Installing WIndows 11 on Unsupported Hardware

[Hokie]

There are several methods out there that are supposed to let you install Windows 11 on hardware that fails the Secure Boot/TPM and hardware requirements. I cannot seem to get them to work because MS seems to have blocked the downloading of Windows 11 Iso file. Could someone try to go to this site and see if they can get to the point of actually downloading the Iso file?

I am trying to download the English-US 64 bit version.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows11

Here is the error I get:

Error

We are unable to complete your request at this time. Some users, entities and locations are banned from using this service. For this reason, leveraging anonymous or location hiding technologies when connecting to this service is not generally allowed. If you believe that you encountered this problem in error, please try again. If the problem persists, you may contact Microsoft Support – Contact Us page for assistance. Refer to message code 715-123130 and 7377c0e0-d492-4026-aa5b-9f47808e0f25.

[FakeNoose]

1. The evil plan is to make Americans throw out perfectly fine Windows 10 computers

[BoRaGard]

3. and then merrily going The Apple Way

[Hokie]

13. I had to do a clean install to put W11 on my HP Envy Laptop

I tried both Flyby11 and Rufus to install it as an upgrade and the installation would fail on the final restart. So I bit the bullet and did a clean installation using Rufus. This worked the first time and was quicker.

One issue I had is that I could not access a NAS running on a Raspberry Pi 4 on my network. My mini-PC running Windows 11 Pro accesses it fine. After hours of research and trying "sure fixes" I found that Windows has changed an obscure permission so that it always requires digital signing of communications with SMB servers. Once I disabled that I could connect. Windows seems to go out of it's way to defeat people who want to use other devices on their networks.

I can imagine the frustration of someone who bought a commercial NAS (network addressable storage) that runs Linux only to find it will not connect to their PC.

[Wonder Why]

2. Are you using a VPN? That would explain it although there are other possibilities.

[Hokie]

14. No just a normal home network using a Zytel Modem/Router

I use the rotuer supplied by Quantum fiber. No VPN or anything complex.

[ItsjustMe]

4. I run Windows 11 on my 10 year old system.

Windows 11 runs great on it.

Download Windows 11 ISO here.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

Download Rufus from here.
https://rufus.ie/en/
To create USB installation media.

After installation, use massgrave to activate Windows 11 to pro or whatever edition you like.

[Hokie]

5. That is the link that was not working

Last edited Mon Jan 6, 2025, 08:14 AM - Edit history (1)

I found another way around it. I downloaded the Media Creation Tool and chose the option to download the ISO file. That worked. I am installing Windows 11 right now. I will report back when it is done. This is a 14 year old HP quad core PC.

So I went back and tried the download link again and it seems to be fixed now.

I am using a script called FlyBy11. You don't need a USB stick or anything. It will download the ISO file and mount it for you then run the installation w/o the hardware and secure boot options. Just Google FlyBy11.

Edit: I understand that Windows 11 24H2 will not run on a dual core PC under any circumstances so be careful if your PC is really old say from before 2010. You can go to Settings>System>About to check your hardware and version of Windows.

[ItsjustMe]

6. I've never heard of FlyBy11

I see It's used to do upgrades, I never do upgrades anymore, I always do clean installs.

[Hokie]

15. After my experience (see below) I think I will too

I wasted several hours trying to upgrade a laptop.

[Hokie]

9. Try your download link

I just clicked on it and I am getting the error message that prevents me from downloading the ISO file.

[Hokie]

11. I thought about Rufus and still might try it on my laptop

Last edited Wed Jan 1, 2025, 09:08 PM - Edit history (2)

I could not get W11 to install on my 2013 vintage HP laptop. It failed during the 2nd boot and reverted to Windows 10. I tried several times. I will probably have to do a clean install on that one. I have to back up my data first.

Thanks for the mention of massgrave.

[ItsjustMe]

12. I never gave you a link to massgrave

Just the name to get you there. 😉

Rufus is a really good app, you should check it out.

You should also spend some time sailing the high seas.

Reddit is a good start. 😉

[canetoad]

7. Just putting this out there

Tiny11 is a modded version of Windows 11 designed to take up as little storage space as possible.

I haven't actually installed it but I did install Tiny 10 on a low spec laptop for a friend and it works like a dream. Very economical on space and no bloated MS stuff.

I have a copy here, just waiting for some time to install on my spare laptop.

https://www.techspot.com/downloads/7578-tiny11.html

[Hokie]

10. Interesting

I am not fond of third party sites to download Windows though. I think my next project is to install Windows 11 on a 2013 vintage HP laptop. I should have enough disk space for the full version.

[Hokie]

8. Installed Windows 11

I took 2 tries. It had a hardware crash the first time. I have had this happen before on updates. There is something particular to this PC that causes that. Now on Windows 11.