How to run Windows 11 on an old PC with Windows To Go and Rufus

Windows 11 System Requirements specifies that it needs UEFI, Secure Boot, and TPM. Many older computers are powerful enough to run Windows 11. However, they cannot install the operating system because of these requirements. Windows 11 refuses to install and displays the message "This PC can't run Windows 11 ".

There is a way to bypass these requirements and install Windows 11 on any powerful computer, even if it is old. The process is also quite simple.

The hardware you need to create a Windows 11 To Go drive

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Portable versions of Windows run on the USB interface. You need a USB 3.0 to SATA adpater and an SSDD drive. One end of the adapter will connect to USB 3.0 on your computer and the other end to the SSD. Pretty simple.

You can install Windows To Go on USB. It will also work with USB 2.0 and hard drives. However, these slower devices and interfaces are not recommended. We will do this later.

How to Create a Windows To Go Drive with Rufus

Rufus is a free and open source tool for creating bootable USBs that you can use to install operating systems. Rufus can also create Windows To Go portable drives. So to get started, download Rufus from the official website.

You will also need an image of Windows 11. It is available as a free download at Microsoft. You are not required to register to download. Activation after installation is also optional.

On the download page, scroll down to the section titled Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices . Then, select Windows 11 (multi edition ISO for x64 devices) from the drop-down box.

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Scroll down to Select the product language and click Confirm to download. Downloads exceed 5GB. Once downloaded, connect your USB SSD and run Rufus.

How to use Rufus

Once Rufus is booted, it's time to set up your drive:

1. Select your USB SSD in the Device drop-down box. If USB is not visible, expand Advanced drive properties and select List USB Hard Drives .

2. For Boot selection , since you have downloaded the image, click SELECT and select Windows 11 ISO.

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3. For Image Option , select Windows To Go . This will create a portable installation of Windows 11 that you can use on multiple computers.

4. In the Partition scheme , select GPT if your drive is over 2TB or select MBR if under 2TB. If your computer doesn't have UEFI, you can just go with MBR. If you don't know the difference between the two, see how are GPT and MBR different when partitioning a drive? For more details.

5. GPT will only work with UEFI, different from CSM BIOS. The combination to choose from depends on what your computer has. You should decide it based on the findings during the PC health check.

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6. You can leave the rest of the options as default and click Start .

7. Rufus will then ask you to select the version of Windows 11. Since you have downloaded the full version, all versions are available for installation. Choose the one that suits your needs.

Rufus will give you more options to customize the settings. This is the best way to set up Rufus, as it solves a lot of problems:

1. Select Prevent Windows To Go from accessing internal disks . This will prevent portable media from messing with the operating system on the host machine.
2. Select Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account if you do not want to create an account for privacy reasons. This is no longer an option during the standard Windows 11 installation as it requires a Microsoft account.
3. Have you added a Microsoft account yet? Then you need a local account. Create a local account with a username of your choice.
4. Tick ​​both remaining options, this will save time during installation.

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When you're ready, click Start . Rufus will erase the data on the portable drive, write Windows 11 files, and make the drive bootable. This will usually take about 10 minutes.

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When done, close Rufus. If you plan to use Windows To Go on the same computer, restart it. If you want to use it on another computer, unplug the USB device and connect it to the target computer.

How to set up Windows 11 to boot

Enter the UEFI or BIOS menu, usually the DEL key on the desktop and the F2 key on the laptop. The screens are different on each computer, adjust these instructions as needed. Go to the Boot tab and set the USB drive as the first boot device. Save and exit (usually F10 ).

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Your computer will boot into Windows To Go. The computer's Secure Boot display is off, it also has no TPM.

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Windows will take a few minutes to set everything up. Since you've already set up regional and privacy preferences, the installation won't ask any more questions.

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Once done, you have Windows 11, working entirely on a computer that doesn't meet the minimum system requirements. It will still run A-OK!

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It will also update, just like a normal install. There is still one thing you need to do. You did not set a password when creating the username in Rufus. This is very important for the security aspect.

To set a password, open Settings, search for Change your password, click on Password , and change the password.

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If you don't do that, Windows 11 will force you to do it on the next reboot.

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How to use the right hardware for Windows To Go

Windows 11 on USB should work just as well, exactly as it does on an internal hard drive, as long as the drive speed is maxed out. Therefore, you should ensure that you are using the correct ports and drives to ensure the fastest possible experience.

SSD is always a better choice

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SSD drives have no moving parts inside. This makes them very fast compared to HDDs that use spinning disks.

Operating systems use a lot of small files and SSDs provide extremely good read/write speeds for these files. In contrast, the hard drive needs more time to search for files. This is shown by the access time of each drive; SSD takes 1ms and HDD takes 20ms. Therefore, you should always choose an SSD to store your operating system in if possible.

USB 3.0 is 10 times faster than 2.0

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USB 3.0 reads/writes at 5Gbps compared to USB 2.0 which can only reach 480Mbps. Therefore, you should use a USB 3.0 to SATA adapter.

Using a USB 3.0 port on a computer

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Identify the 3.0 port on your computer. It is usually blue in color. You can also use a USB-C port which is usually USB 3.0 or later.

Samuel Daniel

Update 24 July 2023