This is a confusing time to be a Windows 10 user, as a raft of contradictory advice seems to hit you weekly. The October deadline is fast approaching. After that, your choices are to upgrade if you can or buy a new PC if you cannot, or you can pay $30 to literally buy yourself another year. There is a real need for a workaround, but Microsoft has suddenly issued a new warning which is bad news for users.
This last week has been a nightmare on that workaround front. First, Microsoft edited its official support document to remove a seemingly official Registry tweak. This provided a bypass for hardware restrictions that would stop hundreds of millions of Windows 10 users upgrading if they want to upgrade, which most don’t.
Then with that news still being digested, Microsoft seemed to remove another workaround — the Flyby11 software — a risky, unwanted app, blocking installs for many. As ever with the Windows 10 upgrade debacle, there followed speculation as to what is and isn’t Microsoft’s intent, and whether the hardware hurdles have changed.
Wonder no more. Microsoft has just clarified the situation. And it’s stark. “Windows 11 minimum system requirements remain unchanged,” it says, warning even more bluntly that those who have used workarounds should undo them. “If you installed Windows 11 on a device not meeting Windows 11 system requirements, Microsoft recommends you roll back to Windows 10 immediately.” That means if you used the seemingly official Registry tweak instructions before they were deleted, you’re bang out of luck.
The new language was added on Tuesday, and deals head-on with the confusion created when the document was changed to remove the Registry tweak. “This support article was originally published on September 30, 2021,” the company explains, “when Windows 11 was first released to the public. At the time of publication and still today, the intention behind this support page is to detail ways of installing Windows 11 on devices that meet system requirements for Windows 11.”
For those with PCs that can upgrade, the free offer to do so is open and will likely remain so at least until October. For those without compatible PCs, the official advice is to upgrade your PC — this is the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh, after all — or pay the $30 and kick the problem down the road to October 2026.
Whatever you do, though, don’t fall off support.
