Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

This will prevent driver updates from being installed by Windows update.

NOTE: To reverse the above, change the "1" to a "0".

I am not sure this always works. As an alternative you can hide (block) specific updates (see my previous post) or you can always make sure you have the latest official drivers so Windows Update won't find anything new to mess with them.

spapakons said:

I am not sure this always works. As an alternative you can hide (block) specific updates (see my previous post) or you can always make sure you have the latest official drivers so Windows Update won't find anything new to mess with them.

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To be fair, I have only used for short term testing, so it's possible that you may be correct. Maybe I should setup a system with old drivers on purpose and test to see if this really blocks updates.

Maybe I'll give that a try over the next day or two if I have time.

Hello! My father's computer, unsupported custom-built with 7th generation Intel Pentium G4560 CPU, was still running Windows 11 23H2 because I had a failed attempt at upgrading to 24H2 and I didn't try again to avoid losing any data. However, my father now has gone on vacation, so I took the opportunity to try again, this time upgrade from 23H2 to 25H2 directly using latest official ISO. First I made sure I had installed all Windows Updates and all latest available drivers so Setup wouldn't try to mess with them and screw the process. I then disabled Open Shell and uninstalled Explorer Patcher to avoid any conflicts. Also we have mentioned in older posts that the upgrade might fail if there are two or more disks, so I disabled the second disk in Device Manager. I also disabled all startup applications and restarted to make sure all these changes take effect. Then I took a deep breath mounted the ISO I had just downloaded from Microsoft site and run the known command to bypass compatibility check:

D:\setup /product server

where D: was the drive letter of the virtual DVD drive with the ISO contents.

I was doing all these via AnyDesk because my father's house is at a different area and I didn't have time to visit and do it locally, so I kept the internet connected and crossed my fingers. After doing the initial file copy it restarted to proceed with the upgrade and I had no access to see what is going on. No panic, just wait... After a couple of hours I saw it was online again so I reconnected and confirmed the upgrade completed successfully! Hurray! It seems it is not absolutely necessary to disconnect from the internet when upgrading an unsupported computer, but next one I upgrade I will disconnect anyway, just in case, if I have physical contact.

@spapakons Even easier than manually downloading the ISO, simply tell Windows Update to target the version you want, check for updates, and it'll download and install normally through Windows Update—even on unsupported hardware. The only one that hasn't worked for me is 26H1 (seems to ignore it), but that's a different branch, so not too surprising I guess.

I don't trust Windows Update for that or drivers. I rather manually upgrade using the ISO and manually download the official drivers from manufacturer. In Greek we say "if you are burnt by a hot porridge you also blow the cold yogurt to cool it before eating". Meaning if you have had a similar issue before you are precautious even with less severe situations.

Compatibility report: I just updated my main PC (see 2nd system specs) to build 8737. So far nothing suspicious, haven't discovered any issues. Also the customized system icons didn't revert to the default Windows 11 icons, which means the respective modified system files were not replaced. Finally, Open Shell including Classic Explorer Bar in File Explorer stills works OK, so the relevant Registry modification still works. I will post again if I see anything off.

Compatibility report: I just updated my main PC (see 2nd system specs) to build 8875. So far nothing suspicious, haven't discovered any issues. Also the customized system icons didn't revert to the default Windows 11 icons, which means the respective modified system files were not replaced. Finally, Open Shell including Classic Explorer Bar in File Explorer stills works OK, so the relevant Registry modification still works. I will post again if I see anything off.

I have one more computer still on Windows 10. It's a Core i7-950. It's over 15 years old, and still running well. I think the time is coming to try upgrading it to Windows 11.

Stigg said:

I have one more computer still on Windows 10. It's a Core i7-950. It's over 15 years old, and still running well. I think the time is coming to try upgrading it to Windows 11.

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My System Two is 15 years old too, with a 1st gen Core i5-520M - I've had that running Windows 11 nicely since launch in October 2021.

I have two laptops left still running Windows 10 as their primary OS, one of which doesn't have SSE4.2 so it's stuck with W10. Despite that I've somehow managed to max out my allowance of 10 ESU licences! (some are for VM's, some are a multi-boot secondary OS)

I kept my last Windows 10 computer for a few reasons.
1. I still like Windows 10.
2. When Windows 11 was first released, it had a few annoyances. I personally think it was released too soon.
3. I use my Windows 10 computer to make WinPE 10 ISOs.
4. I just couldn't be bothered upgrading it, until now.

Stigg said:

I have one more computer still on Windows 10. It's a Core i7-950. It's over 15 years old, and still running well. I think the time is coming to try upgrading it to Windows 11.

Click to expand...

If I am right, this is first generation Intel Core-i7 which also has SSE4.2 instructions, so you can upgrade to Windows 11 25H2 and later use the 26H2 Enablement Package to switch to 26H2 without using an ISO again.

It appears Intel has removed its own specs page about your 1st generation Intel Core-i7 950 CPU, but I found this one:


Yes, it has SSE4.2, so you can install all versions of Windows 11, including 25H2 and the upcoming 26H2. In fact 1st generation Core i-3 or higher is the minimum family with SSE4.2, so anyone having a newer Intel CPU or equivalent AMD can install Windows 11 25H2. This is not true for all generations of contemporary Intel Pentium and Intel Atom CPUs, verify with CPU-Z if you have one of those.

Stigg said:

I have one more computer still on Windows 10. It's a Core i7-950. It's over 15 years old, and still running well. I think the time is coming to try upgrading it to Windows 11.

Click to expand...

I found the build date of this computer. It's November 03, 2010.
The motherboard is a GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7.

Stigg said:

I found the build date of this computer. It's November 03, 2010.
The motherboard is a GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7.

Click to expand...

No issues. If you clean install Windows 11 rather than upgrade, you can install Intel X58 chipset drivers and then proceed with graphics and the rest drivers. Remember that you can use older 64-bit drivers, Windows 10 or 8/8.1 or 7 64-bit, even Vista 64-bit if there are no Windows 11 drivers. Of course the newer the better compatibility. Also keep your LAN cable disconnected if you want to create a local Administrator account and not be forced to use your Microsoft account. Without internet, at the Network screen of OOBE press SHIFT+F10 to open a Command Prompt as Administrator. Then execute this command:

start ms-cxh:localonly

This will interrupt the OOBE process and open a window to create a local Administrator account. This will skip the rest of OOBE configuration, but don't worry. You can configure the rest of it from the Privacy section of Windows Settings.


If you decide to upgrade from Windows 10 to 11, make sure you download the ISO from Microsoft (scroll down, third option) of the same language as your Windows 10 installation. Any language packs added later don't count, you have to match the original language to keep both your files and apps. Then disconnect from the internet, press WIN+R and execute this command:

D:\setup /product server

assuming D: is the virtual CD-ROM that opens when you mount the ISO (open with File Explorer). Change letter if different. This parameter tricks Setup is going to install a "Server" version which never checks compatibility. Of course it will actually install Windows 11.

spapakons said:

Yes, it has SSE4.2, so you can install all versions of Windows 11, including 25H2 and the upcoming 26H2. In fact 1st generation Core i-3 or higher is the minimum family with SSE4.2, so anyone having a newer Intel CPU or equivalent AMD can install Windows 11 25H2. This is not true for all generations of contemporary Intel Pentium and Intel Atom CPUs, verify with CPU-Z if you have one of those.

Click to expand...

The Intel Core family had SSE4.2 starting with the 1st gen using Bloomfield architecture in 2008. As far as I can tell the first Intel Atom family to have SSE4.2 was the Bay Trail-T from 2013. For Celeron and Pentium it was Sandy Bridge (Celeron in 2012, Pentium in 2011). Sandy Bridge was the architecture of the 3rd gen Intel Core family.

Bree said:

The Intel Core family had SSE4.2 starting with the 1st gen using Bloomfield architecture in 2008. As far as I can tell the first Intel Atom family to have SSE4.2 was the Bay Trail-T from 2013. For Celeron and Pentium it was Sandy Bridge (Celeron in 2012, Pentium in 2011). Sandy Bridge was the architecture of the 3rd gen Intel Core family.

Click to expand...

Yes, my 3rd generation Core-i7 is the only generation with AVX but not AVX2 commands, so I cannot install Mac OS 13 or higher that require AVX2, I can install up to Mac OS 12 Monterey as Hackintosh. Thankfully Windows 11 still require SSE4.2 that I have it. I hope Microsoft doesn't require AVX2 or something more advanced in newer versions of Windows 11. This is 4th generation Inter Core-i3 or higher.

Compatibility report: I have recently updated my main PC (2nd system specs) to build 8973. So far I hadn't seen any issues, but recently my PCIe USB 3.0 card had difficulty to identify one USB flash drive. I thought the specific flash drive might be faulty, but then it did it again with two different flash drives. Trying several times, it would not detect it at all and when detected I saw the "unknown USB device" error. I restarted my PC, it worked once, but after some time the same symptoms. So I loaded Device Manager, switched view to devices ty connection and then deleted (uninstalled) the following devices:

Generic USB Hub connected to ASMedia USB 3.0 eXtensible host controller - 0.96 (Microsoft)
Generic SuperSpeed USB Hub, also connected to ASMedia USB 3.0 eXtensible host controller - 0.96 (Microsoft)
USB Root Hub (USB 3.0), also connected to ASMedia USB 3.0 eXtensible host controller - 0.96 (Microsoft)
ASMedia USB 3.0 eXtensible host controller - 0.96 (Microsoft)

I then restarted, Windows automatically found the devices again and this time worked as expected. I heard that some updates might cause USB devices to misbehave. So anyone having the same symptoms, uninstall all relevant devices and restart. Hopefully, this won't happen again any soon. If I see it again I will report back.

PS: Spoke too soon. Again it doesn't detect the USB flash drive. I saw the driver of Generic SuperSpeed USB Hub was one this July. Any chance not to work properly? How can I go back to an older driver? I didn't see any choice when tried to update the driver manually. I tried to install the ASMedia drivers that came with the card but are for older Windows versions and didn't work properly. Any newer official ASMedia drivers?

PS2: I Googled and found newer ASMedia USB 3.0 drivers from those provided with the card and installed them. I restart my PC and now it seems to work properly again. Let's hope it stays that way. Thank you Dell support for the working drivers:

Reminder: I found a newer version of the driver from 2020. I will try it tomorrow...

*smiling*
and people say I'm crazy with doing stuff with old hardware.

(love the thread)

Marie SWE said:

*smiling*
and people say I'm crazy with doing stuff with old hardware.

(love the thread)

Click to expand...

Not at all! I love seeing what I can do on both old and low-power hardware. As an example, I am using a Mini PC that has a lowly Intel N95 CPU as my NAS and Plex box. I purchased that machine for $129 with everything except the mouse, keyboard, and monitor. It streams 4K video via Plex and serves my 40TB of storage with zero issues at all.

Older and low-power systems can have their place, and can sometimes do way more than people give them credit for.