Rufus introduces bypass for unsupported PCs on Windows 11 24H2 in-place upgrades with local account fix

In our recent update, we covered the enhancements made to the Media Creation Tool (MCT), which now facilitates the download and installation of the initial Patch Tuesday for Windows 11 version 24H2. For more information, refer to our detailed article.

It’s important to note that the MCT is only applicable to supported Microsoft systems that meet specific minimum criteria. The tech giant has recently revised its support documentation, suggesting that users looking to upgrade from pre-Windows 10 systems should consider purchasing new hardware, as their current devices may not meet the prerequisites for Windows 11.

For users with unsupported PCs, third-party solutions like Rufus have surfaced. This tool has recently introduced a workaround enabling the bypass of Windows 11 24H2 system requirements. The developers of Rufus have confirmed that this workaround will be integrated into the next version of the software.

The new update, Rufus 4.6 Beta, not only includes this feature but also comes with various enhancements, such as improvements related to local account password settings, UEFI bootloader functionalities, a PowerShell command fix, and additional refinements.

Here’s a comprehensive list of changes made:

Rufus 4.6 BETA

• Introduced a new setup.exe wrapper to overcome Windows 11 24H2 in-place upgrade limitations (#2568)
• Added TimeZone support to regional options replication (#2499)
• Ensure local account passwords will not expire by default
• Resolved an issue when attempting to write compressed VHD images (#2468)
• Corrected an error when running Rufus from PowerShell commands (#2556)
• Enhanced the check for revoked UEFI bootloaders to include Linux SBAT, Windows SVN, and cert DBX

It’s essential to remember that Windows 11 24H2 introduces a new requirement regarding CPU instruction sets, specifically PopCnt and SSE4.2. As a result, older PCs with CPUs lacking the necessary instruction set architecture may not successfully bypass this requirement, even with the updated Rufus.

Rufus developer Pete Batard has made it clear that no further bypass options will be added to the software, stating:

I’m not planning to add that. If Microsoft’s official exemptions do not function, that’s their issue, not mine. Rufus operates within the framework set by Microsoft, utilizing workarounds that they have approved for the installer. Therefore, as has been the case since the introduction of Windows 11, I anticipate that the workarounds authorized by Microsoft will not cause a machine to become non-functional, and I also expect them to filter out workarounds that do, such as PopCnt and SSE4.2.

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