Install Win11 on VM - Registry hack no longer works

martyfelker · Dec 12, 2021

Trying to install Windows 11 on a VM the registry hack using regedit (Shift+F10) no longer works (I am using QEMU/KVM on Ubuntu 22.04). Can anybody help or should I just give up - in which case FU Microsoft?

NavyLCDR · Dec 12, 2021

Which version of Windows 11 are you trying to install?

cereberus · Dec 12, 2021

martyfelker said:
Trying to install Windows 11 on a VM the registry hack using regedit (Shift+F10) no longer works (I am using QEMU/KVM on Ubuntu 22.04). Can anybody help or should I just give up - in which case FU Microsoft?

You need to set up ubuntu with the tpm emulation modules.
I did it once but cannot remember how. It was not easy.

I had to install swtpm.

@Jimbo may be able to help.

https://www.reddit.com/r/VFIO/comments/q49xb4

NavyLCDR · Dec 13, 2021

I tried installing the latest Windows 11 created with MCT to an unsupported VM configuration using registry hacks and could not get any of them to work. Had to use the manual dism /apply-image method,

hsehestedt · Dec 13, 2021

EDIT

As cereberus noted, the best way would be to set your hyperviser so that it can install Win 11 in a supported configarion, if you hardware allows for this. Since you mentioned a registry hack, I was assuming that you do not meet requirements, but if you do, then cereberus suggestion would be better to follow than my hack below.

END EDIT

The following assumes a clean install of Windows (booting from the ISO image for installation in a VM).

Modify your Windows ISO image that you are using to install Windows by adding a single file (details below) to it. As an alternative, create a brand new ISO image with only that one file in the root of the ISO image.

If you modify your Windows ISO that is all that is necessary, no other action is required. If you create a separate ISO image, make sure to attach it as a second ISO image to your VM before you start installation.

How this works:

The file is named "autounattend.xml". Windows setup looks for a file by this name when it starts and would normally use this file to automate the installation of Windows. The file that I provide below does NOT automate the installation of Windows. The only thing that it does is set registry entries in WinPE (used by setup) to bypass the check for TPM, Secure Boot, supported CPU, memory and storage requirements. Note that this only effects the WinPE registry loaded in RAM and will not affect the Win 11 registry at all. Other than that change, you would still install Windows exactly the same as always.

Save the data below to a file named "autounattend.xml" and use it as was described above:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <RunSynchronous>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>3</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>5</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassCPUCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>4</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassStorageCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
            </RunSynchronous>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

hsehestedt · Dec 13, 2021

One follow-up to my post...

If you prefer not to use an autounattend.xml file, there are other ways to accomplish the same thing:

1) You could manually run the regedit commands to add those entries from a command prompt that you can run at the first static screen during Windows setup

2) You could run a .reg file that applies those settings.

3) You could create a batch file and run it to apply those settings.

My personal preference is the autounattend.xml answer file because it is fully automatic without the user needing to do a thing.

jimbo45 · Dec 13, 2021

martyfelker said:
Trying to install Windows 11 on a VM the registry hack using regedit (Shift+F10) no longer works (I am using QEMU/KVM on Ubuntu 22.04). Can anybody help or should I just give up - in which case FU Microsoft?

Hi there

on QEMU/KVM Windows 11 should easily install - just enable sec boot and uefi for the VM and install the IBM TPM emulator -- then no problem. I've got W11 running on an old BIOS only ProLiant Gen 8 Microserver running Arch Linux (kernel 5.15.7) absolutely no problem.

No registry hacks etc needed. Use ISO from UUPDUMP for the W11 version you want to install

Cheers
jimbo

orlbuckeye · Dec 13, 2021

I thought a clean install no hacks are needed. The hacks are needed for the upgrade.

NavyLCDR · Dec 13, 2021

orlbuckeye said:
I thought a clean install no hacks are needed. The hacks are needed for the upgrade.

A workaround is also needed for a clean install (at least on the version I created yesterday with the MCT) on unqualified hardware. And the registry hacks workaround does seem to be disabled in the newest version now. At least I couldn't them to work (and I have in the past). A manual install using dism /apply-image completed just fine, as always, though. I did not test if the registry hacks still work for an upgrade. I may try that later.

Install Win11 on VM - Registry hack no longer works

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