Windows 11 Installed by Windows Update on Unsupported Hardware

I cant find anything about your cpu being officially supported. But I did find that Microsoft occasionally quietly adds more cpu's to the list of compatibility particularly with the moment updates. It is possible they did this for the recent moment 4 update and haven't yet listed all the new cpu's? This is only a guess of course.

The Intel® Core™ i7-7700K CPU is TPM 2.0 compatible and is very Windows 11 capable so I wouldn't be very surprised to see it added to a compatibility list as Windows 11 ages.

At this point either enjoy having Windows 11 or quickly press the "go back" button in the recovery options to get back to Windows 10. I believe the go back button lasts only a short time, something like 5 days.

This list is very recent - 10/5/23 and your processor isn't on it...

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

Very strange, pelaird. Maybe Neil or Sean know more about this. 

Interesting. If the moment 4 update didn't add the cpu to the list and if it was intentional on Microsofts end, my best guess would be that the impending 23h2 update is what has the under the hood fixes to account for that CPU. It is possible that Microsoft turned on the Windows 11 update for the 7th generation intel cpu ahead of schedule (if it is something that is happening that is). Its either that or a bug.

Don't think I'd keep it since subsequent updates might not install. Hope you have a W10 ISO, pelaird, in case further updates get refused...

While Microsoft has used that language. I do not believe they will clamp down on unsupported devices myself.

One thing Pelaird could try if he has time is to push the "go back" button and see if the Windows 11 update pops back up afterwords  to see if it is a legit update from Microsoft rather then a bug.... Time consuming trial though.

Thanks for all the comments. I think there are 10 days to go back to Windows 10, and I will pay close attention to that.

I plan on doing some research on the WEB over the next couple of days to see what I can find.

As I said, I was on the Insider Release Preview channel for windows 10. The version of Windows 11 that was installed is the Insider Developer channel, 23570.1000ni version of Windows 11. I'm not entirely sure what "ni" or nickel means. There is no watermark in the lower right corner either.

In the Windows Update settings for the "Choose your insider settings," all the choices are grayed out and the "Stop Getting preview builds" is also grayed out.

It does seem to run noticeably faster than Windows 10 was running on my machine.

If anyone comes across any news that might be helpful, I would appreciate a heads up.

Thanks.

pelaird

UPDATE: I opened a case with Microsoft Support. I'll let you know what they have to say.

I have several thoughts on this.

1. It may be possible that the DEV channel is currently trialing your CPU for windows 11 and they may be wanting people to beta test it further before they release it, potentially with the release of 23H2.

2. I have seen you as a member of the community for a while and as someone that likes to customize your pc I can not recommend you getting stuck in Windows 11 DEV channel. The only off ramp after the "go back" button disappears is a clean install of Windows 11. Being on a release channel or even a beta channel is fine because there are off ramps. The DEV channel sticks.

I think what I would recommend is going back but stay hopeful that Windows 11 23H2 may include your CPU once it is officially released

Additionally, you could test the build up until the go back button is set to expire and then leave feedback with Microsoft on how well it is performing if you want.

Ah, very good point. That is probably the reason the "Choose insider settings" and "Stop getting preview builds" are grayed out.

I listed this issue in the Feedback Hub and I have an open support case with Microsoft.

I will probably wait a few days to see if Microsoft responds before going back. I definitely would not want to totally rebuild my system. I have so many apps with so many settings which would have to be reinstalled and reconfigured.

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it.

pelaird

A question, pelaird...do you have a backup of your data on W10? It would still mean a day wasted resetting stuff and reinstalling, though.

Will MS assure you this won't happen again during an update in the future? 

This reminds me of the "surprise" W11 installations people experienced when W11 first came along. Also, your situation is apparantly not unique: 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-11-started-installing-without-permission/f53773d3-7700-45a2-9b25-8355b2fdf78f

Oh yes. I am a backup freak. Almost all my files are backed up on OneDrive, and those which aren't, I back up three times a week with Acronis, and once a week with EaseUS. I also perform a complete image backup of my C: drive twice a week. Every Thursday with EaseUS and every Saturday with Acronis.

I also got the situation remedied last evening. I did the "Go Back" to Windows 10, but as soon as it was done, that pesky Windows 11 update showed up in Windows Update again. Since I'm running Windows 10 Pro, I went into Group Policy and changed a few settings in the Windows Update section. At first, that didn't seem to help, but after adjusting the settings in the Windows Insider section of Windows Update and a few restarts, the Windows 11 update disappeared. I'm not really sure if it was something I did, or of Microsoft fixed something on their end. I had created a support case with Microsoft and reported the issue on the Feedback Hub.

Thanks for your concern and support. Windows 11 is not really all that bad, in fact it ran very well on my PC, but I'm glad to be back on Windows 10 again.

I too have an I7-7700 in a Samsung desktop machine and some time ago it auto-updated to Win 11. Since then the machine has been off due to a move. I just turned it on today 11/26/2023 and Win 11 booted and installed the current updates. This is an experimental machine for me so I guess I'll just leave it on and see if it continues to work and get updates.

Interesting. To update my post above; after I did the "Go Back" to Windows 10 successfully, I was really missing some of the features of Windows 11, so I reinstalled it. I have been running it since October 27, and have had no issues and I have received all the updates.

You should be fine.

What is even more interesting is that if I take out the Win11 drive and replace it with a drive with win10 that this machine used to use and boot into Win10 it is not possible to do the update to Win11. Microsoft says this cpu is not compatible. I'm now wondering if the original update to Win11 was something like an insider install. I'm old and don't recall if the insider option was active. Just a thought.

When Windows update installed Windows 11 on my Windows 10 machine, I was in the Insiders, Release preview channel.

When I reinstalled Windows 11, I used the official Registry hack provided Microsoft.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup

1. Right-click the MoSetup (folder) key, select the New submenu, and choose the “DWORD (32-bit) Value” option.
2. Name the key AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU and press Enter.
3. Double-click the newly created key and set its value from 0 to 1.

I then did an in-place (keeping all my apps and files) upgrade to Windows 11 using an ISO.

Thanks for the process. I might need it if I update my laptop with the same processor.