How to Install Windows 11 for FREE | Even if your PC is NOT SUPPORTED

If you're having problems with Windows on your PC or want a fresh copy of Windows without the clutter of old files or apps, you can reinstall Windows to try and fix your issues and return your PC to a cleaner state.

If your PC isn't performing as expected or working slowly, then first try this: Tips to improve PC performance in Windows.

After trying those tips, if your PC still not performing as expected, then you should reinstall Windows.  

Here I am going to show you, how to install the original Windows 11 for FREE using installation media (bootable USB/Pendrive) for FREE, and I will also show, how to install Windows 11 on any unsupported PC for free.

Looking for Windows 10: How to Install Windows 10 for FREE?

Reinstallation guide from Microsoft: Reinstall Windows 11.

Make sure that your PC meets Windows 11 minimum system requirements: 

• Processor:  1 GHz with 2 cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC).
• Memory: 4 GB
• Storage: 64 GB
• System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable.
  How to change Legacy to UEFI and enable Secure Boot?
• TPM: Trusted Platform Module version 2.0.
  How to enable TPM 2.0?
• Graphics card: DirectX 12 with WDDM 2.0 driver.
• Display: 720p display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per colour channel.

Note: reinstalling Windows will remove all your installed Apps and software.  

But you can Preserve your, personal data (e.g.: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos, etc.) and, data stored in partitions other than the Windows partition. 

Just copy all personal data to Local Disk D or other (other than Local Disk C).  

After that, note the size of the Local Disk C (Windows Partition).

Step 1: Keep a copy of the Driver's setup. 

Although Windows can detect and install most device drivers automatically. 

But on some PC, Windows may fail to install drivers. So, it is recommended to download essential drivers (such as the network adapter and graphics card drivers). 

You can download the original drivers from your PC manufacturer's website. Here is the list of websites from the most popular computer manufacturers to download the latest device drivers.

Dell | HP | Lenovo | ASUS | Acer | Samsung | MSI

If original drivers are unavailable on your PC manufacturer's website, then you should backup drivers.

To backup Drivers in Windows:

• Create a Driver Backup folder:
  Open This PC > Local Disk (D:).
  Press Windows + Shift + N to create a new folder.
  Type "Driver Back" to rename it to Drivers Backup.
• Open Command Prompt with admin rights:
  Press Windows + S to open Windows Search.
  Type cmd. In the search results, right-click on "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator".
  Select Yes on the "User Account Control".
• Run Driver backup command:
  In "Command Prompt", type the following command line and press Enter:
  dism /online /export-driver /destination:"D:\Driver Backup"
  NOTE: If you created the folder with the name “Driver Backup” in your local disk (E:), you should type the command line dism /online /export-driver /destination:”E:\Driver Backup”
  When the process is completed, you’ll see the message:
  "The operation completed successfully."
• Now you can go to the Driver Backup folder to view the backup of all the drivers.

Step 2: Make Installation Media (Bootable Pendrive)

To perform a clean installation of Windows, you'll need a USB bootable media, which you can easily create using several tools, including the Microsoft Media Creation tool or third-party tools, such as Rufus. I recommend you use Rufus because it is very light and fast.
To create a Windows USB bootable Pendrive, you will need a minimum 8 GB empty Pendrive, Windows 11 ISO file and Rufus.

To download the Windows 11 ISO file:

• Open the Microsoft Software Download (microsoft.com/software-download) page on your favourite browser.
• On the "Software Download" page, click on "Windows 11".
• Under the "Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices", click on the "Select Download" drop-down menu and select "Windows 11 (multi-edition ISO for x64 devices)".
• Click on the "Download Now" button.
• Under the "Select the product language" section, click on the "Choose one" drop-down menu and select "English (United States)" (or your preferred language).
• Click on the Confirm button.
• Now click "64-bit Download" to download the Windows 11 consumer (Home/Pro) edition ISO file.
  Please note: download links are valid for 24 hours from creation.
  This multi-edition Consumer media includes the following editions: Home, Pro, Pro for Workstation, Pro Education and Education.

To download Rufus:

• Open the Rufus.ie (official Rufus download page) page on your favourite browser.
• Under the Download section, click on rufus-x.xp.exe to download Portable Rufus.

After downloading both files, you can now create Windows USB.

To create a Windows USB Pendrive:

• Insert the 8 GB empty Pendrive.
• Open Rufus on your PC.
• On "User Account Control", click on Yes.
  
• On "Rufus update policy", click on Yes.
• Under Device, select the USB Pendrive.
• Click on the Select button.
• Now navigate to the Downloads folder (or the folder where you downloaded the ISO File), select the Windows ISO file (Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso) and click on Open.
  It will take some time to scan the ISO file.
• If you are creating a Windows USB for your current PC, then Rufus will automatically select the correct option under the Partition scheme and other options.
  And if you are creating it for another PC then check BIOS Mode in System Information of that PC.
  If it is Legacy, then select MBR under the "Partition scheme".
  Or, if it is UEFI, then select GPT under the "Partition scheme".
• Now click on the START button.
• On "Windows User Experience", if your PC meets Windows 11 minimum system requirements then uncheck all options and click on OK.
  Or, if your PC doesn't meet Windows 11 minimum system requirements then check only "Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPS 2.0" and click on OK.
  It will take around 15 minutes.
• When it shows READY then click on Close.

Here's the ultimate guide: How to make Windows Bootable Pen drive?

Step 3: Boot from the USB

To boot from Windows USB Pendrive

• Disconnect network devices, Printers and any other devices from the PC on which you want to install Windows.
• Note down the Boot Menu key for your PC.
  Here's the list of Boot Menu keys of almost any PC brand: Hot keys for BootMenu / BIOS Settings
• Now, insert the Windows USB Bootable Pendrive in the PC on which you want to install Windows.
• Now Power ON your PC. If your PC is already ON, then restart your computer: click on the Start button (at the bottom-left), then click on Power. And then select Restart.
• When the PC brand logo appears, Immediately press the Boot Menu key repeatedly, about once every second, until the Startup Menu opens.
• Use the up or down arrow key to select the USB option, and then press Enter key.
• On prompt, press any key to boot from the USB flash drive.

If you can't able to boot from a USB drive using the above method, then check the ultimate guide:

HP | Lenovo | Dell | Acer | Asus | Samsung

Step 4: Install Windows 11

The installation process of Windows has two main parts: the setup and out-of-box experience (OOBE).

Step 4.1: Windows 11 Setup

• On the "Select language settings", If your Language, Time and currency are different from the default selections, then select the correct settings. And then click the Next button.
• On the "Select keyboard settings", click on the Next button.
• On the "Select setup option", check the "I agree everything will be deleted including files, apps, and settings" and then click on the Next button.
• If you see the "Product key" window, this means that Windows licence is not included with your PC. 
  Here click on "I don't have a product key".
• On the "Select image", select an edition (say Windows 11 Pro) and then click on Next.
  The selection has to match the edition of your product key. If you don't select the correct edition, Windows won't activate, and you'll have to redo Step 4.
  Here is the Comparison chat of Windows 11 editions.
• On the "Applicable notices and license terms", click on Accept.
• On the "Select location to install Windows 11", you will see a list of drives and partitions.
  Option 1: if you are doing a clean install (remove everything on the PC), then Highlight each drive/partition in the list and click on "Delete Partition".
  Complete the above step for every drive in the list except the one that says Unallocated Space. When you’re finished, only Drive 0 Unallocated Space should remain.
  Create a new partition for Windows installation: highlight the Unallocated Space option, and click on "Create Partition". Specify the amount of space (in megabytes) to allocate for the installation of Windows (100000 MB recommended). Click the Apply button. Alongside the custom partition, Windows will also create additional partitions automatically required to install and run the operating system.
  Create one more partition for data backups: Select the Unallocated Space option. Click the "Create Partition" button to create additional partitions with the remaining space and then specify the space and then click on Apply. (You can also create partitions after the installation). Now, select the partition on which you want to install Windows and click on Next.
  --------------------------------
  Option 2: if you want to delete data from the Windows partition only (not want to lose data from other partitions like Local Disk D), then you have to delete the Windows partition (You have to identify which is the Windows partition according to the size of the partition), Recovery partition (size ~500 MB), MSR (Reserved) partition (size ~ 16 MB) and System Partition (size ~100 MB).
  After deleting, highlight the Unallocated Space partition and then click on Next.
• On the "Ready to install", click on Install.
  The Windows setup screen will now display "Installing Windows 11". This will take some time. While installing, your device will restart several times.

If you plan to decommission the device, you can stop now and let the new owner complete the out-of-box experience.

Or, continue to Windows 11 out-of-box experience.

Step 4.2: Windows 11 out-of-box experience 

After the setup, you must continue with the out-of-box experience to configure your preferences and create a new account.

Here I am installing Windows 11 version 24H2.

To complete the out-of-box experience on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. On the "Is this the right country or region?", select your region/country and then click on Yes.
2. On the "Is this the right keyboard layout or input method?", select the US and click on Yes.
3. On the "Want to add a second keyboard layout?", click on Skip (unless you need to add a second keyboard layout).
4. On the "Let's connect you to a network", connect the internet to your computer and then click on Next.
   Here your PC may restart to install the latest updates.
5. On the "Let's name your device", click on "Skip for now".

After you complete the steps, the new settings will apply to the installation of Windows, and you should be able to see the default desktop experience.

Setup 5: Complete setup after installation of Windows

After the installation, check that Windows isn't missing any critical updates or drivers.

Now connect the Internet to your computer.

Step 5.1: Install updates and drivers

1. Now on PC, select Start > Settings > Windows Update.
2. Here, click on "Check for updates".

Once you complete the steps, Windows will install the required drivers, cumulative updates, servicing stack updates, virus definition updates and more.

For information about Windows update terminology, see the article about the types of Windows updates and the monthly quality update types. 

Step 5.2: Check missing drivers

However, Windows Update installs all required drivers when we update Windows. But sometimes it fails to detect devices.

To determine whether drivers are missing, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for "Device Manager" and click the top result to open the console.
3. Confirm that none of the devices has a yellow or red mark, and make sure nothing is listed as unknown.

If one or multiple devices have problems, you may need to manually download and install the latest drivers from your computer manufacturer's support website.

Step 6: Reinstall Apps and Software.

It's now time to reinstall your apps and software.