Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

gaffar · 2026-09-29T22:32:48-0400

According to advice of spapacons, I deleted all my partitions.Got only one

partition now: C.

Scannerman · 2026-09-29T23:54:13-0400

gaffar said:
According to advice of spapacons, I deleted all my partitions.Got only one partition now: C.

Depending on what you plan to do with your PC this can work just fine.

spapakons · 2026-09-30T00:29:03-0400

For MBR disks (Legacy BIOS boot) you can maximize the Windows partition to take the whole disk in a clean installation if you manually create a single NTFS partition and tell Setup to install Windows 11 there without formatting the disk again. I press SHIFT+F10 to open a Command Prompt and run this code:

Code:

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
format fs=NTFS quick
exit
exit

Once the Command Prompt is closed I proceed with the installation. On disk screen I just click Next to start installation. Very useful for small SSDs such as 120GB or less.

gaffar · 2026-09-30T03:34:50-0400

Celery said:
View attachment 184676

ChatGPT:

So either Rufus is bad or Eases partition master is bad when dealing with bad sectors.

gaffar · 2026-09-30T05:51:35-0400

spapakons said:
It's not Rufus job to repair bad sectors. Like I said it is safer and better to replace the USB flash drive if there are bad sectors. Or at least run the standard check disk command (chkdsk) to repair them before using Rufus. Assuming D: is the drive letter of the USB flash drive, the command to fix errors, do a full surface scan and mark bad sectors is:

chkdsk D: /f /b /r

Do this command find and repair bad sectors or only marks(i mean only finds them)them.

spapakons · 2026-09-30T07:12:40-0400

gaffar said:
Do this command find and repair bad sectors or only marks(i mean only finds them)them.

According to Microsoft Learn site about this command, the parameters try to recover any files on the bad sectors and then mark them so the system doesn't use them. If the bad sector is a logical error rather than physical disk damage, it can be repaired with a format. If there is physical damage, obviously it cannot be repaired. You can try to format the USB flash drive before using Rufus, but I think Rufus does that anyway.

gaffar · 2026-09-30T07:33:25-0400

spapakons said:
Windows Update will never offer the 25H2 Enablement Package or the 26H2 Enablement Package for our unsupported computers. We have to manually download and install it. See these threads:

Get ready for Windows 11 version 25H2 - Enablement Package and ISO downloads available

UPDATE 9/30: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/windows-11-version-25h2-now-available.40396/ Windows IT Pro Blog: How easy is it to move to Windows 11, version 25H2? As easy as a quick restart if you're on version 24H2! Today, Windows 11, version 25H2 became available to the Windows Insider...

www.elevenforum.com

Get ready for Windows 11 version 26H2

UPDATE 9/29: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/windows-11-version-26h2-now-generally-available.49787/ Windows IT Pro Blog: The next annual update for Windows 11 is coming soon and is already available to Windows Insiders! Windows 11, version 26H2 continues our focus on delivering a predictable...

www.elevenforum.com

Make sure you download the general availability x64 version (KB5121794) unless you run an Insider's version or Windows on ARM64. You download 26H2 Enablement Package, install, restart and you switch from 25H2 to 26H2. No compatibility check, no messing with your drivers, no messing with your customized icons, no risk. While every upgrade using the ISO takes much longer, always restores any customization to default and has a risk of something going wrong.

After installing Windows 11 25H2, I installed the small GA enablement package KB5121794 for Intel and AMD, restarted, and Win+R=winver shows 25H2.
Not 26H2.

MS should provide tabs in Paint, the Photos app, and Windows Media Player as the next feature update.
Thanks.

spapakons · 2026-09-30T07:40:03-0400

gaffar said:
After installing Windows 11 25H2, I installed the small GA enablement package KB5121794 for Intel and AMD, restarted, and Win+R=winver shows 25H2.
Not 26H2.
View attachment 184759 View attachment 184760 View attachment 184761
MS should provide tabs in Paint, the Photos app, and Windows Media Player as the next feature update.
Thanks.

I see you are on Windows 11 25H2 build 26200.8037. Maybe there is a minimum build number 26H2 Enablement Package can install to and this is too low. Install some Windows updates to reach at least build 26200.9445, that's the lower one I have installed 26H2 Enablement Package on. Besides the exact updates are also applicable for 26H2 just with locked features. Switching to 26H2 unlocks these features. Much like upgrading from Home to Pro which unlocks already present features.

Bree · 2026-09-30T07:43:42-0400

gaffar said:
After installing Windows 11 25H2, I installed the small GA enablement package KB5121794 for Intel and AMD, restarted, and Win+R=winver shows 25H2.
Not 26H2.

Your Winver also shows you are still on 26200.8037 from March 2026. That is likely to be before the 26H2 feature started to be added to the 25H2 CUs in a dormant form. There's probably nothing for the enablement package to enable.

KB5079473 Windows 11 Cumulative Update build 26100.8037 (24H2) and 26200.8037 (25H2) - March 10

UPDATE 3/21: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/kb5085516-out-of-band-update-build-26100-8039-24h2-and-26200-8039-25h2-march-21.45484/ Microsoft Support: March 10, 2026 - KB5079473 (OS Builds 26200.8037 and 26100.8037) This cumulative update for Windows 11, version 25H2 and 24H2 (KB5079473)...

www.elevenforum.com

Bree · 2026-09-30T07:49:57-0400

spapakons said:
Maybe there is a minimum build number 26H2 Enablement Package can install to

There is, it's 26200.9546 (25H2) or 26100.9546 (24H2).

Prerequisites

Before updating to Windows 11, version 26H2 using this enablement package, you must be running Windows 11, version 24H2 or Windows 11, version 25H2. You must have the following prerequisite installed before applying this update:

September 22, 2026—KB5124010 (OS Builds 26100.9546) Preview or a later cumulative update

KB5121794: Feature update to Windows 11, version 26H2 by using an enablement package | Microsoft Support

KB5121794: Feature update to Windows 11, version 26H2 by using an enablement package

support.microsoft.com

spapakons · 2026-09-30T07:59:15-0400

Bree said:
There is, it's 26200.9546 (25H2) or 26100.9546 (24H2).

KB5121794: Feature update to Windows 11, version 26H2 by using an enablement package | Microsoft Support

KB5121794: Feature update to Windows 11, version 26H2 by using an enablement package

support.microsoft.com

I installed it on 25H2 26200.9445, didn't complain and switched to 26H2 26300.9445. I guess it must be anything at least 26200.9xxx to install. 26200.8037 is to low.

Celery · 2026-09-30T08:33:46-0400

gaffar said:
I deleted all my partitions.Got only one partition now: C.

If you want to create one or more data partitions, you can do so on the "Select location to install Windows 11" screen.

Setup automatically creates the required system partitions (EFI and MSR), along with the partitions of the sizes you specify.

During the final stage of Windows installation, Setup automatically creates a recovery partition immediately after the Windows partition, rather than after the disk’s last data partition, so that, if necessary, Windows Update can resize the recovery partition to accommodate an updated WinRE image (Winre.wim).

spapakons said:
For MBR disks (Legacy BIOS boot) you can maximize the Windows partition to take the whole disk in a clean installation if you manually create a single NTFS partition and tell Setup to install Windows 11 there without formatting the disk again. I press SHIFT+F10 to open a Command Prompt and run this code:

Code:

diskpart list disk select disk 0 clean create partition primary select partition 1 format fs=NTFS quick exit exit

Once the Command Prompt is closed I proceed with the installation. On disk screen I just click Next to start installation. Very useful for small SSDs such as 120GB or less.

This no longer works with the latest versions of Windows 11 (see the image below). Installation on an MBR disk still works without issues, but for some reason, this particular method no longer works, at least not in the way you described.

- On an MBR disk, the system partition is the active partition on the primary disk, either the System Reserved partition or the Windows partition.
- On a GPT disk, the system partition is the EFI system partition.

Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

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