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PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT
Why can’t I update to W11 22H2?
Q Last year, I upgraded my Lenovo IdeaPad laptop from Windows 10 to 11 with no problem – or rather, a local ‘computer doctor’ did it for me. Recently, though, a message has appeared at the bottom right stating ‘System requirements not met’. The doctor said he’d never heard of this and can’t understand why I can’t get the 22H2 update. Is there anything that can be done to fix this or I’m I stuck with my current Windows 11 version forever?
Alistair Bee
A Potentially, there are two separate issues here. Many users, yourself included, discovered that it was possible to install Windows 11 regardless of Microsoft’s warnings about their systems not meeting the stated specifications. Nothing about that has changed: some PCs that aren’t officially up to Microsoft’s specifications will happily install and run the latest operating system.
However, what has shifted is that Microsoft has, in effect, taken to ‘shaming’ users who choose to do this – showing the message you quote as a ‘watermark’ on the bottom-right of the Windows desktop. For now at least it’s merely annoying because it will not affect your use of Windows 11 at all. But if it really bothers you, you can disable it by tweaking the registry.
We wouldn’t suggest messing with the registry for the sake of it – especially if you consider yourself a novice – but, if you want the message gone, here’s what to do. First, press Windows key+R to open the Run box, then type regedit (see screenshot 1) and press Enter.
Next, in the left-hand pane, navigate to the key. Then, in the right-hand pane, right-click the SV2 label and, from the pop-up menu, choose Modify . Finally, in the ‘Value data’ field, and then click OK. When you next restart your PC, Microsoft’s fussy message should be gone.
