[TIP] Remove the new Unsupported Hardware Watermark.

[nlinecomputers]

With the January update, you may see a new Unsupported Hardware Watermark appear in the lower right-hand corner of your desktop. This is how to get rid of it.

How to get rid of ‘System requirements not met’ watermark on Windows 11 Unsupported PCs

You should have expected this coming from Microsoft considering the company already warned before running Windows 11 on PCs that don’t qualify minimum requirements is not recommended. Like it or not, Windows 11 may show a watermark on desktop and in the Settings app with the message “System...

techdows.com

 

[britechguy]

Thanks.

And for the record, I'm up to Windows 11, Version 22H2, Build 22621.1265, and the recent updates have not (at least as yet) created that watermark on the system I'm working on, which has an unsupported processor.

I'll have to see if it eventually shows up on the i7 4th gen laptop, which has neither a supported processor nor TPM.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I'm not sure anyone that uses Windows independently will really see much of a problem. I have however seen Windows 10 units rotating their SIDs in AAD if they do not have a TPM equipped, which manifests as multiple machines listed under the same name. This isn't a problem more than some house keeping... yet.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Thanks.

And for the record, I'm up to Windows 11, Version 22H2, Build 22621.1265, and the recent updates have not (at least as yet) created that watermark on the system I'm working on, which has an unsupported processor.

I'll have to see if it eventually shows up on the i7 4th gen laptop, which has neither a supported processor nor TPM.

I haven't seen it yet either and My Windows 11 PC is fully updated. Only the CPU, a 7th generation i5, is not on the supported list. From what I've heard the trigger is based on TPM. So I'm curious about your 4th gen laptop as well.

 

[Blues]

This seems ridiculous. If you try to use a feature that is not supported on the hardware it can tell you then and on a fresh setup it can tell you but doesn't need a constant watermark as at a certain point the user is already well aware and doesn't care about it.

I haven't really done Windows 11 on "unsupported" hardware so what does this even mean? Are specific features tied to hardware requirements? Or is this just MS trying to scare you into upgrades? Or is MS just trying to CYA so that you can't blame them for problems.

 

[nlinecomputers]

This seems ridiculous. If you try to use a feature that is not supported on the hardware it can tell you then and on a fresh setup it can tell you but doesn't need a constant watermark as at a certain point the user is already well aware and doesn't care about it.

I haven't really done Windows 11 on "unsupported" hardware so what does this even mean? Are specific features tied to hardware requirements? Or is this just MS trying to scare you into upgrades? Or is MS just trying to CYA so that you can't blame them for problems.

At this point not really. M$ is straddling both sides of the fence here. They could like Apple flat prohibit Windows 11 from installing on outdated hardware. A true HARD LINE in the sand. But they don't. They publish the workarounds you can do to skip certain hardware requirements like a TPM chip or 8th Gen or better CPUs. There are legitimate security concerns about both. (TPMs for BitLocker and Windows Hello support, 8th gen or better doesn't have the Spectre or Meltdown vulnerabilities.) But they with a wink and nod allow it anyway. They claim they will not support it but then allow all the security patches to be installed and seem to otherwise support it. What they do block is the yearly feature update. It will not install automatically but the same process used to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware will allow you to manually do the upgrade. They are throwing just enough barriers to make selling Windows 11 to install on any PC not work but not so many that a tech-savvy user, like us, can't install it anyway and even remove the annoying nag notice that is there just to panic end users that some shady PC shop might install Windows 11 on. But I could see even those places telling power users that they will need to do a manual upgrade or hire them once a year to do it.

Microsoft has taken the attitude for the past decade or so of recognizing that a certain small portion of the user base will not pay for Windows and if need be will pirate it. Pirated copies risk having backdoors or security features disabled to allow the installation and that makes for a more dangerous internet. So they have provided limited means for people to get Windows for free. They make some limits but nothing a smart user can't bypass. This is by design.

 

[Blues]

Sounds like this is really a CYA move on their part.

They can claim it is for consumers who might buy a used machine from a less reputable person but the fact is if they can manage to install Win11 on unsupported hardware then they can manage to clear the watermark so that argument would crumble.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Yeah but CYA from what? A shop that is too stupid to remove the mark? This is worse a setup as there are already such systems out there but the watermark is happening now. So these shop owners get rightfully hit with people calling up and asking WTF is my system suddenly not supported? It is again a way to force people to buy new machines who get hit this way and it kinda throwing those shops under the bus. I get the M$ point of view but I also get the low-end refurb guys' point of view when M$ allows these backdoor installs at all.

 

[Blues]

I didn't say it was a good CYA but still does give MS a plausible level of deniability for any adverse system effects due to these computers not adhering to their supported hardware.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I didn't say it was a good CYA but still does give MS a plausible level of deniability for any adverse system effects due to these computers not adhering to their supported hardware.

Yeah, there is that argument but if they were really concerned with that they would just not allow it at all. They say that they don't support it but they really do. I've never really seen them say "you're illegal too bad."

 

[britechguy]

They say that they don't support it but they really do.

Yep. I really thought that MS might break with this "tradition" with Windows 11, but they haven't.

Early on it seemed to me that the line in the sand was going to have concrete poured over it, but it certainly hasn't, or I wouldn't be typing on a machine with Windows 11 on it that has an "unsupported" processor or have another with no TPM and an unsupported processor.

The old adage, "Say what you mean, and mean what you say," has not applied to Microsoft with regard to Windows licensing for a very long time now.

 

[britechguy]

As of this morning's update to the system running the i7 4th Gen, no watermarks have appeared. I will report back if this ever happens on either system that has Windows 11 on "unsupported" hardware.