After successful Windows 11 installation, "PC does not meet the minimum hardware requirements"

[kaz219]

I have a MacBook Pro 15" 2021 with M1 Pro chip.

I have successfully followed the guide to install Windows 11, all hardware checks passed at the time.

But now, under Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program, it says "Your PC does not meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11. Your Channel options will be limited."
And now I can only select the "Release Preview" channel.

Is this expected, meaning one has to reinstall Windows 11 every other month to keep it working? (the build will expire)

I checked the vTPM is enabled, 64GB disk, 4096MB RAM, 2 CPU cores. I really don't know what the Windows 11 is not happy about now – it _was_ happy with the virtual hardware when I installed Windows 11 the first time, so something changed somewhere I guess.

[Technogeezer]

I’ve seen this even with a Fusion Windows 11 VM on a 2014 Mac mini. 

The CPU in a both M1 Macs and my Mac mini are not listed as supported CPUs for Windows 11 by Microsoft. Evidently signing up for the Windows Insider program requires the CPU to be on their supported CPU list. 

From what I’ve seen by running various channel builds of Windows 11 ARM over the last 9 or so months, this does not mean you won’t get Windows updates or that the build you have installed will stop working. 

Update and I'm going to "eat a bit of crow" here - I did see behavior similar to what you're saying using the insider preview 22598 Beta channel VHDX that I downloaded in mid August. Once I installed it today, it complained about the build being expired, and that insider options would be limited. I haven't been running with Insider Preview VHDX builds for a while now so I didn't notice this. 

However, the build continued to work and there were some updates that it received (such as security updates).

The Windows 11 21H2 22000 retail channel build that I'm running as a matter of course has been running fine.  It is licensed and activated, and has recently updated itself to the latest 22000.918 monthly updated. It too complains about not meeting Windows 11 hardware specifications if I try to enroll it in the Windows Insider Program. But that hasn't stopped it from getting updates.

I'll see what happens when 22H2 finally reaches a retail channel release and if it will be offered to me as an upgrade.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Mine are all still getting updates, and it's not enrolled.  I suspect you're right and that's where the check is happening (suspect it's looking for a Quacomm chip).

That'd make sense - they don't want bug reports, logs, or feedback from people running a non-standard, unsupported config.

[kaz219]

So I'm on Windows 11 22H2 22598.1 at the moment, which is supposed to expire on Sept. 15th, let's see what happens, I really hope I do not have to reinstall it from scratch. Thanks for the useful feedback!

[ziggy29]

I'm seeing the same thing -- this build "expires" on 9/15/2022, and it says my computer (MacBook Air M1) does not meet the requirement, and thus no updates have been available.  

[U235]

Same here, we'll see what happens tomorrow. This is frustrating as I use these VMs for work.

[Technogeezer]

I'd be willing to bet that the build will not stop working. 

Sources are saying that Windows 11 22H2 is rumored to be released on Sept 20. It may be time at that point to use your existing Windows installation and create an installation ISO from uupdump.net of the released, retail build. Then upgrade your VM using that build.

[U235]

Hopefully we can do an actual upgrade, I've got a lot of customization on my VMs, would hate to have to re-do that.

[Technogeezer]

Understand your concern. I had a 21H2 (22000) retail build VM that I upgraded using the 22H2 Release Preview ISO obtained through uupdump.net (Release Preview channel, not Beta or Dev). The only way that upgrade got done successfully was to let it uninstall apps - my files remained, however. I did find that after upgrade and app reinstalls, certain strange behaviors (such as the difficulties I had running Calculator, Mail, and Calendar) all of a sudden went away.

Don't know what will happen with VMs running the 22H2 release preview VHDX that are either beta channel or dev channel. I would hope that they would go smoother as I think there were some wonky bits in 21H2 (22000) releases. 

In any case, it's worth trying the 22H2 official release upgrade once it hits (but backup your VM first so you can always come back).

[U235]

Well the VM still boots, it still says it'll expire soon on 09/15, but it's clearly 09/16. Everything still works.

[U235]

I got the 22H2 files from uupdump.net and installed over my expired version and it worked fine. No more error! It still says I don't meet the minimum HW requirements, but it's easy enough to upgrade these!

Thanks so much!!!

[Technogeezer]

That's great news @U235 and glad it worked for you. I'm afraid we'll still see that "your PC doesn't meet minimum requirements" unless Microsoft decides to officially support running Windows 11 ARM on Apple Silicon processors. That doesn't necessarily mean they have to support native booting with both Parallels and VMware supporting virtualization on Apple Silicon..

[ziggy29]

I'm OK with the message as long as I get the updates.  Maybe the key is to not get it from the Insider program.  I'll try to create a new ISO with this method and redo it all, since I never invested a lot of time into this install.  

[Technogeezer]

Interesting reading:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-insider/build-expiration

[ColoradoMarmot]

I suspect that's it - I don't see the message on the one I created from UU.

[TomyandJerry]

Can I asked how you did it @U235? I'm trying to figure it out but can't find anything? If not im going to parallels unfortunately. 

[Technogeezer]

@TomyandJerry 

if by “how did you do it” you’re referring to “how did he/she/they install Windows 11”, techniques for obtaining and installing Windows 11 ARM on Fusion 13 can be found in the Unofficial Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon Companion Guide found here: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Fusion-Documents/The-Unofficial-Fusion-13-for-Apple-Silicon...

Please post any additional questions about Fusion on Apple Silicon to the VMware Fusion forum. This forum was for a now expired Fusion Tech Preview release. Posting in this forum will not get the attention of very many people.