PC doesn't meet win 11 system requirements error during install wizard

I also had a personal experience. Now that you mentioned it, my other drives are GPT because they are larger than 2TB and I want a single partition occupying the whole space. So it doesn't make any difference if they are Windows drives or data drives. As long as you have two or more GPT drives, a clean installation or upgrade fails. There is no point arguing, just disconnect the other drives and check for yourself. Installation or upgrade will succeed. Been there done that. That's what this forum is for. To share experiences and help each other. Since we already discovered a bug and warn others about it, there is no point trying to prove us wrong. Just follow our advice, just in case. I agree that it might not be applicable to all computers, but I would take any precaution just in case.

I fixed that problem. Cost 5Gs.

If you run setupprep.exe /product server from the DVD (it's in the /sources directory), it should install without an issue. It will show that it's installing Windows Server, but it's not. Just a helpful trick for installing on hardware that technically isn't supported.

The setup.exe in the root folder is the "new" setup version. The setupprep.exe in the sources folder is the old setup. I always use the setup /product server (from the root folder) to upgrade. I always works, provided I take all precautions, that is update all drivers in advance, have only my Windows disk connected, disable most devices, disable all startup applications and non-Microsoft services and of course make sure I am disconnected from the internet until completed. If any computer has a third-party antivirus, antimalware or firewall, I make sure I disable them all at least until restart or permanently. Also if there are any customization utilities installed (Open Shell, Explorer Patcher, Mica for Everyone, StartIsBack etc) they all must be disabled or uninstalled.

Mike1776 said:

I fixed that problem. Cost 5Gs.

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Congratulations! This is the worst solution, abandon hope and just buy a new computer. This is exactly what Microsoft is trying to do. Scare us that our old computer is "useless" and we must replace it ASAP. BS! My current PC (see 2nd system specs) might be only 3rd generation Intel Core-i7, but is must faster than I actually need. I wouldn't call it "useless". It could even play some games with my former nVidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti. With my new nVidia Geforce RTX 3050 I dare to say it can even play modern games. It might not be in all high or all ultra settings, but I don't care about image quality as in a fast action game nobody can notice the difference between the "high" and "ultra" settings. As I suspect many other posters have a similarly worthy system, so we don't waste our time trying to upgrade it to latest Windows 11 version. Our "obsolete" computers still have 5+ years of life. The more we upgrade the software the more years we add. Until they are really outdated and we can no longer use them for what we need, we would give the same amount of money to buy 5 times faster computer than we can afford today. For example, I kept my old Intel Pentium 4 3GB RAM 250GB HDD 256MB nVidia Geforce FX 5 computer as much as I could. I didn't go to Pentium D, then Core 2 Duo etc. I went directly to my former 3rd generation Intel Core-i3 with 8GB RAM, 500GB mechanical HDD, nVidia Geforce GTS 610, for the same cost I would go to the earlier versions and that was a huge step forward in terms of performance. Since I could not afford changing it again, I gradually upgraded it part by part, and now I have a much faster 3rd generation Core-i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Geforce RTX 3050 graphics. This will be "junk" in 10+ years, based on my current needs. Even if sometime there is a version of Windows 11 I cannot upgrade to, I will stick with the latest compatible version and keep Windows Defender updated. Good news is that 25H2 has exactly the same hardware requirements than 24H2, so I already know I can upgrade to it. The 25H2 Enablement Package makes the upgrade even easier since it won't check compatibility, just enable the 25H2 features. According to rumors, unsupported computers might not be able to clean install 25H2 (I don't believe it). Even it this is true, no big deal, just install 24H2 and use the 25H2 Enablement package.

petesomeguy said:

Hi all,

I hope you are well.

I've come across a slight problem which I've never come across.

I'm trying to install windows 11 pro on my new pc build.

I used the Microsoft Media Creation tool which created my bootable usb 3.0 pen without any issues; 24H2

I boot into the wizard but I am presented with a screen "Your PC doesn't meet the windows 11 system requirements"; even though my system does meet these requirements.

Please help. PC specs are in my profile.

Thank you kindly in advance.
Peter

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Try the install again and when you get to the "doesn't meet requirements" screen, press the shift and F10 keys simultaneously, carefully type "notepad \windows\panther\setuperr.log" into the command prompt and press "Enter". When Notepad opens, scroll to the right and you should see the primary cause of the failure. Don't leave out the backslash before "windows" in the command line.

Ben

petesomeguy said:

I boot into the wizard but I am presented with a screen "Your PC doesn't meet the windows 11 system requirements"; even though my system does meet these requirements.

Click to expand...

You have booted the Windows USB flash drive in BIOS mode (i.e., without the UEFI prefix). You need to boot the USB flash drive in UEFI mode (i.e., with the UEFI prefix).



Alternatively, you can disable CSM (Compatibility Support Module) in the BIOS settings.

- "CSM > Enabled" means that both UEFI and Legacy BIOS mode are enabled.
- "CSM > Disabled" means that only UEFI mode is enabled.

When CSM is disabled, the Windows USB flash drive appears in the boot menu and BIOS settings only with the UEFI prefix i.e. booting in BIOS mode is not possible.

Hi all,

I disconnected all drives so that only my gen 5 nvme os drive is plugged in.

I enabled uefi only mode for boot devices. Although when I see the devices listed, the bootable usb pen does not have the uefi option (is this normal for gigabyte boards?).

TPM was set as should be.

Rebooted, wizard loads but as soon as I get passed selecting the os version, it gives me the same error.

Never had a problem installing windows 11 from an iso using RUFUS, no matter how many drives the target system has, as long as I remember to clear the TPM first. Forgetting to do that almost always results in failure, even with secure boot turned off or in audit mode.

It is a new setup and I did try clearing TPM. Still the same result.

You must have created a USB flash drive that boots in Legacy BIOS (MBR). Use Rufus to create it again and make sure you select GPT to create it booting in UEFI mode. This should list in Boot menu. If it is not detected the first time, press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart the computer and try again or connect it to a different USB port. If you have an old computer with both USB 2.0 ports (black plastic) and USB 3.0 ports (blue plastic), connect it to a USB 2.0 port for better compatibility. Some computers don't boot from the USB 3.0 ports.

I used the Microsoft media creation tool. Never had issues with them before.

Then the USB flash drive might have not been created properly or corrupt. Create it again.

Tried 3x already, once with Rufus. Still the same issue.

(I used ChatGPT for grammar checking and phrasing assistance in this post.)

By default, Rufus creates a USB flash drive that only boots in UEFI mode, so it should appear in the boot menu with the UEFI prefix, allowing Windows 11 to be installed on a GPT disk.

The Microsoft Media Creation Tool creates a USB flash drive that can boot both in UEFI and BIOS modes. However, Windows 11 installation will fail if you select the USB flash drive in the boot menu without the UEFI prefix, as you’ve noticed.

You have a new Gigabyte motherboard, and with its default settings, Windows 11 installation on a GPT disk should work.

Just a thought. Go in BIOS, storage section and make sure the disk controller is set to AHCI (in some systems the default is RAID). This will make sure the disk works with the known AHCI protocol, rather than some RAID one that requires drivers, such as Intel IRST. Windows have the AHCI drivers built-in and communicate without issues with the disk, but not the IRST which you must manually download and insert during Setup.

AHCI was set by default.

I take it you already tried to delete all partitions, leave all the disk space unallocated and then click Next to proceed.

Some trial and error steps:


1) Please reset the BIOS:

How to Clear Your Computers CMOS to Reset BIOS Settings:

3 Ways to Reset Your BIOS - wikiHow:


2) Attempt clean install Windows 11


3) If the above fail then clean install Windows 10

If you want a temporary solution to the problem:

How to bypass the Windows 11 system requirements and install it on an MBR disk.

Rufus settings to create BIOS bootable USB flash drive.

- Partition scheme: MBR

edit: The Target system and File system options will change automatically.

- Check the "Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0" option.

Boot the USB flash drive using BIOS mode (in the boot menu, select your USB without the UEFI prefix).