Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 in October 2025. That means no more security updates, no more patches, no more fixes. For businesses still running Windows 10 on machines that can’t be upgraded, this isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s a genuine security and compliance risk.

The problem is that Windows 11 has more demanding hardware requirements than previous Windows upgrades, and a significant number of business PCs bought in 2019 or earlier simply don’t qualify. If you haven’t checked whether your machines meet the Windows 11 system requirements yet, now is the time.

The Windows 11 minimum hardware requirements

Microsoft’s official Windows 11 minimum specifications are as follows. Your business PCs need to meet all of these to run Windows 11 — not just some of them.

  • Processor: 1 GHz or faster, with 2 or more cores, on a compatible 64-bit processor or system on a chip (SoC)
  • RAM: 4 GB minimum
  • Storage: 64 GB minimum available storage
  • Firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable
  • TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
  • Graphics: DirectX 12 compatible or later, with a WDDM 2.0 driver
  • Display: HD display (720p), greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per colour channel
  • Internet: Required for initial setup on Windows 11 Home

Most of those requirements are met by any modern machine. The one that catches businesses out — every single time — is the TPM 2.0 requirement.

What is TPM 2.0? TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module. It’s a small security chip on your motherboard that handles encryption keys, secure boot, and device authentication. TPM 2.0 became standard in business-grade laptops from around 2017 onwards, but many consumer machines and older business PCs either have an older version (TPM 1.2) or have TPM disabled in the BIOS. Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0 — full stop.

How to check if your business PCs qualify

Microsoft released a free tool called the PC Health Check app specifically to check Windows 11 compatibility. You can download it directly from Microsoft’s website. Run it on each PC and it will tell you clearly whether the machine qualifies, and if not, exactly which requirement it fails on.

If you have more than a handful of machines to check, doing this manually is time-consuming. A managed IT provider — like us — can audit your entire device estate remotely via RMM tooling and give you a complete compatibility report across every device in your business, usually within a day.

💡 Common reasons machines fail

In our experience checking business fleets across Yorkshire, the most common failure points are: TPM 2.0 not enabled in BIOS (sometimes fixable), processor too old to be on Microsoft’s supported CPU list, and insufficient RAM. The processor issue is the most common reason a machine simply can’t be upgraded regardless of other specs.

What happens if your machines don’t qualify?

You have a few options, and which is right depends on the age and spec of the machines involved.

Enable TPM in the BIOS. Some machines have TPM 2.0 hardware but it’s disabled by default in the BIOS settings. If this is the only failing requirement, it’s a quick fix — access the BIOS on startup, find the security settings, and enable TPM. This can be done remotely or on-site by an IT engineer and takes minutes per machine.

Upgrade the RAM. If a machine is failing solely on RAM — it has 2 GB rather than the required 4 GB — and the processor qualifies, a RAM upgrade is cheap and extends the machine’s life significantly. For most business laptops and desktops, adding 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM costs £20–£50 in parts.

Replace the machine. If the processor is on the incompatible list or the machine is more than five or six years old, replacement is almost always the right call. Pouring money into ageing hardware is rarely good value, and older machines running Windows 10 without security updates represent a real risk to your business.

Apply for Extended Security Updates. Microsoft is offering paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10 beyond October 2025, giving businesses more time to transition. This isn’t a long-term solution — it buys time while you plan a proper hardware refresh — but for businesses with a large estate that can’t be upgraded overnight, it’s worth knowing about.

A note for Yorkshire businesses on compliance: If your business is subject to Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, or handles sensitive client data, running unsupported operating systems is a direct failure point during certification assessments. Windows 10 without ESU after October 2025 is effectively an unsupported OS. Don’t let a hardware refresh slide into a compliance problem.

Planning a Windows 11 migration for your business

The businesses that handle this smoothly are the ones that planned ahead. A proper Windows 11 migration for a small Yorkshire business typically involves three steps: auditing the current device estate for compatibility, deciding which machines upgrade and which get replaced, and then managing the transition in a way that minimises disruption to the working day.

Done properly, staff barely notice. Done badly — rushing it, doing it without proper testing, or discovering compatibility issues at the last minute — it becomes a week of headaches.

BOOM I.T. can audit your device estate for Windows 11 compatibility, advise on which machines to upgrade versus replace, supply and configure new business-grade hardware, and manage the full migration with minimal disruption to your team. If you’re not sure where your business stands with Windows 11, call us on 03333 660 005 for a straight answer.