Windows 11 24H2 goes from “unsupported” to “unbootable” on some older PCs

It'd ultimately be better for everyone if no PCs could boot windows 11.

OH NO anyway.

People who use Linux don't seem to realize how painful bandaid that is to tear for Windows users. And don't get me wrong, I know Linux supports all of that and more, and in the long run it's better for everyone. But breaking people's habits is a tough achievement to make. People will get use to some pointless tool which is not available for Linux and that's it. Deal broken. Not to mention having multiple tools that your job depends on. Sure you can learn a new thing or two, but that can be also overwhelming for many.

At this point Microsoft should just be buying me the computer since they make all their money on collecting my data

In modern x86 CPUs, POPCNT is implemented as part of the SSE4 instruction set. For Intel's chips, it was added as part of SSE4.2 in the original first-generation Core architecture, codenamed Nehalem. In AMD's processors, it's included in SSE4a, first used in Phenom, Athlon, and Sempron CPUs based on the K10 architecture. These architectures date back to 2008 and 2007, respectively.

That effectively bars mid-2000s Intel Core 2 Duo systems and early Athlon 64-era PCs from booting Windows 11 at all, not that they officially supported it in the first place. This means the change should mainly affect retro-computing enthusiasts who spend their days making YouTube videos in the "we installed Windows 11 on a potato, let's see how it runs" genre rather than users of actual systems.

You can check if your CPU has SSE 4.2(Intel) or 4a(AMD) but it sounds like unless you're running some real old stuff you shouldn't have to worry.

May I ask - why is anyone bothering to install Windows 11 on old hardware in the first place?

Old hardware is better for Linux. Either install Linux or you can get used to having your old hardware be used as a paperweight.

Itt: Use Linux Spam. This is not feasible for most users. Not all applicatopns are posted to Linux and some explicitly do not work. In particular for people that play games socially this just does not work. That being said they are unaffected by this change.

Sudo switch to linux

do hack to make software run on unsupported hardware

software stops working with update

surprised pikachu

“this is why i switched to linux” no shut up lol. this is not an issue for any average user and if you had the ability to hack the TPM requirements you have the ability to fix your borked install. this issue affects no one else. 🙂🙂🙂

I've got a solution but y'all will not like it🐧

I went to Linux for all private use years ago. And man - I wish so very hard I could simply switch to a non win-native CAD at the job.

It's penguin time

So if you got Win11 to install on an "unsupported" CPU it might not boot now?

Backward compatibility is a big selling point for me. It bugged me for years when Windows got rid of 16-bit compatibility.

Looking forward to Linux instead of Windows 11/12, I know it will be a learning curve but Linux is getting better and easier.

With all due respect, that sounds very much like what something unsupported would do.

2025 will likely be way more the year of massive e-waste than the "Year of the Linux Desktop (TM)" - but I still think it is in the realm of possible that Linux market share close to doubles into the 5 to 8 percent range.

While I already regularly use Ubuntu and Ubuntu Touch for my "infotainment" desktops, laptops and tablets - I have 3 desktops in my studio that run Windows 10 that work great for my pro audio work needs, none of which qualify for Windows 11 according to MS's "PC Health Check" app. So I've been investigating running Ubuntu Studio dual booting on one of my machines as a possible way of keeping these boxes going after Win 10 stops getting security updates. Some things look promising, but given I was not able to get the available kernel module device driver to build for my Merging Anubis (which is my main audio interface for my mastering studio) I will likely still need to get a Win 11 box in order to be able to continue my current work flow.

when they say "older" PCs they're talking about machines with CPUs that are over 14 years old now.

You'd need to have replaced that CPU by now anyway.

Linux Linux Linux Linux Linux Linux Linux

sudo dnf install fedora-39-workstation-edition

I do use Windows for a lot of specific programs, but this behavior is really pushing me to Linux and to find alternatives to the software I use.

Almost like I still have no reason to get a secure boot machine!

This is the best summary I could come up with:

That's apparently changing a bit in Windows 11's 24H2 update, which Microsoft began testing earlier this month.

According to posts from a user named Bob Pony on X, formerly Twitter, the latest Windows 11 builds refuse to boot on older processors that don't support a relatively obscure instruction called "POPCNT."

For Intel's chips, it was added as part of SSE4.2 in the original first-generation Core architecture, codenamed Nehalem.

That effectively bars mid-2000s Intel Core 2 Duo systems and early Athlon 64-era PCs from booting Windows 11 at all, not that they officially supported it in the first place.

This means the change should mainly affect retro-computing enthusiasts who spend their days making YouTube videos in the "we installed Windows 11 on a potato, let's see how it runs" genre rather than users of actual systems.

No CPU manufacturer is including stuff like POPCNT or MBEC in their marketing materials, but modern Windows support is increasingly dictated by these kinds of features.

The original article contains 498 words, the summary contains 161 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

And again, install Linux, get rid of Microsoft trash

So wait, doesn't the naming for their builds based on the year and whether the first half, or second half, of the year? How would they have a 24H2 if we're only in February of 2024?

If you think about it. Rhel already killed of the use of older CPUs by requiring x86-64-v2 for rhel 9 and up. If you got x86-64-v1 you get a kernel panic and can not even boot the system. Dont get me wrong I love linux and use it anywhere I can.

That's an improvement, I used to have to desolder the TPM chip so ...

I got a new laptop and one of the first things I did was install Windows 10. My colleague has more or less the same laptop and complains how slow it is.

Permanently Deleted

It's really unfortunate that some people still rely on Windows for their computing. There are better, more respectful alternatives but Microsoft's stranglehold causes problems switching.

https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Freedom_Ladder

This page is a work in progress but if you scroll down you'll see some rough guidelines on how to get off of proprietary software, eventually Windows, one step at a time.

Free/Libre/Open Source software is guaranteed to be supported by GNU/Linux, and it also has many other perks.