Now that all-new Windows 11 is available to everyone for download, Microsoft has published the ISO image file on their website which means that macOS users can install Windows 11 using VMWare Fusion and Windows users can install via VMWare Workstation.
A common error that some users face during the Windows 11 installation is the “This PC can’t run Windows 11” error. This was the first error that I was faced with when installing Windows 11 on VMWare Fusion on macOS and it was very strange. After digging deeper, I found a couple of solid solutions that fixed the issue and it is pretty simple.
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Why is VMWare Fusion Displaying the “This PC Can’t Run Windows 11” Error?
In order to strengthen the security of the operating system, Microsoft requires computers to have TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) chips installed otherwise they can’t run Windows 11. The purpose of the TPM is to protect sensitive data such as user credentials and encryption keys so that it can’t be accessed by hackers and malware.
The second reason for the error is that Windows 11 requires Secure Boot to be enabled in order to encrypt the data on your computer.
Fortunately, virtual machines on VMWare Fusion and VMWare Workstation have settings to add the virtual TPM device and enable Secure Boot.
Without further ado, here’s how to fix the Windows 11 can’t run on this PC error in VMWare Fusion and VMWare Workstation.
Before following the guide, you have to make sure that your virtual machine is using UEFI Secure Boot as the boot firmware, otherwise, you cannot add the TMP device. The boot firmware is selected when creating the virtual machine, as shown below. If it’s not UEFI Secure Boot, delete the virtual machine and create a new one using this booting firmware.
How to Fix “This PC can’t run Windows 11” in VMWare Fusion
1. Open VMWare Fusion.
2. Right-click on the Windows 11 virtual machine and select Settings.
3. Click Encryption & Restrictions, then tick the Enable Encryption box to toggle it on.
4. You’ll be prompted to enter a password for the encryption. Input it and press OK.
5. Now go back to settings and click Add Device in the top-right of the window.
6. Select Trusted Platform Module and click the Add button.
Now boot your virtual machine and you should be able to install Windows 11 without seeing the This PC can’t run Windows 11 error.
If you’re still getting the same error, then try setting the hard disk space of the virtual machine to 70GB or more and the RAM to 4GB or more. This is the minimum requirement for installing Windows 11.
How to Fix “This PC can’t run Windows 11” in VMWare Workstation
1. Open VMWare Workstation and go to the settings of the Windows 11 virtual machine.
2. In the settings, go to the Options tab.
3. Click on Access Control from the sidebar, then click the Encrypt button.
4. Go to the Hardware tab, then click the Add button at the bottom.
5. Select Trusted Platform Module from the sidebar and click Finish.
Now boot the virtual machine to check if the issue is resolved.
If you’re still getting the same error, then try setting the hard disk space of the virtual machine to 70GB or more and the RAM to 4GB or more. This is the minimum requirement for installing Windows 11.
Wrapping Up
That’s all you need to do to fix the installation error on Windows 11 and get started with using the fresh new operating system virtually on macOS or Windows.
This new requirement by Microsoft in Windows 11 is going to affect a lot of users who own computers without an in-built TPM chip. Such users have to install TPM chips before they can install Windows 11. Luckily, on macOS,
