Rufus 4.6 bypasses Windows 11 24H2 compatibility checks automatically

The latest beta version of the open source app Rufus supports additional means to bypass compatibility checks during the installation of Windows 11 24H2.
The cat and mouse game continues. Microsoft allowed the installation of its Windows 11 operating system on incompatible hardware ever since it released the system. Through officially not supported, it added the options to the operating system.
This changed in 2024 when Microsoft started to block some of the bypass options. The most notable is a hard block for very old processors. But even if you run Windows 11 on fairly recent hardware, you may notice that you cannot upgrade from an older version to the latest 24H2 release easily.
Windows Update won't show the new feature update to you and you may notice that direct install attempts, for instance via the Installation Assistant or ISO images, are also not successful anymore.
The developer of Rufus published a workaround recently. It contained a few lines of commands that would delete certain information from the Registry in Windows. This allowed administrators to install an in-place upgrade on machines running Windows 11 already.
Good to know: in-place upgrades upgrade an existing version of Windows, e.g., Windows 11 version 23H2, to a new version. The other option is a clean install. In-place upgrades ensure that users can keep their apps, files, and settings.
Rufus 4.6 integrates the lines of code. When you use Rufus to create a Windows 11 version 24H2 installation ISO or USB drive, it will automatically apply the fix to the image.
In other words: You no longer have to run the commands manually before you hit the setup.exe file to start the upgrade to the new version. You can download the latest beta from the developer website.
The bypass should work for most Windows 11 users right now who run PCs with compatibility problems. It won't help if your PC does not support SSE 4.2, as these are blocked by Microsoft in a separate way. It also won't help if your PC has other issues, e.g., another incompatibility or issue.
Rufus offers one of the best options to bypass compatibility checks during the installation of Windows 11 or upgrades from one Windows 11 version to another. There is a chance that Microsoft will block some or even all of the bypasses in the future, or to limit them significantly.
Do you run Windows 11 on unsupported hardware? If not, would you upgrade from an earlier version of Windows to Windows 11, if your PC does not meet the minimum requirements? Feel free to leave a comment down below.


How low Windows has stooped to – now it’s bypasses just to install it, 3rd party start menus, debloaters, built-in app uninstallers, spywing disablers… all trivial issues that shouldn’t even be problems in the first place.
I keep stumbling upon those articles how Windows is becoming a more and more obnoxious and control freak piece of trash and it even more enforces my belief that moving to Linux was a good decision. Last couple of years of me using Windows was endless frustration, endless games of cat and mouse – I disable something, Windows reenables it again, I uninstall something, Windows reinstalls it again.
I feel sorry for those who still use this inferior and disrespectful OS, it is a huge pain. Some are even going through mental gymnastics, trying to lie to themselves that it’s actually OK, even good.
The truth is, people are afraid to switch from Windows to Linux because there may be a bit of a learning curve. If only these people knew how much better Linux is (compared to 10+ years ago) they’d take the plunge.
I started using SUSE Linux back in the late 90s. I found the learning curve a bit steep at the time. So I went back to Windows XP. I was working at the time developing software for an embedded device running an XP Embedded OS.
Today I run Linux Mint on 2 systems. For me, the learning curve was not steep at all. They have done an amazing job making this version of Linux so much friendlier.
@pHROZEN gHOST, the problem with Linux is that there is too much Linux distros. Linux has become a concept, not an OS itself. The OS really the distro. And about Linux Mint, now I am using Kubuntu 24 and it works really fine, however if a reinstallation should be done I probably will move to Mint too. Linux Mint is used by at least a dozen of my friends and talk so good about it. A nice try perhaps.
I wouldn’t put it past M$ to put some compatibility checking code right in a newly released OS version. The bypass installed OS could look fine for some time, Then that code could come into play some days, weeks or even months later to look for compatibility issues bypassed by the user’s installation. When this code finds that the installer bypassed the checks they could either terminate to OS with a blue screen and rendering the OS unbootable. That would be really nasty. Tthey could also keep hounding the user with progressively more frequent full-screen messages.
Anyone who uses Social Fixer on Facebook knows about Meta’s coders purposely writing code to break SFx.
Your device is the ultimate battleground.
I have run Windows for decades and it’s really sad that Microsoft has decided to put so many restrictions on installing Windows. At least Rufus brings some sense of logic to the reality that not everyone in the world is wealthy enough to have new hardware to run Windows. This a disconnect between Microsoft and its user base. Yes of course older hardware runs a higher risk of security but those older devices would benefit some from a newer OS release then having to stick with an older release. One that may not even be supported with updates.
I suspect MicroShaft has special deals with hardware manufacturers to increase their new hardware sales.
Been using rufus for a long time now but they need to back off NOW on any AUTOMATIC settings or windows that pop up autofilling user configs or bypasses to the windows registry. These settings need to be kept within the menu itself with DEFAULTS set to OFF. Stop asking to connect the internet, uploading my data. Stop dumming things down, hiding menu’s or making choices for people otherwise I’ll find something else. wtf is it with programmers today who think they need to make choices for users and shove them down some rabbit hole. I’m so fed up with this bullshit. Hope you are listening rufus.
“Do you run Windows 11 on unsupported hardware? If not, would you upgrade from an earlier version of Windows to Windows 11, if your PC does not meet the minimum requirements?”
No, not sure what the point would be. Good computers are relatively inexpensive as of now–why not upgrade to a theoretically better chip.
Security reasons are negligible. I worked at a bank once; the techs there only imaged computers twice a year–all updates were only twice a year. What made the security so awesome wasn’t updating and upgrading all the time. They had an awesome firewall. Fort Knox+, basically impenetrable. Not like the firewall on Windows. Some serious stuff.
Maybe they were doing it all wrong, but it’s still the same there. All these rusty, clunky computers running Windows 10. Sort of unbelievable.
After updating W11 23H2 latest monthly update, no more phishing protection is offered by default at Windows Defender (Security). It must be enabled manually after each reboot. Amazing piece of trash the Windows Developtment team are. Thanks for the article, I have updated my Rufus to the latest version too, I used it to create Kubuntu ISOs only. :]
This is what I meant in my latest coment above:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eN2zfjuG5I
@John G. Thanks for this link. It helped me wade through M$’s settings to check.
I do not have the issue.
I have the mentioned update installed … on Sept 26 2024 …
2024-09 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5043076)
I di not have a PIN set up.
@pHROZEN gHOST, you’re welcome! :]
I actually have 4 PCs. Yeah, I know. That’s overkill.
1 W11 Pro.
1 W10 Pro.
2 Linux Mint 20.3.
Some day I’ll be fully moved over to Linux Mint