After the announcement of Windows 11 on 24th June, Microsft released the first Windows 11 Insider Preview for the Insider users to test it on their machines.
In this post, we would discuss whether you should install the Windows 11 insider preview or not. We would also walk through the ways to install it on your device.
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Is your device compatible with Windows 11?
Before moving ahead to install Windows 11, you must first check whether your computer is compatible with Windows 11 or not. Here are the minimum requirements to install Windows 11 on your computer:
| Processor | 1 GHz or more with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor Generation 8 or newer |
|---|---|
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Storage | 64 GB of free storage for installation (more for keeping it updated) |
| Graphics Card | Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver |
| TPM | Trusted Platform Module version 2.0 |
| Firmware | UEFI, Secure Boot capable |
| Display | High Definition (720p) |
| Screen Size | Greater than 9″ Diagonally |
Join Insider Program to install Windows 11
Currently, the official way to install and get a glimpse of Windows 11 is by joining Microsoft’s Insider Preview program. It is pretty easy to join Insider through Windows 10.
To join the Insider Program, follow these steps:
Visit the official Windows Insider website and click “Register.”
Sign in with your Microsoft Account. If you don’t have a Microsoft Account, create one.
Now after registering, restart the device.
Open the Windows Settings and navigate to Update & Security.
Click on Windows Insider Program from the left pane.
Here you will be displayed whether your device meets the minimum hardware requirements or not.
If the device is incompatible, you will see this.
If your device is compatible, you will get the option to Get started.
On the next window, pick your insider settings as “Dev Channel.” Dev Channel option is essential for Windows 11. Click Confirm and Restart the device.
On the system startup, navigate to Update & Security and update to Windows 11 Insider Preview.
How to manually install Windows 11 Insider Preview?
If your system is incompatible with Windows 11, but you still want to try it on your device, you can do that by downloading its ISO file and creating a bootable device. For that, you can visit the UUP dump website. This website contains all the Windows 10 updates and Insider Previews. The recently launched Windows 11 Insider Preview is also available there.
Download the Windows 11 Insider Preview ISO
Here are the steps to download the ISO file of Windows 11 Insider Preview:
- Visit the UUP dump website.
- Search for Windows 11 on the search box.
- Choose the Windows 11 Insider Preview according to your device’s architecture.
- Select the preferred language.
- Choose your preferred edition. You can choose to download multiple editions.
- Under the Download method, select Download and convert to ISO. Similarly, under Conversion options, choose Include updates.
- After the Windows 11 Insider Preview package is downloaded, extract the files in a folder.
- Double-click the cmd file to begin the download of the Windows 11 Insider ISO package.
- The download would begin and would take some time, depending on the internet speed.
- Finally, press 0 to exit and finish the creation of the ISO file.
- You will get the ISO file in the same folder.
Create a USB Bootable Media using ISO File
To create a USB Bootable Media, you will require a dedicated software known as Rufus. Here are the steps for that:
- Download the latest version of Rufus
- Install the program and launch it.
- Insert an empty USB drive with at least 8 GB of space.
- On the program interface, select the Windows 11 ISO, next to Boot selection.
- The program would start creating USB Bootable Media.
Install the Windows 11 Insider Preview using Bootable Media
Now use the USB Bootable Media to install Windows 11 on your computer. For that, follow these steps:
- Restart the computer
- Insert the USB stick into your computer
- Press the escape button repeatedly to enter the Boot Menu.
- Choose the USB drive to start the boot.
- Click on Install to begin the Windows 11 installation.
- Accept the license terms.
- Windows would begin installing.
- After a few restarts, the Windows would get installed.
- Enter the required details like PC name, password, language, preferred keyboard layout, and others. You can log in with your Microsoft account or create a local account.
- After the setup, Windows 11 will startup, and the desktop would be loaded.
Summing Up
This post guides you step by step on installing the Windows 11 Insider Preview on your machine. However, you must remember that the Microsoft Insider Previews are meant for testing, finding out vulnerabilities, and fix them. You are installing a pre-release version of Windows 11, which might be full of bugs. So, it is advised to install this version of Windows on your secondary or testing device. Further, if your device does not meet the minimum requirement for Windows 11, don’t take the risk of installing it. You might damage your machine.
If you are currently using the genuine version of Windows 10 and your system is compatible with the minimum system requirements of Windows 11, you are eligible for getting the free upgrade to Windows 11.
Though Windows 11 was launched on June 24, 2021, it would still be unavailable to install until the first half of 2022. However, the first preview of Windows 11 is now available for Insider Program users.
Windows 11 is a next-gen operating system, so it is expected to be quicker than the current Windows 10 OS.
Peter is an Electrical Engineer whose primary interest is tinkering with his computer. He is passionate about Windows 10 Platform and enjoys writing tips and tutorials about it.
