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My laptop will not boot with secure boot enabled. Do I have to have secure boot enabled to install windows 11?

Anonymous
2025-05-27T21:31:49+00:00

I have a 4-year-old Lenovo IdeaPad flex 5 15iil05. It will not boot with secure boot enabled. Does secure boot have to be enabled to upgrade? I know the laptop can run Windows 11 as it ran it before installing Ubuntu. The laptop currently runs Windows 10 just fine and came with digital entitlement attached to hardware that also works on Windows 11. When secure boot is enabled, it will say “Verifying shim SBAT data failed: Security Policy Violation Something has gone seriously wrong: SBAT self-check failed: Security Policy Violation” and shuts down. From what I can tell, this is the Lenovo uefi and not windows, Because it said this after installing chrome OS flex.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Install and upgrade

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-05-27T22:13:17+00:00

    Hello Augusto, I hope you are well and having an excellent day!

    You do not necessarily have to have secure boot enabled to update Windows 11 or to install it. Remember that Windows 11 is designed to work with certain security measures; your system can function stably with secure boot disabled as long as your device meets the other requirements, and you have digital rights associated. Usually, the error you mention is more related to secure boot causing this improper boot because it is against malicious software, but enabling it can lead to errors that prevent booting. It is preferable to keep it disabled to ensure the stability of your device, allowing you to operate in winre mode even without secure boot enabled. I recommend disabling it and, if possible, try to resolve the error in the future through a firmware update or check if there is a specific workaround for your model.

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