Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

What wad the problem? Maybe the CPU is not 64-bit?

spapakons said:

What wad the problem? Maybe the CPU is not 64-bit?

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CPU is 64 bit, but I think it's the ram, is it possible to bypass the min requirement?

I think the Registry hacks also bypass RAM requirements. Have you tried creating the USB with Rufus? It also has this option (you must click start first to see Windows 11 hack options)

spapakons said:

I think the Registry hacks also bypass RSM requirements. Have you tried creating the USB with Rufus? It also has this option (you must click start first to see Windows 11 hack options)

Click to expand...

Without hacking / registry options :

You can't install clean from from an iso with only 2GB Ram. I tried in a VM and it failed as the ISO checks hardware before continuing with the install -- insufficient RAM. At also checks for 48GB of disk space but that's "get aroundable" without too much fuss. A basic W11 install without any extra user apps will run at about 18 GB disk space.

You can install though in 2GB Ram if you do it via dism.exe /Apply-Image though it runs like a one legged dog on a perfectly smooth icepond or trying to swim in a lake of molasses.

you can also run with 1 virtual processor - same as above again swimming in molasses -- you need to specify virtual cpu if you get a choice and not use the actual host's cpu topology. If you don't get a choice you might be able to manually edit the VM file to change the cpu spec. I use KVM/QEMU on a linux host where you get a quadzillion of options as well as easily being able to edit the xml virtual machine's config file.

If you make multiple VM's with different hardware options this way keep the original VM's uuid and change the VM's one back to it otherwise Windows will probably want re-activation.

In the VM use an emulated TPM if the install wants one but I've found that the dism /Apply-Image method works in a VM with no TPM specified and BIOS (MBR) boot. You in all cases need to install the bootloader correctly.

The Vm's will restore to physical machines (you need to reload the boot loader - but for non EFI systems you can in the bcdboot parameters specify /s MBR in the final bit e.g bcdboot where windows is on disk w, the boot partition is S then bcdboot w:\windows /s S: /f MBR.

Don't expect any stunning results though -- but currently you can get W11 on 2GB RAM, with a small amount of disk space and 1 cpu core.
(Disk space can be reduced after installing - with a VM just create the appropriate disk space and reduce afterwards when copying image to real disk). It's a roundabout way but so far it can be done.

If you don't mind using probably half your countries entire annual electricity output this method also works with an INTEL Pentium 4 processor. Must still be 64 bit though with vt option available.!!!

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Without hacking / registry options :

You can't install clean from from an iso with only 2GB Ram. I tried in a VM and it failed as the ISO checks hardware before continuing with the install.....

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I find the simplest hack at that point is to replace apraiserres.dll with a zero length dummy file, make a new text document and rename it. If you retry the install it then skips all checks, RAM and cpu included. Easiest to do this in an in-place upgrade, though it can be done in a clean install too....

jimbo45 said:

Don't expect any stunning results though -- but currently you can get W11 on 2GB RAM...

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True. Win11 crawled on my little netbook with just its original 2GB, but now with a 4GB RAM installed and max'd out at 2.99GB usable by the OS it's quite a practical W11 machine.

Mumbo Jumbo, bones and rattles! Cauldron simmer, cauldron boil! The Witch-doctors have spoken!
But I prefer to operate on a completely different plane. KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid!)

It's not so much what you got, but where you got it. Why MS likes to run us through a rat maze, to just install their overpriced OS, is not surprising, it's just typical of them, and so SAD.

We've all heard of the 12 step program, (for alcoholics) well installing Win-11 doesn't have to be that complicated. It's no more than a very simple and straight forward Three Step process.
1. Download the proper ISO
2. Using Rufus, burn the ISO to a Flash Drive
3. Boot up the PC with the FD, and run the install. Job done.

Rant! Rant! Sorry about that!

TechnoMage2021 said:

Mumbo Jumbo, bones and rattles! Cauldron simmer, cauldron boil! The Witch-doctors have spoken!
But I prefer to operate on a completely different plane. KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid!)

It's not so much what you got, but where you got it. Why MS likes to run us through a rat maze, to just install their overpriced OS, is not surprising, it's just typical of them, and so SAD.

We've all heard of the 12 step program, (for alcoholics) well installing Win-11 doesn't have to be that complicated. It's no more than a very simple and straight forward Three Step process.
1. Download the proper ISO
2. Using Rufus, burn the ISO to a Flash Drive
3. Boot up the PC with the FD, and run the install. Job done.

Rant! Rant! Sorry about that!

Click to expand...

True dat! Easy peasy!

dbartenstein said:

True dat! Easy peasy!

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You must be running a very early iso -- if you clean install the current iso's check for hardware compatibilty and bomb out with "This computer can't run Windows 11". Doesn't matter whether it's an ISO or one on an FB made by rufus, Same message.

Updating an installed W11 is another issue. I think here in this section the thread is about INSTALLING CLEAN on incompatible hardware. If you've already got W11 installed by whatever means then the issue is irrelevant to those trying to do a clean install. Earlier W11 builds were far more tolerant than the current set when doing clean installs.

If you are minded with registry hacks and the like --so be it -- but I'm just trying to see what can be done with leaving the W11 system totally untouched. And often in many cases those registry keys either don't exist any more or are in totally different folders.

Challenges are always interesting -- I'm trying to do this stuff with as "Bog standard" windows processing as possible without any hacks etc. Using a legit VM is a perfectly acceptable option. Fiddling around with dll's etc or modding the install.wim image is not IMHO.

I'm sure some here could make a 757 aircraft fly using a Cessna engine which might help "Climate Change" -- but I certainly wouldn't offer to be a pilot on it even if it moved 2 metres. !!Certainly not if the thing even thought about leaving the ground.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

You must be running a very early iso -- if you clean install the current iso's check for hardware compatibilty and bomb out with "This computer can't run Windows 11". Doesn't matter whether it's an ISO or one on an FB made by rufus, Same message.

Updating an installed W11 is another issue. I think here in this section the thread is about INSTALLING CLEAN on incompatible hardware. If you've already got W11 installed by whatever means then the issue is irrelevant to those trying to do a clean install. Earlier W11 builds were far more tolerant than the current set when doing clean installs.

If you are minded with registry hacks and the like --so be it -- but I'm just trying to see what can be done with leaving the W11 system totally untouched. And often in many cases those registry keys either don't exist any more or are in totally different folders.

Challenges are always interesting -- I'm trying to do this stuff with as "Bog standard" windows processing as possible without any hacks etc. Using a legit VM is a perfectly acceptable option. Fiddling around with dll's etc or modding the install.wim image is not IMHO.

I'm sure some here could make a 757 aircraft fly using a Cessna engine which might help "Climate Change" -- but I certainly wouldn't offer to be a pilot on it even if it moved 2 metres. !!Certainly not if the thing even thought about leaving the ground.

Cheers
jimbo

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Just clean-installed the W11 Beta ISO on my old Dell E6410 (2010) using Rufus a couple days ago. Had no issues at all. CPU, TPM, and UEFI are all incompatible. Does have 8G of RAM though.

Jimbo,,,,,You still don't get it! Microsoft rigged their Win-11 OS so that it would only install on a very small percentage of the PC's in the world, without a lot of "Mumbo Jumbo". And that's the #$%^ that you're advocating. Why? I just won't play that game. I'm just too old and cranky!

But you must realize, that MS does not own all the really good programmers in the world. There are some in the EU that are equal to, or even better than those at MS. And some of those have taken it upon themselves to take the Bite out of Microsoft's OS's.

You have tunnel vision, if you think that the only place to get Win-11 is from MS. That's just NOT so! Wake up!

End of rant

TechnoMage2021 said:

Jimbo,,,,,You still don't get it! Microsoft rigged their Win-11 OS so that it would only install on a very small percentage of the PC's in the world, without a lot of "Mumbo Jumbo". And that's the #$%^ that you're advocating. Why? I just won't play that game. I'm just too old and cranky!

But you must realize, that MS does not own all the really good programmers in the world. There are some in the EU that are equal to, or even better than those at MS. And some of those have taken it upon themselves to take the Bite out of Microsoft's OS's.

You have tunnel vision, if you think that the only place to get Win-11 is from MS. That's just NOT so! Wake up!

End of rant

Click to expand...

Hi there
I'm not getting involved in this -- there are zillions of places of getting Windows from, some legit and others not -- I'm sure all those people using those things know about that stuff.

All I'm trying to do is using as much of Ms's stuff straight from Ms as bog standard as possible i.e 100% is to get this to work -- and I have used non Ms's O/S'es for years too.

I know Ms doesn't own the top programmers -- nor do lots of other companies --I would hate to say how much money I've made as a freelancer in working with others in re-designing rubbish cheaply off shored systems to places like India and similar. Companies like "Infoshyte" for example supply the biggest load of dog poo I've ever seen and and management thinks it's value for money until they actually try and switch the system on.

I'm sure there's plenty out there who could probably re-write an almost identical clone of Windows where most people wouldn't know the difference.

However the task of this exercise was to get Windows 11 to clean install on incompatible hardware. If you want to do all sorts of "tricks" well OK. I was just trying to see if it could be done with 100% basic Windows from an Ms supplied W11 iso.

Not going any further with this -- as I know it can be done even if you don't like my methodology.

Cheers
jimbo

TechnoMage2021 said:

You have tunnel vision, if you think that the only place to get Win-11 is from MS. That's just NOT so! Wake up!

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Windows 11 is a Microsoft product so where else do you suppose people download it from?

If a store is charging $25 for a loaf of white bread, I already know that they are price gouging, so I'll just go shopping for the same product at a more reasonable price. Shopping for a bargain is "The American Way".
Years ago, I went shopping, for a safe and reliable FREE Software source (website), and with a little help from a programmer friend of mine, I found a site that contains only Malware Free software, and most of that is FREE.

They don't have to re-write the whole OS, just remove the offending parts, to let it install, and run, trouble free.
I've downloaded 7, 8.1, 10 and 11 from the same site and they have all installed and run error free. No harm, No foul!

I didn't mean to offend, (forgive?) but just to express my own feelings about software in general and OS's in particular.

Years ago, I re-wrote (edited) the OS in the Commodore 64 computer, to make it faster and more efficient. I guess that started my quest for perfection at the lowest cost.

Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear?
TM

TechnoMage2021 said:

Years ago, I re-wrote (edited) the OS in the Commodore 64 computer, to make it faster and more efficient. I guess that started my quest for perfection at the lowest cost.

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I see there's quite a number of Linux versions available, probably for the same reason.

x BlueRobot said:

Windows 11 is a Microsoft product so where else do you suppose people download it from?

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Have you ever been to Shanghai in China -- Great place BTW but ANYTHING is available - catering for all tastes - reasonably cheap too - but don't insist on the provenance. !!!!

Cheers
jimbo

Most of these "cheap" pre-activated ISOs are usually cracked or using stolen Enterprise licences.

Linux guys like coding... You don't need a million lines of code just to install Windows 11 on unsupported computers! You either change 3-4 values in Registry at Setup time, or use a script to do that for you, or use Rufus to do that beforehand. The other option for a clean installation is to create a standard Windows 10 64-bit USB and replace the install.esd (install.wim) with the respective file from OFFICIAL Microsoft Windows 11 ISO. It cannot be more legit than that. How you activate Windows 11 makes it genuine or cracked. No how you install it (unless you download an illegal preactivated ISO). In my posts I always recommend download the latest official Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft site which is free. I never implied an illegal way. Also in this thread we discuss how to install Windows 11 on unsupported computers. We don't give advice of activation.

The easy way to bypass Windows 11 installation requirements without altering ANYTHING during a clean install:

Start your installation by booting from the install media.

When the first static screen is displayed, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt.

Run this command:

reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f

NOTE: This registry setting never makes it's way into the copy of Windows that you are installing. It affects only the Preinstallation Environment loaded into RAM. As a result, it disappears as soon as the first reboot during installation takes place.

After running the above command you can hit the UP arrow on your keyboard to bring up that same command. Then change the "BypassRAMCheck" with "BypassTPMCheck". Repeat with the following strings: "BypassSecureBootCheck", "BypassStorageCheck", and "BypassCPUCheck".

You don't need to use all of these. Use whatever you need.

You can then close the command prompt and continue installation as usual.

Or you can copy-paste these commands in Notepad and save as bypass.bat (or whatever name). Simply run this .bat file to patch Registry each time you want to clean install Windows 11 on unsupported computer.

spapakons said:

Or you can copy-paste these commands in Notepad and save as bypass.bat (or whatever name). Simply run this .bat file to patch Registry each time you want to clean install Windows 11 on unsupported computer.

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There's a number of ways that this can be implemented. As you suggested, a batch file is one method, a .REG file is another, you can even created an unattended setup answer that does absolutely nothing except to apply these settings.

The reason I chose to show the option of manually typing the commands was that one concern was over hacking something in the installation. The idea of manually entering the commands was to leave a 0% footprint.