How to install Windows 11 on an incompatible PC
Despite the restrictions imposed by Microsoft, a small utility allows you to install Windows 11 on any type of PC, even those without a TPM 2.0. Fast, efficient, this script allows you to take advantage of Windows 11 on an old machine, while Microsoft has done everything to block this type of installation. Here’s how to do it.
Windows 11 Update
Windows 11 has been released in its final version, that’s it. The new operating system has therefore been available since Tuesday, October 5, 2021, with a gradual deployment which will last until 2022. Nevertheless, there remains one problem, and not the least: Windows 11 shows certain requirements at the hardware level. A motherboard with TPM 2.0, Secure Boot support, and a sufficiently recent processor.
To check that all these conditions are met, Microsoft has made available a small tool called PC Health Check. If the software returns an error message, no salvation: Windows 11 will not install on your PC. Unless you go through the ISO image of Windows 11 and go on a complete reinstallation of the operating system, which means that you will have to erase the hard drive or the Windows 10 installation partition.
Windows 11 PC Health Check
Despite the PC Health Check warning, it is possible to install Windows 11 without worry on an old PC.
A TOOL ALLOWS TO FORCE THE INSTALLATION OF WINDOWS 11 ON PCS WITHOUT A TPM 2.0 CHIP
If your PC is declared incompatible by PC Health Check, don’t panic: a small software, simple and quick to use, should solve all your troubles. It’s actually a small script that you may already know if you’ve taken a look at our Windows 10 installation guide. MediaCreation Tool, the software in question, has just been updated. update and allows you to download an ISO file of Windows 11. Just launch it to recover a complete image of Windows 11, an image that can be mounted virtually under Windows 10, or that can be copied to a USB key bootable.
In its latest update, MediaCreation Tool offers a second script, in addition to the one for downloading Windows 11. Responding to the name of Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update.cmd, this small command allows you to patch the registry when installing Windows 11. A tip that we already knew, but which is now integrated into an “all-in-one pack”.
This tool allows you to install Windows 11 on any type of PC, even if it does not meet the conditions required by Microsoft. Thanks to it, it is then possible to update a PC equipped with Windows 10 (without going through a complete reinstallation, therefore). It is also possible to install Windows 11 on a hard drive or a blank partition, but also to set up the OS in a virtual machine like VMware or VirtualBox.
However, a small caveat is in order: there is no guarantee that this way of proceeding will allow you to take advantage of future Windows 11 updates. Once the operating system is installed on a PC that does not have the prerequisites for security, will we still be able to benefit from operating system updates? It seems that old PCs will not be entitled to future updates, even if the Redmond giant has not officially communicated on the subject.
In addition, we do not know for the moment when this “stop” of support for non-compatible PCs will take effect. It could be as well by the end of the year, like 2 or 3 years from now, nothing has been announced from Microsoft. Microsoft’s policy regarding upcoming Windows 11 updates for non-compatible PCs is still unclear.
Windows 11 cannot install TPM problem
HOW TO INSTALL WINDOWS 11 ON AN INCOMPATIBLE PC
Above all, keep in mind that the version of Windows 11 officially available at the moment is not yet final. But it is an edition very close to the RTM (Release to manufacturing), which should not pose major problems of compatibility or instability.
As mentioned above, the small script is relatively simple to use. Here is the procedure to follow :
Go to the Github site to download the MediaCreationTool.bat.
At the very top right of the page that appears, click Download ZIP.
Unzip the archive that you have just recovered on a partition of the hard disk or directly on the Desktop.
Double-click Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update.cmd.
Double-click MediaCreationTool.bat. There, the script offers you to download different versions of Windows. Select the one at the very bottom that corresponds to Windows 11.
windows 11 direct download iso
The script allows you to download Windows 11 in different forms: via files that run on you
cuter automatically, via an ISO image, or directly on a USB key.
Once downloaded the necessary for the installation of Windows 11, it is preferable to disconnect from the Web (temporarily). Disable your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.
The software may then launch the “Windows 10 Media Creation” tool. Rest assured, nothing abnormal in that and it is Windows 11 that will be put in place.
From the moment the Windows 11 installation procedure starts (as in the screenshot below), you can reactivate your connection to the Web.
Windows 10 upgrade to Windows 11
The installation of Windows 11 can be quite long depending on your configuration. On our test machine, which has a Core i7 3770K, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD, it took us nearly 45 minutes for the OS to set up. But the operation worked without any problem and we were able to recover all the applications previously installed under Windows 10, our preferences, as well as all our documents. No need to install the system on a blank partition, in short.
Note that at this time, this procedure does not prevent access to Windows 11 updates via Windows Update, as shown in the screenshot below. On the other hand, in the long term, Microsoft would obviously have planned to block the installation of important updates and those dedicated to the security of the OS. It remains to be seen when exactly this ban will be applied.
Windows 11 Update
Finally, note that Microsoft also officially gives its own method to install Windows 11 on an incompatible PC. This is the same as the one described above, but requires editing the registry. So here it is:
Open the registry by entering Regedit in the Windows 10 search box.
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup
Create the following 32-bit DWORD value: AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU
Its type must be REG_DWORD
Assign it the value 1