Is the HP OMEN - 17-w151nr compatible with Windows 11?

[Tom1093]

The Windows/Settings/Update and Security page on my HP OMEN - 17-w151nr states that "This PC doesn't currently meet the system requirements to run Windows 11" and suggests running the PC Health Check.  The PC Health Check said that the processor is not currently supported by Windows 11 even though the only 2 listed constraints for the processor are a minimum of 2 CPU cores (this one has 4) and a minimum processor clock speed of 1.0GHz (this one has 2.6).  All other specifications were checked off as acceptable for Windows 11.

Question: Is there a way to safely reliably install and operate Windows 11 on an HP OMEN - 17-w151nr?

Thanks for any advice that anyone can provide!  😊

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Your notebook's 6th generation core processor does not meet Microsoft's minimum W11 processor requirements of needing to be an 8th generation core or newer processor.

If you are interested in installing W11 on your PC as is, you can read this discussion for how I upgraded several HP and Dell notebook and desktop PC's that did not meet the W11 hardware requirements to W11 22H2/22H3.

You have to use the version of the Rufus utility that I zipped up and attached in the discussion (v3.18).

Re: Issues upgrading to windows 11 - HP Support Community - 8517912

If the in-place upgrade fails, you should be able to clean install W11 using the bootable W11 installation flash drive you made with Rufus.

[Tom1093]

Thank you very much Paul for your rapid and detailed response!  The reason that I asked this question was to determine whether or not I will need to buy a new laptop once Microsoft stops sending security updates for Windows 10 starting in October 2025.  Do you know if running Windows 10 along with a cybersecurity solution like Bitdefender, McAfee or Malwarebytes would provide solid enough protection after Microsoft stops supporting Windows 10 or is installing Windows 11 the only solution to security concerns?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

W10 should continue to get those daily antivirus/antimalware definition updates.

I was running W7 for a couple of years after MS retired support for it and the Microsoft Security Essentials app (the precursor to what W10 uses now), still updated.

What you won't get are the cumulative and operating system security updates that are routinely release each month.

I am running W11 on much older notebook and desktop PC's than yours and they run fine on it.

They get all of the updates both operating system and daily virus/malware definition updates.

I am at a loss to explain why Microsoft did what they did regarding establishing the W11 hardware requirements, and can only speculate.

1. They allowed every PC that could run W7 to upgrade to W10. 

So, if I had an older PC running Vista and upgraded that to W7, and then upgraded that to W10, and then upgraded it to W11, Microsoft would have to continue to provide OS help and support on W11 for a PC that was manufactured in 2006.

I can't imagine the amount of calls they get all the time for old PC's that used to run on Vista and W7, that things don't work right on W10, and then they would have had to carry this support on into W11.

I'm thinking one of the reasons they established such high hardware standards was to cut down on support calls because a huge population of older PC's would now be excluded from Microsoft support.

2. Generate revenue for new Windows license sales to PC builders and PC manufacturing companies (Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.).

I doubt any of the PC executives complained about the decision either.

This decision has forced many folks to buy new PC's or will need to buy new ones on or after October of next year.

New PC sales probably increased well beyond what they should have.

PC owners were upset, but what could they do?

There was no way I was going to obsolete my fleet of many PC's and notebooks when I know they run perfectly fine on W11.

I've been running them on W11 since it came out in September of 2021.

[Tom1093]

Thanks again Paul!  Your detailed commentary makes perfect sense.  You have convinced me to install W11 on my laptop per your instructions.  Would you be able to tell me if the following older laptops would also work with W11?

(1) HP Pavilion 17 Notebook PC [AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics, 2500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)]

(2) Acer Aspire V3-731 [Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU B960 @ 2.20GHz, 2200 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)]

(3) HP Pavilion g7 Notebook PC [Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2330M CPU @ 2.20GHz, 2200 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)]

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, they all should be able to run W11 just fine.

Now if you have to clean install W11 on the 3 PC's that probably don't have a UEFI BIOS, change the partition scheme in the Rufus utility from GPT to MBR.

The rest of the settings stay the same.

Drivers:  Use the W10, W8, W7 on the devices that may need drivers after you upgrade.

Do basically whatever you did for drivers on the PC's that didn't have W10 drivers on the support pages when you upgraded them.

I have W11 installed on a HP 6910p notebook made in 2008 Intel Pentium T7500.

HP 350 G1 notebook made in 2013, Intel i3-4005U and many other older desktops from 2008 - 2017.

The PC's need to have a minimum of 4 GB of memory. 

They may work with less, but they may be kind of slow.

All of mine had at least 4 GB of memory.