Cannot install on _compatible_ hardware

Hi,

Could anybody confirm of what, if anything, has changed recently so the standard process to install from the USB stick refuses and claims a compatible PC to be now incompatible?

I ran an upgrade of win10 to win11 some years ago, and want now to wipe out this install and install it fresh from the scratch - to re-install it all on the same machine. I made USB bootable media on that same machine that runs win11 right now. I do receive all updates fine, there are no issues with compatibility checks.

After making bootable USB I did reboot machine by pressing shift and then choosing USB from the blue screen - all done like it should be.
In setup process i say i have no windows serial, then choose win 11 pro - same type i have now - the next screen says i have an incompatible hardware and process cannot continue. Quite frustrating.

Any ideas of what can be done? I want to format the drive and reinstall as i had some malware recently, and it`s just time to refresh it and get rid of some other gremlins.

Hello @paul73 and welcome to ElevenForum.

The only thing I can think of is the "how you made the USB stick".
I'd suggest you use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool (MCT) to create the USB stick.

Option #1, here..

Then...



I'm guessing you used RUFUS to make the Windows 11 installation media?
If so, you may have used the settings for non-compatible hardware, which don't seem to work on your...
fully compatible hardware?

Ghot said:

Hello @paul73 and welcome to ElevenForum.

The only thing I can think of is the "how you made the USB stick".
I'd suggest you use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool (MCT) to create the USB stick.

Option #1, here..

Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media

This tutorial will show you how to create a bootable USB flash drive used to install Windows 11 with UEFI support. You can use a Windows 11 installation USB flash drive to clean install, upgrade, reset, or repair Windows 11. The installation USB can also be used as a recovery drive to boot to...

www.elevenforum.com

Then...

Clean Install Windows 11

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

I'm guessing you used RUFUS to make the Windows 11 installation media?
If so, you may have used the settings for non-compatible hardware, which don't seem to work on your...
compatible hardware?

Click to expand...

hi, you are guessing wrong, i used MS 'mediacreationtool' app to make the stick. all like that option 1 guide says, and clicked the box for this pc options.
all was done correctly, and it shows the dog house. like what MS does at its best. not sure what is missing and what is the issue...

paul73 said:

hi, you are guessing wrong, i used MS 'mediacreationtool' app to make the stick. all like that option 1 guide says, and clicked the box for this pc options.
all was done correctly, and it shows the dog house. like what MS does at its best. not sure what is missing and what is the issue...

Click to expand...

Maybe disconnect the internet completely, and try it again...

Make note of step #18, here...

@paul73

You mentioned you had some malware recently... maybe that is causing some problems with your install.

I have a copy of Minitool Partition Wizard 11.0 bootable media (ISO). This can be used to delete all partitions, wipe the drive, etc.
You will need to use RUFUS to make the bootable Minitool Partition Wizard media.





Another possibility is that making the Win 11 installation media on a computer that was infected, may be causing problems.
If you have access to another never infected computer, I would make the Win 11 installation media on that computer.



The only other thing I can think of is that the drive you are attempting to install Windows on, is not functioning properly.
As long as you can still get into Windows... you can check it with CrystalDiskInfo...

The ZIP version is the portable version...



You "could" try to make the Win 11 install media "with" RUFUS, which will allow your install media to skip the compatibility checks. (Even though you ARE compatible).

Last but not least... Microsoft has been playing silly buggers with our computers, due to this...
It doesn't sound like this is an issue with your computer... but you should be aware of it.

Ghot said:

Last but not least... Microsoft has been playing silly buggers with our computers, due to this...
It doesn't sound like this is an issue with your computer... but you should be aware of it.

Additional guidance for devices using Secure Boot to address CVE-2023-24932

Microsoft Support: UPDATE 7/11: Second Deployment This phase starts with updates released on July 11, 2023, which adds additionally support mitigating the issue. Security updates released May 9, 2023 and later contain security hardening changes to protect against vulnerabilities tracked by...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

difficult to guess of what can be not compliant as setup says nothing other than 'does not meet minimum requirements'.
just tried it with network cord pulled out - same thing. i do not want to erase my C: drive preemptively, as there is no guarantee this damn setup will ever work now. go figure what it is they changed. MS really became intolerable. how can you fix the issue if they refuse to communicate what the issue is...
and their own stupid check tool sheepishly says - your pc is already running win11, so i will not check nothing. whoever works there now and writes all this is surely does it all on purpose, i think.

paul73 said:

difficult to guess of what can be not compliant as setup says nothing other than 'does not meet minimum requirements

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, you picked a really bad time to clean install Windows 11.
The last two Windows updates, screwed up a lot of people's computers, and there's the Black Lotus bootkit stuff going on as well.

If you happen to have a spare drive sitting around... you might want to try installing on that instead?
Even if it's an old slow hard drive... it would in effect, give you a clean slate to work with.


Maybe take a break, and wait for some fresh insight. This is a pretty dead time on ElevenForum.
In 3-5 hours a whole new group will be coming online, on these forums.

I really can't think of anything else at present.

@paul73

Even though you ARE compatible.... maybe try this...



This is the most up-to-date I can find.... (June 2023)

@Ghot has covered all the suggestions I would have. I especially like this one "Maybe disconnect the internet completely, and try it again..." step 16 in the Clean install Windows 11 tutorial. If doing that lets you past compatibility check, you'll have to install using a Local account. You can change to a MS later if it allows you to install Windows.

Do you have a MSI 600/700 series motherboard?

Leaving the old partitions on the drive might affect installation and cause issues. I have seen that before. Either completely delete all partitions to get the whole disk as unallocated space and proceed, or use a spare disk as suggested again deleting all partitions.