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

DS 8.x

GSS 3.x

Resolution

Note: This process is NOT officially supported, as the recommended and supported method is to use the built-in processes within Ghost Solution Suite (GSS) or Deployment Solution (DS) as shown here:

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

DS method: use Manage Software Delivery shown in this KB article Upgrading to Windows 11 using Software Management Solution

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

There are 3 mediums for building a pre-boot environment:

  1. Bootdisk
  2. Automation Folder
  3. PXE

You must build the pre-boot using WinPE11 x64 and the link to download the required WinPE 11 ADK is: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install

Once a pre-boot configuration is built you'll need to edit the boot.wim file as described below.

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 as explained below.

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

 

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