Windows 10 System Requirements

Windows 10 System Requirements

If you are still operating on Windows 7 or 8.1 and planning an upgrade to Windows 10, or maybe you are trying to give your old machine stored in the garage for the last couple of years, a new touch. Then you need to first make sure it is capable of running windows 10 before attempting the installation.

Below in this article, you will find each bit of information you are going to need as to whether your old PC is worthy enough. Windows 10 will be around with us until 2025, so you have plenty of time to run it with official support. Also, if you have windows 10 installed then will get one year of Windows 11 for the first year of its life, free!.

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System Requirements For Windows 10

Below are all the requirements that you should match before installing windows 10 onto your PC. If you fail to match the specs to your system, then you might not be able to get the best possible experience and may have to face tremendous amounts of loading time.

Processor	1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM	1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
HDD	16 GB for 32-bit OS 32 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics	DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display	800x600
Internet Connection	Internet connectivity is necessary to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. Windows 10 Pro in S mode, Windows 10 Pro Education in S mode, Windows 10 Education in S mode and Windows 10 Enterprise in S mode require an internet connection during the initial device setup (Out of Box Experience or OOBE), as well as either a Microsoft account (MSA) or Azure Activity Directory (AAD) account. Switching a device out of Windows 10 in S mode also requires internet connectivity

Feature Specific Requirements For Windows 10

These are the system requirements that your system should meet for some specific features to run correctly. In some cases, features included in updated versions of Windows 10 will be the best experiences with the latest processors. For specific hardware support please refer to your Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Below are some additional details regarding requirements for key features:

• BitLocker Drive Encryption (available with Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise only) requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or higher and Trusted Computing Group (TCG)-compliant BIOS or UEFI. BitLocker can be used on devices without TPM, but you will need to save a startup key on a removable device such as a USB flash drive. TPM 2.0 and InstantGo support is required when you want to automatically encrypt the local drive when joining a device to Azure Active Directory (AAD). Check with your PC manufacturer to confirm if your device supports the correct TPM version and InstantGo for the scenario you want to enable.
• BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (available in Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
• Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second-level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and an additional 2 GB of RAM (available in Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
• Cortana is only currently available on Windows 10 for the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Spain, Australia and India.
• Microsoft account is required for some features.
• Miracast requires a display adapter that supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.3, and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
• Movies & TV application is not available in all regions. For the most up-to-date list of regions, please go to the Movies & TV information page.
• Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database.
• Skype is available only in select countries and regions. Calling to select countries and regions only. Excludes special, premium and non-geographic numbers. For details, visit the Office FAQ page.
• Snap: The number of applications that can be snapped will depend upon the minimum resolution for the application with a limit of two applications in Tablet mode and four applications in Desktop mode.
• Speech recognition will vary by device microphone. For a better speech experience, you will need a:
• High fidelity microphone array
• Hardware driver with microphone array geometry exposed
• Tablet mode is available on tablets and 2-in-1s with GPIO indicators or those that have a laptop and slate indicator will be able to be configured to enter "tablet mode" automatically.
• Touch: To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multi-touch.
• Two-factor authentication requires the use of a PIN, Biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
• Windows Hello requires a camera configured for near-infrared (IR) imaging or a fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Devices without biometric sensors can use Windows Hello with a PIN or a portable Microsoft compatible security key.
• Xbox application requires an Xbox Live account, which is not available in all regions. For the most up-to-date list of regions, please go to Xbox Live Countries and Regions website.
• Wi-Fi Direct Printing requires a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct and a device that supports Wi-Fi Direct Printing.
• Desktop Messaging App: The messaging app on Desktop has a sync feature that can be used to sync SMS text messages received from Windows Mobile and keep a copy of them on the Desktop. Starting with the May 2019 Update (Windows 10, version 1903), the sync feature has been removed from all devices. Due to this change, you will only be able to access messages from the device that received the message.
• Wi-Fi WEP and TKIP: Starting with the May 2019 Update (Windows 10, version 1903), a warning message will appear when connecting to Wi-Fi networks secured with WEP or TKIP, which are not as secure as those using WPA2 or WPA3. In a future release, any connection to a Wi-Fi network using these old cyphers will be disallowed. Wi-Fi routers should be updated to use AES cyphers, available with WPA2 or WPA3.
• Cortana: Cortana has been updated and enhanced in the Windows 10 May 2020 Update (Windows 10, version 2004). With these changes, some previously available consumer skills such as music, connected home and third-party skills will no longer be available. Get detailed information here.
• Phone Companion: As of the October 2018 Update (Windows 10, version 1809), Phone Companion is removed from your PC. Use the Phone page in the Settings app to sync your mobile phone with your PC. It includes all the Phone Companion features.
• HomeGroup: HomeGroup was removed starting with the April 2018 Update (Windows 10, version 1803), but you still can share printers, files and folders. When you update from an earlier version of Windows 10, you won’t see HomeGroup in File Explorer, the Control Panel, or Troubleshoot (Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot). Any printers, files and folders you shared using HomeGroup will continue to be shared. Instead of using HomeGroup, you can now share printers, files and folders by using features that are built into Windows 10:
• Share your network printers
• Share files in File Explorer
• For Xbox 360 and HomeGroup users, please see more information on streaming media
• People app: In Windows 10, the People app shows mail from Microsoft 365 contacts and contacts from your school or work organisation under Conversations. Starting with the April 2018 Update (Windows 10, version 1803), to see new mail in the People app from these specific contacts, you need to be online, and you need to have signed in with either a Microsoft 365 account or, for work or school organisation accounts, through the Mail, People or Calendar apps. Please be aware that you’ll only see mail for work and school organisation accounts and some Microsoft 365 accounts.
• Reader app: The Reader app was removed from Windows 10 starting with the Fall Creators Update (Windows 10, version 1709). For reading PDF files, Microsoft Edge is the recommended replacement app and offers similar functionality as well as additional features including improved accessibility support, improved Inking, and support for AskCortana. Similarly, Windows XPS Viewer is recommended when reading XPS files and the Windows Photos app for viewing TIFF files. Note that users of earlier Windows 10 versions can continue using the Reader app.
• Windows Journal: Windows Journal was removed starting with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Windows 10, version 1607). After Windows Journal is removed, you will no longer be able to open or edit Journal files (with . JNT or . JTP extensions). We encourage you to switch to OneNote to replace Windows Journal. If you need to open or edit your journal files, more information is available here.
• Windows Media Digital Rights Management (WMDRM): WMDRM is no longer supported starting with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Windows 10, version 1607). You are no longer able to play music or video files that were protected by this rights management technology. Click here to learn more.

The following changes impact devices that are upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1:

• Windows Media Centre: If you have Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro with Media Centre or Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Centre and you install Windows 10, Windows Media Centre will be removed.
• Mobile Device Management (MDM): MDM functionality will not be available in Windows 10 Home edition.
• Windows 7 desktop gadgets: These will be removed as part of installing Windows 10.
• Solitaire, Minesweeper and Hearts Games: These games that came pre-installed on Windows 7 will be removed as part of installing the Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft has released our version of Solitaire and Minesweeper called the "Microsoft Solitaire Collection" and "Microsoft Minesweeper".
• Floppy drives: If you have a floppy drive, you will need to download the latest driver from Windows Update or from the manufacturer’s website.
• If you have Windows Live Essentials installed on your system, the OneDrive application is removed and replaced with the inbox version of OneDrive.
• OneDrive placeholder files: OneDrive placeholder files are not supported in Windows 10. Windows 8.1 displayed placeholders for files available in OneDrive but not locally on the device. In Windows 10, users can choose which folders to sync from OneDrive settings.
• Snap: Snap is limited to two applications in Tablet mode.