Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

junglee said:

Is Version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.282) the current version of Windows 11?

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Yes. Although the update to 22000.282 is a Preview cumulative update that is optional and would only install if you chose to install it. The current madatory CU was 22000.258.

Yes, I have tried Snappy Driver Installer, AVG Driver Updater and others, but I am not sure if they install latest official drivers or just any newer driver from manufacturer or Microsoft. The only way to make sure is to manually download it yourself and install it. Also these tools rarely install any utility such as nVidia Control Panel. They only install the driver and you miss some features.

spapakons said:

Yes, I have tried Snappy Driver Installer, AVG Driver Updater and others, but I am not sure if they install latest official drivers or just any newer driver from manufacturer or Microsoft. The only way to make sure is to manually download it yourself and install it. Also these tools rarely install any utility such as nVidia Control Panel. They only install the driver and you miss some features.

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I use the free version of Driver Easy that means doing manual install and I have had no complaints.

In Snappy and others you can manually select which drivers will be installed, but you cannot be sure if these drivers are from manufacturer or generic. Only if you visit the manufacturer's site and download the driver yourself you can be sure. I know, it is not convenient but I prefer to maximize stability and compatibility than do it the easy way. Also the official drivers expose all features and options of a device while the generic driver has limited functionality which I hate. For example a generic display driver will make the graphics card work but you have no control over it, while the official driver will also install the Intel/nVidia/AMD Control Panel where you can tweak the card as you like. A generic printer driver will let you print with plain paper and draft or normal quality, while the official driver will let you choose many different papers and qualities etc. I think you get the idea... So unless I cannot find any driver, not even Vista, I always prefer the official driver from the manufacturer. For example, my very old HP Deskjet 895Cxi printer only had Windows 98 and Windows 2000 drivers. While Windows 2000 drivers work OK on Windows XP, they don't work on newer Windows, so I rely on Windows Update with the generic driver and I miss all the paper selections and other features I had in Windows XP. It really sucks. So use the official drivers when you can.

My older computer does not have the requirements for Win 11 so I have been checking it out virtually. I can disable the message that my computer says it can't install 11 and continue that way. Then I found that VmWare Workstation can add a virtual TPM. Had to try of course, and it worked. But it wouldn't go until I encrypted the virtual disk and required a password. Then it installed. Is it possible to remove the password from the virtual? I know it can be disabled, would prefer totally gone. I don't suppose the encryption can leave, it says the drive could not be read if it was. I could always write down the password in a notebook. But then I would need to remember where the notebook was :)

Edited to add, I was able to fix it.

dany00711 said:

startallback 3.1 out

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A lot of people like Startallback, but I never hear Classic Shell mentioned. It went out of development 4 years ago but was picked up as Open Shell by GitHub. The original page of Classic Shell is still on the web and I just downloaded and tried it in my virtual 11. Worked really well. I can have CS at the left with the Win 11 menu at center. Classic Shell (and Open Shell) are more configurable than SAB (unless I am missing something. I tried the XP Luna skin (one column only). I just may keep this.

I just discovered a weird incompatibility, In Open Shell. if you leave the start button unchanged, any changes to the Start Menu are ignored, apart from the color and transparency of the taskbar. If you do change the start button, the start menu appears as expected. In my case I replaced the default start button with the well known blue button of Windows 7 and set the start menu to Windows 7 style and aero. With the start button replaced it works as expected. I don't know why this weird incompatibility occurs, but anyone having the same problem, now you know the workaround.

jbcarreon123 said:

Hi.

Inspired on this thread: Let's run Win10 on really really old hardware - Windows 10 Help Forums

Many of us PCs is incompatible for Windows 11.
But, Let's force Setup to install W11.

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The easiest way I have found to install WIN11 on unsupported computers is a hybrid ISO.

1. Download both Win10 and Win 11 ISO.

2. Copy the install.wim file from the Win11 ISO "sources" folder to the Win 10 "sources" folder.

3. Rename or delete the install.esd file from the Win10 ISO in the "sources" folder. (I renamed to install..esd.old)

4. Use the modified Win10 ISO to do your installation. Clean install or upgrade both work.

5. You will see the Win10 screen during the installation process but Win11 is installing. It bypasses all of the security checks that are causing installation issues on unsupported computers.

My Lenovo Yoga2 laptop has secure boot but no TPM of any kind. I was able to upgrade without any issues.

I did the same method (hybrid USB flash drive) and I also succeeded on my old Acer Extensa laptop (see my specs). All the updates downloaded and installed without any complain about compatibility. I will need to hack again if I want to upgrade to a higher build. All other updates don't check compatibility.

Now running Windows 11 on my laptop.
It has Secure Boot, TPM 2.0 but the CPU was/is unsupported.
Apart from cosmetic changes I see no difference from Windows 10.
It’s fixes a long standing problem with my account picture not showing up under various MS programs/apps like the Store.

For you that remember, Windows 98 was a facelift of Windows 95, but also added many improvements. It seems like history is repeated here. Windows 11 seem like a facelift of Windows 10, but I bet will introduce many improvements not found on 10. Just wait a few months. It's a matter of time until Microsoft introduces some features exclusively for Windows 11. One of them is DirectX 12 Ultimate.

I have something very important to report! I recently installed Windows 11 on a small HTPC custom-built with a Biostar A10N motherboard, AMD FX-9830P with Radeon R7 graphics, 16GB RAM. My customer intends to connect the HTPC on his TV via HDMI, so I used an HDMI to VGA adapter in order to connect it on a VGA monitor during installation. I was doing some final tests when I discovered the audio was output from HDMI without any other selection, such as the Realtek Speakers. I was terrified as I has a similar issue in Windows 10 that a certain update made me lost access to any audio and video device!

Thanks God this is not that case, just Windows 11 doesn't show you in the audio input/output list any devices you cannot use. As soon as I connected speakers to the green audio output of the motherboard, I had the choice between Realtek Speakers and HDMI audio. So if you see anything similar, don't panic! Try connecting speakers first.

PS: Is there any setting to always display all available devices on the list, no matter if you can use them or not? I will do that to all my customers to save some heart attacks

Hi,
Yeah vga port don't support sound so a fluke/ magic adapter lol

This adapter supports sound as well, it has a 3,5mm mini-jack output to connect speakers if you want.

My PC (host) was restarted unexpectedly due to some update while my VMWare Windows 11 machine was installing a cumulative update and of course it was screwed. It was impossible to fix it to load Windows 11 again. Therefore I decided to format it and reinstall Windows 11. The first time I had installed Windows Insider's Preview, so Setup proceeded without checking compatibility. This time I booted with the official release ISO and I saw the error message that this computer is not compatible with Windows 11. So I closed Setup and returned to the initial screen. I then pressed Shift+F10 to open the command prompt. I executed regedit to load Registry Editor and did the Registry hacks to bypass compatibility check. Then I closed Registry Editor, closed command prompt and tried again to start setup. This time there was no complain and Setup proceeded to the next stage. I will report again when it's completed.

Hi,
About to mount 11 on my 13 year old acer with Q9550 rig
Should be fun

I'm sharing a 980ti with it so probably just install 11 and leave it for a while seeing the other rig x99 is my entertainment center so I do need this gpu

980 Ti may have Windows 11 drivers, check nVidia's site. For anything else Windows 10 or earlier drivers work OK

Hi,
Yeah I've already used the 980ti upgrading on my x99 rig it's fine
Acer without a gpu though it has onboard graphic's might be a stretch for that driver lol
11 is installing now.

Hybrid installation media method: Make sure you match the language...

Today a friend asked me to install Windows 11 Greek, but I only had a hybrid USB drive made for Windows 11 English (US). I then tried to rename the English version install.wim file to install.wim.eng and replace it with the Greek version install.wim file. So I booted my hybrid USB drive, Setup was in English, as expected, as was the installation language on the list (no selection for Greek). The EULA was for some strange reason in German. I decided to proceed to see what would happen. I did not have a Windows key at the moment, so I continued without. All Windows versions listed where Windows 10, instead of Windows 11, so I selected Windows 10 Pro and continued. I chose the hard disk and apparently installation was going on as usual. It seems I was celebrating too early since at some point installation failed with an error message that it could not configure system locale. Then I decided to delete the Greek version of install.wim, rename install.wim.eng back to install.wim and install the English (US) version instead. I then downloaded the Greek language pack and changed the display language to Greek.

My recent experience teaches us to create the hybrid installation making sure both the Windows 10 and the Windows 11 ISO are of the same language. Not mix and match languages or it will not work. I hope that helps.

Today my Laptop was upgraded after downloading and installing "2021-11 Update for Windows 11 for x64-based Systems (KB5008295)" but the Winver remained the same Windows 11 Version 21H2 OS Build 22000.282. I wonder if my device has stopped upgrading Windows 11 further. A knowledgeable Member to kindly please clarify.