Installed Windows 11 with TPM Disabled? Expect an Ugly Watermark on the Desktop

[btarunr]

Users of Windows 11 on "unsupported hardware" report that since the most recent Patch Tuesday (monthly) Cumulative Update, an ugly watermark message began appearing on the Windows Desktop screen for the Windows 11 22H2 Update operating system. The bottom-right corner has a permanently-overlaid message that reads "System requirements not met. Go to Settings to learn more." This is visually similar to the watermark you get when you haven't activated Windows with a valid license.

Windows Setup is designed to prevent the installation of Windows 11 on machines that don't meet its minimum system requirements, most notably, the need for a hardware Trusted Platform Module (TPM). There are ways to circumvent this hardware requirements check during setup. The latest Patch Tuesday update apparently takes a quick check on whether Windows 11 is installed on a machine that actually meets its requirements as laid by Microsoft; and if not, places the watermark message on Windows Desktop. It's important to note here, that unlike the "Activate Windows" watermark, this "System requirements not met" watermark does not impact the functionality of Windows 11, and you probably won't wake up one day to find that your machine won't boot. It seems more like a means to get people to fix their hardware requirements using an eyesore.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Chaitanya]

M$ really should ~``@$#%^ with itself, what I do with my computer is my business not their. Win 10 and Win 11 have turned into spywares in line with iOS and Android.

 

[umeng2002]

They must be ready to start using it for DRM.

 

[caroline!]

TPM is one of the things that shouldn't exist in the world of computers.

Others are IME, PSP, Intel's firmware locks...

 

[ir_cow]

Tiny11 coming in FTW!

 

[natr0n]

Windows 10 forever

 

[bearClaw5]

I have TPM disabled to prevent an install, and yet I got the "Your PC is ready for Windows 11" thing today.

 

[cyberloner]

i disable TPM even my pc is supported..... another bad news.

 

[OneMoar]

get the point microsoft
we don't want mandatory tpm

 

[DemonicRyzen666]

If you install windows 11 it with in enable, then disable it after install. This watermark pop's up. It said TPM was required for Windows 11 to install, does it say it's needed for usage of said OS anywhere?

 

[ancelotti]

It's easy enough to remove the watermark by editing the registry. Anyone who jumped through the hoops to bypass the TPM restriction is easily able to do this.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

probably gonna use Tiny 11 instead of the official ISO, but if there's a way to cut down the bloat, trackers and whatnot without wrecking the OS, I would gladly use a tool for that.

 

[GotNoRice]

There is no watermark, and there has never been a watermark on any release build of Windows 11. If you have any actual evidence to the contrary, please post it here.

Just look at that screenshot, it's not even running 22H2. Looking at the the build version, you can see that it was actually a Developer or Release-Preview version of 21H2 from last year.

Early last year, there were some Developer and Release-Preview builds that started showing up with the watermark. That watermark never made it to any actual release build. Later on, the watermark also disappeared from the newer Developer and Release-Preview builds.

Some actual fact checking would be nice. I mean common, it shows 21H2 right there in the screenshot, it's not like it's hidden or hard to see. Neither is the date in the bottom right of the screenshot... lol

 

[henok.gk]

Probably one registry key modification away so no big deal. The problem is when they start locking away critical stuff.

 

[kondamin]

M$ really should ~``@$#%^ with itself, what I do with my computer is my business not their. Win 10 and Win 11 have turned into spywares in line with iOS and Android.

Yes what you do on your computer is your business.
an unscrupulous vendor might try and sell old unfit hardware to unexpecting People…

you know the vista story

 

[Haziza]

People still isn't using Ghost Spectre Superlife 11?

 

[Bokinator]

I'm so over Windows 11. 22H2 is just bad and made me go back to Win 10

 

[Tomorrow]

There is no watermark, and there has never been a watermark on any release build of Windows 11. If you have any actual evidence to the contrary, please post it here.

Just look at that screenshot, it's not even running 22H2. Looking at the the build version, you can see that it was actually a Developer or Release-Preview version of 21H2 from last year.

Early last year, there were some Developer and Release-Preview builds that started showing up with the watermark. That watermark never made it to any actual release build. Later on, the watermark also disappeared from the newer Developer and Release-Preview builds.

Some actual fact checking would be nice. I mean common, it shows 21H2 right there in the screenshot, it's not like it's hidden or hard to see. Neither is the date in the bottom right of the screenshot... lol

Did you read the Tom's Harware source:

Windows 11 Watermark Showing Up On Unsupported Systems

Microsoft implements plan to annoy users into upgrading PCs (or downgrading Windows)

www.tomshardware.com

These reports are from release builds and they are new. TPU merely used an old image for illustration.

To disable it:

To remove the watermark from the desktop, first fire up Regedit, expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch, find the UnsupportedHardwareNotificationCache entry and then right-click this lengthy word and change the SV2 DWORD value from 1 to 0. Next, close Regedit, restart the PC, and your lovely wallpaper will return unsullied. However, it wouldn't be totally unexpected for the watermark to return in later Windows updates.

 

[AsRock]

Sooo ?, just ignore the water mark ?.

 

[TheDeeGee]

Great, now i will stick to Windows 10 even longer than late 2026.

 

[GotNoRice]

Did you read the Tom's Harware source:

Windows 11 Watermark Showing Up On Unsupported Systems

Microsoft implements plan to annoy users into upgrading PCs (or downgrading Windows)

www.tomshardware.com

I read it, and what I see is no proof or evidence whatsoever, only some vague reference to someone on some feedback hub making some vague claim. No screenshots. No exact build numbers. No hardware details.

I have Windows 11 running on a LOT of computers. ALL of them are fully updated. NONE of them are showing the watermark. This is 22H2, build 22621.1265 aka what you end up with after the 22H2 Feburary 2023 Cumulative update.

"Unsupported" computers that I've tested this on:

Intel i7-5820k + X99 Mobo (My backup gaming computer)
Intel i5-4590 + H81 Mobo (My HTPC)
Intel I5-2500k + Z68 Mobo (My Vintage/Retro Gaming PC)
Intel Q9550 + P45 Mobo
Intel Q8400 + unknown Mobo (Old Dell)
Intel Q6600 + unknown Mobo (Old Dell)
Intel E6400 + unknown Mobo (Old HP)
Intel E2200 + unknown Mobo (Old HP)
Intel Pentium D 930 + unknown Mobo (Old Dell)
Intel Pentium 4 631 + unknown Mobo (Old Dell)
AMD Phenom X4 9750 + Nvidia Mobo (Old HP)
AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 (Old Toshiba Laptop)
Intel i5-2410M (Old Samsung Laptop)
Intel i7-4910MQ (Old Dell Laptop)

Again, ALL of them are fully updated on the latest release build, NONE of them have the watermark. In the case of the Pentium 4 631 system, it only has one purpose in life, and that is to test new builds of Windows 11; to see if they work, if they install new updates, if it has a watermark, etc. That is because it supports ZERO of the requirements that are specific to Windows 11, not even the core count requirement. So far zero issues even after the February 2023 cumulative update.

I also have several VMs that have Windows 11 installed using the bypass because they were installed using a virtual legacy BIOS and no Secure Boot, instead of UEFI, etc. Again, No watermark.

I've also tested the latest Release Preview build. I've tested the latest Dev Build. Both via unsupported VM. No watermarks.

So please, let's see some screenshots, some actual build numbers, some actual evidence. Not more of this random hearsay.

 

[Tomorrow]

I read it, and what I see is no proof or evidence whatsoever, only some vague reference to someone on some feedback hub making some vague claim. No screenshots. No exact build numbers. No hardware details.

I have Windows 11 running on a LOT of computers. ALL of them are fully updated. NONE of them are showing the watermark. This is 22H2, build 22621.1265 aka what you end up with after the 22H2 Feburary 2023 Cumulative update.

So please, let's see some screenshots, some actual build numbers, some actual evidence. Not more of this random hearsay.

From answers.microsft.com:

Turned on my computer today and saw that there was white text at the bottom right of both my screens that said system requirements not met and to go to settings to learn more. Going to settings and clicking the "Learn more" hyperlink brings me the to the Microsoft website talking about installing 11 on devices with system requirements un-met. It also suggests reverting back to 10 and that you can only do this 10 days after upgrading. According to settings I upgraded on 9/22/2022.

I am unsure as to what to do now. I did find there is a way to remove the watermark through the registry, but I want to be sure there isn't an issue. I downloaded PC Health Check, but it doesn't see any issues.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz 3.70 GHz
Installed RAM 48.0 GB
Device ID 57AC4103-6528-49DA-9357-65F55996E7C3
Product ID 00330-80000-00000-AA848
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 22H2
Installed on ‎9/‎22/‎2022
OS build 22621.1194
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22638.1000.0

Redirecting

So an older build. Possibly January Update?
Details are are included tho no screenshot.

 

[PLAfiller]

There is no watermark, and there has never been a watermark on any release build of Windows 11. If you have any actual evidence to the contrary, please post it here.

Just look at that screenshot, it's not even running 22H2. Looking at the the build version, you can see that it was actually a Developer or Release-Preview version of 21H2 from last year.

Early last year, there were some Developer and Release-Preview builds that started showing up with the watermark. That watermark never made it to any actual release build. Later on, the watermark also disappeared from the newer Developer and Release-Preview builds.

Some actual fact checking would be nice. I mean common, it shows 21H2 right there in the screenshot, it's not like it's hidden or hard to see. Neither is the date in the bottom right of the screenshot... lol

Actually I do. I've been having the watermark for a while now (may be two months or so). Showed up after one of the updates. When I get back from work I can take a screenshot with the win version as well. I actually wrote about this in the forums here in the "Windows 11 discussion". Not sure what my Win11 version is, so I might be wrong, but we will see.

Great it got to the news as well.

EDIT: @GotNoRice I think you might be right. My build is 21H2/ 22000.1574 and the watermark shows. I will do a fresh install in the weekend and see what happens.

 

[Denver]

I'd have to get a magnifying glass to notice that, and go without coffee for a day to care.

 

[Lycanwolfen]

Microsoft really is making some bad moves. It's like the 1990's all over again. Now they are force people to use Edge same as IE back in the days. Now they are trying to force people to upgrade there computers to TPM 2.0 which btw is nothing but a small little tiny microchip on a computer. I have windows 11 installed on many devices without TPM 2.0 and guess what they run faster then some of the newer PC's with TPM 2.0. Windows 11 Pro just the OS and I mean JUST the kernal is pretty darn good and fast. The slowest computer I had it on was a Core 2 Quad 3 Ghz and guess what it ran faster on that vs a Core i5 10th gen at 1.6 GHZ.

Microsoft needs to be sued again from the government on their practices again like in 1998 when they got sued and had to change it so the USER of there system have a choice of what they want to do with their OS. 3rd parties need to get another lawsuit against them and win. Every Company today I see we are back to the same old BS of trying to take away control from the USER.