from microsoft store. I was chatting with copilot. I mean I think microsoft aware of me, aware of us all unsupported users and they just let us use new builds. They let us install security updates.. Honestly I am not complaining them taking admin rights or what so ever to make my pc more secure because I had no idea what even tpm or sec boot or virtualization mean lol

I asked you guys because I wanted to understand logic behind, it is interesting how suddenly i ended up protected by my 1.2 tpm chip. I will install 24h2 build now, want to check this one as well.

My "antique" was a Windows XP PC (because I had a license for it) when first built, then Windows 7 Pro shortly after (because my employer required it and furnished the license). From there it's been a weird path of upgrades (software and hardware) getting all the way to running Win 11 25H2, UEFI mode, Secure Boot w/2023 keys, TPM1.2 securing the key to a Bitlocker'd system drive.

But it works, and pretty much flawlessly. Even though it's less secure than TPM2.0, the SHA-1 hashes will thwart the only persons likely to want to break into the system drive: which is a junky house thief or their drug pusher. I have nothing of interest to any "nation state" with the resources to break it and get at my family vacation photos and bank balance statements... which they'd probably know already.

HarleyQuinn · Nov 1, 2025

Okay guys I am on 24h2 now and guess what? all the missing options under Security > Device security ARE BACK!

*Core isolation
*memory integrity
*local security authority protection
*microsoft vulnerable driver blocklist

I am able to see these again! Without manually changing anything in BIOS.

I did some research and found this video, i knew im not delusional or anything

Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

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