On Tuesday, the next major build of Microsoft Windows leaked out before the official announcement. It was supposed to be released on June 24. This new iteration of Windows brings with it many new features and visual overhauls. It features a new start menu and taskbar, with many other modern UI improvements. First screenshots of the new operating system popped on Baidu, a Chinese forum.
Starting there, it became viral among all tech enthusiasts over the world. The OS has leaked in the form of an ISO and can be flashed on USB drivers for easy installation or can be easily loaded up in a virtual machine. If you like living on the bleeding edge of technology, and can’t resist testing Windows 11 for yourself, take a look at these detailed steps to install it without facing any errors.
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Things to Know About Windows 11 Before Installing
- The leaked Windows 11 ISO has a build number of 21996.1
- The size of the ISO is about 4.75 Gigabytes.
- The build is not completely stable and you may face a few bugs.
- It comes with a 64-bit option only
Steps to Download Windows 11 ISO
The next iteration of Windows has not been officially released by Microsoft, and thus you only have the option to download the leaked build from third-party websites. The best option to currently get the ISO is to torrent it. Of course, none of this is illegal as long as you don’t try to activate it without a license key.
Download the untouched Windows 11 Dev build ISO here.
Now, you can go two ways about installing Windows 11 on your PC or Laptop. You can either make a bootable USB to install it or you can load the ISO on a Virtual Machine (VM) on top of your existing OS. Take a look at the things you need to perform in order to install Windows 11 successfully.
Read: How to Run Windows 11 on a Mac Using VirtualBox
How to Install Windows 11 using Bootable USB
- Make sure you have downloaded the ISO and stored it on the computer. First, you need to make a bootable USB in order to install the OS from outside your current operating system. You will need a USB drive of at least 16 Gigabytes in order to flash the ISO.
- Next, you’ll need to download Rufus, a USB flashing utility. Start Rufus with your USB drive plugged into your computer and without changing any of the default settings, select the ISO file downloaded earlier and press the start button located at the bottom. After a few minutes, your bootable USB with Windows 11 on it should be ready.
- The next thing that you need to do is to boot into your BIOS settings. For most desktop PC’s, the BIOS can be accessed by pressing the ‘Del’ or ‘F2’ keys. For laptops, you need to look up your BIOS access button on the manufacturer’s website.
- Once you are in the BIOS, you need to select the ‘Boot device options’ dropdown menu, and then select your USB drive from there. Then, you need to save the BIOS settings and reboot.
- After rebooting, you will be greeted with the Windows 11 installation screen. You don’t need to change most of the default options on the installer unless you absolutely need to. Just before the installation begins, you get the options for automatic or custom installation.
- Select ‘Custom’ when prompted, and then you should land on the partition selection menu. From here, select one of your storage partitions, and the installer should begin its work.
- Depending on the speed of your storage, the setup should be done in a few minutes but can take up to an hour. Once it is done, your pc should be restarted automatically, and you just need to go through the instructions presented to you by the OS. Finally, you should have Windows 11 running on your PC.
Read: 10 Best Windows 10 Themes & Skins
How to Install Windows 11 on a Virtual Machine
As Windows 11 is not completely stable at the moment, sideloading it on a virtual machine alongside your main operating system can be a great idea. There are many popular Virtualization software available, but the overall best option used in this tutorial is VMware Workstation Player.
Keep in mind that your hardware needs to support virtualization in order to work with this software. You can check this for your computer by looking up the manufacturer’s website, or googling it. You also require a minimum of 8 GB RAM installed in your system for a smooth experience. With these things out of the way, take a look at the steps you need to follow for installing Windows 11 in VMware Workstation Player.
- After installing and opening the virtualization software, you will be greeted by a window with the option for creating a new virtual machine.
- Next, you will get the options for a typical or custom configuration. Select custom for the next steps.
- Then the software will ask you for the location of the ISO downloaded earlier. Point the software to the disc image of the Windows 11 ISO saved on your computer.
- After these steps, you will need to allocate a specific part of your storage to the virtual system with Windows 11 loaded on it. Specify at least 60 Gigabytes of space for it. This space includes the storage required to install Windows, and also the file storage requirements.
- Next, you need to select the option for customizing hardware to set the desired amount of RAM and processor threads for the virtual machine.
- To load up Windows 11, click on the power-on button in the software. In a few moments, you will see the Windows 11 logo with the additional setup screens.
- Next, select custom installation and choose the partition on which you want to install Windows 11, and click next. After some time, the VM will reboot and the process will be done, so you can enjoy your new OS without compromising your existing one.
Conclusion
Microsoft Windows 11 has not been released officially yet, and the existing build is just a leaked one. You may find a few bugs here and there, but it is still a new experience and should provide insights on what Microsoft is planning next for their OS. Still, if you want to try the latest iteration of Windows, the steps listed above should help you to install the OS either using a bootable drive or by loading up the ISO in a virtual machine.
