How to Install Windows 11 on a Raspberry Pi 4 - Tom's ...

But what about running Microsoft OS on your Raspberry Pi? Officially, Microsoft's only operating system for the Pi is Windows 10 IoT Core, but ... 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TheRaspberryPiiscommonlyassociatedwithLinuxoperatingsystemssuchasRaspberryPiOS.ButwhataboutrunningMicrosoftOSonyourRaspberryPi?Officially,Microsoft’sonlyoperatingsystemforthePiisWindows10IoTCore,butthatisnotatrueoperatingsystem,merelyameanstocreateanappliancewiththePi.AmbitiousdevelopersfromtheRaspberryPicommunityarealwaysfindingawaytorunafulldesktopversionofWindowsonRaspberryPi.In2020,weinstalledaversionofWindows10ontoaRaspberryPi4anditperformedadmirably,ifalittleslowly.WiththerecentannouncementofWindows11werevisitedWindowsonRaspberryPiandthankstoanewARM64InsidersPreviewimagewe’llshowyouhowtoinstallWindows11onyourRaspberryPi4.Thishow-tohasbeenupdatedtoincludeanew,simplermethodwhichdownloadsandinstallsWindows11forRaspberryPiusingtheRaspberryPiitselfnoWindowsPCisrequired.ThisnewmethodiseasierthaninstallingviaaWindows10computer,butthetradeoffisthatitismuchslower,takingwelloveranhour(sometimestwo)versusunderanhourforthemanual(viaaPC)methodwhichwealsoshowbelow.(Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)However,beforeyoubegin,pleasenotethatthisisnotanofficialMicrosoftproductandthesourceoftheimagesandsoftwareusedisfromapassionateandvibrantcommunityworkingtogethertocreatethisproject.TheWindows11imagefileiseasytosourcebutthereisaprocessthatwehavetofollowinordertocreateavalidimagewhichcanbeusedwithourRaspberryPi.Wecan’tvouchforthesafetyorlegitimacyofanyofthecustomfilesthecommunityhascreatedforthisprojectsoproceedatyourownrisk. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)Atthetimeofwriting,thisprojectrunssurprisinglywell(seebelowformoredetails)buthasalotofcaveats.TheRaspberryPi’sonboardWi-Fi,BluetoothandGPIOdonotworksoyou’llneedtouseEthernetoraUSBWi-Fidongletogetonline(there’snolistofsupporteddonglessowecan’tguaranteeyourswillwork).IfyourPiisn’tnearanEthernetconnection, youcanalwaysshareaWindowsPC’sInternetviaEthernet.AudioviaHDMIisalsonotavailablebutaudioviathe3.5mmheadphonejackdoeswork,withtheoccasional“pop”.Again,Bluetoothisnotavailablesowecan’tuseaBluetoothspeaker.WhatyouwillneedtoinstallWindows11onaRaspberryPi4RaspberryPi44GBor8GBAn32GBorlargerSSDviaaUSB3caddy.Bestforperformanceor16GBorlargermicroSDcard,(seebestmicroSDcardsforRaspberryPi)USBbootenabled,seebelow.AmicroSDcardwiththelatestRaspberryPiOSWindows10PC(ifyouarefollowingthelongermethod). USBtoEthernetorWiFidongleBluetoothdongle(ifyouwantBluetooth)Keyboard,mouse,HDMIandpowerforyourRaspberryPiConfiguringRaspberryPitobootoffofSSD ForourinstallwechosetouseanSSDviaaUSB3caddywithUSBbootenabledonthePi.Thisdidnotgoasexpected.Theimagesweresuccessfullywrittentothedrive,andtheydidindeedboot,buttheyfailedatthedevicediscoveryportionofthesetup.AfterdiscussingtheissuewithYouTuberleepspvideo,itturnedoutthatourUSB3caddywastoblame.SoweoptedtouseanArgonM.2casewhichhasabuiltinUSB3toSATAboard.Thisworkedthefirsttime,andtheaddedbonusisthatourPiiskeptcool.BeforeusingWindows11ontheRaspberryPi4 withanSSD,wefirstneedtoensurethatthefirmwareandbootloaderofourRaspberryPi4issettothelatestversionsothatwecanbootfromUSB3.TheprocesstodothisisdetailedinourHowtoBootRaspberryPi4/400FromaUSBSSDorFlashDrive.Pleasecompletethosestepsbeforemovingon.InstallingWindows11theSimpleWayViaaRaspberryPi4 TheWindowsonRaspberryPicommunityneversleepsandwe’vejustseentheirworkoninstallingWindows11ontoaSSDusingnothingmorethantheRaspberryPi4.NoWindowsmachinesarerequiredtodothis!Theoriginalmethodwascomplexandconvoluted,butthankstoWoRmemberBotspotwenowhavealargelyautomatedinstallprocessthatrunscompletelyfromtheRaspberryPi4.Manythankstoleepspvideoforbringingthissimplermethodtoourattention.Therearedrawbacks,however.Thismethodtakeslongerthanthemanualmethod(shownbelow)whichinvolvesusingaPCtogeneratetheISOfile.DependingonyourInternetconnectionandwhetheranythingfails(whichitcan,causingyoutostartagain),thismethodcouldtakeanhourortwo.Themanual(viaPC)methodbelowshouldtakelessthananhourbuthasmorestepsandrequiresaPC.1.BootRaspberryPiOSandopenaTerminaltodownloadtheWoR-flashertoolfromGitHub.$gitclonehttps://github.com/Botspot/wor-flasher 2.ConnecttheSSDthatwillcontaintheWindows11installation.3.RuntheWoR-flasherGUItool.$~/wor-flasher/install-wor-gui.sh 4.IntheGUI,selectWindows11andthenyourmodelofRaspberryPiandclickNext.WechosePi4/400. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)5.SelectthecorrectlanguageandclickNext. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)6.SelectthedrivethatwillbeusedtoinstallWindows11thenclickNext.ClickRefreshifnoneareshown. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)7.ClickNexttoinstallWindows11tothedrive.Wedonothavetomakeanychangestothisscreen.(Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)Theinstallprocesswilltakesometime,possiblyuptoanhour.Takenoactionbutcontinuetomonitortheoutputforanyerrors.Thereisachancethattheinstallmayfail,ifsoclosetheterminalandrepeattheprevioussteps, (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)8.OncetheinstallationiscompleteyouwillseetheNextStepsscreen.ThisscreentellsuswhattoexpectwhenwebootintoWindows11forthefirsttime.ClickonClose. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)9.PoweroffyourRaspberryPi,andremovetheRaspberryPiOSbootdrive/microSD.EnsureyourWindows11driveisconnectedviaUSB3andthenpowerupyourRaspberryPiThefirstbootwilltakequitesometime.LeavetheinstallationtocompleteandyouwillsoonbepresentedwiththetypicalWindows11setupscreens.Followthesescreenstocompletetheinstallation.HowtoInstallWindows11ontheRaspberryPi4UsingaPCToinstallWindows11onaRaspberryPi4wefirstneedtocreateaviableinstallationimage.1.Searchfor“Windows11Arm”onUUDump (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)2.Selectthelatestbuildfor“arm64”. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)3.Setyourpreferredlanguage. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)4.ChoosetheeditionofWindows11thatyouwouldlike.WechoseWindowsHomeandPro.ClickNext. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)5.Setthedownloadmethodto“DownloadandconverttoISO”thenclick“Createdownloadpackage”. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)6.Extractthecontentsofthedownloadintoafoldercalled“win11”andgotothatfolder. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)7.Doubleclickontheuup_download_windows.cmdfile.Thiswilltriggerasecuritywarning.Clickon“Moreinfo”andthen“Runanyway”andfinallyallowtheapptomakechangestoyourdevice.Thecommandpromptwillnowfillwithtext.ThisistheoutputofacommandthatwilldownloadtheWindows11forArmimage,patchitandthenprepareanISOimage.Thisprocessmaytakesometime,dependingonyourInternetconnectionandthepowerofyourcomputer. 8.Press0toclosethepromptwhentheprocessiscomplete. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)WenowhaveanISOimagethatwecaninstalltoamicroSDcardorSSD.9.InsertamicroSDcard/SSDviaUSBintoyourPC.Thedriveshouldappearandbereadyforuse.Pleasenotethatthedrivewillbeformatted,andanyexistingdataonthedrivewillbelost.10.DownloadtheWindowsonRaspberryImagertoolandextracttheZIPtothe“win11”folder.(Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)11.OpenWoRandallowtheapplicationtomakechangestoyourcomputer.SetyourpreferredlanguageandthenclickNext. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)12.SelectthemicroSD/SSDstoragedevicethatyouwishtoinstallWindows11to.Thensetthedevicetype,inthiscaseaRaspberryPi4/400.ClickNexttomoveon. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)13.Selectthefreshly-createdWindows11ISOimageandclickNext. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)14.Usethelatestdriverpackages,availablefromtheremoteserver.Thesefilesarecachedlocallyforfutureinstalls. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)15.UsethelatestUEFIfirmwarefromtheserver.Thisisalsostoredlocallyforfutureinstalls. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)16.ClickonNexttoacceptthecurrentconfiguration.Onlymakechangeshereifyouunderstandwhatyouarechanging. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)17.Checktheinstallationoverview.Isthecorrectdriveselected?HaveyouchosenthecorrectmodelofRaspberryPi?ClickInstall.Theinstallationprocesswilltake around10minutesforanSSD.MicroSDinstallationsarelonger. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)18.CloseWoRwhenfinished,ejectthemicroSD/SSDandinsertit/connectitintoyourRaspberryPi4.ConnectupyourPiperipheralsandpoweron. SettingUpWindows11onRaspberryPi4 WiththeWindows11microSD/ SSDinsertedandourRaspberryPibootingwenowhavetosetuptheWindows11installusingthestandardpostinstallationsetupsequence.FollowtheprocessandyourWindows11RaspberryPiisreadyforuse.Thereareacoupleoftweaksthatwecanmaketotheinstall,especiallyifweareusingaRaspberryPi4with4GBormoreofRAM.1.Reboot/poweruptheRaspberryPiandpressESCwhenprompted.(Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)2.ScrolldowntoDeviceManagerandpressEnter. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)3.SelectRaspberryPiConfiguration. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)4.SelectAdvancedConfiguration. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)5.SetLimitRAMto3GBtoandpressF10tosave.PressEsctoexit.(Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)6.SelectDisplayConfiguration. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)7.SettheresolutionbyhighlightingtheoptionandpressEnter.PressF10tosaveandthenEsctoexit. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)(Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)8.EnsurethattheCPUClockissettoDefaultintheCPUconfigurationmenu,AnyoverclockingatthistimewillpreventWindows11frombooting.PressEscuntilyoureachthefirstmenu. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)10.SelectContinuetoexittheBIOSandbootWindows11withthenewsettings. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)HowdoesWindows11onRaspberryPiperform? (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)Inourtesting,overallperformanceisdecent,infactitwasmuchbetterthanour2020Windows10install.Boottimewasgood,longerthanRaspberryPiOS,butnothingmajor.FeelingmorelikeanIntelN4100Celeroningeneraluse. OncethedesktopwasloadedtheoverallfeelofWindows11onRaspberryPiwasresponsive.Windows11respondedtoourinputwithminimallag,andmovingwindowsaroundthescreenheldupprettywell.TheEdgewebbrowserprovidedagoodbrowsingexperience. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)HeavysitessuchasYouTubeprovedtroublesomeduetothelackofahardwaregraphicsdriverwhichmeantourCPUwasworkinghardertorenderanimage.Videosat480pweresmooth,720Pwaspassable.Goingfullscreencausedalargedelay,andanumberofdroppedframes.Wedidn’tattempt1080pastheoddsarethatitwillbeaslideshow.Weranabrieftesttoinstallapplications.FirstweinstalledtheArduinoIDEviatheMicrosoftStore,andtheinstallationwassuccessful,butdidtakesometime. (Imagecredit:Tom'sHardware)TheArduinoIDEsuccessfullyloaded,andwewereabletoopenoneoftheincludedexamplestoflashtoourArduinoUnoboard.Hereiswherewehitasnag,wecouldn’tlocateaCOMportfortheArduino.Nothingwaslistedinthedevicemanager,sowerebootedandtriedagain,nothing.Uninstallinganappisnotdoneviathestore,ratherwehavetogointoSettingsandthenadd/removeapplications.Thisfeltcounter-intuitive.WetheninstalledtheArduinoIDEusingatypicalx86.exefileandweresurprisedtoseetheappinstall,andopen.ButtheCOMportissueremained,andwewereunabletousetheArduinoIDEtocontrolourUno.  LesPounder LesPounderisanassociateeditoratTom'sHardware.Heisacreativetechnologistandforsevenyearshascreatedprojectstoeducateandinspiremindsbothyoungandold.HehasworkedwiththeRaspberryPiFoundationtowriteanddelivertheirteachertrainingprogram"Picademy". Topics Windows RaspberryPi Seeallcomments(12) 12Comments Commentfromtheforums Thanksfortheguide,veryinteresting. IwishedthattheRaspberryfoundationreleaseaPi"Pro"device. Itshouldincludeasataornvmeportandabeefier4coreARMSOC. Yes,increasetheprice,itiscalledProforareason. Reply andLVDS. Reply IfollowedtheseinstructionsbutkeepgettingaBODuponbootinganyoneelse? Also,IamunabletoselecttheSetLimitRAMto3GBtoinAdvancedConfigurationbutthisalreadyset. TIA Reply TheOSbootedandtookmeintotheWindowsrecoveryscreen. Ihavetriedboththewindows11imageavailableontheuupsiteandtheresultsareexactlythesame.ItindicatessomecorruptioninsysfromwhatIremember.Sorry,Idonothavetheexacterrorstring/messagehandy. Anyhelpisappreciated. Reply andronoopsaid:TheOSbootedandtookmeintotheWindowsrecoveryscreen. Ihavetriedboththewindows11imageavailableontheuupsiteandtheresultsareexactlythesame.ItindicatessomecorruptioninsysfromwhatIremember.Sorry,Idonothavetheexacterrorstring/messagehandy. Anyhelpisappreciated.Iamalsofacingthesameissuehere.Imageinthelinkbelow Errorimage Reply Igetanerrorreportwhenrunningtheuup_download_windows.cmd.Itsaysthat"SxSExtend.exeCannotbefound". Reply Interestingalltheerrorsthatyou'reseeing.Ifollowedthebouncingballanditworkedlikeacharm. TothefolksatTomsHardware=thanksforitemslikethese. Reply ThePCmethodworkedforme,overclockingworksusingthenormalmethodofeditingconfig.txt,althoughIhadtousegpartedtochangetheflagson/boot,mounttheneditconfigthenchangeflagsback.Ifthereisaneasiermethodpleasepost. Reply LookingasthoughsomefolksabovearehavingfailureswithWoRmethodsimilartomine.Afterseveraltrieswithmulti-dayinstallationattemptsonanRPi4inaKanotouchscreen(originallyforRPi,notthenewKanoWindowsPC,whichisanotherstoryreW11...)thatinvariablyhungatonepointoranotheronthe2ndday(oreven3rddaywhenIfeltstubborn),IfinallydecidedtotryabrandnewUSBflashdrive(SanDiskDualDrivem3.0,64GB)inplaceofthesomewhatusedUSBdrivethatIhadbeentryingtouse,anotherSanDiskofsomesortwith128GB,anditworkedinseveralhours(allinthesameday!!)fromstarttofinish. That'swhenIdiscoveredtherealityofthefineprintcaveatabouttheunsupportedRPibuilt-inwifi(hadbeenusingdirectethernetoffaswitchtosparein-homewifibandwidth),and2WifidonglesthatalsofailedforlackofWin11ARMdrivers,whichhadalwaysworkedwithLinuxonvariousWindowsIntelPC's.Win11worksOKontheRPi,butwithoutwifi,soIamnotmuchmotivatedtowastemoreofmytimewithit. Reply Runningsetup#1froma9900krunningUbuntu,stackat: Customizingthedrive'sconfig.txt,accordingtotheCONFIG_TXTvariable Ejectingdrive. Soiwentaheadandtriedmethod#2onaW11installationonthesamemachine.Downloadthefile,unpackedandiso-edit.ThenusedWoRtoloadthe.isobutgoingtothe"SelectDrivers"screen,choosing"Usethelatestpackege",igettheerror: "Somethingwentwrong... Couldnotloadfileorassembly'Newtonsoft.json,Version=12.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=30adfe6b2a6aeed'oroneofitsdependencies. TheSystemcannotfilethefilespecified." Reply ViewAll12Comments Showmorecomments BeIntheKnow Getinstantaccesstobreakingnews,in-depthreviewsandhelpfultips. ContactmewithnewsandoffersfromotherFuturebrands Receiveemailfromusonbehalfofourtrustedpartnersorsponsors ThankyouforsigninguptoTom'sHardware.Youwillreceiveaverificationemailshortly. Therewasaproblem.Pleaserefreshthepageandtryagain. 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