If Windows 10 is still relevant, Microsoft is now focusing on Windows 11. The operating system enjoys great attention and sustained development. Within a year it was enriched with several new functions.
However, everything is not perfect. While the new features and user interface are attractive, the system requirements are demanding. This is a problem because it doesn’t support millions of PCs to run it on. Of course, these old systems are not allowed to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or any other version. Microsoft is unlikely to back down.
When Windows 11 22H2 launched, the giant updated the list of supported processors, adding AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series and Intel’s 13th Gen Cores. There is no change in sight for older models.
The company said there are no plans to add support for 7th-gen Core chips and first-gen Ryzen “Zen”. Note that in 2021 some 7th Gen Intel processors like Core X series and Xeon W series have been added after testing.
Other requirements include TPM 2.0 and UEFI Secure Boot support, as well as the need for 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage space. According to Redmond, all of these are “necessary” to enjoy the best possible Windows 11 experience.
Windows 11 and unsupported processor support.
Fortunately, there are solutions to circumvent these limitations. Regarding unsupported processors, here is a method. It’s not complicated, but some manipulations are necessary.
The idea is to modify a Windows 10 installation key so that it ultimately installs Windows 11. In this case we speak of a “hybrid” installation medium.
1 – Check the BIOS mode of your computer
The first thing you need to do is to know your PC’s BIOS mode. There are two choices UEFI or Legacy. To find out, just run the utility system information. You can find it by typing “msinfo” in the taskbar search box. Then, in the right part of the system summary, the BIOS mode line will show your situation. Notice what is written.
2 – Creating a USB stick for installing Windows 10
The second step is to download the installation ISO of the latest version of Windows 10 and then create an installation USB stick. There are several methods, one of which is the Rufus utility. The USB stick must have at least 10 GB of storage space. Information about BIOS mode will be useful for you as it will help you choose the right partition scheme.
If the BIOS mode was Legacy, you must use the MBR partition scheme. Use GPT for UEFI mode.
3 – Creation of Windows 11 hybrid installation media
Then download the installation ISO of the latest version of Windows 11.
Locate the USB drive that has Windows 10 installation files install.esd Where from install.wim. The idea is to rename it to install1.esd or install1.wim because we are going to replace it.
Then search for install.esd or install.wim in the Windows 11 ISO files (just mount the image. The command is available in the menu with a simple right click on the ISO). If this extension matches the one used by the Windows 10 installer file, copy the Windows 11 file and into the Windows 10 folder. If the extensions do not match, you must first convert the Windows 11 installer file before copying it.
You can then use the installer to upgrade to Windows 11.