"/product server" to bypass Win11 restrictions

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Gawd
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Apr 22, 2015
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This method has been around for a while but is just getting attention now for whatever reason. It's a convenient method because you can install directly from a stock ISO without having to copy files anywhere or modify anything.

My preferred method up until now has been to replace the "appraiserres.dll" file in the Sources folder of the install files. It means you have to extract the ISO first, but that's not an issue for me given how I usually deploy Windows. Unfortunately that method no longer works with version 25967, which is the latest Canary channel build (the most experimental of the 4 insider channels). That obviously begs the question if that will remain a viable bypass method in the future, as changes gradually trickle down to the less experimental insider channels and finally to release builds. The "/product server" bypass method, on the other hand, still works fine on the latest Canary build.

The only thing that gives me a very slight bit of hesitation when it comes to using the "/product server" bypass method, and why it wasn't my go-to method in the past, is all of the references during install to "Installing Windows Server", etc. It doesn't seem to have any effect on what ultimately gets installed, but I don't know if anyone has actually done an in-depth comparison to see if this has any actual impact on which less obvious features are or aren't getting installed by default.
 
Article shows screenshot from older build... looks like possibly an insider preview build..
I just tried it from 22621.2283


1697467939528.png
 

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jlbenedict said:
I just tried it from 22621.2283
Click to expand...

So you were running 22621.2283? What build were you trying to upgrade to?

I just worked on a computer today that was stuck on Windows 10 1511, which I believe was actually the first version of Windows 10. It was such an old version that it wouldn't even update properly to Windows 10 22H2 (the latest/last version of Windows 10) via Windows Update or an In-place upgrade. In-place upgrades to Windows 11 22621.2428 (22H2) and 22631.2428 (23H2) using "appraiserres.dll" bypass also both failed. As a last resort I did an in-place upgrade to Windows 11 22631.2428 (23H2) using an unmodified ISO by running "./setup.exe /product server" from an Administrator PowerShell command prompt and it actually worked and completed the upgrade.
 
I was trying a clean install: did a Shift + F10 to bring up a command prompt, and invoked it that way... or at least wanted to see if it would work 😆
 
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