VIDEO In this tutorial, we create a U.S.B. installer capable of bypassing hardware restrictions to install Windows 11 on an unsupported device, using an entirely free tool that requires no installation and can be deleted after use. That tool is Rufus, and its latest version provides an all-in-one solution to download a Windows 11 .iso file, image that file to a U.S.B. drive, and modify that installer to work with an unsupported device. The same technique can be used to create installation media for Windows 7, 8, and 10.
At the time of this videos’ publication, Windows 11 is incompatible with a very significant proportion of the world’s computers, given the requirement for T.P.M. (Trusted Platform Module) hardware, Secure Boot support, and an 8 G.B. R.A.M. threshold. There are very good reasons for this, which we reference in the video. However, we wish to hold on to our perfectly good devices for financial and environmental reasons, whilst keeping our system up-to-date. We, therefore, take a balanced view when pursuing this project.
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IN COMMON WITH ALL PROJECTS OF THIS TYPE, THE CONTENTS OF THE U.S.B. STICK WILL BE FULLY ERASED AND REPLACED WITH THE INSTALLER IMAGE. YOU SHOULD THEREFORE BACK UP ANY IMPORTANT FILES OR FOLDERS BEFORE BEGINNING THIS PROCESS. Please also note the messages toward the end of the video in relation to disabling Secure Boot and properly configuring B.I.O.S. for the installation.
Topics covered:
00:00 Introduction
00:17 Windows 11 and unsupported hardware
00:23 Workarounds for unsupported devices
00:46 Introducing Rufus
00:55 Downloading Rufus portable
00:59 Portable vs Full software installers
01:15 Features in the latest version
01:38 Running Rufus
01:54 Update checks
01:59 Main interface
02:01 Working with U.S.B. sticks
02:25 Downloading the Windows .iso
02:27 What is a .iso file, and how is it used?
02:45 Downloading a .iso from Microsoft
03:12 The download script
03:14 Version selector
03:26 Version options
03:45 Edition selector
04:00 Language selection screen
04:08 Architecture options
04:20 Download using a browser
04:29 Specifying download location and .iso name
04:39 Downloading begins
04:51 Download concludes
04:55 Saved .iso file
05:13 Using the downloaded .iso in Rufus
05:20 Using an existing .iso file in Rufus
05:28 Image options
05:31 Standard option
05:39 Extended installation
05:53 A counterargument against doing this
06:11 A warning about the loss of data from the memory stick
06:32 The imaging process
07:00 Removing hardware restrictions
07:11 Installation: Disabling secure boot
07:29 Viewing our device in File Explorer
7:42 Installation: Configuring B.I.O.S.
source 
