Windows 11 does actually run on lesser hardware than what is specified on the Windows 11 hardware requirements website.
There are a couple of ways to circumvent the hardware checking that the setup.exe performs.
- OPTION 1: When starting setup.exe run it from an elevated cmdline with the /product server switch:
c:\> setup.exe /product server
It does show as installing Windows Server but don't worry, it will install the 'correct' Windows desktop version dependant on your product key. And it bypasses the hardware checking.
- OPTION 2: Prior to running setup.exe add the following registry entries:
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup /v AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Sometimes this doesn't work - then, try the first option!
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