Windows 11 Clean Install Problem

Hi Min Yang,

To fix this on your test machine without getting blocked by the hardware requirements, you must manually apply the bypass. First, plug your USB drive into a working computer and delete the autounattend.xml file from the main directory, which returns the setup to its default state. Boot your test machine from the USB drive and wait for the first Windows Setup screen where you select your language. Instead of proceeding normally, press Shift and F10 simultaneously to open the Command Prompt, type regedit, and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.

Within the Registry Editor, navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive, expand the SYSTEM folder, and click the Setup key. Right-click the Setup folder to create a new subkey named LabConfig. Inside your new LabConfig key, create two separate DWORD 32-bit values named BypassTPMCheck and BypassSecureBootCheck, setting the value data for both to one. These modifications instruct the setup engine to natively ignore the hardware requirements. Close the Registry Editor and Command Prompt, continue your installation normally by selecting that you do not have a product key, and the setup will seamlessly load the license terms so you can rebuild the machine.

VP

The error messages indicate Windows Setup is not accepting or locating valid licensing information for the edition being installed. For a clean install on a device that previously ran Windows 10, the edition selected during setup must match the existing license, and the product key must be either:

• Automatically read from firmware, or
• Linked as a digital license to a Microsoft account that will be used to sign in after installation.

To proceed reliably on this test machine:

1. Boot from official Windows 11 installation media created with the Media Creation Tool, not modified media.
2. When prompted for a product key, select I don't have a product key.
3. In the edition selection screen, choose the exact same edition that was licensed on Windows 10 (for example, Windows 11 Pro if the device had Windows 10 Pro). If the edition does not match, activation and key validation can fail.
4. Continue through setup. If Windows Setup finds a valid product key in firmware, it will skip the product key page entirely and apply it automatically.
5. Complete the installation and, when prompted, sign in with the Microsoft account that holds the digital license so that Windows can apply the stored product key.

If the Product key page appears and there is no key and no linked digital license, do not proceed; cancel setup and first ensure the device’s digital license is properly linked to a Microsoft account before reinstalling.

If using custom or altered media (for example, with bypass tools) has introduced configuration files that interfere with key validation or license terms detection, recreate the USB using the standard Media Creation Tool and avoid additional modifications. This ensures Setup can correctly locate the Microsoft Software License Terms and validate the product key or digital license.

For a full clean install on a nonfunctional or to-be-rebuilt PC, follow these supported steps:

1. On a working PC, create the installation media for Windows.
2. Boot the target PC from this media.
3. In Setup, choose language and keyboard, then Install Windows 11.
4. Select I don't have a product key, then select the correct edition.
5. Accept the license terms.
6. In Select location to install Windows 11, delete all partitions on Disk 0 that are not Unallocated Space (do not touch other disks), then select Disk 0 Unallocated Space and click Next.
7. Let Setup complete, then sign in with the Microsoft account that holds the digital license.

If the Product key screen does not appear at all, Setup has already found and applied a key from firmware, and installation can continue normally.

References:

• Reinstall Windows with the installation media
• Windows Setup Edition Configuration and Product ID Files (EI.cfg and PID.txt)