The PC Health Check App is Back

The PC Health Check app is back. And it’s ready to tell you why you won’t be able to upgrade to Windows 11.

There’s no official announcement about its return. But you can download the new version of the PC Health app from the Microsoft website. Assuming that is, that you’re a Windows Insider. I guess they’re actually going to test it this time before unleashing it on the public.

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As you may recall, Microsoft released the initial version of this app when it announced Windows 11 in late June, but it was instantly panned by users for being wildly unreliable and inaccurate. Microsoft issued a couple of fixes to the app, but it never really passed muster, and so it finally just pulled it, promising a new version closer to Windows 11’s October launch. A third-party replacement, called WhyNotWin11, provided much clearer results.

Hopefully, this version of the PC Health Check App works better.

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Conversation 10 comments

  • jordan_meyer

    Premium Member
    21 September, 2021 - 9:18 am

    <p>Yea it’s better. And you can get it from windows update. If you’re in release preview ring you might see a message that your pc doesn’t meet the win 11 requirements and it offers a link to download the app.</p><p>My surface pro 4 passes all requirements except the artificial CPU limit of 8th gen Intel. I’ll probably install it anyway when is more mature and doesnt actually remove features.</p><p><br></p><p>I did see a technical reason for why 8th gen CPU posted in the comments on a story here on Thurrott a while back and it actually made sense from a technical perspective. If true, I hope MS actually tells people at some point. I don’t remember the details but it involved hypervisor/vm technology and sandboxing and that without a recent CPU that hardware accelerates these features, it could be 20-40% slower. In the end it’s still a software feature fixed/improved by hardware and then used to sell more PCs because otherwise capable computers would be "too slow".</p><p><br></p><p>I’m all for security but I should be able to decide what is too slow…you’d think MS would want a larger population to be more secure and up to date.</p>

    • safesax2002

      21 September, 2021 - 9:53 am

      <p>My SP5 hits the same issue but I’m also likely to upgrade anyway.</p>

    • bart

      Premium Member
      21 September, 2021 - 10:06 am

      <p>Being on Windows 10 doesn’t make you less secure. Especially as the OS is still supported through 2025. And what’s the fuss about Windows 11!? It’s pretty much a visual update. </p>

      • ringofvoid

        21 September, 2021 - 10:34 am

        <p>Drawing a line in the sand for hardware support means that products in the future will eventually demand Windows 11 &amp; the related hardware for full features. I recently saw one of the gaming companies (Riot?) getting ready to require Windows11/TPM2.0 for their anti-cheat software. It doesn’t necessarily make you more secure, but security products on Windows 11 will eventually take advantage of the hardware requirements.</p>

      • bluvg

        21 September, 2021 - 11:57 am

        <p>Secured Core is more secure. You can do it with 10, but with 11, it’s a requirement.</p>

  • chuck willemsen

    Premium Member
    21 September, 2021 - 10:34 am

    <p>So whats the point of Microsoft rubbing your nose in it by releasing an app to drive this home. It just a cosmetic change with very few real technology upgrades worth considering.</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      21 September, 2021 - 4:07 pm

      <p>They have always had an app that told you if your machine could be upgraded.</p>

  • epguy40

    21 September, 2021 - 10:16 pm

    <p>this updated PC Health Check app is available for non-insiders from this Win11 MS link:</p><p>www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11#pchealthcheck</p><p><br></p>

  • winner

    22 September, 2021 - 1:18 am

    <p>It actually works this time?</p>

  • lewk

    Premium Member
    22 September, 2021 - 7:57 am

    <p>Those Windows 8 scroll bars are hideous. </p>

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