The way to improve to Home windows 11, whether or not your PC is supported or not [Updated]

We initially revealed this set up information for Home windows 11 shortly after the OS was launched in October 2021. To maintain it present and as helpful as doable, we up to date it in August 2022 to cowl tweaks that Microsoft has made to the Home windows installer for model 22H2, and a few new workarounds for unsupported techniques.

Home windows 11 has been out for practically a 12 months, and its first main replace shall be launched sooner or later within the subsequent few weeks. Even when our authentic overview did not persuade you to improve, you is likely to be fascinated with it now that it is extra established and among the greatest early bugs have been fastened.

We have pulled collectively every kind of sources to create a complete set up information to upgrading to Home windows 11. This consists of recommendation and a few step-by-step directions for turning on formally required options like your TPM and Safe Boot, in addition to official and unofficial methods to skirt the system-requirement checks on “unsupported” PCs, as a result of Microsoft just isn’t your guardian and subsequently can not inform you what to do.

I’ve had Home windows 11 working on PCs as previous as a Dell Inspiron 530 from 2008, and whereas I am not saying that is one thing you ought to do, it’s one thing that you simply can do.

How do I get Home windows 11?

The best technique to get Home windows 11 is by checking Home windows Replace on a supported, totally up-to-date Home windows 10 PC. However when you aren’t seeing it there, or you probably have numerous computer systems to improve and solely wish to obtain the brand new OS as soon as, there are different choices.

Microsoft gives a number of methods to obtain Home windows 11 manually. One is to make use of the Set up Assistant app, which you put in in your PC to set off a standard improve set up through Home windows Replace. The second is to make use of the Home windows 11 Media Creation Software, which automates the method of making a bootable USB set up drive or downloading an set up ISO file. After you have a USB drive, you’ll be able to both boot from it to carry out a clear set up or run the Setup app from inside Home windows 10 to do a standard improve set up. You may as well burn the ISO to a DVD, however putting in from any USB drive, even an previous USB 2.0 drive, shall be a lot sooner, so that you shouldn’t do this. Lastly, you’ll be able to simply obtain an ISO file immediately from Microsoft’s website.

Do I have to pay for it?

Home windows 11 is a free improve to Home windows 10. So when you’re working Home windows 10 Dwelling or Professional in your PC, no matter whether or not your PC is formally supported or not, you’ll set up and activate the equal version of Home windows 11.

When you’re putting in Home windows 11 on a brand new PC you’ve got constructed your self, formally, you can purchase a Home windows 10 or Home windows 11 license. These could be bought from retail websites like Amazon, Newegg, Finest Purchase, or immediately from Microsoft for between $120 and $140. Unofficially, you should buy a working Home windows product key from product key resale web sites for anyplace from $15 to $40. Many of those websites are sketchy, and we can’t hyperlink to any of them immediately, however it’s one possibility for getting a working key.

Additionally, unofficially, I’ve had some success utilizing previous Home windows 7 and Home windows 8 product keys to activate equal editions of Home windows 11. It is an open secret that the Home windows 10 installer would proceed to just accept these older product keys lengthy after the “official” free Home windows 10 improve provide expired in 2016, and a minimum of in our testing, these keys have continued to work for Home windows 11.

What does my PC have to be “supported”?

Let’s reiterate the Home windows 11 system necessities:

• A “suitable” 1 GHz or sooner dual-core 64-bit processor from Intel, AMD, or Qualcomm
• 4GB of RAM
• 64GB of storage
• UEFI Safe Boot supported and enabled
• A Trusted Platform Module (TPM), model 2.0
• A DirectX 12-compatible GPU with a WDDM 2.0 driver
• A 720p show bigger than 9 inches in measurement

Home windows 11 Dwelling requires a Microsoft account and Web connectivity; Home windows 11 Professional can nonetheless be used with an area account in Home windows 11 model 21H1, however within the 22H2 replace, the Professional model will even require a Microsoft account sign-in. There are workarounds for this that we’ll cowl later.

The processor requirement is probably the most restrictive; supported processors embrace Eighth-generation and newer Intel Core processors in addition to AMD Ryzen 2000-series processors and newer. These are all chips that launched in late 2017 and early 2018. Older computer systems can’t formally run Home windows 11. It is a large departure from Home windows 10, which made a degree of supporting just about something that would run Home windows 7 or Home windows 8.

We get extra into the reasoning behind these necessities (and whether or not they maintain water) in our overview. However the three large ones are the CPU requirement, the TPM requirement, and the Safe Boot requirement.

How can I inform if my PC is supported?

While you open Home windows Replace in Home windows 10, it’d inform you whether or not your PC is supported or not. However the best technique to examine manually is with Microsoft’s PC Well being Examine app. Early variations of this app weren’t excellent, however the present model will inform you whether or not your PC is suitable in addition to why it’s or isn’t suitable.

When you aren’t utilizing a supported processor, both plan to improve to a CPU that’s supported or skip forward to the part the place we discuss putting in Home windows 11 on unsupported PCs.

In case your processor is supported however you don’t meet the TPM or Safe Boot necessities, the excellent news is that except one thing may be very incorrect along with your PC, they need to each be options you’ll be able to allow in your PC’s BIOS.

How do I get into my PC’s BIOS?

Normally, you’ll be able to enter your BIOS by urgent some key after turning in your PC however earlier than Home windows begins in addition. The important thing varies, however widespread ones embrace the Delete key, F2 (for Dell techniques), F1 (for Lenovo techniques), or F10 (for HP techniques).

The constant however extra roundabout method of opening your BIOS is to go to the Home windows Settings app, then Home windows Replace, then Restoration, after which Restart Now beneath “Superior startup.” Within the fundamental blue display you see subsequent, click on Troubleshoot, then Superior choices, then UEFI Firmware Settings.

How do I allow my TPM?

Enabling your processor’s built-in firmware TPM is simple, however discovering the setting to do it typically isn’t. When you’re not sure what you’re doing, attempt looking for “[manufacturer of your computer or motherboard] allow TPM,” as a result of many producers have created assist pages particularly due to Home windows 11.

For Intel techniques, when you can’t discover a setting marked “TPM” someplace within the chipset or safety settings, search for “Platform Belief Know-how” or “PTT” and allow that. AMD techniques normally simply consult with it as an “fTPM,” although you may additionally see it known as the “Platform Safety Processor,” or “PSP.”

When you’ve enabled your TPM, reboot into Home windows and have a look at the Gadget Supervisor or use the Well being Examine app to make sure it’s working correctly.

How do I allow Safe Boot?

Any pc made since Home windows 8 was launched in 2012 should assist Safe Boot, which helps forestall unsigned and probably malicious software program from being loaded throughout your PC’s boot course of. It’s best to have the ability to flip it on in your PC’s BIOS if it isn’t already enabled, normally both in a “Safety” or “Boot” part. As with enabling your TPM, when you can’t discover the setting, examine your PC’s or motherboard’s guide.

In case your pc gained’t boot after you allow Safe Boot, don’t fear—you simply have to undergo a few further steps. Failure in addition is almost definitely as a result of your arduous drive or SSD is ready up with an MBR (or Grasp Boot Document) partition desk reasonably than the newer GPT (GUID Partition Desk) format that Safe Boot and UEFI each require.

To examine, right-click the Begin button or use the Home windows + X keyboard shortcut after which click on Disk Administration within the menu that pops up. Proper-click no matter drive that Home windows is put in on (in most computer systems, will probably be Disk 0, however not all the time you probably have a number of arduous drives), then click on Properties, then examine the Volumes tab. In case your partition type is listed as MBR, that is while you’ll have to convert the drive.

To transform from MBR to GPT in Home windows 10:

• Open Settings, then Home windows Replace, then Restoration, and click on “Restart now” beneath “Superior startup.”
• When your PC reboots, click on the Troubleshoot button, then Superior choices, then Command Immediate.
• Within the Command Immediate window, sort mbr2gpt /validate to examine to ensure the drive could be transformed. Then, sort mbr2gpt /convert to transform the drive.
• When it is completed, re-enable Safe Boot in your BIOS, and your PC ought to boot usually.

If this conversion fails for some cause, the simplest possibility could also be to do a clear reinstall of Home windows 10 or 11 with Safe Boot enabled. While you format the drive and set up Home windows from a bootable USB stick, it can use GPT as a substitute of MBR.