Although Microsoft made it difficult for many of us to install Windows 11 due to its demanding hardware requirements, which made newly purchased computers obsolete, it seems that little by little things are getting on our side. First, Microsoft itself gave us a method to install Windows 11 on any PC even if it does not meet the TPM requirements. And now, you can also do it with the help of the application Rufus and a simple pendrive or USB memory.
In case you still don’t know Rufus, it is a free app for Windows that is used to format pen drives or USB drives. It also makes it easier for you to install operating systems or prepare pendrives to install operating systems on any computer directly from your computer’s USB port. As an example, you can carry a USB memory with several versions of Linux that boot from the memory itself when you turn on your PC.
And what does Rufus have to do with installing Windows 11? Precisely, with Rufus you can configure a USB pendrive to help you install Windows 11 on any PC, whether or not it meets Microsoft’s hardware requirements. Also, it will be useful if you want install Windows on two or more computers in the fastest and most comfortable way possible.
Windows 11 on any PC with Rufus
To make this possible we need the latest version of Rufus. The Rufus supported version to install Windows 11 in easy mode is 3.16 onwards. At the time of this writing, Rufus has version 3.17 as the latest, both in its installer and in its portable version.
The particularity of this newer version of Rufus is that, if you select an ISO image of Windows 11 to install on the pendrive or USB memory, in Image options you will come across two installation methods. The first is the normal one. And the second makes it easy to install on any PC. As the Rufus menu itself indicates, “Extended Windows 11 Installation”. In other words, “no TPM / no Secure Boot / 8 GB-RAM”: it does not require TPM 2.0 compatibility, nor Secure Boot nor a minimum of 8 GB of RAM. This last option poses a performance problem, but that is another matter.
For the rest, the process to configure a pendrive with Windows 11 to install it on any PC is the usual one in Rufus. First download the Windows 11 ISO image, then we open Rufus and select that ISO in the field Boot choice, using the button To select. Third, in Image options We chose the one I mentioned before, the Extended Installation. The rest of the options can be left as is.
The last step is to press the button Start. Rufus will format the pendrive or USB memory that you have inserted in the corresponding input. Come on, it is convenient that you do not save any sensitive files on that device. It should also have a capacity of 8GB or more storage to fit Windows 11. Today you can buy a relatively cheap 16GB or 32GB USB stick.
The official method versus the Rufus method
What is the difference between installing Windows 11 on your computer using the method explained by Microsoft and using Rufus? Microsoft’s proposal requires you to open the Windows’ register and that you edit their entries. Something reserved for advanced users who know what they are doing. And although Microsoft explains step by step what to do, it is still a hassle and takes time.
Instead, Rufus’s method is quick and easy. Especially if you want to make a clean installation. Download, configure the USB, format it and ready to install on any PC. Also, if you want to update or install Windows 11 on two or more computers, with that pendrive you can do it without downloading multiple times Windows update.
For the rest, remember to make a backup copy of the content of your PC on an external disk before installing Windows 11. In case something goes wrong, you can get those files back. The installation itself is easy to follow. You can update Windows 10 keeping your files, folders and settings or choose one clean install of Windows 11.