How to install Windows 11 without requirements
For the installation of Windows 11 , Microsoft expressly requires that the computer has some very specific hardware requirements: 64-bit 1 GHz or higher CPU with at least two logical drives, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of disk space, UEFI firmware with Secure Boot active and, above all, TPM 2.0 controller (a microchip integrated into the PC motherboard – or added later – which allows you to protect low-level data by generating and storing keys based on the system in use). However, it is possible to bypass the operating system checks and install Windows 11 without requirements relatively easily. Microsoft, however, strongly discourages this practice andit does not guarantee updates or stability for operating systems installed on computers that do not meet the basic requirements: this should be borne in mind before proceeding and carrying out such an operation.
That said, if you have decided to continue, know that regardless of the operating mode you decide to follow (update or clean installation “from scratch), you will need to create a USB key or DVD from which to start the installation of Windows 11: to do so , you can use Microsoft ‘s Media Creation Tool , which you can obtain by visiting this web page and clicking on the Download now button located near the item Creating installation media for Windows 11 .
At the end of the download, open the file obtained and, after accepting the license to use the program, choose whether to create a USB flash drive or to download only the ISO file ; in the first case, you will need to connect a USB stick with at least 8 GB of free space to the computer and wait for the operating system files to be copied to it; in the second case, the ISO file containing the operating system will be downloaded , which must then be burned using a special program . Learn more about how to download Windows 11 and create installation media, I suggest you to read the specific tutorial available on my site.
Once you have created the Windows 11 disk or key, you can proceed with the installation of the operating system, even if your computer does not meet the minimum requirements, following the instructions that I am going to give you below. Have a good reading.
Index
- How to install Windows 11 with no minimum requirements: update
- Official procedure
- Third Party Software
- How to install Windows 11 with no CPU requirements: clean install
- Installation from USB / ISO
- Forced removal of controls
How to install Windows 11 with no minimum requirements: update
You can upgrade to Windows 11 even without minimum requirements, without losing your personal files, starting from the Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 operating systems, in the ways that are explained in the following sections of this chapter; if, on the other hand, you intend to update a computer with Windows 7, you will necessarily have to start “from scratch” with a clean installation (you will find indicated how to do it in the next chapter of this guide).
Official procedure
Although such a procedure was not initially foreseen, Microsoft has published an official method to circumvent the control of some minimum requirements for Windows 11: the CPU family and the presence of the TPM 2.0 controller . The remaining minimum requirements (TPM 1.2 controller and Secure Boot) must be present: otherwise, you will have to follow a slightly more complex procedure, which I am going to talk to you about in the next section of this chapter.
In any case, to be able to succeed in the enterprise, you must have an installation media for Windows 11 available (I explained to you how to do it in the introductory part of this guide) and apply a small change to the registry, through the editor Windows integrated.
To start the latter, press the Win + R key combination on the keyboard (the Win key is the one depicting the Windows flag ), type the command in the panel that appears on the screen, enter Enter and click on the Yes button , to authorize the editor to start.regedit.exe
Now, using the left part of the window, reach the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\and click on the MoSetup folder , visible inside it; if not, you can create it by right clicking on the Setup folder , selecting the New> Key items from the menu that appears and assigning the name MoSetup to the new key. Then click OK to confirm its creation.
After selecting the MoSetup folder, right-click on it, select New> DWORD (32-bit ) ** value from the context menu that is proposed to you and assign it the name AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU . Next, give Enter , double click on the value you just created and set the value 1 inside the Value data field . Finally, click on the OK button and restart your computer to apply the change.
Now, you just have to start the installation of Windows 11 using the support created previously: then insert the support inside the computer and, if requested, choose to start the Setup.exe file from the Autoplay screen.
If nothing happens, manually start the operating system installation file: click on the yellow folder icon in the Windows taskbar, select the item This PC from the left sidebar, then right-click on the icon of the Windows 11 USB key or DVD and select the Open item from the proposed context menu. To start the installation of Windows 11, double-click on the Setup.exe file visible in the new window and press the Yes button .
We’re almost there: select the language , the date format and currency , and keyboard language , go Next and, if prompted, enter the code product key for Windows 11 in your possession (if you do not have it, click on item I do not have a product key , to activate the operating system later). Now, indicate that you want to update Windows and specify whether to keep personal files and apps , whether to keep only personal files or whether to keep nothingby clicking on the appropriate item. In the latter case, you will also need to indicate the disk on which to install the new copy of Windows.
After confirming all your choices, the Windows 11 upgrade should start and finish automatically; at the next login, if you have chosen to keep both the data and the apps and settings intact, you will be able to log in with the account previously configured on the computer, otherwise you will be asked to perform the initial configuration of the operating system. For more information, take a look at my guide on how to upgrade to Windows 11 , in which I have given you all the details of the case.
Third Party Software
If it is not possible for you to proceed with the update through the above procedure, as there is no type of TPM controller on your computer , then deal with it using a third-party program , called Universal Media Creation Tool , capable of evade any kind of control.
To get the software, which is free and open source (therefore safe, at least at the time of writing), linked to this website , click on the Code and Download ZIP items and, once you have downloaded the archive containing the program, extract it in a folder of your choice. Next, open the folder in question, navigate to the MediaCreationTool.bat-main > bypass11 directories and double-click the SKIP_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update.cmd file . Finally, click the Yes button (if necessary) and wait patiently for the keys required to evade the checks to be included in the Windows registry.
The game is done: connect the Windows 11 key or DVD to the computer and follow the same procedure seen in the previous section of this chapter, to start the update (which should be completed without problems or errors due to the absence of requirements) .
If for some reason you could not use the tool just mentioned, you can achieve the same result with Rufus , a program for creating bootable USB sticks that I told you in depth here.
How to install Windows 11 with no CPU requirements: clean install
If, instead of updating your computer, you want to install a brand new copy of Windows 11, know that you can bypass the system requirements check just as easily. Remember, also this time, that this is an operation strongly discouraged by Microsoft and for which no type of support, assistance or update guarantee is offered by the big Redmond : keep this in mind.
Installation from USB / ISO
If your computer does not have a CPU officially compatible with Windows 11 but meets all the other requirements (the presence of the TPM 2.0 controller and the Secure Boot setting enabled), you can perform a “clean” installation of the operating system simply by starting the computer from the Windows installation media. In fact, at the behest of Microsoft, starting the installation directly from BIOS / UEFI does not provide for the control of the processor requirements.
So, all you have to do is take the Windows 11 installation key or disc (I explained how to do them in the introductory part of this guide), insert it into your computer and restart the system : with a bit of luck, you should see a message asking you to press a key to boot your computer from DVD / USB . Do this within five seconds to start the Windows 11 installation program.
If, on the other hand, you should see the boot screen of your old operating system, you must enter the BIOS / UEFI system of the computer and set the boot from USB or DVD , as I explained to you in my guide on how to set the BIOS .
Once you have entered the Windows 11 installation program, select the language you prefer to use, click on the Next and Install buttons and, if necessary, enter the Windows 11 product key in your possession (or select the item I do not have a code product key , if you don’t have one yet). Now, if prompted, select the version of Windows 11 to install from among those proposed, accept the operating system license by clicking on the dedicated box and, after clicking on the Next button , indicate that you want to perform a customized installation of the operating system.
Now, select the disk or partition on which to install Windows 11 and format it using the appropriate button; finally, click on the Next button and wait patiently for the Windows installation, which will involve several restarts, to be completed. At the end of the process, you will be asked to perform the first configuration of the operating system; for further information on the installation procedure of Windows 11 , you can take a look at my specific guide dedicated to the topic.
Forced removal of controls
If, during the above procedure, you see an error regarding the impossibility of updating to Windows 11 due to the absent minimum requirements, it means that your computer not only has incompatibility due to the CPU, but also due to the TPM controller and / or Secure Boot. Although Microsoft, as already mentioned, strongly discourages the installation of Windows 11 in the absence of these requirements, there is still a method to succeed in the enterprise.
In practice, when you see the error message during the installation of Windows, you have to click on the arrow symbol located at the top left and press the combination of keys Shift + F10 on the keyboard, in order to open a prompt of the commands .
Once this is done, type the command regedit.exein the window that appears, enter Enter and use the left part of the registry editor to reach the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\. Now, right-click on the Setup folder , select the New> Key items from the menu that appears and assign the name LabConfig to the key you are about to create . To confirm, hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
Now, right click on the newly created key, select the New> DWORD (32 bit) value entries and rename the value to BypassTPMCheck . Next, double-click on it, set the Value data field to 1 and click on the OK button : by doing so, you will have bypassed the TPM check for the next Windows 11 installation. If you wish, you can bypass the verification of the rest minimum requirements, creating other DWORD (32-bit) values in the LabConfig key and setting their values to 1, exactly as seen above. The names to assign are the following: BypassSecureBootCheck , to skip the Secure boot check; BypassRAMCheck, to overcome that of RAM; and BypassStorageCheck , to circumvent the one on storage space.
Once the necessary changes have been applied, close the Windows Registry Editor, close the Command Prompt window and, without restarting the computer , resume the installation of the operating system from where you left it, proceeding in the same way as seen above : you should now be able to complete the setup of the new operating system without further hitches.
