In this article, I’ll take a step-by-step look at the process of installing Windows 11. I’ll install the system from scratch as a clean system, using the installer from the official Microsoft site.
1) The first thing I need to do is download the installer and write it to a flash drive to make it bootable. You can do this using the official Microsoft utility – Media Creation Tool. Instructions on how to write a bootable flash drive can be found in our previous article.
Or you can download the installer from the official Microsoft site or from our server and write it to the flash drive using third-party applications, for example using Rufus according to the instructions.
2) Next, if you have a bootable flash drive with Windows 11, you need to boot it from UEFI (Bios). Unfortunately, there is no single set of instructions for booting from a flash drive, because motherboards are different and their configuration is also different. A rough guide to booting from a flash drive under UEFI (Bios) can be found in the following instructions.
3) Now proceed directly to the installation itself. If you did everything correctly, you will see the Windows 11 boot screen.
I’ll leave the language and layout selection as it is, in English
Click the Install now, and wait for the installation to begin.
After installing Windows 11, it is recommended that you enter your product key and activate your system. To do so, click on the option that says ‘I don’t have a product key’ in the window.
I am now presented with a choice of Windows 11 edition (version), in this example I will be install Windows 11 Pro, but you can choose any edition you want, the install process will not change.
Check the box to accept the license agreement.
Since I am installing the system from scratch, select “Custom Installation” in the next window.
In the next window you will see an item with all your partitions or hard drives. In this example, I have one hard drive, but you may have several. Select the partition or drive you want to install the system on and click “Next”.
Next, the process of direct installation of the system components will begin, wait for it to finish.
Once the extraction and installation is complete, the PC will reboot and begin the preparation process before starting the initial setup.
The Setup Wizard will ask you to select your region, for example, let’s select “United States”.
Next, select the language of the main keyboard layout, choose “US”. After you are asked to select a second keyboard layout, click skip.
Next, the Settings Wizard will begin searching for and downloading the latest updates. Wait for the process to complete.
After downloading the updates, let’s continue with the initial configuration process. Now you need to set the computer (system) name. You can set any name up to 15 characters long.
Next, select the purpose of the device. If your computer is not part of your organization’s corporate domain or does not need to be assigned, select Configure for personal use and click Next.
Now you need to sign in with your Microsoft account. If you don’t have one, you can create one by following the instructions in our previous article.
After you sign in to your Microsoft account, you will be asked to create a pin code to sign in. This is a handy short code designed for quick logins; the advantage of this method is that you don’t have to enter your account password to log in, just a short pin code.
Create a pin code, you will need to enter it twice for confirmation.
The next item is to configure the system privacy settings. In the example I will remove all items, you can choose these items at your discretion.
Next, the wizard asks you to select the items whose tasks are expected to be used on this PC. This is not a mandatory item, so I will skip it in the example.
Next, you will be asked if you want to automatically back up your files to OneDrive (backup of certain folders, namely “Desktop”, “Documents”, and “Pictures”). You can select this option at your discretion, for this example I will select “Only store files on this device”.
The initial system setup is now complete, wait for the desktop to boot.
Done! The Windows 11 desktop is loaded and ready to go.
To check your version of Windows 11 go to Explorer => This Computer => Show Advanced Settings => Properties => in the new context menu “Properties”.
Under “System” you can see your version of Windows 11, in our case Windows 11 Pro was installed.
If you have installed the system from scratch, it is most likely not activated and you will need to activate it for proper, uninterrupted operation. You can check if your system is activated in the same “System” menu by scrolling down to “Product Key and Activation”.
You can use the taskbar search to type the word activation in the search query, and then click the search result.
In both cases, you will be taken to the System Activation menu. In this menu you can see if your system is activated. If not, the activation status is “Inactive”. To activate, you need the activation key for your system version.
You can buy an activation key for Windows 11 of different versions in our catalog. Genuine activation keys, instant delivery of keys to your e-mail immediately after payment in automatic mode. Warranty and technical support 24/7 our store.
So, if you have an activation key for your edition of Windows 11, you can click on the “Change” button on the item “Change product key”.
In the next window, enter your product key in the Key Entry box.
Next, click the Activate button.
If the key fits, the next window will indicate that the Windows system is activated.
To check activation, you can also go to the Activation menu and see that the activation status is active. By expanding the menu, you can see that the Windows system has been activated with a digital license and is now linked to your Microsoft account.
