With Windows 11, Microsoft seems to have taken a different approach. The latest version aims to provide an overall improved experience for its users, and at the same time, add a bunch of the most requested features.
Not just that, Windows 11 is a free upgrade over Windows 10. That being said, at the launch event, Microsoft revealed that PCs which do not support TPM 2.0 will not be compatible with Windows 11. While this left a lot of users disheartened, we have now found a way to install Windows 11 on non-compatible PCs.
Background Check on our PC
The PC we are using is the Sony Vaio and is not compatible with Windows 11. The device runs on an Intel i3 M330 chipset which is clocked at 2.13GHz. Furthermore, it has just 4GB of RAM and Intel UHD graphics. With Windows 11, Microsoft made it compulsory for PC to have TPM 2.0 and secure boot support. Our device does not meet both these requirements but we still managed to install Windows 11 on our 12-year-old machine. Let us have a detailed look at how you can do the same.
How to install Windows 11 without TPM 2.0
The process is quite simple but make sure you follow the guide closely in order to install Windows 11 on an unsupported PC. Firstly, you would need to download both Windows 10 ISO and Windows 11 ISO files. Don’t be alarmed. We will explain why you would need the Windows 10 ISO file. Please do note, all your data will get wiped during this process. So, it is highly recommended to take a backup first.
Prerequisites
Creating a Windows 10 bootable USB drive using Rufus
This is a very important step in the process. We need to create a bootable USB drive using the Windows 10 ISO we downloaded earlier. We are doing this to access the files in the iso and make changes accordingly to install Windows 11.
Steps to create a bootable USB drive
Steps to check partition (MBR or GPT)
As we saw in the steps above it is essential to choose the correct partition scheme. If we choose the wrong partition scheme then the trick to install Windows 11 on an old PC will not work. Let us have a detailed look at the steps on how you can check your partition scheme.
Steps to install Windows 11
Setting up Windows 11 on PC
Becoming a Windows Insider to get future builds in Windows updater
Now that you have installed Windows 11, it’s also important that you get future updates. For that, we recommend you to join the Windows Insider program.
What is Windows Insider Program?
Windows insider is a program from Microsoft for users who are willing to test out new things in Windows. You need to become a windows insider to get insider builds. The Windows Insider builds are not final builds so they might come with various bugs and issues. Basically, there are three channels in insider. Let us have a look
Steps to join Windows 11 Insider program for future updates
Bonus – Brand new features in the first Windows 11 Insider build (22000.51)
Let’s take a look at some of the common questions you might have.
1. Will I lose my data by installing Windows 11?
Yes, as we are doing a clean installation all data in the drive will get deleted. It is recommended to take a backup of the drive you are going to install Windows 11.
2. Can I roll back to Windows 10 from Windows 11 again?
Yes, you can always flash and go back to windows 10. But you need to download Windows 10 ISO again and make it bootable using Rufus. Once that is done, you can simply install Windows 10 using USB.
3. Can I run Android apps on Windows 11?
The short answer is no. While Microsoft claimed that Android apps can work on Windows 11, the support for it is not available yet. We expect it to be available in future insider builds.
