Windows 11 Watermark Showing Up On Unsupported Systems

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Microsoft implements plan to annoy users into upgrading PCs (or downgrading Windows)

Windows 11
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft finally seems to be getting serious (well, serious-ish) about urging users running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware to upgrade their systems — or downgrade their version of Windows. 

Since the January 2023 Patch Tuesday update, users running the production version of Windows 11 2H22 on unsupported hardware have reported, via the Windows Feedback Hub and Microsoft's forums, seeing a watermark that says "System requirements not met. Go to Settings to learn more" in the lower right corner of their desktop. 

"Going to settings and clicking the "Learn more" hyperlink brings me the to the Microsoft website talking about installing 11 on devices with system requirements un-met. It also suggests reverting back to 10 and that you can only do this 10 days after upgrading," reports one user on the Microsoft Community forums. Another user on the Windows feedback hub reports they bought their PC with Windows 11 preinstalled, and are only now seeing this message. 

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windows feedback hub
(Image credit: Future)

Microsoft first demoed this watermark 'feature'  for Windows Insider testers last March, so it's not too surprising that it's finally made its way to the production build. Not all users are seeing it, however, so Microsoft may be testing it on select accounts or rolling it out slowly (or both). 

Windows 11 has some surprisingly strict minimum system requirements, because it requires TPM 2.0 security. As a result, Windows 11 is only officially supported on CPUs equivalent to, or newer than, Intel's 8th-Gen (and some 7th-Gen) and AMD's 2nd-Gen processors. It also requires 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, minimum. If your PC meets these requirements and you're getting this message, you may need to enable TPM 2.0 in your BIOS.

At the moment, it looks like unsupported systems will only have to deal with a mildly-annoying watermark, but this could be the first step toward more drastic measures. Microsoft has warned that it will disable updates on unsupported systems (though this clearly has yet to come to fruition, as you'll only get the watermark if you install the latest update). 

So, just go buy a new CPU (says Microsoft). Or uninstall Windows 11 and downgrade to Windows 10, which you can do if you're within the 10-day window. Or hide the message with a registry edit (or a lighter-colored wallpaper). 

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal
Senior Editor, Peripherals

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware covering peripherals, software, and custom builds. You can find more of her work in PCWorld, Macworld, TechHive, CNET, Gizmodo, Tom's Guide, PC Gamer, Men's Health, Men's Fitness, SHAPE, Cosmopolitan, and just about everywhere else.

18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • peachpuff
    That outraged customer needs to learn how to read...
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    Non TPM motherboard: it hurts when I do windows 11
    Microsoft: Well don't do that.

    I am dreading the forced windows 11 update. 3 drive 4TB I have to back up. Then switch on secure boot and TPM which will wipe my install. Then reinstall windows. Restore backup. Then update to 11. Just....ugh.

    Also my 3770k system...what ewaste
    Reply
  • PlaneInTheSky
    Windows 11 has some surprisingly strict minimum system requirements, because it requires TPM 2.0 security. As a result, Windows 11 is only officially supported on CPUs equivalent to, or newer than, Intel's 8th-Gen (and some 7th-Gen) and AMD's 2nd-Gen processors.

    Even on mobo that have TPM 2.0, it is often turned off by default in the BIOS.

    But Microsoft will simply throw out an incorrect warning that the system lacks TPM 2.0.

    And the average person has no idea what a BIOS is, let alone TPM 2.0.

    Windows 11 is just a pointless mess.
    Reply
  • ezst036
    Admin said:
    Microsoft has started putting watermarks on desktops running Windows 11 on unsupported hardware.

    Windows 11 Watermark Showing Up On Unsupported Systems : Read more
    .....but this could be the first step toward more drastic measures

    It's only a matter of time. Microsoft has it within their power to force you to buy more hardware you don't need. At some point it'll be demanded by the bean counters as a service to their stock price.

    peachpuff said:
    That outraged customer needs to learn how to read...

    In reality this watermark is hardly the most outrageous thing. But it is a few more pieces of straw to add to the fire to be sure. The real outrage was TPM 2.0, which would've been something big enough to cause users to switch to something else such as Linux.
    Reply
  • ezst036
    peachpuff said:
    No one is moving to linux, relax.

    It used to be that Windows OS had 95% of the market lumped together considering every version. At the time, linux did not even register, it was lumped with "other" and "other" was pitifully small.
    https://brucefwebster.com/2013/09/18/microsoft-windows-forever-and-ever-windows-magazine-june-1996/
    They aren't even breaking 75% anymore. Mac wins 3 to 1, however, yes. plenty of people are moving to linux. ChromeOS is big enough on its own to be counted separate, bringing Linux over 5% and Mac over 15%. Most of the unknowns today are most likely all some flavor of linux or another. What people are not using in huge numbers are HaikuOS or QNX.
    https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide
    In roughly a decade, Microsoft has lost 20% of the desktop.
    Reply
  • rluker5
    But as far as this watermark: it show up in my 7700hq laptop, but not in my m5y71(Broadwell) tablet, my 4670k office pc or my 4130 garage music streamer- all on W11 since before release. The latter 2 are TPM 1.2, the m5y71 and 4130 are igpu and all have large enough hard drives and enough ram.

    Why is the biggest disappointment- the 7700hq laptop the only one with the watermark? Because the TPM 2.0 firmware is out of date and ASUS made the laptop for W10 and never thought to put out an update.
    Maybe I'll take it back to W10. There's this Atlas version that is pretty light and might give me better battery life.
    Reply
  • setx
    The only thing MS really wants is TPM. The rest of requirements are just smoke around it.
    Reply
  • zipspyder
    "Forced obsolescence". The fix is to downgrade...MS and the circle of confusion.
    Reply
  • bigdragon
    rluker5 said:
    But as far as this watermark: it show up in my 7700hq laptop
    Why is the biggest disappointment- the 7700hq laptop the only one with the watermark? Because the TPM 2.0 firmware is out of date and ASUS made the laptop for W10 and never thought to put out an update.
    I have this exact issue with my laptop. There's no technical reason why it cannot run Windows 11 without the watermark. The only issue is that Microsoft marked the CPU as unsupported even though they support a few other 7000-series CPUs. TPM firmware has nothing to do with it -- the cutoff is arbitrary. The note about an unsupported driver or process design is not applicable to the 7600 through 7900 series CPUs.

    I really hate the UI design of Windows 11, but I use my laptop so infrequently that I'm fine with 11 being on there. Having to deal with Microsoft throwing watermarks on the screen or harassing users to upgrade perfectly good hardware is annoying -- especially when newer laptop hardware is so thermally constricted that it can't perform to the level of older hardware.
    Reply
  • AlbertAZ
    I am running Windows 11 (latest version ) on my 4790K, Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H MB with a SSD and a MSI RX580. I have had no problems and it does everything I need. So far no watermark and if it comes I will live with it with the hope that someone will come up with a hack or reg edit to get rid of it. I will not go back to Windows 10.
    Reply