Another way to get win 11 23H2 running on any PC supported or not, use a cloned drive. no install needed.


sdowney717

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OS
windows 11
Did it today
Intel based old Laptop had been running win10pro and is activated with my MS online account

Made a clone of a win 11 23H2 OS on an AMD desktop PC.

Put cloned drive into laptop, and it booted up win 11 pro and was activated with my online account.

Windows goes thru a reconfig process detecting all the different hardware.

So no need to install 11 at all.

Course the PC with the cloned drive still has to meet bare minimums for ram etc... But it bypasses things like CPU requirements that stop installs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    some kind of old ASUS MB
    CPU
    old AMD B95
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Memory
    8gb
    Hard Drives
    ssd WD 500 gb
The nice thing is that there are quite a few options for doing this. In fact, to keep them all straight, I wrote myself a little document detailing all the methods to do this. However, as obvious as this one should really be, it's not a method I ever thought of. Thanks for pointing this out. Time to update my document :-).
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built
    CPU
    Intel i7 11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A MB
    Memory
    64GB (Waiting for warranty replacement of another 64GB for 128GB total)
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 4TB NVMe SSD
    3 x 512GB 2.5" SSD
    1 x 4TB 2.5" SSD
    5 x 8TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case
    Cooling
    Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Home Computer Specifications, Configuration, and Usage Notes General Specifications ASUS Prime Z590-A motherboard, serial number M1M0KC222467ARP Intel Core i7-11700K CPU (11th Gen Rocket Lake / LGA 1200 Socket) 128GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4 3200 MHz DRAM (4 x 32GB) Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Corsair LL-120 RGB Fans (Qty. 3)
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    The five 8TB drives and three 512GB SSDs are part of a DrivePool using StableBit DrivePool software. The three SSDs are devoted purely to caching for the 8TB drives. All of the important data is stored in triplicate so that I can withstand simultaneous failure of 2 disks.

    Networking: 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6e
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
The nice thing is that there are quite a few options for doing this. In fact, to keep them all straight, I wrote myself a little document detailing all the methods to do this. However, as obvious as this one should really be, it's not a method I ever thought of. Thanks for pointing this out. Time to update my document :-).
And you then also have all your previously installed updates, apps and files instantly on and working in the other PC with the clone drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    some kind of old ASUS MB
    CPU
    old AMD B95
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Memory
    8gb
    Hard Drives
    ssd WD 500 gb

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