Windows 11 LTSC Made For Old Computers (Installing and Testing)

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is the Windows 11 version many owners of old, “unsupported” computers were waiting for. It officially runs without TPM 2.0 and without Secure Boot, so you don’t need to bypass any requirements. In May 2024 Microsoft released it as a free evaluation copy for testing, and in this video I install it on my old laptop and test it.

Update (October 2026): The final version, Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024, came out on October 1, 2024. Microsoft supports it until October 2034. The free evaluation is still on the Microsoft Evaluation Center if you want to test it.

In this article

1. Minimum Requirements
2. Important: Read This Before You Install
3. What You Need
4. Step 1: Download the ISO from Microsoft
5. Step 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive with Rufus
6. Step 3: Boot from the USB Drive
7. Step 4: Install Windows 11 LTSC
8. Step 5: First Setup
9. The Result

Minimum Requirements

These are Microsoft’s lowest (optional) minimum requirements for Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC:

Note: LTSC 2024 is based on Windows 11 24H2, so your CPU must support the SSE4.2 and POPCNT instructions. Very old processors without them cannot run it. See how to run Windows 11 on older PCs without SSE4.2 and POPCNT.

Important: Read This Before You Install

If you install Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC from one of the ISO files, you won’t be able to uninstall it. After you install the LTSC Evaluation, you also won’t be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows. You would need a clean installation of your old operating system, and you would have to reinstall all your programs and data.

• This is an evaluation copy for testing. It works for 90 days.
• Don’t upgrade your current Windows 10 with it. Do a clean install, ideally on a test computer.
• Back up your files first: the installation erases the disk.

If you want to keep your files and apps, see how to upgrade Windows 10 to LTSC without losing any data.

What You Need

• The Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC ISO from Microsoft (free evaluation)
• A USB flash drive of at least 8 GB (16 GB or more is better)
• Rufus, to make the USB drive bootable

Step 1: Download the ISO from Microsoft

Download the ISO directly from Microsoft’s website. There are two versions:

• 64-bit (x64): for Intel and AMD processors. This is the one for most PCs.
• ARM64: for ARM processors. You can use it to test Windows 11 on an Apple M1, M2 or M3 Mac. Here is how to install Windows 11 on a Mac with Apple silicon.

Official link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-11-iot-enterprise-ltsc

Microsoft Website Link to Download

Step 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive with Rufus

Rufus is the best tool for bootable drives. It is a single .exe file, so you don’t need to install anything.

Rufus website: rufus.ie

Find Rufus Here

1. Plug in your USB flash drive and open Rufus.
2. Under Device, select your USB drive.
3. Click Select and choose the Windows 11 LTSC ISO file.
4. Set the Partition scheme: MBR for old computers with a classic BIOS (like my laptop), or GPT for computers with UEFI.
5. Click Start. When Rufus offers to remove requirements, untick all the options: this version does not need any bypass. Click OK.
6. Wait until the USB drive is ready.

Step 3: Boot from the USB Drive

1. Plug the USB drive into the old computer and turn it on.
2. Open the boot menu right away. On my laptop the key is F12. On other computers it can be Esc, F2, F9 or another key. Search online for your computer model and “boot menu key”.
3. Select your USB drive and press Enter.
4. If you are asked to press any key, press one (for example the space bar).

Step 4: Install Windows 11 LTSC

1. Select the language (my evaluation ISO only offered English) and your keyboard, then click Next.
2. Click Install Windows and confirm that everything will be deleted, including files, apps and settings.
3. Accept the license terms.
4. On the disk screen, delete all partitions on your internal drive (Disk 0 on my laptop). Don’t touch the disk of your USB flash drive.
5. Select the unallocated space on the internal drive and click Next.
6. Click Install and wait. On my old laptop it took less than 10 minutes.

Step 5: First Setup

1. Connect to your Wi-Fi.
2. In the sign-in options, choose Domain join instead to create a local account.
3. Enter a name. You can leave the password empty.
4. Choose your privacy settings. I turned off location and Find my device.
5. If Windows starts downloading updates, you can cancel and install them later.

The Result

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Evaluation (version 24H2) installed without any requirements and without any bypass. There are no preinstalled apps, and it feels very light and fast on my old laptop. You can check your version in Settings > System > About.