Question What's the latest skinny about the hack for Win 11 on pre-Coffee Lake processors?

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm still running Sky-/Kaby-Lake Z170 systems. These are probably the best machines I've ever built in terms of their speed, reliability and longevity. But the hardware is more than six years old. One of them may have been built a year ago from "new" parts, but the key parts -- CPU, chipset and motherboard -- were released before 2017.

The hacks published to address Windows 11 upgrades got some of my attention, but not enough to keep up with it. I don't know how it turned out for people who did it.

I'm looking at some outlays for hardware over the next several months, at a time when (a) I'm trying to save money for a new car, (b) I need to replace my old server with a new NAS, (c) I'm not so sure I want to build a new system, despite being a veteran at it, and (d) I'm looking at some high-end (<= $2,000) gaming desktops to support my ambivalence in (c).

So how has it turned out with the hack for Win 11 on the older hardware?

 

[tcsenter]

Use Rufus or other tool to bypass/remove hardware requirement check from Windows 11 ISO setup.

Some people have reported Windows Setup actually offered the option 'I understand the risks, want to proceed anyway' after alerting Windows 11 did not support their hardware configuration, without having to mod any install bits or registry at all. It was kind of hidden at the bottom of the dialogue screen, had to scroll in order to see it.

 

[mikeymikec]

My experience with running Win11 RTM on older hardware (old CPU and TPM, UEFI enabled) was that it worked fine, but I only received security updates and no feature update offer to 22H2.

AFAIK there is no 'Windows 11 Update Assistant" to manually trigger the feature update, and while in theory I could have manually installed 22H2 as an in-place OS upgrade, my interest was in finding out whether Windows Update would operate normally or not.

 

[igor_kavinski]

AFAIK there is no 'Windows 11 Update Assistant" to manually trigger the feature update

In Windows 10, the media creation tool would install the latest feature update. Haven't tried it on Windows 11.

 

[tcsenter]

AFAIK there is no 'Windows 11 Update Assistant" to manually trigger the feature update, and while in theory I could have manually installed 22H2 as an in-place OS upgrade, my interest was in finding out whether Windows Update would operate normally or not.

We have an Acer laptop with 10th Gen Intel mobile part that came with Windows 10 21H1 but never offered 22H2 as of two months ago, when I manually invoked the upgrade (setup.exe) via a USB drive created from 22H2 ISO, even though Microsoft was reportedly pushing to get systems updated to 22Hx. Weird.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Weird.

Could be that few owners of your laptop model were upgraded and then some issue(s) were reported, preventing them from pushing the update to the remaining users.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

It seems that I and my local 75-year-old friends have been revisiting this question since at least a year ago -- maybe longer. We've probably all set a tentative "hardware upgrade" deadline to any anticipated date for discontinuing support for Windows 10. But since there is an extended update/service plan for corporate and military IT departments, I would bet that you could defer your own hardware replacement when Win 10 begins to show deficiencies or MS stops supporting something within Windows. It could almost be forever.

The other possibility for the cautious might involve the creation of a Win 10 boot-disk clone for a PC you can deem to be "experimental", so that we could follow the trail-blazers who have posted here and install Win 11 on the experimental system -- fingers crossed.

Personally, given recent telephone conversations with people I know and exchanges in this and other related forums or threads, I believe I have mapped out a path for myself.

As much as I was thinking of buying an OEM system with Win 11 sometime this year, I may invest this year's money for parts of a new build. I will then have to cancel the least of my tip-top desktop systems so I can harvest the computer case for final installation of tested hardware with the Win 11 install.

And I could still buy an OEM "SFF" system next year. I'm telling my friends that there's no hurry, in any event

Veteran members and system builders might offer their own observations about this phenomenon I describe as follows. Mainstreamers poo-poo and denigrate enthusiasts who use regular-sized midtower cases. As though one is some sort of loser for not inclining to build an SFF box. I suppose the hardware is out there to do it: an SFF case, mATX or ITX motherboard and other items that would leave you with a low-profile SFF system.

And those are just my hardware issues, prospects, plans and hurdles. What I've seen so far from my laptop Win 11 upgrade is another learning curve and an OS design or interface that fails to give me an organism.

 

[DaaQ]

It seems that I and my local 75-year-old friends have been revisiting this question since at least a year ago -- maybe longer. We've probably all set a tentative "hardware upgrade" deadline to any anticipated date for discontinuing support for Windows 10. But since there is an extended update/service plan for corporate and military IT departments, I would bet that you could defer your own hardware replacement when Win 10 begins to show deficiencies or MS stops supporting something within Windows. It could almost be forever.

The other possibility for the cautious might involve the creation of a Win 10 boot-disk clone for a PC you can deem to be "experimental", so that we could follow the trail-blazers who have posted here and install Win 11 on the experimental system -- fingers crossed.

Personally, given recent telephone conversations with people I know and exchanges in this and other related forums or threads, I believe I have mapped out a path for myself.

As much as I was thinking of buying an OEM system with Win 11 sometime this year, I may invest this year's money for parts of a new build. I will then have to cancel the least of my tip-top desktop systems so I can harvest the computer case for final installation of tested hardware with the Win 11 install.

And I could still buy an OEM "SFF" system next year. I'm telling my friends that there's no hurry, in any event

Veteran members and system builders might offer their own observations about this phenomenon I describe as follows. Mainstreamers poo-poo and denigrate enthusiasts who use regular-sized midtower cases. As though one is some sort of loser for not inclining to build an SFF box. I suppose the hardware is out there to do it: an SFF case, mATX or ITX motherboard and other items that would leave you with a low-profile SFF system.

And those are just my hardware issues, prospects, plans and hurdles. What I've seen so far from my laptop Win 11 upgrade is another learning curve and an OS design or interface that fails to give me an organism.

I my self need to find this info out as well, I am going to finish my "OLD" new build very soon.
I have my 64GB ssd with W10 on it. Maybe that will work, then Raid 0 my 4 128GB ssds and see if it will let me upgrade. IDK.
Would like if one would post the guide to the registry hack to bypass the TPM requirement. as I am not sure my MOBO is UEFI. It's been a LONG time.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I am of the opinion that Microsoft at some point will be forced to offer Windows 11 to all the PC owners who refuse to upgrade to newer hardware. So personally, I would not upgrade to 11 unless I absolutely have to. I use it daily at work. Some of the changes are very annoying. Like before, I could just open a text file and press CTRL+P then Enter to print. If I do that in 11, it opens up the list of printers. I kid you not! Which idiot's bright idea was that, I wonder? Must be some genius they hired fresh out of college. I have to now POINT the mouse pointer over the Print button and left click the mouse button. And my work requires me to do that dozens of times daily. So they slowed me down at least 2x, if not 3x.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Would like if one would post the guide to the registry hack to bypass the TPM requirement. as I am not sure my MOBO is UEFI. It's been a LONG time.

No need.

GitHub - coofcookie/Windows11Upgrade: Windows 11 Upgrade tool that bypasses Microsoft´s requirements

Windows 11 Upgrade tool that bypasses Microsoft´s requirements - GitHub - coofcookie/Windows11Upgrade: Windows 11 Upgrade tool that bypasses Microsoft´s requirements

github.com

You are welcome

 

[tcsenter]

Would like if one would post the guide to the registry hack to bypass the TPM requirement. as I am not sure my MOBO is UEFI. It's been a LONG time.

Not sure if this one has been blocked by 22H2 build of Windows 11 but it used to work. When I tried iit last year, I disconnected from network/internet during installation so that Setup could not download updated files:

- Open REGEDIT and navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup
- Right-click on folder MoSetup and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value
- In right pane, name the new DWORD value AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU and set the value to 1.
- Restart computer, then run Setup from Windows 11 install bits
- When you reach it, select Upgrade instead of Clean Install

 

[DaaQ]

Use Rufus or other tool to bypass/remove hardware requirement check from Windows 11 ISO setup.

Some people have reported Windows Setup actually offered the option 'I understand the risks, want to proceed anyway' after alerting Windows 11 did not support their hardware configuration, without having to mod any install bits or registry at all. It was kind of hidden at the bottom of the dialogue screen, had to scroll in order to see it.

I did this method last night with the latest version of RUFUS and the newest win11 iso from MS site. It did install the 2H22 update as well.

Only problem I ran into is I could not get a 4 drive raid0 array to recognize and install the OS there.
So I wiped my 64GB original w10 os drive and put it on that. Installed a new install. No product key. Selected w11 pro. But some things are not working without a product key suck as personalization options.
Will report later if I can get the raid going (they are 4x 128gb ss 830 drives).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Just returning here. I started this thread a little more than three months before my dear old Moms died.

I'm still contemplating the build of a Win 11 compatible system. But I've tweaked all my Win 10 systems for security updates extending to 2032.

I bought the TPM 2.0 module for my Z170 motherboard, leaving only the Kaby Lake processor as a marginal disqualifier. Not really sure how I want to go forward.

Friends say continued use of Windows 10, even with the ESU or IoT Enterprise LTSC upgrade and security, will lead to problems like "software stops working" or "unable to install more recent software." I really think I'll still be good for a year or more, but I need to build a replacement system with a Core Ultra 265K that allows me to do things the way I've always done them, but gives me stellar OS upgrade path. I INSIST on having an optical burner. I INSIST on having hot-swap 2.5" HDD bays.

M$ is steering us down the wrong road with this misery.

There are drawbacks to too much human progress compelled by large dominant firms on whom the world is virtually dependent.

Well, I'm going to start tracking down parts, clearing a table for a vacant computer case, and prepare for The Great Computer Building Project of December 2025.

I DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP THESE PERFECT SYSTEMS I ALREADY HAVE . . .

 

[igor_kavinski]

Friends say continued use of Windows 10, even with the ESU or IoT Enterprise LTSC upgrade and security, will lead to problems like "software stops working" or "unable to install more recent software." I really think I'll still be good for a year or more, but I need to build a replacement system with a Core Ultra 265K that allows me to do things the way I've always done them, but gives me stellar OS upgrade path.

"Friends" can't foretell the future. I would say don't bother unless you hit a roadblock, like software refusing to work. I'm on Windows 8.1 and almost everything I need to work, works just fine. Regarding security, as long as you put 1.1.1.1 and 9.9.9.9 in your network properties' DNS and Alternate DNS fields, you can be be almost 99% sure that no malware is going to get through.

As for 265K, it's guaranteed to work with Windows 11. Not Windows 12 or whatever Microsoft will call that version. They already have a "Copilot+" Win11 requirement that very few CPUs can fulfill (Ryzen 300 laptops, Snapdragon plus and Elite X laptops and Intel Lunar Lake laptops ONLY). Anyone correct me if I'm wrong but currently there is NO desktop CPU that fulfills Copilot+ requirement and no indication how you can make a non-compliant desktop CPU compliant with that certification requirement. So a lot can change between now and the next Windows version. Just reminding you to be aware that 265K isn't going to be your last upgrade in the next few years if M$ stays hell bent on redefining Windows feature requirements as per their ever changing whims.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

"Friends" can't foretell the future. I would say don't bother unless you hit a roadblock, like software refusing to work. I'm on Windows 8.1 and almost everything I need to work, works just fine. Regarding security, as long as you put 1.1.1.1 and 9.9.9.9 in your network properties' DNS and Alternate DNS fields, you can be be almost 99% sure that no malware is going to get through.

As for 265K, it's guaranteed to work with Windows 11. Not Windows 12 or whatever Microsoft will call that version. They already have a "Copilot+" Win11 requirement that very few CPUs can fulfill (Ryzen 300 laptops, Snapdragon plus and Elite X laptops and Intel Lunar Lake laptops ONLY). Anyone correct me if I'm wrong but currently there is NO desktop CPU that fulfills Copilot+ requirement and no indication how you can make a non-compliant desktop CPU compliant with that certification requirement. So a lot can change between now and the next Windows version. Just reminding you to be aware that 265K isn't going to be your last upgrade in the next few years if M$ stays hell bent on redefining Windows feature requirements as per their ever changing whims.

Things were better than this before 2020. My Spectrum modem dedicated to my land-line telephone won't give me a dial tone; went down to the Spectrum office, and received the encouragement that the modem had gone south, so I should exchange it.

But this is the new millennium. I'm suspicious of those 21st century people. They LOOK like humans from the 20th century, but I worry about those crop circles they found in the heartland, wondering of the Millennials are . . . space aliens . . .

So does this portend a future of cell-phone-thumb-typing and laptops only? Curious minds want to know! Someone should post an explanation in The National Enquirer.

 

[igor_kavinski]

So does this portend a future of cell-phone-thumb-typing and laptops only?

Well, Microsoft thinks that if they will enable you to "talk" to your PC, then why would you want it stuck in one place? Why not it be the laptop that you can take anywhere with you? I also suspect that somewhere inside M$ HQ, there are people fully behind the idea that Copilot+ will spell the end of Linux since it has nothing like what they are promising (an OS that keeps tabs on everything you are doing and then helps you "recall" that stuff quickly without actually sifting through folders and documents manually).

If money were no object, I would have:

1) Dependable Linux PC as the anchor in my digital life, certain that it won't pull the rug from under me

2) Win11 desktop PC for stuff that is hard to do on the Linux PC

3) Microsoft Surface laptop with the Snapdragon Elite chip to be the first to experience what kind of future M$ is envisioning for us

4) A Macbook or Mac Mini because heck, at this point, why not???

 

[BonzaiDuck]

But money is an object. Anyway, I could easily spend thousands on extra computers of all types, but it wouldn't simplify my digital lifestyle.

My brain hurts, and I think I need to eat a dinner . .

 

[mikeymikec]

Friends say continued use of Windows 10, even with the ESU or IoT Enterprise LTSC upgrade and security, will lead to problems like "software stops working" or "unable to install more recent software."I DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP THESE PERFECT SYSTEMS I ALREADY HAVE . . .

Going by past experience IMO they are correct.

Historically, "popular" versions of Windows received longer third-party software support than "unpopular" versions, for example WinXP stopped being supported with updates in 2014 and carried on receiving say Chrome updates until 2017, whereas Vista stopped being supported with updates in 2017 and Chrome stopped their updates in... 2017. Identical story with Win7 and Win8x. It's fair to say that Win10 is a popular version of Windows so therefore third party software makers will probably support their software with updates on it until say 2028-2030.

Btw, how does one go about getting Win10 LTSC?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

. . . . .

Btw, how does one go about getting Win10 LTSC?

' ' ' ' '
This is in a gray area for which I cannot conclude either way about technical license violations or "piracy". One of our members here had been doing this for what could be a dozen Windows 10 systems since 2022.

KyMakers (read on and find the link) insists their license keys and downloads are legitimate.

There is a web-site known as Massgrave.dev which you should probably study, with the key topic being "Windows 10 (IoT) Enterprise LTSC 2021" Here is the "Downloads" page.

I think both pages provide instructions for an "in-place" upgrade to Win 10 Pro -- study that. You can then scroll down the page of the second link and select the appropriate Win 10 LTSC column header, which will reveal your download link to be the very first of several (for different languages).

I didn't realize that Massgrave.dev offered a "free" license key. I went out in search of license keys, and found this outfit at KyMakers.com They insist they are a legitimate business providing legitimate license keys and downloads. I chose to buy the license they offered -- select "Shop" and "Windows", scroll to page bottom and find "Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC". Then buy the license with your credit card -- through an outfit named "Link" for $10.99. Link will respond by e-mail, then KyMakers responds by e-mail giving you your license key and the download link for the installation ISO.

I'm not having a single problem with the installation. It's free of ads and popups, and it does run faster. Even so, I'm hatching a plan for that Computer to do a clean install of Windows 11 Pro after adding the ASUS TPM 2.0 module to the motherboard, tweaking the BIOS and making a registry hack exclusive to CPU eligibility. It's a Kaby Lake processor, and indications from other forums suggest that the i7-7700K won't be a problem for Windows 11.

I bought two other licenses for the IoT Enterprise LTSC from KyMakers; and I've tested this machine. My main machine is enrolled in the ESU until October 2026.

If I have luck with the Windows 11 on the current LTSC-installed system, then I may go forward and do the same thing with my main daily driver here. Meanwhile, I"m planning a contingent build of a new system with a Z890 Mobo and Core Ultra 7 265K.

I haven't spent money on hardware since 2021, when I had to replace a motherboard and picked up a couple spares. I have Windows 11 Pro Retail licenses with media I obtained in shrink-wrapped boxes for about $55 each. I'm all set to get through this cluster-f*** that Microsoft has put on us. I hope . . .

EVEN SO! I keep reminding myself of the many times I've concluded that "I hate Windows 11". I installed Open Shell on my laptop Windows 11 today, and was pleased with how Open Shell helps it. But I'm still dissatisfied that the "Start" button still shows in the middle of the desktop ribbon menu/tray.

 

[tcsenter]

But I'm still dissatisfied that the "Start" button still shows in the middle of the desktop ribbon menu/tray.

Bro....


As I mentioned in your other discussion, you also can use Winaero Tweaker to get back a number of 'classic' behaviors such as the ribbon in Explorer, context menus, a bunch of other tweaks/mods including related to privacy, advertising. It's a great utility. Some of the tweaks (couldn't fit them all in)...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

You know? I want to thank you for this. In earlier times, I might have succeeded in hunting down some of these answers right away.

But it's the same old story. Age 77. COPD. Exhausted from the eldercare over 8 years before Moms did. I was a Hot Dawg that turned into a Dead Wienie.

So -- Thank you.