It's time to install Windows 11, and you've been caught at the hardware requirements. They're easy enough to bypass, but should you?

Let's look into whether it's a good idea to bypass the Windows 11 hardware requirements.

Bypassing Windows 11's Hardware Requirements

The Windows 11 hardware requirements are fairly light. We've covered Windows 11's system requirements in the past and they're still more or less attainable for most modern machines.

Still, if you were looking to bypass the hardware requirements to get Windows 11 running on a weaker machine, the methods to bypass Windows 11's system requirements are easy and widespread.

Windows 11 largely runs fine regardless. So what are the actual downsides of bypassing the hardware requirements?

What Are the Risks of Skipping the Hardware Check for Windows 11?

Taking a look at the hardware requirements from the official Windows 11 Microsoft page, we can see several potential bottlenecks.

Namely, the RAM and processor requirements. Bypassing these may seriously impact your user experience. You could expect your system to slow down or even crash on a frequent basis.

On the other hand, the display and GPU requirements are almost light suggestions. Windows 11 is flexible enough to run on weaker GPUs, and its display can scale down considerably.

So, again, what are the actual downsides of bypassing these requirements?

The Hardware Requirement You Shouldn't Skip

When you get down to it, there are two hardware requirements you really shouldn't skip. These are the Secure Boot and TPM requirements.

This is because Secure Boot prevents rootkits and malware from running before the operating system does. TPM, or Trusted Platform Module, is a physical chip that helps securely store private information used to authenticate your platform. Information like hardware certificates may be stored here.

This means your computer is significantly more vulnerable to modern malware attacks without these requirements. These hardware checks are essential in ensuring your computer can safely connect to the modern internet without fear of anything slipping through your antivirus.

The Choice to Bypass Is Yours

At the end of the day, it's entirely your choice to skip these requirements. Many people do skip them and run into very few issues.

However, it's worth keeping in mind that these requirements aren't just an attempt to obsolete your hardware. There are some very real security concerns associated with running Windows 11 without specific hardware.