On VM get choice of Versions to install on Bare metal none

Hi folks
is it just me but using the standard iso that most people are using when installing on a VM I get a choice of which version to install but on install to bare metal when creating bootable USB stick via RUFUS (or ventoy) install gives no version options when wanting to do a clean install on a PC with a completely re-formatted SSD.

on a VM I get this :

Anybody had same issues.

Is it rufus / ventoy or what -- I'm not sure why installing on a VM should be different at this stage on just selecting the version of Windows to install from an iso.


The iso I'm using is : 21996.1.210529-1541.co_release_CLIENT_CONSUMER_x64FRE_en-us which I think is the one most are using.

Cheers

jimbo

I did not run into this issue. I was given the option to choose the windows version during the clean install process on a physical drive.

Not sure why -- but I've installed via another method now --but thanks anyway.

Cheers
jimbo

Yeah, I added the same thing on 10F - I got all options on both VM and bare metal install.

Could your system have pre-installed keys in the Secure boot info that prevented showing unrelated version?

jimbo45 said:

when installing on a VM I get a choice of which version to install but on install to bare metal ... install gives no version options when wanting to do a clean install on a PC with a completely re-formatted SSD.

Click to expand...

That would most likely be Setup detecting an embedded W8 or W10 key in the bios and using that to determine the edition (Home or Pro) to install. If you were never asked for a key then that would confirm that Setup had already found one in the bios. W10 install media behaves the same way.

I suspect that what Bree has noted is exactly right.

The workaround:

Copy the contents of the ISO to a folder on a HD. In my example, I'll say C:\ISO_Files.

Create a text file, making sure to use something like notepad that won't add any special formatting characters. Name that file "ei.cfg" and place the following two lines in the file:

[Channel]
Retail

Place that file in the C:\ISO_Files\Sources folder.

Recreate your media or ISO image using the files in C:\ISO_Files.

NOTE: If you have the ADK installed, you can use the Microsoft OSCDIMG utility to create the ISO image like this:

oscdimg.exe -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -l"VolumeName" -bootdata:2#p0,e,b"c:\iso_files\boot\etfsboot.com"#pEF,e,b"c:\iso_files\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin" "c:\iso_files" "C:\ISO Images\My Image.iso"

CAUTION: The above is a single long command. Also, be aware that the syntax is a bit odd. There are some spots in that command where you might be tempted to add a space but none exists. Observe the syntax very carefully. If you used a folder other than C:\ISO_Files note that there are 3 occurrences of this in the command that need to be changed. Also, I am using "C:\ISO Images\My Image.iso" as the path and file name of the final ISO image I am creating. Change this as you see fit. Finally, if you do not want to assign a volume name to image you can omit this portion of the command or feel free to change the volume name to anything you want (32 characters max):

-l"VolumeName"

Bottom line:

Adding the ei.cfg to the \sources folder of your image should force installation to prompt you for the edition to install even on a system with a predefined BIOS / UEFI signature.

@jimbo45 actually posted the info on using a modified efi.cfg in another post already. He was just wondering why it was happening, not how to get around it.

As we responded, we suspect embedded keys are the issue.

If I had the time to do so, I'd give it a shot with my machine, as I can remove all the keys that are embedded in my UEFI-based MSI mobo, but it will be well after tomorrow's announcement that I get a chance to do so, as I have work and home-related work to do in the interim.

Thanks for the clarification.

It can happen with embedded keys indeed.
But I was wondering if rufus / ventoy usb method had something to counter this, some kind of setting to allow OS selection natively even if embedded keys exist.

Hopachi said:

It can happen with embedded keys indeed.
But I was wondering if rufus / ventoy usb method had something to counter this, some kind of setting to allow OS selection natively even if embedded keys exist.

Click to expand...

No. Because it is Windows setup that is doing it after the ISO file is loaded.

You could create an answer file that specifies the edition of Windows to be installed. With an answer file, there is no rule that says that it has to fully automate the installation of Windows. It could simplified so that the only thing that does is select the edition of Windows to be installed and nothing more.

If you have any interest in this, let me know. I would be happy to test it and verify that this works.

A bios embedded key is most likely but recently I bought a new pc and it came with Home and I updated it to Pro.

After some driver related issues, I decided to reset my pc, and it reset using the small recovery vendor partition. PC was back to factory state including poxy McAffee which is garbage.

Imagine my surprise when I found it had reset to Pro not Home.

The only thing I can think of is it looked for a digital licence, found one, and installed that version. In another thread,,we have shown if you have a Pro digital licence, it will activate any cersion less than or equal to Pro.

So conversely I think it installea the highest version allowed by the digital licence.

What we do not know is whether @Jimbo has an enbedded licence key, and which version it installed. An embedded key is most likely but perhaps MS have made a change to check digital licence as well as embedded key.

Maybe it does that as part of reset my pc, but not on a clean iso install. I will run some tests on my old laptop.