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Intel 7th Gen Kaby Lake not supported by Windows 11

Anonymous
2021-12-22T12:53:43+00:00

I have an Intel I7-7700HQ Kaby Lake CPU, and all the minimum system requirements for Windows 11 apart from the CPU are met - as shown in the PC Health Check screenshots.

I'm running a 3 year old (which at the time was a) high spec MSI gaming laptop with upgraded RAM and SSD

I have a tech friend with the exact same model without any upgrades, and is running Windows 11 with no issues whatsoever from a manual install.

In PC Health Check when I click on the Device Specifications button, it takes me to a web page which states

"This PC will not run Windows 11

Your PC does not currently meet the needed requirements."

That is a false statement. As my tech friend demonstrated, it will run Windows 11 (manual install), and without any issues.

The Needed Requirements link takes me to a System Requirements page, which states

"Processor 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)."

My CPU is 2.80GHz with 4 cores on a compatible 64 bit processor

I have secure boot

I have TPM 2.0 module active

I have 32gb memory

I have 128gb SSD

All other requirements are met.

So my question is why exactly the Intel I7-7700HQ is not supported and missing from the supported CPU list when it exceeds the stated minimum CPU requirements on Microsoft's own web pages, and is more than capable of running Windows 11? https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Install and upgrade

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-12-23T18:17:47+00:00

    I also have a Core i7-7700HQ. I am done with these people saying 2017/2018 is old. Is not even 5 years, anything that is not past 5 years should not be considered old. This stuff with the Kaby Lake is weird and Microsoft doesnt seem to touch some 8th gens because they know they have to support the 7th gen of Kaby as well. So this what is being said: " Officially, only the Kaby Lake-R CPUs (which are 8th gen) are supported. Kaby Lake-G (8th gen) and Kaby Lake (7th gen) are not supported." https://www.quora.com/Will-Windows-11-work-on-7th-Gen-Intel-Kaby-Lake-processors. Additionally Kaby Lake only supports windows 10 and nothing else https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/pfv4ee/intel_7th_gen_kaby_lake_compatibility_nonsense/ . This damn processor is in a limbo and the twilight zone.

    Even Dell still mentions all of Kaby Lake being supported in their site https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000130972/microsoft-windows-operating-system-support-for-intel-kaby-lake-and-later-processors. Anyone who bought a gaming laptop over $1000 should be given their money back from all the companies and especially Microsoft just saying: "Windows 10 is the last windows there will be" setting this statement on stone, so when Windows 11 surprisingly was announced they just make excuses and backstab the user. I don't care what arguments people have, Microsoft just wants to ditch all these group of people like nothing is happening even when this is completely their fault. Such a big corporation cant seem to plan for the future, this is just funny.

    From Horace Wiggins statement "The processor requirement is the most restrictive; supported processors include 8th-generation and newer Intel Core processors as well as AMD Ryzen 2000-series processors and newer. These are all chips that launched in late 2017 and early 2018". Kaby Lake was launched late 2017, so Microsoft there is no EXCUSE! fix your stuff!

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-05-23T23:20:11+00:00

    I've been running Windows 11 on a i7-7500u (Kaby Lake) via the Windows Insider Program. I forget when I upgraded to it, but it has been running sweet for a long time. Dell XPS 13" 9360.

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  3. Sumit 43,546 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-12-22T13:02:46+00:00

    Because it doesn't have a security feature called VBS built-in into the processor.

    There has been a lot of debate on 77HQ earlier too.

    Can my laptop run Windows 11 on Intel Core i7 7700HQ? - Microsoft Community

    Two things:

    1. Windows 10 is supported until 2025.
    2. As long as security requirements are met except the processor, you can install Windows 11, offline if you understand the risks including no updates. See:

    Installing Windows 11 on devices that do not meet the minimum requirements

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/installing-windows-11-on-devices-that-don-t-meet-minimum-system-requirements-0b2dc4a2-5933-4ad4-9c09-ef0a331518f1

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-04-15T13:23:30+00:00

    I concur that Microsoft should do something about this. There is more than enough cpu power to run WIndows 11. My question: has your friend (or anyone else) run into any problems after the manual install of Windows 11 running on the i7-7700? I don't want to spend an additional $300-400 on a new processor.

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-12-22T13:19:50+00:00

    The processor requirement is the most restrictive; supported processors include 8th-generation and newer Intel Core processors as well as AMD Ryzen 2000-series processors and newer. These are all chips that launched in late 2017 and early 2018. Older computers can't officially run Windows 11.

    Windows Processor Requirements | Microsoft Docs

    Windows processor requirements Windows 11 supported Intel processors | Microsoft Docs

    Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com)

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