Windows 11 - Editing boot.wim to bypass TPM and Stream-line New Installs

[blandyuk]

There are a lot of Windows 11 articles about bypassing the TPM and Secure Boot checks but, what if you are wanting to stream-line a new install from bootable USB?

Here is how I've done it, you'll like this, and you can try it yourself. First, download the official ISO from MS or generate one using the https://uupdump.net/ site. Once you have the ISO, use rufus to write the ISO to a USB key. Don't boot it up yet, as we need to make changes to "boot.wim". Now, look in the sources folder for the file "boot.wim". This is a Windows Image file which contains the registry keys for the setup. You can actually mount this image and edit it.

Here is how. First, lets get the wim info from command-line so run "cmd" as Administrator, you can right-click start menu and "Command Prompt (Admin)".

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Dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\boot.wim

Details for image : D:\sources\boot.wim

Index : 1
Name : Microsoft Windows PE (x64)
Description : Microsoft Windows PE (x64)
Size : 2,285,335,478 bytes

Index : 2
Name : Microsoft Windows Setup (x64)
Description : Microsoft Windows Setup (x64)
Size : 2,343,897,789 bytes

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OK, so we need to use index 2 here. Let mount and edit the registry and add the two keys to bypass checks:

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Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:D:\sources\boot.wim /index:2 /MountDir:C:\_mount
NOTE: You need to create the "_mount" directory first!

1). reg load HKLM\OFFLINE D:\_mount\Windows\System32\Config\SYSTEM
2). Open Registry Editor (regedit) on host, you will notice it now contains temporary hive HKLM\OFFLINE
3). Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\OFFLINE\SYSTEM\Setup
4). Click on Edit > New > Key to create a new key named "LabConfig".
5). Inside "LabConfig", create New > DWORD (32-bit)
- BypassTPMCheck 1
- BypassSecureBootCheck 1
6). Close regedit.
6). reg unload HKLM\OFFLINE

Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:C:\_mount /Commit
- The /Commit switch takes care of saving all changes to boot.wim file.

Done :)

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That's it! Plug in your USB key and it will install without the checks, simple!

If you want to boot from ISO instead when using VM, use an ISO editor and overwrite the "boot.wim" on the ISO and save as new ISO.

Enjoy :)

 

[casper_]

can not download boot.wim.7z continues to disconnect after a few megabyte?

 

[casper_]

can not download boot.wim.7z continues to disconnect after a few megabyte?

Works now, Thanks

 

[blandyuk]

OK great.

Editing the existing ISO file by writing the new "boot.wim" makes more sense, as you can just flash to USB via Rufus, and it will work anyway. ISO will also work with any VM also. Once patched on ISO, will work for forever.

I suspect this type of editing will work with future editions also, unless MS pulls it from the setup and forces it completely! Hopefully not.

The great part about this is you can do it on an OFFICIAL ISO image yourself, thus saving you downloading from a dodgy third-party torrent. My "boot.wim" is technically third-party, but based on my trust status and how long I've been doing this, you can rest assured.

 

[JohnGreenCloG]

In my opinion windows 11 will be a failed version just like windows 8

 

[blandyuk]

I already have some issues with Win11:

1. The taskbar no longer supports showing the window title. This is a pain for me if I have multiple explorer windows open with folders. I liked it showing them and then compacting if there were too many.
2. Initial installation puts the taskbar in the middle. What retard thought that was a good idea. Should have ASKED the user as part of the installation, LEFT or CENTER (LEFT default ofc).
3. The default programs has become long-winded now. You have to change per file-type now rather than a global change. Stupid!

There will be more I'm sure but, the issues so far would not stop me using it.

Windows 8 was a colossal cock-up! Being an IT Manager, I had to tell our supplier to NOT send us Win8 Pro machines and instead send Win7 Pro at the time it was that bad and confusing our users. Removing the start icon, full screen tiles! WTF were they thinking. If I was in the R&D dept, that would not have got past me. Their sales spiel for Win8 was laughable:
"You can use your finger to slide the menus and windows, oh look how good it is".
Right, 1). 99% of users don't have touch-screens, and 2). I don't want my greasy finger touching my screen.

 

[Abdelman]

Upgrading to Windows 11, whether it's updating a working system or installing on a blank disk, you will notice several annoying features – like a context menu that forces you to click the mouse once again, a clumsy taskbar, the default browser menu, which made it harder to abandon Edge. All this and much more made me immediately abandon the latest version of Windows and switch to the already familiar Windows 10. Besides, I often need to make presentations, and I use power point and Okslides for this, and it works much better on Windows 10 than on Windows 11.