Installing Windows 11 on an unsupported laptop

February 24, 2024: I purchased a used laptop from my local computer store and was going to install Windows 10 on it but I had heard you can install Windows 11 on unsupported devices so I thought I would give it a try. 

 I got on Google and saw that the process seemed much simpler that I previously thought. Then I checked YouTube and found a really easily followed video that walked me through each step. Then I started on my adventure! 

I went to Microsoft's website and downloaded an iso of Windows 11 then I downloaded the Rufus utility that would make a USB of the Windows 11 with the appropriate hacks to get it installed on unsupported computers. I changed the partition scheme to MBR and the Target system to BIOS (or UEFI-CSM) 

When I clicked on start, it popped up a screen that gave me some options to customize the Windows installation. This is where you will instruct the installation to install Windows 11 without checking for the system requirements. 

After I set the customizations I wanted, I waited for the USB to be made and inserted it into my laptop. 

The installation went smoothly, and I was able to boot into Windows 11 with no issues.  

At this point my Windows was not activated so I did a little research and found that there was a way to activate it for free. I had to get a command prompt with administrator privileges then entered a few commands. After entering the correct product key, I was able to activate my Windows 11!  

I was then able to personalize my Windows and started my updates. They also went smoothly without any issues. The links to the websites I used are here: 

Download Windows 11 from Microsoft: 

https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11 

Download Rufus utility: 

https://rufus.ie/en/ 

Activating Windows 11 Pro:  

https://github.com/NiREvil/windows-activation 

Partition scheme: MBR

Target system: BIOS (or UEFI-CSM)