Why Windows 11 Causes Problems on Some Machines
Windows 11 was released in 2021 with stricter hardware requirements than any previous Windows version — specifically the TPM 2.0 requirement and a minimum processor list. Microsoft’s intent was to restrict the upgrade to machines capable of running it well. In practice, the requirements were a blunt instrument: some machines that passed the check still run Windows 11 poorly, and some older machines that fail the check would run it fine.
Beyond the hardware compatibility issues, Windows 11 brought architectural changes to how it manages processes, memory, and drivers. Those changes created compatibility problems with older hardware drivers that worked perfectly under Windows 10 — particularly graphics drivers, audio drivers, and some storage drivers.
Most Windows 11 upgrade problems fall into one of a few categories. Here’s what each one looks like and what to do about it.
Black Screen After Upgrade
A black screen after upgrading — either immediately after or a few minutes into the first boot — is almost always a graphics driver conflict.
Windows 11 sometimes installs a generic Microsoft display driver during the upgrade and then tries to update to the hardware-specific driver from Windows Update. This transition can fail, leaving the display non-functional.
What to do:
Try waiting several minutes — sometimes the screen comes back after Windows finishes a background process it started during the upgrade.
If the screen remains black, boot into Safe Mode. On most laptops, pressing F8 repeatedly during startup opens the boot menu. Alternatively, hold Shift and click Restart from the power menu if you can access it.
In Safe Mode, go to Device Manager → Display Adapters, right-click your graphics adapter, and Uninstall Device (check the box to delete the driver software).
Restart normally. Windows will install a generic driver that should restore display function, then Windows Update will install the correct driver.
If Safe Mode isn’t accessible, a Windows 11 USB recovery drive allows Startup Repair and System Restore from outside the operating system. This is the next step if Safe Mode fails.
Slower Performance After Upgrading
Windows 11’s interface uses more GPU resources than Windows 10. On laptops with integrated graphics (particularly older Intel HD Graphics chips), this additional load can cause noticeable lag in the interface — slow window animations, delayed taskbar responses, or sluggish file explorer.
On 4GB RAM machines: Windows 11 is more memory-hungry than Windows 10 at idle. A machine with 4GB running Windows 10 comfortably may be constantly near its memory limit under Windows 11, causing slowdown from memory paging to the drive.
On machines with spinning hard drives: This is the most common cause of severe slowdown. Windows 11’s heavier background activity — indexing, Windows Update, telemetry processes — hits spinning drives much harder than Windows 10 did. An SSD upgrade addresses this dramatically and is often the only practical fix for HDD-based Windows 11 machines.
Driver-related slowdown: An incompatible storage or chipset driver can cause the entire system to feel slow, even if hardware diagnostics show nothing wrong. Checking Device Manager for yellow warning triangles and updating any flagged drivers is worth doing before concluding the hardware is the problem.
Wi-Fi or Ethernet Stopped Working
Network adapter drivers are one of the more common Windows 11 compatibility casualties. A network card that worked perfectly under Windows 10 may have a driver that Windows 11 replaced with an incompatible version during the upgrade.
What to do:
Open Device Manager and look for yellow warning icons under Network Adapters.
If the adapter shows a warning, right-click → Update Driver → Search automatically. If that doesn’t find a fix, try Right-click → Properties → Driver → Roll Back Driver to the previous version.
If no rollback is available and automatic update finds nothing, go to the laptop manufacturer’s website (Dell, HP, Lenovo etc.) and download the Windows 11 network driver directly.
On a machine with no working network connection, you’ll need to download the driver on another device and transfer it via USB.
Audio Not Working
Audio driver conflicts are common after Windows 11 upgrades, particularly on laptops using Realtek audio chips (which is most of them). Windows 11 sometimes installs a different Realtek driver than the one the laptop manufacturer optimised for that model.
What to do:
Go to Settings → System → Sound and check that the correct output device is selected — Windows 11 sometimes switches the default audio device during upgrade.
If the correct device is selected but produces no sound, go to Device Manager → Sound, Video and Game Controllers, right-click the audio device → Uninstall Device.
Restart — Windows will reinstall the driver. If the reinstalled driver still has problems, download the audio driver from the laptop manufacturer’s support page specifically.
A less common but harder-to-fix situation: Windows 11 replaced the manufacturer’s audio driver with a Microsoft-generic one that doesn’t support all the laptop’s audio features. In these cases, you may need to install the manufacturer’s driver package with the compatibility flag set.
Printer Stopped Working
Windows 11 changed how printer drivers are handled — it moved toward “Type 4” drivers and away from older driver models. Printers from before roughly 2018 often used the older model and manufacturers haven’t always updated their drivers for Windows 11.
What to do:
Remove the printer from Windows (Settings → Bluetooth & Devices → Printers & Scanners → your printer → Remove).
Go to the printer manufacturer’s website and search for a Windows 11 driver for your specific model.
If a Windows 11 driver exists, download and run it, then re-add the printer.
If no Windows 11 driver is available, try the Windows 10 64-bit driver — it sometimes works under Windows 11 with compatibility mode.
If the manufacturer has discontinued driver support for your printer model, it may simply not work with Windows 11. At that point the choices are staying on Windows 10 for that machine or replacing the printer with a model that has Windows 11 support.
Sound like your problem?
Windows 11 upgrade causing problems you can't resolve? Bring your laptop in — we diagnose the specific fault rather than guessing, and fix what's actually wrong.
Apps That Stopped Working After the Upgrade
Some older applications — particularly 32-bit applications, older versions of productivity software, and specialist tools — have compatibility issues with Windows 11. Windows 11 dropped support for some legacy subsystems that Windows 10 still included.
What to try:
Right-click the application → Properties → Compatibility tab. Try running in compatibility mode for Windows 10 or Windows 8. This resolves some but not all compatibility issues.
If the application was installed on Windows 10 and is now broken on Windows 11, check whether the software developer has issued a Windows 11-compatible update. Many have — the application version in use may simply be old.
For mission-critical specialist software that genuinely doesn’t run on Windows 11 and has no update, rolling back to Windows 10 may be the practical answer. Microsoft has extended Windows 10 support to October 2025 (now nearing end of life) and extended security update options exist beyond that.
TPM 2.0 and Upgrade Eligibility
If Windows 11 refuses to install and cites TPM 2.0, the first thing to check is whether your machine has TPM that’s simply disabled in the BIOS.
Press Windows + R, type
tpm.msc, and press Enter. If this opens a TPM management window showing TPM is ready, you have it and it’s enabled — the blocker is likely processor age rather than TPM.If
tpm.mscsays a compatible TPM cannot be found, check your BIOS settings (accessed by pressing F2, F10, Delete, or Escape during startup depending on the manufacturer). Look for a setting labelled TPM, PTT (Platform Trust Technology on Intel), or fTPM (Firmware TPM on AMD). Enabling it and saving the BIOS settings sometimes unblocks Windows 11 installation.If neither of the above applies, the machine may genuinely predate TPM 2.0 support. Microsoft’s PC Health Check tool will tell you definitively whether the machine meets Windows 11 requirements.
For machines that don’t meet requirements, Windows 10 remains functional and supported. Unofficial workarounds to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware exist but aren’t recommended — the TPM requirement exists partly for security reasons and bypassing it has trade-offs.
When to Get Help
If you’ve worked through the relevant fixes above and the problem persists, or if the upgrade has left the machine in a state where it won’t boot properly, the issue may require hands-on diagnosis.
Common situations we see at our workshop that go beyond DIY fixes:
- A Windows 11 upgrade that failed midway and left the machine in a boot loop
- A graphics driver fault that persists after multiple reinstallation attempts
- A machine that won’t boot into Safe Mode or respond to recovery options
- An upgrade that’s left the machine so slow as to be unusable and where SSD upgrade hasn’t resolved it
We diagnose the specific fault, carry out the fix, and return the machine properly configured. Bring it in or book a collection from our Putney workshop. Call 020 7610 0500.