Can I install Windows 11 on non UEFI?

E

Executioner

Gawd
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Apr 22, 2015
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I have an old Dell N7110 laptop. It has the latest BIOS, but does not have UEFI or support GPT. It supports only MBR. I'm pretty sure I can install 11 on a fresh install using Rufus that will bypass the UEFI, TPM, and CPU requirement, but can I do an upgrade from 10 to 11 on this same machine with Rufus by running the setup.exe file?
 
Yes Windows 11 will work fine without UEFI. It works fine with MBR.

You can do an upgrade from 10 without any issues. Skip messing with rufus, just open an administrator Powershell prompt and launch setup from an unmodified Windows 11 ISO by first mounting the ISO (double clicking on it), then switching to that drive letter in powershell (if the mounted ISO is the D drive, then type "D:" in the powershell prompt and hit enter), then type the command "./setup.exe /product server". Setup will begin. Ignore the text about installing "Windows Server" as it's actually just installing whatever is on the ISO without any requirements. I do this a half dozen times a day.
 
GotNoRice said:
Yes Windows 11 will work fine without UEFI. It works fine with MBR.

You can do an upgrade from 10 without any issues. Skip messing with rufus, just open an administrator Powershell prompt and launch setup from an unmodified Windows 11 ISO by first mounting the ISO (double clicking on it), then switching to that drive letter in powershell (if the mounted ISO is the D drive, then type "D:" in the powershell prompt and hit enter), then type the command "./setup.exe /product server". Setup will begin. Ignore the text about installing "Windows Server" as it's actually just installing whatever is on the ISO without any requirements. I do this a half dozen times a day.
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Have you seen any issues with any Updates not working (like not taking after required reboot) or causing issues? I thought some udpates are now requiring Secure Boot?
 
bluestang said:
Have you seen any issues with any Updates not working (like not taking after required reboot) or causing issues? I thought some udpates are now requiring Secure Boot?
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I have not personally seen anything like that, and I've got it on many machines that do not have Secure Boot. I would say that there are only one or two things that might come into play when Windows 11 is installed on unsupported hardware:

1. (the only thing in most cases) The once-per-year feature updates do not install automatically. For example, systems installed with 23H2 (the current version) will not be offered 24H2 later this year. They will however still receive cumulative updates and security updates on 23H2 until it hits EoL in November 2025. If you want to stay on the latest feature update, then once per year, you will need to do an in-place upgrade to the latest version (upgrade using an ISO of the new version, using a requirements bypass again).
2. The upcoming 24H2 update will require CPUs that have SSE4a or SSE4.2. That cuts off all Intel CPUs prior to the i3/i5/i7 era. So if you have Windows 11 running on a Core2Quad for example, then 23H2 will be the end of the line.
 
Thanks for that info. I'm just interested if it can be done. The laptop currently has an i5 cpu, but I'm also upgrading the cpu to an i7 quad core.
 
Followed the instructions and got 11 23H2 installed. Took about 45 minutes from start to finish. The only item that does not work is widgets. Wants met to sign in, but this is a local account. Widgets worked in 10 on this same laptop. Not a big deal.

The other item was my thumb drive. I had to format it to NTFS instead of FAT32 to copy the ISO over which brings me to this question: instead of using the ISO, can I do the same with a thumb drive that already has 11 installed on it?
 
Executioner said:
Followed the instructions and got 11 23H2 installed. Took about 45 minutes from start to finish. The only item that does not work is widgets. Wants met to sign in, but this is a local account. Widgets worked in 10 on this same laptop. Not a big deal.

The other item was my thumb drive. I had to format it to NTFS instead of FAT32 to copy the ISO over which brings me to this question: instead of using the ISO, can I do the same with a thumb drive that already has 11 installed on it?
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i havent touch widgets since 7/8....
i assumed thats what you were using, and it should work by running setup off it. (hence: probably)
 
Executioner said:
Followed the instructions and got 11 23H2 installed. Took about 45 minutes from start to finish. The only item that does not work is widgets. Wants met to sign in, but this is a local account. Widgets worked in 10 on this same laptop. Not a big deal.

The other item was my thumb drive. I had to format it to NTFS instead of FAT32 to copy the ISO over which brings me to this question: instead of using the ISO, can I do the same with a thumb drive that already has 11 installed on it?
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Windows 11 will run like crap off a USB drive (unless it is a USB 3 SSD type external USB drive...)
 
MrGuvernment said:
Windows 11 will run like crap off a USB drive (unless it is a USB 3 SSD type external USB drive...)
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unless im misunderstanding, hes asking about upgrading from 10 to 11 using setup.exe from a usb, not runnin the os off it. which you are correct, would run like shit.
 
I just upgraded from 10 to 11 on unsupported hardware and used rufus method. I did an in place upgrade and have no problems.
 
Widgets now working. I guess I had to reboot the laptop twice. Seems a bit faster than 10 on this old Dell N7110 which was released back in 2011. Dell does not even have drivers for Windows 10. This model only supports 7 and 8. On the video driver for Intel HD Graphics 3000, I had to go in and turn off the switching from 60Hz to 40Hz under the power option. If you leave it in the 40Hz option when running on battery, the display will distort.
 
Executioner said:
The other item was my thumb drive. I had to format it to NTFS instead of FAT32 to copy the ISO over which brings me to this question: instead of using the ISO, can I do the same with a thumb drive that already has 11 installed on it?
Click to expand...

If you are just doing an in-place upgrade, then it doesn't matter where the files are located. Could be a mounted ISO, or a USB thumb drive, a random folder on the hard drive, or even a network drive.

Executioner said:
Seems a bit faster than 10 on this old Dell N7110 which was released back in 2011. Dell does not even have drivers for Windows 10. This model only supports 7 and 8. On the video driver for Intel HD Graphics 3000, I had to go in and turn off the switching from 60Hz to 40Hz under the power option. If you leave it in the 40Hz option when running on battery, the display will distort.
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Windows 11 is pretty forgiving with drivers on old hardware in most cases. Drivers going all the way back to Windows Vista (64-bit) can work in most cases. I've found that there can be some glitching when using really old display drivers but that turning off Transparency Effects (Located under Settings -> Accessibility -> Visual effects) can fix those problems most of the time.
 
Executioner said:
I had to go in and turn off the switching from 60Hz to 40Hz under the power option. If you leave it in the 40Hz option when running on battery, the display will distort.
Click to expand...
first time i ran into that function i was wtf why everything seems like slow mo, i get why they do it but its odd.
 
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