I attempted to install Windows 11 on my desktop PC running Windows 10 Home 22H2 64-bit, following the procedure outlined in the link from scottiestech.info, but unfortunately, I didn't succeed. Here are some crucial points I believe are worth noting:
- The system BIOS must support UEFI / Secure Boot, as Windows 11 requires these features.
- The Windows 10 disk must be a GPT disk, not MBR, as a GPT disk requires UEFI for booting.
- The Windows 10 disk should have a system reserved partition of 450 – 500 MB. Windows 11 installation might appear successful, but it will fail with an error code like ox8007000x if this partition is smaller.
- Rufus, the tool used to prepare the modified Windows 11 installation media, defaults to UEFI boot type. This means the USB stick prepared with Rufus will only boot on a UEFI system. However, you can manually run setup.exe from the mounted USB stick for an upgrade installation to Windows 11, with the option to keep personal files and apps. For a clean install, you'll need a bootable USB stick. You can instruct Rufus to use the 'old' BIOS boot mode while preparing the modified Windows 11 installation medium, making it bootable on BIOS-only systems. However, keep in mind that Windows 11 won't start without UEFI / Secure Boot support.
