W11 now features an update to 24H2 including ISO standards—it felt like a fresh setup.
W11 now features an update to 24H2 including ISO standards—it felt like a fresh setup.
I own older PCs running W11 with 23H2 already updated. At first I planned to test it on one of them. I managed to locate the way to run the installation files from a USB using Rufus, but other approaches like group policy and registry settings failed. This method felt similar to an in-place upgrade—preserving most files and settings, though only a handful remained intact. All software had to be reinstalled, and every single piece of spyware reappeared. No drivers were added. Only a few favorite folders stayed unchanged. Essentially it was a fresh install, requiring me to reapply everything and fix all issues. I hoped this would work for the other three PCs too.
Questions:
- Was there another way I could have tried? Did I do it incorrectly?
- What’s the best approach for the remaining three machines? Should I wait for the update or risk another install? It seems the only advantage was creating a Google doc today to track changes in new W11 upgrades.
Use the standard setup media and begin the install via CMD with "setup.exe /product server"
Refers to a version built using the Microsoft tool versus Rufus. Would the official MS release function on older hardware? For my other machine, perhaps I'll wait for the update to be released. I'm sure it will just be a standard patch. I know they're spreading these updates in phases. It's just taking a long time... Edit: the machine I updated has an i7 6700 with 16GB RAM, so that doesn't relate to SSE4.2 restrictions. My other system is an i7 7700K and uses a modern AM5 chipset.
Intel 6000 is compatible with fTPM 1.2 and allows a fresh installation of 11 without changes, though not an upgrade from version 10 to 11. You can use the server installer to perform that upgrade using the MS tool.
I recently applied the Group Policy method on my other i7 6700 machine. Surprisingly, the 24H2 update appeared and began installing. However, a compatibility check then indicated I lack TPM 2.0 support. Microsoft lists only 8000 series and above as compatible, and it seems the MB plays a part too. I'm not a specialist, but edit: it worked. I followed the steps you mentioned and successfully upgraded my other 6700—everything functioned like a regular upgrade, with all software and settings unchanged. Here’s what to do: - Download the MS ISO - Mount the drive - Run CMD, type "d:" to access the mounted files - Change the setup command to "not right now" - Agree to the license terms and select "keep all files and settings..." - Install Upgrade Video for 24H2
I reviewed your message again and noticed you're referring to the same technique. It seems I missed the part about making a media file first. I didn't use their media creation tool, just connected the ISO directly and mounted it. I believe the tool simply copies the mounted files onto the flash drive. So far, all my PCs are running on 24H2, which should last at least three more years. I expect one or two of them will be replaced then.