Installing Windows 11 by removing appraiserres.dll file

Deleting the appraiserres.dll file doesn't work in Windows 11 22H2 or newer. You must replace it with an empty dummy. Also disconnect from the internet during the upgrade and connect again when completed.

Bree said:

My Lenovo Yoga 11e 2-in-1 laptop has a weird touchscreen driver, the touchscreen is not recognised by a clean install (of Windows 10 or 11) and the driver is tricky to install, even from the OEM support site. Google is full of questions about it.....

Google search: Lenovo Yoga 11e touchscreen not working

A Feature Update through Windows Update does however preserve my installed driver, so it is my preferred method for this particular machine.

My experience is that after Windows Update has downloaded the upgrade and starts to install a window like the one seen with a clean install pops up to tell you why it doesn't meet the requirements. Windows Update then shows a failed update with a Retry button. At this point you can replace C:\$Windows.~BT\sources\appraiserres.dll with a zero length dummy file (make a New Text Document, rename it, and copy to Sources). Then press Retry in Windows Update and the upgrade will complete the install. Just deleting appraiserres.dll is not enough, it will cause the install to fail again.

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This is good to know for those of us with unsupported h/w who have thought about the next major Update coming in October. This will then perform like a regular update which keeps all our programs/files intact. Thanks.

blackhole said:

Hi @Bree

Are you still using the Dev channel?

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No. I stayed on the Dev channel for few builds after that screenshot in post #16 but the Dev and Beta channels diverged after build 22616.100. I chose to switch to the Beta channel and got build 22621.1 next. That was the last Beta feature update that did a full install and needed the appraserres.dll trick. The 22622, 22623 and 22624 feature updates were all by means of an enablement package and didn't do any compatibility tests.

blackhole said:

....Before trying the method of replacing the appraiserres file with a dummy file, have you tried replacing that file with the same file from the Windows 10 ISO?

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Note that I was trying to bypass the compatibility checks when the feature update was being delivered through Windows Update. This meant that the Rufus method of updating with an ISO was unavailable. Unlike the release channel, an unsupported device on an Insider build still gets feature updates offered in Windows Update, only the Release channel checks for compatibility before offering the next feature update (or rather, not offering it to an unsupported device).

I tried several alternative appraiserres.dll files, Setup seemed to detect if a 'wrong' .dll was there and failed saying 'something went wrong'. The only reliable way was to create that zero byte 'new text document' and rename it as appraiserres.dll.

so i tried upgrading again from dev 23493 to 23506 and this time it downloaded to 100%, it then began installing and about 20-25% it asked to reboot and after rebooting is back to the desktop of dev 23493, any ideas what to try next?

Can you download latest build ISO from below link if you can follow my video guide to perform in-place upgrade of latest build of Windows 11.

jestrada47 said:

so i tried upgrading again from dev 23493 to 23506 and this time it downloaded to 100%, it then began installing and about 20-25% it asked to reboot and after rebooting is back to the desktop of dev 23493, any ideas what to try next?

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If it downloaded all the way up to 100% that confirms that you have successfully bypassed the comparability checks on your unsupported PC. The check takes place at 8% downloaded, if it fails then Windows Update would have stopped downloading and reported a failed install.

The reboot on installing should normally only take place at 100% installed. If it reboots at only 25% installed that indicates the install has hit a fatal error and need to reboot to unwind the install.

The problem could be with incompatible software, for example a 3rd party AV or a Start menu customiser. Disable or remove any you might have installed. Or it could be that your current install is corrupted. To try and fix a corrupt system, open a comand prompt (admin) and run the following commands in this order:

Dism /Online /Cleaup-Image /RestoreHealth
SFC /ScanNow

Restart the PC and try the update again.

recently read this article from Neowin:

See my reply in this thread: Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware