Windows 11 can be installed on PCs that don't meet the operating system's hardware requirements by using a few different workarounds, but one of those solutions no longer works — or at least Microsoft appears to have closed this loophole in testing.
The Register reports that, as highlighted by Bob Pony on X, the bypass Microsoft is apparently trying to block, known as the 'setup.exe /product server' workaround, has indeed been bypassed in pre-release build 27686 in the Canary channel (released a week ago).
The recently released Windows 11 Insider build 27686 (Dilithium) has patched the “setup.exe /product server” workaround to skip the system requirements check. 😢 pic.twitter.com/G9Q1v3O1uUAugust 15, 2024
What this particular requirement-evasion measure does is trick the installer into thinking it’s setting up Windows Server, when in fact it’s installing Windows 11. Since Windows Server doesn’t have the same stricter requirements (e.g., it doesn’t need TPM 2.0), this stealthy installation method will work on a PC that doesn’t officially qualify for Windows 11.
Yes he will do it run Doing it correctly on such a PC is a completely different matter, which is why we do not recommend using a trick like this.
That said, people do use this and other tricks to install Windows 11 on older, unsupported hardware and get it running just fine, but it's a risk, obviously.
Analysis: A mistake, perhaps? It seems unlikely…
As The Register points out, it's possible that this is simply a bug in the pre-release version of Windows 11. After all, this is the Canary channel, the older testing platform that's more buggy than other builds.
However, we think it's more likely that this is an intentional move on Microsoft's part. That being the case, people still have time to use the old workaround to install Windows 11, because as Bob Pony makes clear, it still works fine with Windows 11 24H2 (the update expected to arrive later this year). This is apparently a change for Windows 11 in 2025, but we don't know for sure and Microsoft could still be planning to incorporate it in the 24H2 update (it's just not in the mix yet).
Another known workaround to manipulate the installation of Windows 11 on an unsupported computer is to use the Rufus utility. So, there are still options available, although Microsoft seems to be looking to crack down on such tricks, perhaps due to the fact that Windows 10 will reach its end of life next year.
In any case, we must stress that we do not recommend installing any operating system on a device that does not officially support it, at least not for the average user.
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