CF-19 MK4 running Windows 11 Pro (Insider Preview Beta branch)

So... I've had a bit of spare time and a CF-19 MK4 on a shelf and decided to give Windows 11 a spin just for fun...

The preparation for the setup process is not complicated but I can't predict how Microsoft will treat those "unsupported" machines in the future... They MIGHT stop giving automatic updates or enforce the TPM 2.0 crap and soft lock the MK4 out of Windows... Who knows... That day, I'll just go back to Windows 10...

All I know is as an IT tech, this gives me an opportunity to learn Windows 11 before it's released and not use a "work" computer as a sacrifice...

Now, right of the bat, the Windows 11 setup from the official ISO flags the computer as not compatible and refuse to install, BUT...

And here is where the fun begins....

If you use a Windows 10 installation USB drive to deploy the Windows 11 image, everything works totally fine... Once in Windows, i haven't seen any mention of that TPM 2.0 or secureboot in 4 weeks...

So... If you wish to run Windows 11 on any "unsupported" hardware, here's the simple procedure :

Make sure you're using the same version (home, pro/32/64 bits) and language before attempting installation or it will not work...



#1 Create a Windows 10 installation USB media with the media creation tool or from an ISO with Rufus (make sure the partition is NTFS)

#2 Access the "sources" folder on that USB drive and delete "install.esd" (the Windows installation image)

#3 Open the Windows 11 ISO (7zip does the trick) and extract the file "install.wim" from the "sources" folder
to the "sources" folder on the USB drive

#4 Rename the file you just copied to "install.esd"

#5 Plug the drive in any computer and Install away !

Upon boot, you'll be greeted by the Windows 10 logo and setup screen but once the partitioning is done, it will just deploy the Windows 11 installation and on the first boot, it will be Windows 11...

After that, just use any windows 10 drivers for your undetected hardware or like in my case with the CF-19, I just used the 1-click bundle for Windows 7 64 bits and everything works...



Here are some pictures of the littte MK4 running Windows 11 :

Windows 11 installing...


Windows 11 installed and running without issues...


Ran the PC health check just for fun... Oh no, the MK4 can't run Windows 11... How ironic...


And here it is, still purring (and receiving updates...) better than with Windows 10, using the Beta branch of the Insider Preview

 

Great information - thankyou.

 

I have installed it on a CF-19 Mk5 and my Core i5 third gen desktop to play with it, I had no problems with either one and I like it better than Windows 10 to be honest. Both dualboot machines but they are back to 8.1 and Linux.

 

I just installed W11 on my CF-19 MK3 using the same method from another source on Youtube check user "jensd_be". I upgraded from W10 just to see if it can be done. No TPM, no secure boot. The way I did it only requires that you download the W10 ISO and copy it to a folder on your desktop. Then download the WII ISO and copy the "install.wim" file from the W11 download and copy it to the "install.wim" file in the W10 ISO folder on the desktop then once it overwrites the W10 file you can double click the Install.exe file to start the install. Once it starts uncheck install updates and wait about an hour for the install to complete. Watch the video, the presenter does an excellent job of explaining the process.

 

I am sure there will be work arounds if you really want to use 11 on older machines. They will probably extend windows 10 support and updates for a couple years past the due date. Can't complain since apple will not update their old stuff after so many years.

 

The Easy2Boot directory for Windows 11 has instructions for register settings that bypass TPM, ram and secure boot checks. Are there other kinds of checks for the Win11 installer, and can they all be bypassed?

 

As far as I can tell, the setup only checks for TPM 2.0 and secureboot...

That's why using the win10 install media to deploy Win11 works.

 

Hello Gardakan
I have a CF19 AHNCXFF MK5, I tried to install Windows 10. The installation was done without problem. I was able to install Gps Viewer but I could not find the touch screen calibration functionality, nor the button tablets located on the front! So I came back to W7. But while reading tests, with W11, I tell myself that I will try again. On your CF19 MK4, after installing the One Clik Bundle, were these 2 features operational?
thank you for your return
Regards
Julian

 

Win10 compatible bundle for your 19MK5.

 

Hi
Sorry BaRRmaley but your file (19ab-mk5-7x86) does not work in Windows 10 for the screen rotation and calibration functions
on the other hand 1956-mk7-7x64 allows to use the rotation buttons and even without re-calibrating the screen, it works correctly
Bye

 

Depends on whether your OS is 32 or 64 bit, of course.
Calibrate the screen through Control panel.

 

Thank you, I found the calibration panel

I have other devices if someone has a version 19ab-mk5-7 in 64 bits I am a buyer to test

on the other hand, once the package is installed, you don't have to update Windows anymore ... because that's what I did and I had to re-install everything from the start

 

https://na.panasonic.com/computer/software/19ab-mk5-7x64.exe

 

Just some info but i tested win 11 on cf-s10. Similar to many toughbooks of gen 2 i5.
No issues but a few of the common drivers needed to be installed. Just used win 7 or newer and it worked fine. 2g of ram usage at idle.

 

Bonjour à tous pour compléter les derniers post
Le 19ab mk5-7 64.exe ne fonctionne pas sur un CF19 en windows 10, on ne recupère pas le fonctionnement des boutons de façades. je confirme que l'installation du mk7-7 64 permet de récupérere l'ensemble des fonctionnalités
A+
J

 

Google translation:
Hello everyone to complete the last posts The 19ab mk5-7 64.exe does not work on a CF19 in Windows 10, we cannot recover the operation of the front buttons. I confirm that the installation of the mk7-7 64 allows to recover all the functionalities A +

 

tl;dr: use the 19 Mk7 driver pack under Win10 with a 19 Mk5.