Upgrading from Win 7 Home Premium to Win 11 - TPM dilemma

Hello All.

I'm in the UK. chassis of my PC is an Acer machine I bought in about 2009.

My current motherboard is an Asus P8Z77-M from 2013 with 16GB DDR3 RAM and Intel Core i5 3470 CPU running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - bit. I want to upgrade to Windows 11 but apparently need a TPM. There is a 20-1 TPM header on the motherboard already. Bios is AMI V 2203. My C- Drive is a Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SSD.

Lots of cheap 20-1 TPMs about. mostly on Ebay, but all say they will only work with DDR4 RAM, which isn't much help.

Help and suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

Piemanpete said:

I'm in the UK. chassis of my PC is an Acer machine I bought in about 2009.

My current motherboard is an Asus P8Z77-M from 2013 with 16GB DDR3 RAM and Intel Core i5 3470 CPU running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - bit. I want to upgrade to Windows 11 but apparently need a TPM. There is a 20-1 TPM header on the motherboard already. Bios is AMI V 2203. My C- Drive is a Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SSD.

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Welcome to Eleven Forum.

Whether you have a TPM or not your machine still won't be a supported device for windows 11. Your 3rd gen i5 3470 is below the W11 requirements, the minimum supported Intel CPU is an 8th gen or newer. Another advantage of having an 8th gen or newer cpu is that they provide their own Windows 11 compatible firmware TPM 2.0 in the form of Intel® Platform Trust Technology (PTT) (AMD does the same with their fTPM).

Windows 11 supported Intel processors

There is no upgrade path direct from Windows 7 to windows 11. You could upgrade first to Windows 10, keeping your apps and files, and gaining a digital licence for Windows 10 Home. A digital licence is tied to the PC's unique hardware ID and stored on Microsoft's activation servers. There is no difference in the digital licence for Windows 10 or 11, so you'd be able to upgrade from 10 to 11, or clean install 11, and it will activate from the exiting digital licence.

If you want a supported device for Windows 11 then you'd need to do more than just add a TPM chip, you'd have to change the motherboard for one that has a supported CPU. This will count as a significant hardware change and you'd loose the digital licence. Once upgraded to Windows 10 you can transfer your digital licence to the new hardware by first switching your sign in to a Microsoft account. Then, after changing the motherboard, use the Activation Troubleshooter.


If you don't want to upgrade your hardware you can still upgrade to Windows 10, that will be supported. But an upgrade from 10 to 11 will require a workaround to bypass the system checks at install time. There are many ways to do that, and many threads too


Windows 11 will run on almost anything, no matter how inappropriate. My System Two in 'My Comuters' below has been happily running Windows 11 on its 1st gen i5 since 11 was released in October 2021.

As was already said, you have an unsupported computer. So to install (or upgrade to) Windows 11 you must bypass compatibility check. Don't read rumors on the internet that you can upgrade from Windows 7 64-bit directly. No way! I have spend hours trying many tricks, nothing worked. So you must first upgrade to Windows 8.1 64-bit or to 10 64-bit, I recommend 10 64-bit. Then upgrade from 10 64-bit to 11. So download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool or otherwise find the Windows 10 ISO. You can create a USB flash drive or you can use WinRAR and other suitable utility to open it and extract its contents to a folder. Then go inside that folder and run Setup to upgrade to Windows 10 64-bit. Once in Windows 10 and successfully activate it, you have a digital license also valid for Windows 11.

Now download the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool or otherwise the Windows 11 ISO. First of all disconnect from the internet! Mount it (open with Windows Explorer) and run Setup. It will create some hidden files and present you with the Setup screen. Before going any further make sure you have enabled to show hidden files and not to hide known extensions. Then right-click on your desktop and select New->Text Document to create an empty New Document.txt file. Rename it to appraiserres.dll without the .txt extension at the end. Now go to the hidden folder C:\$Windows.~BT\sources folder and delete the file appraiserres.dll inside it. Copy-paste the empty file you created on your desktop. That's it! Now Setup won't be able to verify compatibility and will just let you proceed with the upgrade. Stay disconnected from the internet to avoid any hidden online compatibility check which will make the upgrade fail after some time and also to prevent Windows Update messing with your drivers and possibly producing a BSOD. After you have successfully upgraded to Windows 11 connect to the internet and it should activate automatically. You can safely install all updates, there is no more compatibility check apart from the next version. To upgrade to the next version, 23H2 due this October, simply download the new ISO and repeat the upgrade procedure.

Zommer said:

• Your computer is not a supported device for Windows 11 because your CPU is below the minimum requirement. You can upgrade your CPU to an 8th gen or newer one, but this will require you to change your motherboard as well.
• You can bypass the compatibility check and install Windows 11 on your current computer, but this is not recommended. There is a risk that your computer may not run Windows 11 properly or that you may experience compatibility issues with your drivers.
• If you want to install Windows 11 on your current computer, you can do the following:
  • Upgrade to Windows 10 first. This will allow you to transfer your digital license to Windows 11.
  • Download the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool or the Windows 11 ISO.
  • Disconnect from the internet.
  • Run the Media Creation Tool or mount the ISO file.
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 11.
  • Once Windows 11 is installed, connect to the internet and activate it.

Please note that installing Windows 11 on an unsupported device is at your own risk. There is no guarantee that your computer will run Windows 11 properly or that you will not experience compatibility issues.

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Please don't confuse him! If he doesn't replace the appraiserres.dll file with an empty dummy to bypass compatibility check he will see a nasty error message that his PC is not compliant and won't be able to proceed. He must do exactly as I describe above, including staying disconnected from the internet during the whole process. Upgrading his computer is not necessary. The whole point is to avoid that and use his existing computer. Mine is also a 3rd generation Intel CPU (see my 2nd system specs) and I run Windows 11 fine for over a year. First Windows 11 21H2, now 22H2 and I will also upgrade to 23H2 this October (after I test that build in my laptop which is much older, see 1st system specs).

Thanks all for your helpful comments and suggestions, much appreciated.

I did have Win 10 installed on this PC, almost by accident really, when MS was trying to get everyone to switch to WIn10 and was planting upgrade launch files in the routine Windows update options in Control Panel. I didn't like 10 though so I found a way to revert it to 7, which has been working fine, albeit no longer supported by MS.

Recently, having acquired a Win 10 laptop which seems ok, I thought I'd better have another go and bought a very cheap license for Win 10 Pro online. Neither the update tool or the media creation tool will run on my PC, so I thought I might as well give that up and try upgrading to Win 11, which is how we ended up here.

The manual for my motherboard clearly shows the TPM header, but even Asus tech support says it is no longer possible to make the board Win11 compatible, which basically means I need a new mobo and CPU, or buy a Win11 PC, neither of which I can afford.

It looks like I am stuck with my obsolete OS, hoping it and various peripherals keep working for the foreseeable future, which is disappointing, to say the least.

Thanks again for reading my post and contributing your pearls of wisdom.

spapakons said:

Mine is also a 2rd generation Intel CPU (see my 2nd system specs) and I run Windows 11 fine for over a year. First Windows 11 21H2, now 22H2 and I will also upgrade to 23H2 this October (after I test that build in my laptop which is much older, see 1st system specs).

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I suspect your 23H2 tests will be successful. I'm already running the Insider Beta build 23H2 22631.2129 on my unsupported 'System Four' (it's in my Other Info). I've also run Dev and Canary on it too.

Piemanpete said:

I did have Win 10 installed on this PC, almost by accident really, when MS was trying to get everyone to switch to WIn10 and was planting upgrade launch files in the routine Windows update options in Control Panel. I didn't like 10 though so I found a way to revert it to 7, which has been working fine, albeit no longer supported by MS.

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That''s how I got first got Windows 10 on a Win7 laptop back in August 2015. I was looking at the offer, not really intending to go all the way, and got to a point of no return. I didn't like it at first either, but stuck with it for a couple of weeks and soon changed my mind.

Having had the upgrade to 10, however briefly, means that your PC already has a digital licence for Windows 10/11 Home stored on Microsoft's activation Servers.

Piemanpete said:

it is no longer possible to make the board Win11 compatible, which basically means I need a new mobo and CPU, or buy a Win11 PC, neither of which I can afford.

It looks like I am stuck with my obsolete OS, hoping it and various peripherals keep working for the foreseeable future, which is disappointing, to say the least.

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10 will be supported on your current motherboard until 14th October 2025. That should give you enough time to save up for a new(er) one that would be supported for 11.

Version	Servicing option	Availability date	Latest revision date	Latest build	End of servicing: Home, Pro, Pro Education and Pro for Workstations	End of servicing: Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise multi-session
22H2	General Availability Channel​	2022-10-18	2023-07-25	19045.3271	2025-10-14	2025-10-14

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Nice idea. Bree, but I am a 65yo unemployed man and skint/broke, so saving up for new IT equipment is not really an option.

Piemanpete said:

Nice idea. Bree, but I am a 65yo unemployed man and skint/broke, so saving up for new IT equipment is not really an option.

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I was thinking more like getting a used motherboard. You'd only need one with an 8th gen or later Intel cpu, they should be quite cheap two years from now.

No need to spend any money. Just bypass compatibility check and install Windows 11 on your existing computer.

spapakons said:

No need to spend any money. Just bypass compatibility check and install Windows 11 on your existing computer.

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Exactly this. No reason that you cannot run Windows 11 on your box, you just won't be fully supported by Microsoft in that configuration. But many run bypassing those requirements and things have been fine.

I did just that using Rufus. It was so easy. My version is Pro but there is no difference as far as Rufus is comcermed.
There's no way I can afford another PC.

I have downloaded Rufus 4.2 and unpacked the files as it comes in a Zip file, but cannot get it to run. Apparently there is no installer, you just run it, but there is no .exe file. Annoying.

Just run the rufus4.2.exe

In Windows 7 you must download Rufus 3.2

See my computer specs, i run w11 with no error
i use original ISO from microsoft download, then i use rufus and skip the tpm....

the cons are, sometimes you will never get update (i think this is MS Windows intellegent update system, it read your system and only give you compatible update) if you disable some telemetry, u will get 99.9999% update like the supported h/w but sometimes that will make you lagging. ( i dont know with your specs.. in my laptop specs, sometimes i get 99% cpu and ram run to 5.2 GB
so right now i use the most suitable (i think) update.. i suspend the windows update, but not the defender (i do update manual from defender GUI menu) and ms store still get update for my apps.
and also i need to search the most compatible driver. my USB-3 sometimes error so i do uninstall and re install driver using other version. now.. i found the version and i stop the driver update

Pie Man,
I'm running Windwos 11/Pro/64 on several PC's older than yours. On every one, I installed from a 32GB Flash Drive that was created by Rufus 3.22, where I accepted all the options, like this:
TPM GONE, ram requirement GONE, MS account requirement GONE. You wind up with a nice clean OS, which installs easily and runs just GREAT!
I would not tell you this, if I had not done it time after time myself.

Download Rufus 3.22 or later, directly from their parent web site. I doesn't have to install into Windows. It's a Stand Alone program.
Thousands of users have already done this, , , It's not Rocket Science.
I've found that things go easier if you'll put the ISO for Windows on your desktop, where you can easily point to it, in Rufus.

Good Luck,
TM

EnvioX said:

See my computer specs, i run w11 with no error....
the cons are, sometimes you will never get update (i think this is MS Windows intellegent update system, it read your system and only give you compatible update)

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Your specs say you have a 2nd gen i7. I have been running Windows 11 on my System Two with its 1st gen i5 since Windows 11 was first released as version 21H2 in October 2021. I also have a fully supported System One, so I know all the updates it could be getting.

The only update that wasn't offered to the unsupported system was the Feature Update from 21H2 to 22H2, a feature update is the only time Windows Update checks for compatibility. To get the upgrade I had to do an in-place upgrade with the 22H2 ISO and bypass the compatibility checks. Since then it continued to get all the same updates as my supported device.

Rufus 3.22 is the last running on Windows 7. Newer versions require Windows 8 or higher. Yes all updates are offered and install except for the ones to upgrade to the next version. For this you need to manually download the new ISO and bypass compatibility check. This is once a year, unless you run a Canary or Dev build (aka Insider's version)

spapakons said:

.....you need to manually download the new ISO and bypass compatibility check. This is once a year, unless you run a Canary or Dev build (aka Insider's version)

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Tell me about it!

For my sins I run the Dev and Beta builds on an unsupported device, updates to both arrive about once a week. Beta just gets CUs, so is trouble free and easy. Dev on the other hand gets a full Feature Update through Windows Update each time.

I'm getting really good at replacing appraiserres.dll before it gets a chance to check for compatibility. At about 8% downloaded Windows Update creates and populates the C:\$windows.~BT\ folder. I then have a window of opportunity of about 30 seconds in which to replace appraiserres.dll before it gets called by Windows Update to run the compatibility checks.