How to Install Windows 11 on Unsupported PCs: Bypassing System Requirements

Many Windows users eager to upgrade to the new Windows 11 find themselves challenged by the system’s stringent installation requirements. These prerequisites include the need for TPM 2.0 support, UEFI secure boot capability, and more, which may not be met by older computers.

Fortunately, there are several methods available to bypass these installation requirements. Before proceeding, it is important to note that these requirements were established to ensure optimal performance of Windows 11 on your system.

Bypassing the installation requirements may affect the operating system’s performance. We recommend backing up any important data on your computer beforehand.

Windows 11 System Requirements

The following are the installation requirements for Windows 11:

For a complete list of system and feature-specific requirements, visit the official Microsoft website here.

Prerequisite

Before you begin, download a Windows 11 image to your computer as you will need it to create a bootable USB drive and install Windows 11.

If you do not have a Windows 11 image, you can use our guide to download an official Windows 11 ISO, which provides a step-by-step process.

1. Using Rufus

Rufus is a utility for creating bootable USB drives. It offers a feature that allows you to disable the Windows 11 installation requirements when flashing the Windows 11 image onto a USB drive.

1. Download Rufus from the official website here.
2. Open Rufus and connect your USB drive.
3. Click the ‘Select’ button and open your Windows 11 ISO image.

   

4. Choose ‘Standard Windows Installation’ from the ‘Image option’ menu.
5. Set the ‘Partition Scheme’ to ‘GPT’.
6. Check the ‘Quick Format’ box under Advanced Format Options.

   

7. Press the ‘Start’ button.
8. In the Windows User Experience dialog, check the box to ‘Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot, and TPM 2.0’.
9. Also check the ‘Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account’ box.

   

10. Click OK and wait for the process to finish.

2. Using Windows Registry Hack

You can also bypass the installation requirements for Windows 11 by altering the Windows Registry, which involves adding keys to circumvent the stringent requirements.

1. Boot from your Windows 11 bootable USB drive.
2. Press SHIFT + F10 on the first Windows Setup screen to launch the command prompt.

   

3. Type ‘regedit’ and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

   

4. Navigate to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup

   

5. Right-click on the ‘Setup’ folder and select ‘New > Key’.

   

6. Name the new key ‘LabConfig’.
7. Within ‘LabConfig’, right-click on the right pane and select ‘New > DWORD (32-bit) Value’.
8. Create a key named ‘BypassTPMCheck’ and set its value to 1.
9. Create another key named ‘BypassSecureBootCheck’ and set its value to 1.

   

10. To bypass the RAM requirement, create a ‘BypassRAMCheck’ key and set its value to 1.
11. Close the Registry Editor and the command prompt when finished.
12. Continue with the installation of Windows 11.

3. Using Windows Update

If you do not have a Windows 11 ISO image or cannot download one, there is a way to install Windows 11 through the Windows Update feature.

1. Navigate to the GitHub file to skip the TPM check in Windows updates by clicking this link.
2. Click on ‘Download raw file’ to get the script.

   

3. Right-click the file and choose ‘Run as administrator’.

   

4. Approve the action in the User Account Control dialog.
5. A Powershell window will open, indicating the ‘Skip TPM Check on Dynamic Update [INSTALLED]’ status.
6. Press any key to exit the window.
7. Press Win key + I to open Windows Settings.
8. Go to Windows Update and check if the Windows 11 upgrade is available.
9. If the upgrade isn’t displayed, restart your computer and check again.

4. Using Official Windows Registry Hack

Lastly, Microsoft provides an official Windows Registry modification that lets you upgrade to Windows 11 despite not meeting the system requirements. This is a separate approach from the previous Registry hack we described.

1. Press Win key + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type ‘regedit’ and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.

   

3. Within the Registry Editor, go to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup

   

4. In the right pane, right-click and choose ‘New > DWORD (32-bit) Value’.
5. Name the key ‘AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU’.

   

6. Set its value to 1.
7. Exit the Registry Editor and restart your machine.
8. After rebooting, you should be able to attempt the upgrade to Windows 11 using installation media.

These updated methods provide ways to circumvent the Windows 11 installation requirements on various computers.