Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

You could also just update all your drivers before the upgrade and disconnect from the internet to prevent Windows Update trying to install new drivers and screw the process.

That was not my issue.
These were leftover drivers from Windows 7 ...
Punishment for doing a series of in-place upgrades I guess

Is 24H2 good to go now?

It depends what issues you have. Not all have the same issues. I had some BSODs but I discovered that my old 4TB disk was faulty causing the BSODs, so I replaced it. I also had some disconnects from my WiFi but it was my old crappy wireless USB dongle. I replaced with a new one and all is OK now. Both these issues appeared in 24H2 probably due to different resource allocation/management compared to 23H2. Another known bug is that if you use both Open Shell and Explorer Patcher, the search box/icon might disappear from the taskbar and when you click on search box/icon the taskbar color set in Open Shell is ignored and it reverts to the default Windows 11 color. There were partially fixed with the last version of Open Shell. Let's hope a newer version of Explorer Patcher will completely fix them.

In your case, I would install Windows 11 24H2 on a spare disk to see if there are any serious issues in your specific system. If not, I would then keep it or upgrade my original disk to Windows 11 24H2. You can even dual boot your original disk with the spare disk running 24H2 until you have migrated all your applications and data and you are ready to remove the original disk. This was the practice I did with XP and Vista and with 7 and 8.

Microsoft has said:

Devices that don't meet these system requirements might malfunction due to compatibility or other issues. Additionally, these devices aren't guaranteed to receive updates, including but not limited to security updates.
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If you proceed with installing Windows 11, your PC will no longer be supported and won't be entitled to receive updates.

Source:

What do those warnings mean in reality? Do they mean like that you won't get Windows updates or what?.... I don't fully understand.

peace2000 said:

What do those warnings mean in reality? Do they mean like that you won't get Windows updates or what?.... I don't fully understand.

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Welcome to Eleven Forum.

I have had Windows 11 running on my unsupported System Two (in My Computers below) since October 2021. What it means in practice is that the currently installed version of Windows 11 will get all the same updates as any supported device would.

The "... won't be entitled to receive updates..." bit only applies to a Feature Update to the next version of Windows 11. You will not see that offered in Windows Update. For those I had to download the ISO and manually upgrade using a workaround. My System Two is now on 24H2.

Yes, if you have an unsupported system, you have to bypass compatibility for every upgrade to the next version (such as from 23H2 to 24H2). All other updates don't check compatibility and you see them available in Windows Update.

spapakons said:

you have to bypass compatibility for every upgrade to the next version (such as from 23H2 to 24H2).

Click to expand...

The exception to that rule was the upgrade from 22H2 to 23H2. That one was just a small enablement package that installed the same way as a cumulative update, and like a CU it didn't check compatibility.

Bree said:

The exception to that rule was the upgrade from 22H2 to 23H2. That one was just a small enablement package that installed the same way as a cumulative update, and like a CU it didn't check compatibility.

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That was a one time bonus. "It is not every day St. John's day", as we say in Greek, meaning good luck or opportunities don't come even day.

I've been out of touch for a while - is Windows 11 still runnable on old hardware? Last time I read something had been introduced to stop it being upgraded any further - is that still the case?

Hazel123 said:

I've been out of touch for a while - is Windows 11 still runnable on old hardware? Last time I read something had been introduced to stop it being upgraded any further - is that still the case?

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24H2 introduced a new requirement, one that cannot be bypassed. It can only run on a cpu that has the SSE4.2 instruction set. That only rules out some really old processors, Intel had SSE4.2 from the 1st gen Core i3/i5/i7 onwards. An older Core Two Duo cannot run 24H2, for example.

My System Two with a 1st gen i5 is running 24H2, and the latest Insider Canary build. I've also clean installed 24H2 on a 2011 Pentium B950.
Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware - post #2,047

That's good news

Bree said:

24H2 introduced a new requirement, one that cannot be bypassed. It can only run on a cpu that has the SSE4.2 instruction set. That only rules out some really old processors, Intel had SSE4.2 from the 1st gen Core i3/i5/i7 onwards. An older Core Two Duo cannot run 24H2, for example.

My System Two with a 1st gen i5 is running 24H2, and the latest Insider Canary build. I've also clean installed 24H2 on a 2011 Pentium B950.
Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware - post #2,047

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So there's probably no way I can install Win 11 on my loaded-to-the-hilt HP workstation. It uses dual Xeon E5-2680 v4 processors, which employ the AVX 2 instruction set instead of SSE. This thing is an absolute beast; I hate to relegate it to anything besides what it does so well.

LRS2 said:

So there's probably no way I can install Win 11 on my loaded-to-the-hilt HP workstation. It uses dual Xeon E5-2680 v4 processors, which employ the AVX 2 instruction set instead of SSE. This thing is an absolute beast; I hate to relegate it to anything besides what it does so well.

Click to expand...

According to multiple sites, Xeon E5-2680 v4 has the SSE 4.2 instruction set. It may fail the standard HW checks, but it should run anyway.

Hazel123 said:

That's good news

Click to expand...

on the AMD site, any AMD based CPU from at least Bulldozer & Piledriver have SSE4.2 support and can run Win11 24H2
all generations of AMD Ryzens have SSE4.2 as well

Windows 11 21H2, 22H2 and 23H2 can be installed on ANY system with 64-bit CPU, 2GB RAM and at least 60GB HDD. The exception is the first generation of AMD 64 which cannot install Windows 8 64-bit or higher due to missing specific instructions. You can bypass compatibility check and Setup will proceed without asking you about compatibility, just like when you install Windows 10. In fact the earliest system I have successfully installed Windows 11 23H2 on was an Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2GHz socket 775 (FIRST Intel 64-bit CPU family) with 2GB RAM and 250GB IDE (no SATA) HDD. Yes, it was very slow to use, but I wanted to check if it was possible. For a more responsive system any Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with 4GB or higher should be enough.

In Windows 11 24H2 Microsoft put a higher hardware requirement, that is the SSE4.2 instruction set, for which no known workaround exists yet. So forget Intel Core 2 Duo and earlier CPUs, you need at least first generation Intel Core-i3 or higher and respective AMD CPUs that have the SSE4.2 instruction set and specifically the PopCnt instruction. If you have at least such as CPU (mine is 3rd generation Core-i7, so I am OK) you can bypass compatibility check and install or upgrade to 24H2. Another difference is that the old method of replacing a certain hidden file from Setup cache to bypass compatibility no longer work. Thankfully there are other methods. such as starting Setup from a patched USB flash drive created with the latest versions of Rufus (4.6+) or executing f:\setup /product server from a command prompt, where f is the drive letter of the virtual DVD-ROM (if you mounted the ISO) or your USB flash drive containing Windows Setup. In any case make sure you disconnect from the internet during the upgrade or it will fail. No need to repeat once more why, it just fails, trust me. So make sure you mount the ISO or create a USB flash drive (so you have all Windows 11 files available) and DISCONNECT from the internet before proceeding.