If I add SSD 1TB drive to HP Pavilion 550 will it be compatible with Windows 11?

[Wildhouse]

Help appreciated.  I have a 6 year old HP Pavilion 550-295.  It still works really well, perhaps a little slower than it used to but that could also be because there are a lot of things attached to my internet connection, however, it doesn't work as well as it used to with remote working to my PC at work - I do occasional get the message that my C drive is almost full.  I have bought a 1TB SSD with the intention of cloning the C drive and using the larger SSD drive as my C drive.  However, what I am wondering is if I do this, will my PC then be able to run Windows 11 (apparently it's not compatible now)?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Your PC's i5-6400 does not meet Microsoft's minimum W11 hardware requirements.

A SATA SSD is not one of the W11 hardware requirements, but it would be preferable over a mechanical hard drive.

The processor not meeting the W11 hardware requirements doesn't mean your PC can't run W11.

But you would have to use one of the workarounds out there on the internet to install W11.

I have installed W11 on many HP and Dell notebook and desktop PC's that are older than yours and W11 runs fine on all of them.

If you are interested in installing W11 23H2 on your PC as is, watch this video:

How to install Windows 11 24H2 on Unsupported PC (Early Access) 2024 (youtube.com)

Download the W23H2 ISO file and use that (3rd option).   

Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com)

You'll have to repeat this procedure each October when Microsoft rolls out the new builds because a PC that does not meet Microsoft's minimum W11 hardware requirements will never automatically get the update to the next build.

The PC's do get all of the cumulative and security updates each month though.

I don't consider that a big deal. 

It's what we had to do with W10 when it first came out and we were doing that twice a year.