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How to Install Windows 11 on a New PC
Have you just built your PC, or did you purchase a pre-built one without an operating system? Either way, you are now wondering “How to Install Windows 11 on a New PC”. Installing Windows 11 is the first important step to get your new machine up and running. Windows 11 is a great choice. It’s fast, modern, and packed with features that will help you get the most out of your computer, whether you play video games on it or work on your projects.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to install Windows 11 from scratch, even if you’ve never done it before. You’ll learn how to create a bootable USB drive using Rufus, install Windows 11 without requiring a TPM 2.0 module or 4 GB of RAM, and even set it up without a Microsoft account if you prefer using an offline, local user on your machine.
Windows 11 Requirements Checklist
Before we start working on getting your machine up and running with Windows 11, let’s make sure you have everything ready. This is an important thing as it will save you a lot of frustration during the installation process.
Meeting Windows 11 System Requirements
To start the process of installing Windows 11, your PC must meet Microsoft’s minimum system requirements:
- 64-bit processor with 1GHz or faster, 2+ cores
- 4 GB RAM or more
- 64 GB storage or more
- UEFI firmware with Secure Boot enabled
- TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module)
- DirectX 12-compatible graphics with WDDM 2.0 driver
- 720p display or higher (9-inch monitor or larger)
Pro Tip: You can use Microsoft’s PC Health Check Tool to check for compatibility. If your PC doesn’t meet the Windows 11 requirements of having a TPM 2.0 module or 4 GB of RAM, we can skip them, and you can still enjoy Windows 11 without them. I will show you how you can do it in the next section!
USB Flash Drive
To create a bootable USB drive using Rufus, you need a USB stick with a minimum capacity of 8 GB. Back up everything you might have on it because the software that we will work with will format it.
Another Working PC
You’ll need access to another PC with Windows installed on it to download the Windows 11 installation media (ISO file) and create a bootable drive using your USB stick with the Rufus software.
Stable Internet Connection
A stable internet connection is required to download the Windows 11 ISO file and for Windows Update to run after the installation process.
Windows 11 Product Key (Optional)
You can install Windows 11 without a key, but you’ll need one later to activate it. You won’t get all of Windows 11’s features unless you activate it using a legit key you can buy online.
How to Download Windows 11 to a USB
Method 1: Using Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool
To install Windows 11 the official way, you need to create a bootable USB using the Media Creation Tool.
First, go to the official Windows 11 page using another working PC. Scroll down until you find the “Create Windows 11 Installation Media” section. Click the “Download Now” button to get the Media Creation Tool.
Once downloaded, head to the downloads folder and launch a file named “mediacreationtool.exe”
Once launched, you have to read through the license agreement and accept it.
Next, you can select the language and the Windows edition manually if you want, or you can let it use the recommended settings for the PC you’re on.
On the next screen, you can choose either to flash it on a USB drive or download an ISO file to burn later.
Next, insert a USB drive with at least 8 GB of capacity, and choose: USB flash drive (First option).
Finally, the official tool will begin downloading and writing Windows 11 files to your USB. Wait for the process to finish, as it depends on your internet bandwidth.
It may take several minutes to hours, but once it’s done, you’ll have a fully bootable USB drive with Windows 11 ready to go. Now, you can turn off your PC and boot directly from it.
Pro Tip: If you choose to burn it directly on a USB drive using the first option of the Media Creation Tool, you won’t be able to bypass the hardware requirements of TPM 2.0 or Secure Boot, and you will be blocked from the installation with this error: “This PC can’t run Windows 11”. If you are sure that your PC doesn’t meet Windows 11 requirements, you should stick with me and read method 2. However, the bypass is unofficial and may prevent future updates. Microsoft does not recommend or support installing Windows 11 on unsupported PCs.
Method 2: Using Rufus to Create a Bootable USB Drive
For this method to work, you must follow every step of the first method until you reach the windows that allow you to choose between flashing Windows 11 onto a USB drive or downloading a Windows 11 ISO file to burn.
We will burn the ISO file using Rufus, so choose: ISO file (Second option).
Next, you have to choose a location on your computer to save the ISO file. Wait for the downloading process to finish.
It may take several minutes to hours, depending on your internet bandwidth. Once it’s done, you’ll have a Windows 11 ISO file ready to be burned to your USB drive.
Now you have the ISO file on your PC, the next step is to download the Rufus software. It’s a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, and it supports many operating systems (Windows, Linux, etc).
Once you have downloaded it from its official website, you have to insert a USB stick with 8GB of free space or more, which must be empty because it will format it, and you will lose your files.
Next, you have to run it to burn the new ISO file you just got from the Media Creation Tool.
The next step would be figuring out how to use Rufus, and that’s quite simple. I will explain it step-by-step.
First, when you have the Rufus window in front of you, you need to choose the USB drive in which you want to burn the Windows 11 ISO in the first Device prompt.
Second, select an ISO image in the boot selection. In our case, you will browse and select the Windows 11 ISO file.
Third, keep everything as it is and choose the GPT disk partition because Windows 11 requires it, and don’t forget to use NTFS as a file system.
Finally, review all details and click on “START”.
Now, a new window will pop up, and here the magic will start. To bypass the hardware requirements of Windows 11, you must check the following options:
Remove requirements for 4GB+ RAM, Secure boot, and TPM 2.0.
Remove the requirements for an online Microsoft account.
Disable data collection (Skip privacy questions)
You may also set a local account using the same username as your current PC in use to save some time in the process of installing Windows 11.
You need to give it some time. It may take several minutes, depending on the USB generation in use (A USB 3.x is not the standard USB 2.0 in terms of speeds) and your system.
Once the process is complete, you can plug out your USB and use it on your new PC.
Installing Windows 11 on Your New PC
If you followed every step in the “How to Download Windows 11 to a USB“ section of this article, you will have a USB drive ready to be plugged into your new computer, whether you created it with method 1 or 2. The only difference is that you can bypass the hardware requirements with method 2.
To install Windows 11 on your new PC. First, you must plug the bootable USB Drive into your new PC. Second, you must boot from it, and to do that, you must power on your PC and immediately press the boot menu key, usually F10, F12, depending on your motherboard and its manufacturer. Once you are in the boot menu, select your USB drive to boot from it.
Now, wait several seconds until your PC loads the Windows 11 installer from the bootable USB stick.
Next, you’ll be greeted by the familiar Windows installer screen. Here, you’ll need to choose your Windows 11 display language, as it will determine the language used throughout the entire operating system. Time and currency format, and your preferred keyboard input method (QWERTY, AZERTY, US, etc).
In the next window, all you have to do is click “Install now”.
You will be prompted now to enter the Windows product key, which is optional, and you can use Windows 11 without it, but the familiar “Activate Windows” watermark will be visible, and certain Windows 11 features will be locked, like changing your Windows 11 background.
Choose “I don’t have a product key”, and the installation will proceed. Don’t worry, you can activate it later once you have Windows 11 installed.
You must now choose Windows 11’s edition. Windows 11 Pro contains all you need from a Windows OS, so choose it.
Now, you must accept Microsoft software license terms and click “Next”.
Choose “Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced)” to install a clean Windows 11 copy to your disk drive (HDD/SSD).
Choose your drive partition on which you want to install Windows 11 Pro and click “Next”. It will be formatted, so be sure to back up any files you might have on it.
Now, wait until the installation process finishes; it may take some time depending on your system configuration, and that includes whether you’re using an HDD or an SSD, your CPU, RAM capacity, etc.
Once it’s done, your PC will restart automatically!
There you have it, now you can enjoy your new, fresh copy of Windows 11.
How to Set Up Windows 11 Without a Microsoft Account
As you can see, we don’t want Microsoft to track us and serve personalized ads to us. The data Microsoft gathers about us is worth millions of dollars, and they say they share it with affiliates or service providers, but only under “strict contracts”.
Trust is relative to big companies. That’s why we don’t want to link our Microsoft account to Windows 11. You can reduce the amount of information collected about you by disabling many settings in the Windows 11 privacy settings or by creating a local account.
Method 1: Using Rufus to Create a Modified Windows 11 Copy
This is the easiest way to create a local account in Windows 11. When you are in the process of creating a bootable Windows 11 copy using a USB drive, you will see this screen after you click on “START” to start the burning process.
From here, you can remove the requirements for an online Microsoft account. This will create a modified copy of Windows 11 with some injected scripts and tweaks to the registry.
Method 2: Disconnect Your PC From the Internet
This is an easy way as well to create a local account in Windows 11. All you have to do is go offline!
When you reach the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen, as you can see below:
Click “I don’t have internet”, and on the next screen, click “Continue with limited setup.” Finally, you can create a local user account by entering a username and password.
If you don’t see the “I don’t have internet” option, then you must use “CMD” or the command line prompt to bypass the requirements for an online Microsoft account.
Method 3: Using CMD to Run Commands Manually
If you didn’t create the bootable Windows 11 with Rufus, you need to run the commands manually. Rufus pre-bakes the logic of running commands automatically into the bootable USB stick.
When you are in the “Let’s connect you to a network”, all you have to do is press “Shift + F10” on your keyboard to open Command Prompt.
Once you have the window of “CMD” in front of you, type this command: “oobe\bypassnro”.
Your PC will restart, and you can see the “I don’t have internet” option on the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen to complete the process.
Conclusion
For beginners, installing Windows 11 on a new PC might seem intimidating at first, but once you’ve got the right tools, steps, and methods, it’s a straightforward process.
As we saw in this article, you may struggle and face some challenges, especially if you don’t have the requirements for Windows 11, or you wanna create a local account only.
If you’re wondering whether switching to Windows 11 is even worth it, especially compared to its predecessor, Windows 10, make sure to read our in-depth comparison: Is Windows 11 Better Than Windows 10?
It breaks down the differences in OS market share, performance, UI, and features to help you decide before committing to a full install.
Got questions or need help troubleshooting a step? Feel free to leave a comment below. I will make sure to help you as soon as possible!
