7 ms·

Mount a Windows 11 ISO. Open an administrative command window. Navigate to the new drive letter. Enter this command: .\setup.exe /product server /auto upg

Mount a Windows 11 ISO. Open an administrative command window. Navigate to the new drive letter. Enter this command: .\setup.exe /product server /auto upgrade /EULA accept /migratedrivers all /ShowOOBE none /Compat IgnoreWarning /Telemetry Disable I've used this to upgrade 10 to 11 on non approved hardware, going back to at least 2nd gen Intel CPUs. I've used it to upgrade existing Pro, EDU and IOT that didn't want to upgrade. The install window will say server but it isn't.

EvanAnderson 1y ago
Does this work with 25H2? I haven't tried it yet.
- WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
  Yes. I've done Win10 to Win11 with a 25H2 ISO. I've also used it to push 24H2 to 25H2 when WU wasn't offering the upgrade.
  - EvanAnderson 1y ago
    Thanks. Good to know it still works. I've got a few unsupported machines I need (ugh, not want) to do.
lax4ever 1y ago
Schneegans.de autounattend XML files generator
fukka42 1y ago
Crazy how windows 11 objectively works fine on pretty much all hardware you'd expect but Microsoft is insisting it doesn't and we need to upgrade
- yard2010 1y ago
  They are lying to make money. It's a common tactic.
  - fukka42 1y ago
    [dead]
  - austin-cheney 1y ago
    No they will make the same money either way because they are selling the OS, not the hardware. They are requiring only newer hardware to limit their surface of exploitation and reduce their compatibility list.
    - dymk 1y ago
      Microsoft and their OWM partners sell hardware and have done so for a very long time.
    - Forbo 1y ago
      They also sell a license with the new hardware. The bulk majority of the public never buy hardware without an OS. So yes, they are making more money with each new hardware sale. Plus the increase of forced advertising means they make more per user, effectively double dipping. Why do you feel the need to defend a convicted monopolist for engaging in user hostile behavior?
  - api 1y ago
    They might sell more Windows 11 if it ran on more hardware. How does this make them money? It's worth asking, but I think there's an answer: they want the OS to be transformed into an interface to their cloud where recurring revenue is easier. To do that, they need to make it more like a mobile OS and more locked down. TPM helps this.
    - dymk 1y ago
      Dropping windows 10 support is a pretty big lever to apply pressure to get people to upgrade to 11. Oh turns out you also “need” to buy new hardware to run it.
- RobotToaster 1y ago
  They want everyone to have neo-clipper-chip "TPM"s.
  - luciferin 1y ago
    My understanding is that TPM is secure, and Win 11 still supports TPM. Am I mistaken and/or misunderstanding your statement that Microsoft is enforcing a hardware requirement with a known back door?
    - baby_souffle 1y ago
      TPM can be secure. But secure for whom against what? Microsoft and “against you” are not implausible answers to that question…
    - web3-is-a-scam 1y ago
      TPM is not secure. At all. At least when when you’re using Windows. https://youtu.be/t1eX_vvAlUc https://youtu.be/t1eX_vvAlUc
      - jabwd 1y ago
        Do you also have a source thats not a youtuber? Would be far more interesting to read on apparently it being a spy chip rather than just a HSM.
        web3-is-a-scam 1y ago
        It’s not like these things aren’t publically documented by Microsoft. You just need to be able to translate their doublespeak.
        propaganja 1y ago
        A tall order, and that's if you can even find it.
        1y ago
- p_ing 1y ago
  The unsupported CPUs lack the support for Virtualization Based Security, which is a major security feature in Windows 11. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-vbs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/de...
  - xbar 1y ago
    It is not a mandatory feature.
    - p_ing 1y ago
      Yes, it is mandatory for OEMs.
  - rstat1 1y ago
    VBS is also in Windows 10 and has no problem working on CPUs that aren't "supported" in Windows 11
    - p_ing 1y ago
      This is incorrect. Not all CPUs supported by Windows 10 supported the VBS feature. Microsoft is making the VBS mandatory for OEMs, hence the CPU needs support, hence the ~7 year old minimum requirement for CPUs in what Microsoft supports for Windows. Yes, you can disable it during setup as a workaround, but it's exactly that. And why you'd want to make your system less secure, well I'll leave that to the exercise of the reader when they'll turn around two weeks from now and complain about Windows security.
      - rstat1 1y ago
        Most of the requirements for that feature are UEFI features or a TPM, and have nothing to do with the CPU The actual CPU requirements are VMX, SLAT, IOMMU and being 64 bit, which have all been available on the Intel side at least, since at least 2008, with some coming available even before that. The CPU requirement was just an attempt to force people to buy new hardware they didn't need. Nothing more. A perfect example of this is the Ryzen 5 1600. Its not officially supported but meets every single one of the requirements and had no trouble enabling the feature in the run up to the release of Win11 (before it was blocked for no reason). I know this because I did it. Also they marked all but one 7th Intel Core CPU as unsupported, and the one they did add just so happens to be the one they were shipping in one of their Surface products. No way you can tell me this list was based fact and not the whims of some random PM when they do stuff like that.
jonathanlydall 1y ago
Thanks, this is great. Just a note for others that that the language of the ISO needs to match what you used to install Windows 10. For example, I installed Windows 10 with the "International English" ISO and if I try this with the Windows 11 "US English" ISO, then it doesn't let me do an upgrade where it keeps installed programs and drivers.
dlcarrier 1y ago
…going back to at least 2nd gen Intel CPU. Would that be the 4040 or the 8008?
- xattt 1y ago
  Physical harm realized because boot took eternity.
  - moritzwarhier 1y ago
    Only if you work in a hospital. And who would be crazy enough to build hospital IT on Windo.. oh, wait. I haven't tried Win11 on personal hardware so far, but since Win8, boot times are not much of an issue in my experience. Making the whole OS the vehicle for a rent-seeking vendor lock-in scheme built to make you pay more and more to keep up the same set of functionality is more of a problem I think.
- WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
  > Would that be the 4040 or the 8008? Heh, yeah. In the moment I couldn't come up with the brief, unique descriptor and reached for the modern shorthand.
  - dlcarrier 1y ago
    It wasn't confusing enough that Intel named their CPU core 'Core' or that they put 'Duo' after it if there wre two 'Core' cores packaged together, but they also put a '2' after it if it was the second generation, then they dropped the generation number from the name in the third generation, making that the first generation of their new numbering scheme of which you're discussing the second generation. The only clear option is to use the internal code name, but that's technically not valid once it's released so "Products formerly Sandy Bridge" is the best Intel can come up with. (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/codename/29900/products-formerly-sandy-bridge.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/codenam...)
Der_Einzige 1y ago
Will this work on a version which is part of LTSC or IoT or whatever factory debloated version microsoft makes? As in, will the upgraded version preserve the IoT or LTSC designation and “debloatedness”?
- WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
  > Will this work on a version which is part of LTSC or IoT I've used the command with a Win11 LTSC/IoT 24H2 ISO. I upgraded Win10 LTSC/IoT 21H2 to Win11 24H2 LTSC/IoT. I've done this on two old notebooks, a Dell Core2Duo and a Thinkpad T430.
  - Der_Einzige 1y ago
    Can I modify the command to go from regular windows 10 to debloated windows 11? Do I just need debloated ISO for that to work automatically?
    - WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
      I don't know yet. I've got a Win10 EDU I'm going to try to upgrade to Win11 IOT but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. It's in place doing some NAS duty atm. The command doesn't ask any questions so there's no opportunity to tweak it. I'm getting a recovery plan in place before I pull the trigger on mine. edit: I might also go another way. There are some other setup methods that might be a better fit for cross-upgrading Windows types. I'm actively investigating but it may be a month before I'm in a position to try them out.
    - WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
      > Can I modify the command to go from regular windows 10 to debloated windows 11? I setup a virtual Win10 edu to try and convert to Win11 LTSC/IoT. The only option setup gave me was to wipe out my apps and keep my personal files. That's what it did. So the command doesn't offer much improvement over a wipe and a reload. Sorry I don't have better news.
  - uxcolumbo 1y ago
seam_carver 1y ago
Oooo, might try this with my 2011 PC.
jqpabc123 1y ago
Windows cannot parse the provided command line options
- WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
  It's possible something got lost in HN's formatting. The line should look like this: https://i.postimg.cc/VLHfF4H3/commandline.png https://i.postimg.cc/VLHfF4H3/commandline.png If it's correct, I'd like to know some specifics, if you don't mind. Current OS and ISO you're working with. I've never had this fail and if there's an instance where it will, I'd like to know about it.
  - jqpabc123 1y ago
    This is correct. Using updated Win 10 and current 25H2 iso downloaded direct from Microsoft. The only thing that is perhaps a little unique is that this is a Win10 Home installation that was previously upgraded to Win10 Pro. EDIT: Well, there is one more little detail. I used RUFUS to produce a bootable USB drive. Apparently, the install is checking for this somehow. I reformatted and used WinRAR to extract the ISO to the USB drive and it is currently in the process of installing (30% complete). I'll post the final results.
    - WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
      I did a follow up reply to your op. I ran into your issues when the ISO was mounted as a drive outside of Windows. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=WarOnPrivacy#45863618 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=WarOnPrivacy#4586361... Mounting an ISO from within Windows seems to expose an upgrade-centric version of the installer.
      - fuzzfactor 1y ago
        >Windows cannot parse the provided command line options I got the same behavior on one that had W10 22H2. But got a more descriptive error message [/product not a recognized switch]. To fix this, had to replace the setup.exe file that is now provided with the 25H2 ISO. The current setup.exe now appears to be badly lobotomized by a decision-maker who has got to be equally brainless (less-brainful?) compared to how it was before. Using setup.exe from the 23H2 ISO seems to be a workaround for this next annoying decline in Windows 11 suitability for industrial and sensitive enterprise applications. If I said it was like the "canary in the coal mine" some would say I was exaggerating because it is too late for that and there have been earlier warning signs for years. Not much like the tweety bird who thought he saw a puddy cat, more like the chicken on the dinner table now, or a goose who is more than fully "cooked". Going further, it's also good to prevent the "surprise" data loss, when you are using a local "account" and not on line at all, which threat only comes from Microsoft itself with their auto-bitlocker encrypting your whole drive more aggressively on new installs like never before, the result can be worse than many types of malware/ransomware. To prevent that you need to interrupt the first boot after the upgrade files are copied, and boot instead to the Recovery Console or alternatively a separate Windows install so you can do an offline Regedit creation of a new DWORD in the target Windows\System32\Config\SYSTEM hive being upgraded; adding \HKLM\system\ControlSetXXX\Control\BitLocker\PreventDeviceEncryption, then setting value=1. This needs to be done carefully and some renaming in Regedit can be involved. Unfortunately, even if this Registry setting preventing encryption has been previously set=1 before this type upgrade, that PreventDeviceEncryption DWORD is completely removed by this setup process. Which is why I go a little further and check manually, replacing it if necessary. Then on the second reboot, the DWORD needs replacement again, so repeat the above process :\ Allowing you to re-live the experience as only malware-type persistence can ;) After that when you reboot back to the target volume being upgraded (rather than the alternate utility bootmedia), the W11 setup process will proceed without encrypting. Otherwise it can be very likely to encrypt everything it has access to and it's not intended to be recoverable without a Microsoft account. Even with a Microsoft account I don't trust this, seems like the opposite of "trustworthy computing" to me :\ Anyway with that in mind the command line does perform as expected and took this PC from W10 pro 22H2 to W11 pro 25H2, preserving my installed programs and files as far as I can tell. And this is on an MBR-booting PC where Windows 10 was installed to an MBR partition, using legacy CSM with UEFI disabled. No GPT, no EFI folder, none of that. In W10, was only using the first 64GB of a HDD as NTFS, with the remainder unallocated. My Recovery folder (containing winre.wim) was intentionally the one on the same volume as Windows 10. This direct W11 upgrade created a new 750mb type 27 ("hidden" recovery) partition immediately following the 64GB. With the new 750mb containing its new Recovery folder. If there would not have been enough unallocated space on the drive, I believe the upgrade process would have replaced the W10 winre.wim in my C:\Recovery folder with the W11 version? Not sure at this point, but C:\Recovery\WindowsRE still contains the previous W10 winre.wim, and the new recovery partition contains the W11 winre.wim. Edit: found a recent article documenting bitlocker problems that might be related, look at the comments: https://www.guru3d.com/story/windows-11-25h2-update-causes-unexpected-bitlocker-recovery-prompts/ https://www.guru3d.com/story/windows-11-25h2-update-causes-u...
jasomill 1y ago
Or just use Rufus[1] to create a bootable USB installer from the ISO. Another trick that should still work, though I haven't tested it with newer Windows 11 builds: to create Windows 11 install media that will install and boot via BIOS — useful on machines where Windows doesn't work correctly under UEFI, e.g., older MacBooks that only work properly with Windows when booted via CSM — create writeable, BIOS-bootable Windows 10 x64 install media, then replace the install.wim file with one from an appropriate Windows 11 ISO. [1] https://rufus.ie/en/ https://rufus.ie/en/
baoluofu 1y ago
I have an old gaming pc (i5 3570k) that I thought needed replacing since Windows 10 stopped security updates. Downloading the ISO from the Microsoft website and running this command worked a charm. Zero issues upgrading to Windows 11 and everything works exactly the same as before. Thank you!

EvanAnderson 1y ago

Does this work with 25H2? I haven't tried it yet.

WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
Yes. I've done Win10 to Win11 with a 25H2 ISO. I've also used it to push 24H2 to 25H2 when WU wasn't offering the upgrade.
- EvanAnderson 1y ago
  Thanks. Good to know it still works. I've got a few unsupported machines I need (ugh, not want) to do.

lax4ever 1y ago

Schneegans.de autounattend XML files generator

fukka42 1y ago

Crazy how windows 11 objectively works fine on pretty much all hardware you'd expect but Microsoft is insisting it doesn't and we need to upgrade

yard2010 1y ago
They are lying to make money. It's a common tactic.
- fukka42 1y ago
  [dead]
- austin-cheney 1y ago
  No they will make the same money either way because they are selling the OS, not the hardware. They are requiring only newer hardware to limit their surface of exploitation and reduce their compatibility list.
  - dymk 1y ago
    Microsoft and their OWM partners sell hardware and have done so for a very long time.
  - Forbo 1y ago
    They also sell a license with the new hardware. The bulk majority of the public never buy hardware without an OS. So yes, they are making more money with each new hardware sale. Plus the increase of forced advertising means they make more per user, effectively double dipping. Why do you feel the need to defend a convicted monopolist for engaging in user hostile behavior?
- api 1y ago
  They might sell more Windows 11 if it ran on more hardware. How does this make them money? It's worth asking, but I think there's an answer: they want the OS to be transformed into an interface to their cloud where recurring revenue is easier. To do that, they need to make it more like a mobile OS and more locked down. TPM helps this.
  - dymk 1y ago
    Dropping windows 10 support is a pretty big lever to apply pressure to get people to upgrade to 11. Oh turns out you also “need” to buy new hardware to run it.
RobotToaster 1y ago
They want everyone to have neo-clipper-chip "TPM"s.
- luciferin 1y ago
  My understanding is that TPM is secure, and Win 11 still supports TPM. Am I mistaken and/or misunderstanding your statement that Microsoft is enforcing a hardware requirement with a known back door?
  - baby_souffle 1y ago
    TPM can be secure. But secure for whom against what? Microsoft and “against you” are not implausible answers to that question…
  - web3-is-a-scam 1y ago
    TPM is not secure. At all. At least when when you’re using Windows. https://youtu.be/t1eX_vvAlUc https://youtu.be/t1eX_vvAlUc
    - jabwd 1y ago
      Do you also have a source thats not a youtuber? Would be far more interesting to read on apparently it being a spy chip rather than just a HSM.
      - web3-is-a-scam 1y ago
        It’s not like these things aren’t publically documented by Microsoft. You just need to be able to translate their doublespeak.
        propaganja 1y ago
        A tall order, and that's if you can even find it.
      - 1y ago
p_ing 1y ago
The unsupported CPUs lack the support for Virtualization Based Security, which is a major security feature in Windows 11. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-vbs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/de...
- xbar 1y ago
  It is not a mandatory feature.
  - p_ing 1y ago
    Yes, it is mandatory for OEMs.
- rstat1 1y ago
  VBS is also in Windows 10 and has no problem working on CPUs that aren't "supported" in Windows 11
  - p_ing 1y ago
    This is incorrect. Not all CPUs supported by Windows 10 supported the VBS feature. Microsoft is making the VBS mandatory for OEMs, hence the CPU needs support, hence the ~7 year old minimum requirement for CPUs in what Microsoft supports for Windows. Yes, you can disable it during setup as a workaround, but it's exactly that. And why you'd want to make your system less secure, well I'll leave that to the exercise of the reader when they'll turn around two weeks from now and complain about Windows security.
    - rstat1 1y ago
      Most of the requirements for that feature are UEFI features or a TPM, and have nothing to do with the CPU The actual CPU requirements are VMX, SLAT, IOMMU and being 64 bit, which have all been available on the Intel side at least, since at least 2008, with some coming available even before that. The CPU requirement was just an attempt to force people to buy new hardware they didn't need. Nothing more. A perfect example of this is the Ryzen 5 1600. Its not officially supported but meets every single one of the requirements and had no trouble enabling the feature in the run up to the release of Win11 (before it was blocked for no reason). I know this because I did it. Also they marked all but one 7th Intel Core CPU as unsupported, and the one they did add just so happens to be the one they were shipping in one of their Surface products. No way you can tell me this list was based fact and not the whims of some random PM when they do stuff like that.

jonathanlydall 1y ago

Thanks, this is great. Just a note for others that that the language of the ISO needs to match what you used to install Windows 10. For example, I installed Windows 10 with the "International English" ISO and if I try this with the Windows 11 "US English" ISO, then it doesn't let me do an upgrade where it keeps installed programs and drivers.

dlcarrier 1y ago

…going back to at least 2nd gen Intel CPU. Would that be the 4040 or the 8008?

xattt 1y ago
Physical harm realized because boot took eternity.
- moritzwarhier 1y ago
  Only if you work in a hospital. And who would be crazy enough to build hospital IT on Windo.. oh, wait. I haven't tried Win11 on personal hardware so far, but since Win8, boot times are not much of an issue in my experience. Making the whole OS the vehicle for a rent-seeking vendor lock-in scheme built to make you pay more and more to keep up the same set of functionality is more of a problem I think.
WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
> Would that be the 4040 or the 8008? Heh, yeah. In the moment I couldn't come up with the brief, unique descriptor and reached for the modern shorthand.
- dlcarrier 1y ago
  It wasn't confusing enough that Intel named their CPU core 'Core' or that they put 'Duo' after it if there wre two 'Core' cores packaged together, but they also put a '2' after it if it was the second generation, then they dropped the generation number from the name in the third generation, making that the first generation of their new numbering scheme of which you're discussing the second generation. The only clear option is to use the internal code name, but that's technically not valid once it's released so "Products formerly Sandy Bridge" is the best Intel can come up with. (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/codename/29900/products-formerly-sandy-bridge.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/codenam...)

Der_Einzige 1y ago

Will this work on a version which is part of LTSC or IoT or whatever factory debloated version microsoft makes? As in, will the upgraded version preserve the IoT or LTSC designation and “debloatedness”?

WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
> Will this work on a version which is part of LTSC or IoT I've used the command with a Win11 LTSC/IoT 24H2 ISO. I upgraded Win10 LTSC/IoT 21H2 to Win11 24H2 LTSC/IoT. I've done this on two old notebooks, a Dell Core2Duo and a Thinkpad T430.
- Der_Einzige 1y ago
  Can I modify the command to go from regular windows 10 to debloated windows 11? Do I just need debloated ISO for that to work automatically?
  - WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
    I don't know yet. I've got a Win10 EDU I'm going to try to upgrade to Win11 IOT but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. It's in place doing some NAS duty atm. The command doesn't ask any questions so there's no opportunity to tweak it. I'm getting a recovery plan in place before I pull the trigger on mine. edit: I might also go another way. There are some other setup methods that might be a better fit for cross-upgrading Windows types. I'm actively investigating but it may be a month before I'm in a position to try them out.
  - WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
    > Can I modify the command to go from regular windows 10 to debloated windows 11? I setup a virtual Win10 edu to try and convert to Win11 LTSC/IoT. The only option setup gave me was to wipe out my apps and keep my personal files. That's what it did. So the command doesn't offer much improvement over a wipe and a reload. Sorry I don't have better news.
- uxcolumbo 1y ago

seam_carver 1y ago

Oooo, might try this with my 2011 PC.

jqpabc123 1y ago

Windows cannot parse the provided command line options

WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
It's possible something got lost in HN's formatting. The line should look like this: https://i.postimg.cc/VLHfF4H3/commandline.png https://i.postimg.cc/VLHfF4H3/commandline.png If it's correct, I'd like to know some specifics, if you don't mind. Current OS and ISO you're working with. I've never had this fail and if there's an instance where it will, I'd like to know about it.
- jqpabc123 1y ago
  This is correct. Using updated Win 10 and current 25H2 iso downloaded direct from Microsoft. The only thing that is perhaps a little unique is that this is a Win10 Home installation that was previously upgraded to Win10 Pro. EDIT: Well, there is one more little detail. I used RUFUS to produce a bootable USB drive. Apparently, the install is checking for this somehow. I reformatted and used WinRAR to extract the ISO to the USB drive and it is currently in the process of installing (30% complete). I'll post the final results.
  - WarOnPrivacy 1y ago
    I did a follow up reply to your op. I ran into your issues when the ISO was mounted as a drive outside of Windows. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=WarOnPrivacy#45863618 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=WarOnPrivacy#4586361... Mounting an ISO from within Windows seems to expose an upgrade-centric version of the installer.
    - fuzzfactor 1y ago
      >Windows cannot parse the provided command line options I got the same behavior on one that had W10 22H2. But got a more descriptive error message [/product not a recognized switch]. To fix this, had to replace the setup.exe file that is now provided with the 25H2 ISO. The current setup.exe now appears to be badly lobotomized by a decision-maker who has got to be equally brainless (less-brainful?) compared to how it was before. Using setup.exe from the 23H2 ISO seems to be a workaround for this next annoying decline in Windows 11 suitability for industrial and sensitive enterprise applications. If I said it was like the "canary in the coal mine" some would say I was exaggerating because it is too late for that and there have been earlier warning signs for years. Not much like the tweety bird who thought he saw a puddy cat, more like the chicken on the dinner table now, or a goose who is more than fully "cooked". Going further, it's also good to prevent the "surprise" data loss, when you are using a local "account" and not on line at all, which threat only comes from Microsoft itself with their auto-bitlocker encrypting your whole drive more aggressively on new installs like never before, the result can be worse than many types of malware/ransomware. To prevent that you need to interrupt the first boot after the upgrade files are copied, and boot instead to the Recovery Console or alternatively a separate Windows install so you can do an offline Regedit creation of a new DWORD in the target Windows\System32\Config\SYSTEM hive being upgraded; adding \HKLM\system\ControlSetXXX\Control\BitLocker\PreventDeviceEncryption, then setting value=1. This needs to be done carefully and some renaming in Regedit can be involved. Unfortunately, even if this Registry setting preventing encryption has been previously set=1 before this type upgrade, that PreventDeviceEncryption DWORD is completely removed by this setup process. Which is why I go a little further and check manually, replacing it if necessary. Then on the second reboot, the DWORD needs replacement again, so repeat the above process :\ Allowing you to re-live the experience as only malware-type persistence can ;) After that when you reboot back to the target volume being upgraded (rather than the alternate utility bootmedia), the W11 setup process will proceed without encrypting. Otherwise it can be very likely to encrypt everything it has access to and it's not intended to be recoverable without a Microsoft account. Even with a Microsoft account I don't trust this, seems like the opposite of "trustworthy computing" to me :\ Anyway with that in mind the command line does perform as expected and took this PC from W10 pro 22H2 to W11 pro 25H2, preserving my installed programs and files as far as I can tell. And this is on an MBR-booting PC where Windows 10 was installed to an MBR partition, using legacy CSM with UEFI disabled. No GPT, no EFI folder, none of that. In W10, was only using the first 64GB of a HDD as NTFS, with the remainder unallocated. My Recovery folder (containing winre.wim) was intentionally the one on the same volume as Windows 10. This direct W11 upgrade created a new 750mb type 27 ("hidden" recovery) partition immediately following the 64GB. With the new 750mb containing its new Recovery folder. If there would not have been enough unallocated space on the drive, I believe the upgrade process would have replaced the W10 winre.wim in my C:\Recovery folder with the W11 version? Not sure at this point, but C:\Recovery\WindowsRE still contains the previous W10 winre.wim, and the new recovery partition contains the W11 winre.wim. Edit: found a recent article documenting bitlocker problems that might be related, look at the comments: https://www.guru3d.com/story/windows-11-25h2-update-causes-unexpected-bitlocker-recovery-prompts/ https://www.guru3d.com/story/windows-11-25h2-update-causes-u...

jasomill 1y ago

Or just use Rufus[1] to create a bootable USB installer from the ISO. Another trick that should still work, though I haven't tested it with newer Windows 11 builds: to create Windows 11 install media that will install and boot via BIOS — useful on machines where Windows doesn't work correctly under UEFI, e.g., older MacBooks that only work properly with Windows when booted via CSM — create writeable, BIOS-bootable Windows 10 x64 install media, then replace the install.wim file with one from an appropriate Windows 11 ISO. [1] https://rufus.ie/en/ https://rufus.ie/en/

baoluofu 1y ago

I have an old gaming pc (i5 3570k) that I thought needed replacing since Windows 10 stopped security updates. Downloading the ISO from the Microsoft website and running this command worked a charm. Zero issues upgrading to Windows 11 and everything works exactly the same as before. Thank you!