Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 using Winpe with added Windows 11 ISO files
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Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 using Winpe with added Windows 11 ISO files

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Article ID: 368518

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Updated On:

Products

Ghost Solution Suite Deployment Solution

Issue/Introduction

There is a need to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 in a WinPE pre-boot environment

Environment

Deployment Solution or Ghost Solution Suite

Resolution

*Note: this process is NOT officially supported. The supported method is to use the built in processes within Ghost Solution Suite (GSS) or Deployment Solution (DS)

GSS method: use sample job to upgrade Windows 10
Jobs > Samples > Windows 10 Upgrade

DS method: use Manage Software Delivery:
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/249016/upgrading-to-windows-11-using-software-m.html

 

Requirements -

For Windows 11 support, there are eight required prerequisites

  1. TPM 2.0 must be enabled: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enable-tpm-2-0-on-your-pc-1fd5a332-360d-4f46-a1e7-ae6b0c90645c
  2. The drive must be formatted as GPT:  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt
  3. System Firmware must support UEFI and Secure boot: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications
  4. 1GHZ minimal processor
  5. 4 GB Ram
  6. 64 GB of RAM minimally
  7. Graphics card must be Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver.
  8. High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel

Lets Begin

We have 3 mediums for building a pre-boot environment:

  1. Bootdisk
  2. Automation Folder
  3. PXE

Must build pre-boot using WinPE11 x64

Link to download WinPE 11 ADK: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install

 

Once a pre-boot configuration is built we need to edit the boot.wim file:

Preparation - 

  1. Create the following folders on the root of the C drive: 
      • c:\Mount
      • c:\Mount\bootwim
      • c:\Mount\iso
  2. Copy the source boot.wim file to the C:\Mount folder  (See source location below )
  3. Mount ISO to c:\Mount\iso folder

 

Source location depends on boot media

Boot disk: <USB device>:\sources\

Automation Folders: C:\boot\altiris\iso\sources\

PXE: GSS source: C:\Program Files (x86)\Altiris\eXpress\Deployment Server\PXE\Images\MenuOption<#>\X64\sources\

          DS: C:\Program Files\Altiris\Altiris Agent\Agents\Deployment\SBS\Images\<PXE Config name>\x64\sources\

 

To edit the boot.wim file to add the ISO files perform the following steps:

Execution

  • Open a CMD prompt as Administrator.
  • Navigate to "C:\Mount".
  • Use the following DISM commands to mount the Boot_x64.wim:
    • DISM /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\Mount\boot.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:C:\Mount\BootWIM
  • Go to C:\Mount\BootWIM
  • Create a Directory named Windows11
  • Copy the contents of c:\Mount\iso into the Windows11 directory
  • This is not necessary but if it is desirable to start the installation automatically, perform the following steps
    • edit: C:\Mount\BootWIM\startup.bat
    • add: x:\Windows11\Setup.exe /auto upgrade /compat ignorewarning /dynamic update disable /showoobe none /eula accept /quiet /noreboot
  • Use the following DISM command to unmount the Boot.wim:
    •  DISM /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\Mount\BootWIM /Commit
  • replace boot.wim to the source location
            

Note the command to run the setup may differ based on your needs. Source of command:  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1111394/upgrade-windows-10-to-windows-11-using-setup-exe-w