The BIOS program lets users configure hardware by enabling certain boot features, virtualization, security features, hard drive testing and more (see Figure 1).

Pressing F1, F2 or F12 - depending on the manufacturer - will bring up a management program that administrators still refer to as 'The BIOS.' This will happen before Windows starts up. While BIOS was originally stored in ROM chips, it eventually moved to flash memory to enable updates and features required for new hardware. BIOS provides hardware initialization during boot and was created with the first IBM compatible PCs in the 1970s. The Windows desktop BIOS provides a low-level ability for OSes and applications to communicate with hardware such as the CPU, disk drives and network adapters. What's the difference between BIOS and UEFI Some of these requirements are very straightforward, such as internet connectivity and the specified version of Windows 10, but the requirements for UEFI and TPM come with more questions. Failure to install Windows 11 is probably due to incompatibility with system requirements, which include the following: You can use the PC Health Check tool included in Windows 10 to determine Windows 11 compatibility for existing devices.

Windows 11 and Secure Boot requirementsįor important context, you should keep Windows 11 requirements in mind, including but not limited to TPM and UEFI requirements.

This will help you support Windows 11 desktops better, understand why these components cause Windows 11 installation to fail and learn workarounds to install Windows 11. As a desktop administrator, you need to know what UEFI is and understand the importance of Secure Boot and TPM.

Windows 11 tpm