Reinstall Win 11

Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

I decided to upgrade from the Beta Channel to the Dev Channel on my new desktop. Is there any way to delete the Dev build I have installed in a VMware VM and reinstall the Beta build and keep the activation?

hsehestedt · Nov 1, 2021

If I understand correctly, you mean that you want to install the BETA build in the same VM where you currently have the dev build, is that correct?

If so, simply install right over that dev build. The unique ID of the VM will remain the same and Windows will activate.

In that regard, it is the same as installation on a physical machine where installing over an existing Windows installation will still yield an activated copy of Windows because underlying system is still the same.

Bree · Nov 1, 2021

Winuser said:
Is there any way to delete the Dev build I have installed in a VMware VM and reinstall the Beta build and keep the activation?

A clean install would be required, you cannot downgrade to a 22000 build from a higher one in the Dev channel such as the current build 22489.

As long as you preserve the ID of the VM then its existing digital licence should activate any build of 10 or 11 (as long as you install the same edition, Home or Pro).

hsehestedt said:
With VMware, literally the only thing that I need to save is the UUID of the VM (just a few bytes of information). I can then create an entirely new VM with a new virtual disk. Before starting to install Windows I simply change the UUID. Then, when I install Windows from scratch it will come up activated. It makes it so much easier to save my activated VMs and restore later when needed for testing.

Hyper-V - Preserve virtual machine digital license (activation)

In case you want to activate your Windows virtual machines, it is important that you will preserve the activation and resulted digital license. When done correctly, you can delete the virtual machine when it is no longer needed, then restore it whenever required. You can even import it to...

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Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

hsehestedt said:
If I understand correctly, you mean that you want to install the BETA build in the same VM where you currently have the dev build, is that correct?

If so, simply install right over that dev build. The unique ID of the VM will remain the same and Windows will activate.

In that regard, it is the same as installation on a physical machine where installing over an existing Windows installation will still yield an activated copy of Windows because underlying system is still the same.

Yes! I decided to update my desktop from the Beta Channel to the Dev Channel. I want to switch my VM from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel and I think I'll have to do a clean install and don't want to lose the activation.

hsehestedt · Nov 1, 2021

Excellent. Simply do a clean install right over the existing one. To clarify - keep the current VM, just attach your Windows Beta build as an ISO image, boot your VM from that BETA ISO image, and start installation. When you get to the screen where the disks are shown, delete all partitions from the Windows disk so that it is all unallocated space, then choose that unallocated space as the location to which you want to install.

Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

hsehestedt said:
Excellent. Simply do a clean install right over the existing one. To clarify - keep the current VM, just attach your Windows Beta build as an ISO image, boot your VM from that BETA ISO image, and start installation. When you get to the screen where the disks are shown, delete all partitions from the Windows disk so that it is all unallocated space, then choose that unallocated space as the location to which you want to install.

Being the 1st of the month I'm getting read to go into bill paying mode. I'll try it later today and let you know how it goes.

hsehestedt · Nov 1, 2021

LOL. Always make sure to have your emergency backup!

Actually, in your case this would be insanely easy. You have a VM. Before you reinstall Windows, simply create a snapshot (the VMware term) or a checkpoint (the Hyper-V term). Since you are reinstalling the whole OS that snapshot will become a little large so my suggestion would be to delete it once you know everything is working well after your reinstallation. The point is that this will give you a way to revert back near instantly.

Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

hsehestedt said:
LOL. Always make sure to have your emergency backup!

Actually, in your case this would be insanely easy. You have a VM. Before you reinstall Windows, simply create a snapshot (the VMware term) or a checkpoint (the Hyper-V term). Since you are reinstalling the whole OS that snapshot will become a little large so my suggestion would be to delete it once you know everything is working well after your reinstallation. The point is that this will give you a way to revert back near instantly.

I was going to make a Macrium Image of the VM while it was running. The Image didn't show in Macrium so I'm making an image of my VM folder that contains Win 11 and Linux Mint. I'm using VMware Player 16 and I don't know if I can make or even how to make a snapshot. If I had a spare Pro key, I would use Hyper-V to make the VM.

Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

I'm installing Win 11 from within the VM. I chose to save nothing. I don't have anything that I need to save.

Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

hsehestedt said:
LOL. Always make sure to have your emergency backup!

Actually, in your case this would be insanely easy. You have a VM. Before you reinstall Windows, simply create a snapshot (the VMware term) or a checkpoint (the Hyper-V term). Since you are reinstalling the whole OS that snapshot will become a little large so my suggestion would be to delete it once you know everything is working well after your reinstallation. The point is that this will give you a way to revert back near instantly

I'm thinking about getting a full Win 10 Pro key and install it in Hyper-V.

Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

I'm not happy! Win 11 installed but it's using the basic MS video driver and I can't get it to go full screen.

Winuser · Nov 1, 2021

I did a Macrium folder restore and I'm back to where I started.

hsehestedt · Nov 2, 2021

Winuser said:
I'm not happy! Win 11 installed but it's using the basic MS video driver and I can't get it to go full screen.

Did you actually install the appropriate display driver after installing Windows 11?

Here is a tip, I do this all the time:

1) From your working OS, open an elevated command prompt and run this command:

Code:

pnputil /export-driver * D:\Drivers

The above command will export all drivers from your system to D:\Drivers. Note that you can specify another HD, a thumb drive, etc. as the destination. Make sure to put it somewhere that you will have access to after you reinstall Windows. You can even put it on the same thumb drive that you will install Windows from if you wish. Also, be aware that this can take a while so just allow the command to run until it has completed.

2) Install your new copy of Windows. Open an elevated command prompt. Change directories to the location where your exported drivers are. For example, you might type the following:

Code:

D:
CD \Drivers

Then run this command:

Code:

pnputil /add-driver *.inf /subdirs /install

3) Again, this may take a while. Note too that the screen may go blank for a little while when the display driver is installed. This is normal. After the screen comes back, the command window may be minimized. Feel free to restore it.

4) Once that process has completed, reboot your system. All drivers should now be installed.

Winuser · Nov 2, 2021

Does that work in the free version of VMware Workstation 16 Player?

hsehestedt · Nov 2, 2021

Sure. Doesn't matter if it a VM or a physical machine. Just so long as the hardware is same when you export and when you reinstall.

Winuser · Nov 2, 2021

I backed up the drivers in the VM and will try the clean install again. The display drivers that are available in the restored VM are the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter and the VMware SVGA 3D. I'm surprised that the VMware SVGA 3D driver wasn't an option when I did the clean install. The only driver available was the Micrsoft Basic Driver.

hsehestedt · Nov 2, 2021

With VMware you have to install the VMware tools. That applies the VMware display driver. However, if you backup and restore the drivers as I noted, that will include the VMware display driver.

If you have not already started a clean install again, you can save yourself the time and effort by simply installing the VMware tools.

With Windows running in the VM, in the VMware UI, select VM > Install VMware Tools. If it doesn't run automatically within about 30 seconds, you should see a CD / DVD drive within Windows that will let you install the VMware Tools (which include the display driver).

Winuser · Nov 2, 2021

hsehestedt said:
With VMware you have to install the VMware tools. That applies the VMware display driver. However, if you backup and restore the drivers as I noted, that will include the VMware display driver.

If you have not already started a clean install again, you can save yourself the time and effort by simply installing the VMware tools.

With Windows running in the VM, in the VMware UI, select VM > Install VMware Tools. If it doesn't run automatically within about 30 seconds, you should see a CD / DVD drive within Windows that will let you install the VMware Tools (which include the display driver).

I was going to give it another try today but I got busy. I don't need two Win 11 Dev builds running on the same computer so I might try again tomorrow.

Winuser · Nov 3, 2021

@hsehestedt , I got side tracked and haven't tried installing Win 11 Beta yet. I decided to use my Birthday present to buy a Windows 10 Pro key. After a little hassle I have Win 10 Pro running in Hyper-V.

Winuser · Nov 5, 2021

hsehestedt said:
With VMware you have to install the VMware tools. That applies the VMware display driver. However, if you backup and restore the drivers as I noted, that will include the VMware display driver.

If you have not already started a clean install again, you can save yourself the time and effort by simply installing the VMware tools.

With Windows running in the VM, in the VMware UI, select VM > Install VMware Tools. If it doesn't run automatically within about 30 seconds, you should see a CD / DVD drive within Windows that will let you install the VMware Tools (which include the display driver).

I just attempted to install the Beta build but the Dev build is in the middle of updating. I have the VM imaged with Macrium and all the drivers backed up. When finished my desktop will have Win 11 Pro Dev build as host, Win 11 Home Beta build running in VMware and Win 10 Pro running in Hyper-V

Reinstall Win 11

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