Windows update installed windows 11 on unsupported CPU I7-7700HQ

I am totally confused. Windows Update installed Windows 11 on unsupported CPU I7-7700HQ. Previously I always got the message that my hardware is not supported. Should I or can I revert back to Windows 10?

Dell XPS15 9560
I7-7700HQ 2.80 GHz
32.0 GB ram
64 bit OS

SusieQR said:

I am totally confused. Windows Update installed Windows 11 on unsupported CPU I7-7700HQ. Previously I always got the message that my hardware is not supported. Should I or can I revert back to Windows 10?

Click to expand...

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

Generally an 8th gen or higher Intel cpu is required, but there are a very few 7th gen ones in the list.




It could be that your i7-7700HQ has just been added to the list of supported systems and CPUs as the i7-7820HQ was.


Whether supported or not, Windows 11 runs well on almost anything and will get all cumulative updates. I've been running 11 on my System Two with its 1st gen i5 since 11 was first released. Many others have found the same.


If you want to go back to Windows 10, then you have 10 days after the upgrade to Windows 11 in which you can do so.

But

SusieQR said:

Should I or can I revert back to Windows 10?

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But the fact that Windows is operational is all that matters.

SusieQR said:

Dell XPS15 9560
I7-7700HQ 2.80 GHz
32.0 GB ram
64 bit OS

Windows Build/Version Windows 11 Home/23H2 build 22635.2483

Click to expand...

Have you signed up as a Windows Insider? Your 23H2 22635.2483 is an Insider Beta build. The rules about supported systems are a little different for Insiders.

I kind of thought it might be because I was a windows insider. I think I turned that feature off because I was always getting the message that my cpu was not compatible. I must of turned it back on & it finally downloaded Windows 11. I will see what happens. It seems to be stable. I could never understand why my processor was not on the list even though my system specs were more than compatible.

SusieQR said:

I kind of thought it might be because I was a windows insider. I think I turned that feature off because I was always getting the message that my cpu was not compatible. I must of turned it back on & it finally downloaded Windows 11. I will see what happens. It seems to be stable. I could never understand why my processor was not on the list even though my system specs were more than compatible.

Click to expand...

Well, if it's still less than 10 days since you upgraded to 11 and you want to try it for a while, then you can extend the time in which you can go back to your previous OS by up to 60 days.

I was given a Core i7-77xx computer for salvage of parts that won't run a proper install of Win11 but using other parts I had saved have it quite happily running Linux Mint.

This came up this morning:

Examine your system carefully to see if all your games and applications work as expected. Make sure you update all driver or at least the graphics drivers. Do it manually from manufacturer's support site, don't rely on Windows Update which usually installs only basic drivers without the full functionality and access to the graphics control panel. If you have an nVidia or AMD graphics card, I would go direvtly at their site as manufacturers often offer older versions of the drivers. If the official driver doesn;t work properly or whatever, you can then install the one offered by the manufacturer, otherwise leave it as it is. You will likely have much more compatibility and stability, let alone features, than the manufacturer version.

PS: If there is no Windows 11 driver, don't panic. All Windows Vista 64-bit or 7 or 8 or 10 64-bit drivers work in Windows 11 with some Intel graphics drivers for Windows 7 exceptions.

SusieQR said:

I am totally confused. Windows Update installed Windows 11 on unsupported CPU I7-7700HQ. Previously I always got the message that my hardware is not supported. Should I or can I revert back to Windows 10?

Dell XPS15 9560
I7-7700HQ 2.80 GHz
32.0 GB ram
64 bit OS

Click to expand...

How's it going Susie?

I'm considering now whether to update to W11, as W10 approaches its end of support - but I'm concerned about compatibility issues.

Thanks!

The Twickerman said:

How's it going Susie?

I'm considering now whether to update to W11, as W10 approaches its end of support - but I'm concerned about compatibility issues.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Dual boot Windows 11 and 7 and test your applications and games. When confident you can either delete Windows 7 or upgrade first to 10 and then to 11 and delete the old Windows 11 system.

The Twickerman said:

How's it going Susie?

I'm considering now whether to update to W11, as W10 approaches its end of support - but I'm concerned about compatibility issues.

Click to expand...

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

Susie hasn't been back since those posts in 2023, but I can assure you that Windows 11 runs well on unsupported devices. My System Two has been running W11 since the launch in October 2021 on its 1st gen i5, your 7th gen i7-7700HQ should have no trouble with W11.

An unsupported device gets all the same updates for the installed version through Windows Update as any supported device would. The only thing WU won't offer is the upgrade to the next version. For that you would need to do a manual upgrade with a workaround to bypass the system checks. My System Two upgraded from W10 to W11 21H2, and by now has upgraded to 24H2.

Unless you hit the same lucky fluke as Susie you will need a workaround to upgrade from W10 to W11. Option Three in this tutorial is the one I use.

Just to remind here, to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 21H2/22H2 or from 21H2 to 22H2 you had to replace or delete a specific file. To upgrade from 22H2 to 23H2 deleting the file would not work, you had to replace it with an empty dummy with the same name or just modify it. Also there was a specific update called 23H2 Enablement Package that would unlock the 23H2 features in 22H2 and change the version to 23H2 without doing a full upgrade since most files were common. In 24H2 things changed and replacing the file no longer works. To upgrade from Windows 10 or Windows 11 21H2/22H2/23H2 to 24H2 (yes you can skip versions an go directly to 24H2), you must either use some specific Registry patch or prepare a USB flash drive with Rufus which patches the Registry automatically, or run Setup in a Command Prompt with the following command:

d:\setup.exe /product server

where d is the drive letter of the virtual DVD-ROM when you mount the ISO (open with File Explorer). Replace d with the appropriate drive letter. Just make sure you type \ and / correctly, or it won't work. To avoid any complications that may make the upgrade to fail, make sure you disconnect from the internet the whole duration. In other threads some posters had problems with multiple disks. If you get any errors during the upgrade, try disconnecting all other disks and leave only the Windows disk. Also you can go in Device Manager and disable some devices (sound, LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, TV tuner etc), so Setup won't try to mess with drivers. I would also disable all startup applications and non-Microsoft services. Of course if you don't use Windows Defender and have third-party antivirus and/or firewall you should disable them too. For more details read the respective sticky thread.

PS: If you have an Intel Core 2 Duo or similar CPU without SSE4.2 instructions, you cannot upgrade to 24H2, stick with 23H2 instead. If you have at least first generation Intel Core-i3 or newer CPU you can upgrade to 24H2. You can also go directly from Windows 10 to Windows 11 24H2, no need to install 21H2 first and upgrade to every other version. I have also managed to upgrade directly from Windows 8.1 to Windows 11 21H2, probably you also can go directly to 24H2, haven't tried. The same goes for the equivalent AMD CPUs.

I just created a virtual machine and installed Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit to test upgradeability. Trying to upgrade directly to Windows 11 24H2 wasn't successful as the new modern installer crashed while determining if I could upgrade. I then went to the sources folder and tried the other setup executables. It looks like sources\setup.exe is the old installer, but I could not bypass compatibility check and failed. I tried the Registry hacks, didn't seem to work. I then changed to the Windows 11 23H2 ISO and executed the d:\setup.exe /product server command. This time it worked, see screenshot. I will let it finish and post another screenshot to confirm you can upgrade directly from Windows 8.1 to Windows 11 23H2. However, if you plan to upgrade to Windows 11 24H2 it beats the purpose. Why upgrade directly from Windows 8.1 to 2Windows 11 3H2 and then to Windows 11 24H2 and not upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 22H2 and then to Windows 11 24H2 which has less compatibility risks? Probably I am missing something in Windows 11 24H2 and did not bypass compatibility check and failed, anyone can comment on that?