Secure Boot issues

Question

Hello tech world!

For the longest time we've been under the impression that out old desktop computer cannot upgrade to Win 11. We need your kind help please prior to us reaching out to Asus, the maker of our old machine (still working great mind you, just the Win11 update issue). The internet is showing that we need to toggle on (if possible) Secure Boot. It looks like we either don't have it in our system or simply can't locate it. In one of the pictures (a screenshot of our system) it clearly states "Secure Boot State - Unsupported". We however read somewhere that that doesn't mean it's a done deal. If it's not toggled on, it may not be recognized. Unfortunately for us, investing in a new computer is not an option and we would never consider a pre-owned when it comes to a computer that we may or may not enter personal information into, we think you fully understand that. In the event our pc cannot upgrade as is, is there an affordable option of replacing something that is easily replaceable for any dummy and is also affordable?

We are attaching some pix that should help.

Thanx in advance for any and all positive input.

[moderator note: PII removed]

Answer 1

You would need to replace the motherboard, CPU and probably memory. (no secure boot is not the only unsupported issue)

This may cost the same as buying a new PC.

If your Asus system (from looking at the motherboard manufacturer) was built by Asus then the licence you have for Windows 10 will be OEM and not transferrable. Also looking at a date for the motherboard firmware it shows 2011 which is prior to Windows 10 release. If that means you took the offer of the free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 the licence will not be valid for Windows 11 anyway.

You would need to buy a new licence to activate Windows 11. (all adds to the cost)

I would suggest you continue with Windows 10 and make sure you have a 3rd party antivirus program installed and use a browser other than Edge.

You can see if you can sign-up for the ESU program to extend support for a year till October 2026 and decide about a new system later this year Extended Security Updates

Answer 2

Hello Mr. Euwing, welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Thank you for providing all the details so carefully. I understand that you are hoping to upgrade your older ASUS PC to Windows 11.

First, may I ask what your main reason is for wanting to move to Windows 11? You mentioned that the PC is still working very well with Windows 10. Even though Windows 10 has reached end of support, that does not mean the system will suddenly stop working, and continuing to use it is still completely fine.

Regarding your actual question, it needs to be stated clearly that this particular PC cannot be upgraded to Windows 11. This is not due to any settings being missed, but because the hardware itself simply does not meet several requirements.

The simplest explanation comes from the processor: Windows 11 requires at least an 8th‑generation Intel CPU, while your i7‑2600 is a 2nd‑generation one. That represents roughly six years of hardware development, and it falls well outside the supported range. Because of that large gap, other modern features that Windows 11 depends on — such as UEFI firmware, Secure Boot capability, and TPM 2.0 support — were not built into this system either. It is just not close, and there is no practical workaround, either software settings or hardware replacement.

Since your PC is performing well, I completely understand that you want to get the most out of it. However, the requirements exist for a reason; they are minimal baselines for performance, and forcing the newest operating system onto hardware that was not designed for it can create more issues than benefits. Because of that, I would suggest it is not worth the time to try bypassing or attempting internet tricks.

If you need any more explanation, I am happy to help further.

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Answer 3

THANK YOU VERY MUCH GUYS!! MUCH APPRECIATED.

I have a few more questions from your posts if I may please.

Although I don't see which one it was, why did you remove a picture that I offered? I made sure there was no personal info on them.

No, I or we do not want Win11, Win10 is good enough, we finally are acclimated with it, there is no reason for Win11, why can't all the young up and coming techies stop trying to fix what isn't broken and simply leave thing the bleep alone??? Grin. We were just under the impression that if we could upgrade it would solve other minor issues. Additionally, we have Win11 in a relatively new laptop that we bought ourselves last Christmas (24/25) and we do not care for it, hence the laptop rarely gets used.

Would you guys be kind enough to recommend the best or best rated for our pc free antivirus? We have whatever came prepackaged with Win10, what is that Defender? We believe it's working. We have stuck in our system Webroot, we got it when it was Freeware, we can't get rid of it, it is in control of our computer. They won't walk or talk us though a removal without us letting them access our computer remotely, so it's just stuck there. We recently had some kid we found on facebook tech pages help us remotely get our new (used off FB Marketplace) office xerox all in one talking to our pc (now it's not communicating or printing yet again, sooooo sad), he put in an antivirus, but it was asking us every day at least once to upgrade to a paid plan, so we deleted it, just looked, couldn't find anything, can't remember who it was, we'd remember if we saw or heard of it again. But computer is performing nevertheless. We use Firefox browser with DDGo, may have Chrome and others, however, we don't use them, or almost never.

We signed up and are good until Oktober.

Best, and thanx again for all the great input.
[moderator note: PII removed]