Installing Windows 11 isn’t everyone’s idea of fun (although seriously, what’s wrong with you people). However, worry not, as what was once a tricky operation involving third-party tools (shout out to Rufus for all its hard work over the years), the process is now incredibly easy.
Microsoft has made installing or reinstalling Windows so straightforward that a child could do it. So whether you’re installing Windows 11 on a new machine you’ve just built, or you’re looking to give yourself that fresh install vibe again, here’s what you need to do in order to get Windows 11 onto your machine.
Download the Media Creation Tool
Start by pointing your browser at https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows11 and then hitting the “Download Now” button under Create Windows 11 Installation Media. If you’re feeling a bit more old-school and want to download the previous version of Windows, then you can download Windows 10 instead.
This will download the file mediacreationtool.exe into your downloads folder, double-click it to launch it. After a few minutes of “Getting a few things ready” you’ll be presented with the Microsoft Software License Terms and conditions. Read through all of this and make sure you’re happy before hitting the Accept button (or Decline if you’re not happy, and maybe grab a Linux distro instead).
On the next screen you get to select your Language and which version of Windows you want to install under the Edition settings. This will probably be limited to Windows 11, but try not to let that confuse you. Hit Next and put it out of your mind.
Now you get to choose whether to write the installation straight to a USB stick, or if you’d prefer, you can simply save it as an ISO file. The latter is useful if you want to change the installation using tools that are beyond the scope of this article, but for the vast majority of users, you’re just going to want to write the files straight to a USB stick.
You’ll need a USB stick that has at least 8GB of capacity. Ideally, something that you won’t be using for anything else, as having a Windows 11 installation USB is certainly a good thing to have on hand.
Boot from the USB Drive
To install Windows, restart your PC with the USB drive you’ve just created in an available port. If your machine is reasonably up to date, there’s a good chance that it won’t look for the USB drive at boot time so as to protect your system from nasty viruses and malware. As we’ve just created this using official tools, we know it’s safe, so you’re going to want to jump into your UEFI/BIOS and get it to include the drive on your boot list. Press [Del] or [F2] to enter the BIOS. Once you’re in the BIOS, look for the boot order options and make sure the USB drive is at the top of the list.
Once done, your PC should spot the USB drive as it restarts, and you’ll see the Windows Installation screen. It’s all pretty straightforward at this point.
