Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

Bree · Jul 13, 2021

spapakons said:
If I understand correctly, if you already run Windows 11 and do an in-place upgrade, the Setup does the compatibility check?

That is correct, if you try it with the unmodified ISO on a Legacy BIOS machine. it fails with...

Below spec machine - in-place upgrade fails.PNG

...and the same hybrid W10/W11 media that performed the in-place upgrade from W10 to W11 now won't allow you to keep files and apps, saying:

dacrone · Jul 13, 2021

Bree said:
That is correct, if you try it with the unmodified ISO on a Legacy BIOS machine. it fails with...

View attachment 2815

...and the same hybrid W10/W11 media that performed the in-place upgrade from W10 to W11 now won't allow you to keep files and apps, saying:

View attachment 2816

^ to get the hybrid to work and be able to keep files, you can just run the script (batch file... dont know if i can post the link or if itll be removed) that "enrolls" you into insider builds with a bs account, reboot, then upgrade, then run the script and get out of insider builds.

Bree · Jul 13, 2021

dacrone said:
^ to get the hybrid to work and be able to keep files, you can just run the script ... that "enrolls" you into insider builds with a bs account, reboot, then upgrade, then run the script and get out of insider builds.

Thanks for that info. I got my in-place repair to work by taking a system image, repairing it in a UEFI/TPM-compliant VM with the ISO, then restoring back to the laptop. But that sounds a much easier route.

bobcollard · Jul 13, 2021

SIW2 said:
The poster was referring to an in-place upgrade

I think my upgrade would qualify as In-Place, oh well.

Bree · Jul 13, 2021

bobcollard said:
I think my upgrade would qualify as In-Place, oh well.

There is a difference between performing an in-place upgrade from W10 to W11, and a repair install in-place upgrade of W11 to the same W11 build. The former works well, but the latter can be problematic on non-supported platforms. See post #121.

spapakons · Jul 13, 2021

I was a Windows 10 insider once, I could use my account to upgrade to the next Windows 11 build if needed. Getting regular updates works OK on my legacy system (see my specs).

Just a thought... If you use the following command, would it fix the broken Windows Security GUI?

sfc / scannow

Bree · Jul 13, 2021

spapakons said:
Just a thought... If you use the following command, would it fix the broken Windows Security GUI?

sfc / scannow

No, I did try that first, Dism's RestoreHealth too (both found nothing to repair). I could find no way to reset and re-register the GUI app either. An in-place repair install was the only thing that worked.

blacxarea · Jul 13, 2021

Here is the specs of my PC. It was clean installed using 22000.51 ISO, and then upgraded to 22000.65 by Windows Update. Old machine, no TPM, no Secure Boot. I used the original Windows 11 ISO copied to a USB drive by Rufus. Bypassed the TPM and Secure Boot thru the registry when the installation just started up.

Here are the steps:

- Before you click INSTALL NOW, press SHIFT + F10 to bring up command prompt. Type "regedit" followed by hit ENTER

- When the Registry Editor shows up, find this key:
-- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup
-- Create new key LabConfig inside the Setup.
-- Create DWORD (32 Bit) BypassTPMCheck and set to 1
-- Create DWORD (32 Bit) BypassSecureBootCheck and set to 1
-- Create DWORD (32 Bit) BypassRAMCheck and set to 1

- Continue the installation until it finished.

If you have trouble to upgrade to the next version after the Build 22000.51 installed, check for some hidden folder in your C:\ directory (I forgot the name, it's automatically deleted after successful update). Inside the hidden folder, you'll find a folder named MEDIA, check inside and find SOURCES. Replace appraiserres.dll with the old one from Windows 10, and repeat the update process.

spapakons · Jul 14, 2021

I think the hidden folder is ESD containing the Windows Setup files downloaded from the Media Creation Tool or Windows Update.

Bree · Jul 15, 2021

spapakons said:
If I understand correctly, if you already run Windows 11 and do an in-place upgrade, the Setup does the compatibility check? That sucks...

I have now found a much simpler way to perform an in-place upgrade with an unmodified W11 ISO that bypasses the compatibility checks. This works for both upgrading from Windows 10 and an in-place repair upgrade of an existing Windows 11. Unlike using the hybrid W10/W11 install media, an in-place repair install with an unmodified ISO will let you keep all files and installed apps.

Simply mount the ISO and run Setup.exe. Wait for it to check your PC and tell you that 'this PC can't run Windows 11'.

Then delete C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\appraiser.sdb

Next click the Back button, then the Next button to re-try the upgrade. This time it skip the checks and complete the in-place upgrade successfully.

spapakons · Jul 15, 2021

Interesting... I'll save that info in a text file, since I won't remember it... Another addition to my collection of hints and tips :wink:

Bree · Jul 15, 2021

spapakons said:
Interesting...

But there's more....

Remember I've been complaining that so far every W10-to-W11 in-place upgrade I've done on a legacy/MBR machine ended up with a broken Windows Security GUI? Turns out that's down to the using the W10 installer with the W11 install.wim.

I've just completed an in-place upgrade of a non-compliant Legacy machine using the unmolested ISO. Guess what - it has a fully functional Windows Security app

jbcarreon123 · Jul 21, 2021

I installed Windows 11 (also Windows 10) on my system without TPM.

I used the Registry hack (in an unmodified ISO) to make sure Windows Security GUI is working.
The only problem was, if I was doing something at the taskbar, it crashes.

Bree · Jul 21, 2021

jbcarreon123 said:
The only problem was, if I was doing something at the taskbar, it crashes.

It's not a problem that you caused. That is listed as a 'Known issue' for build 22000.71, the workaround for now is to turn on Focus Assist.

Microsoft said:
Taskbar:

There is an issue in this build where Explorer.exe will crash when the date and time button on the Taskbar is clicked to access new notifications with Focus Assist turned off.

jbcarreon123 · Jul 26, 2021

I installed 22000.100 and it does great! Also, it fixed the nasty taskbar bug that I forced to turn on Quick Assist to workaround the bug.

Hopachi · Jul 26, 2021

jbcarreon123 said:
Looks like there's an Windows version of QEMU/KVM:

Download QEMU - QEMU

www.qemu.org

For the record, that's only QEMU without the KVM acceleration.
But still useful for testing and converting.

Nice thread btw!
I'll see what I can install here...

So far VMs work fine in QEMU/KVM and Hyper-V.

jbcarreon123 · Jul 26, 2021

Hopachi said:
For the record, that's only QEMU without the KVM acceleration.
But still useful for testing and converting.

Nice thread btw!
I'll see what I can install here...

So far VMs work fine in QEMU/KVM and Hyper-V.

As seen on your system specs.. all your system listed can't run Windows 11.

Hopachi · Jul 26, 2021

jbcarreon123 said:
As seen on your system specs.. all your system listed can't run Windows 11.

True.
Hence the VMs for testing for now...
My Ryzen is just not good enough for the offical requrements and so is an Intel 4-gen seen as ancient by now.

jbcarreon123 · Jul 26, 2021

Hopachi said:
True.
Hence the VMs for testing for now...
My Ryzen is just not good enough for the offical requrements ans so is an Intel 4-gen.

But.. Windows Setup won't check if you have an supported CPU.. in an nutshell, Windows 10 (even 7) won't support my current CPU, but it works without an hassle. The least CPU Windows 7 or 10 supports, is an 5th-generation Intel processor.