Clean Install of W11 24H2 on Zx40 workstations

[JC_Work]

Hello all!

I have a question which I believe it has been answered on this Forum before, but just wanted to make sure I get the answer right.

I’m about to get a refurbished HP Zx40 workstation (either a Z640 or a Z840) to place next to my wonderful Z620. The new workstation has 2 Xeon E5-2690 v4 processors, which, ss I understand it, are not supported by W11 24H2 release.

Question: I know there is a procedure for in-place upgrading from previous Windows versions to 24H2 on unsupported hardware (as outlined by SDH and others). However, I’m still not clear whether a simple clean-install, like the one using the Rufus app (so bypassing TPM and CPU checks) for installing W11 23H2 would work (as it did for my Z620).

As always, thank for any help!

JC

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

This is the easiest way to do an in-place upgrade from W10 or earlier versions of W11 to W11 24H2;

How to Install Windows 11 on Unsupported PC in 2025 (New Easiest Method, No CMD)

For a clean install, make a bootable Rufus-created W11 installation flash drive using the guidance in this video:

Windows 11 24H2 Install on Unsupported Hardware with Rufus

[SDH]

Agree with Paul. He originally got me into using Rufus and I'm still only doing clean installs and in-place upgrades with that (using the Rufus 4.6 newest version as shown in the second video). A couple of tips:

I make sure I have the latest BIOS in place initially, and set BIOS to factory defaults. You can fine tune BIOS later.

Whether you use a 2.5" SSD or a NVMe M.2 SSD in a Z Turbo Drive as your target boot drive it is wise to prepare it ahead of time by using a "clean" command and then GPT partitioning of it using DiskPart. Finally do a long-type NTFS format of the drive using the built in Disk Management utility. I use the built in DiskPart utility for the first 2 steps, and you can do that for either type of boot drive you choose in your Z620. I've posted my HowTo for using DiskPart here several times and can do it again if you need.

I disconnect from the internet when I do clean/upgrade installs to W11 24H2 via Rufus 4.6 to streamline the process and to best avoid MS forcing creation of a MS account. I check all the boxes on the one page of multiple things you can choose from in Rufus 4.6. Because I'm off the net the check for updates recommendation in that second video is moot, and you'll do fine with doing that later.

There also is the HP Cloud Recovery process with the ZX40 generation of workstations being the first to have that available. Those are custom builds from HP engineers but that one is W10Pro64 only. There can be some benefits to using that and doing an in-place upgrade to W11 24H2 with Rufus 4.6 after running all the W10Pro64 updates via Windows Update before that last step.

Licensing: If your ZX40 came from HP licensed for W10Pro64 (see a Windows decal on the back and noted in tiny letters on a case bottom label) then you'll be digitally licensed once you hook back to the net. The MS licensing servers check your UUID on the motherboard. If yours was a HP Linux build it won't be properly licensed yet. You can find legal W10Pro64 licenses for quite inexpensive these days, and those work for W11Pro64 also in my experience.

[DGroves]

just about every SSD maker strongly recommends that you do not do a  "Long" format on a SSD this is due to it being a solid state device that is accessed completely differently than a spinning mech drive

SDH is correct that you should first remove all existing SSD partitions, and this needs to be done manually as simply formatting a shown partition on a SSD/Mech drive will not remove all partition information

windows 10/11 will show you all existing partitions found on all connected storage devices during the clean install and this is where you can manually remove/delete the existing partitions from the boot ssd/mech drive

due to many people not knowing how to read/determine the boot device when multiple devices are connected it's useually recommended to disconnect all storage devices except for the boot device to prevent deleting partitions from drives that hold data that you wish to keep

last, current builds of windows now enable bittlocker by default,

i strongly recommend that you disable this feature as soon as you finish the OS install

unless you wish for all drives to be encrypted meaning you will be unable to remove a data drive and connect it to another system and access it unless you decrypt it before removal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVqKy3oBDQc&t=93

• 1. Using Manage BitLocker:

  • Open the Start Menu and search for "Manage BitLocker". 
  • Select the drive you want to disable BitLocker on. 
• Click "Turn off BitLocker". 

• 2. Using Control Panel:
• Open the Control Panel and go to "System and Security". 
• Select "BitLocker Drive Encryption". 
• Choose the drive and click "Turn off BitLocker". 

• 3. Using PowerShell:
• Open PowerShell as an administrator. 
• Use the command: Disable-BitLocker -Volume C: -RecoveryPassword <your recovery password>. 

• 4. Using Privacy & Security settings:
• Open the Settings app and go to "Privacy & Security". 
• Select "Device Encryption". 
• Toggle the "Device encryption" setting to off. 

• 5. Using Registry Editor (for Windows 11 Home):
• Open the Registry Editor. 
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BitLocker. 
• Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named "PreventDeviceEncryption". 
• Set the Value data to "1". 

[JC_Work]

Excellent - thanks for this Paul 🙂

[JC_Work]

Hi SDH,

Thanks for the tips 😉

As a matter of fact, the workstation I’m getting should come with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed on the 512 GB NVMe M.2 SSD drive so, I was thinking, I would first do a quick installation of Windows 10 to make sure the licence is firmly  associated to the motherboard. Then, after a quick run to make sure everything is working fine, I would:

- do a BIOS replicate
- then a BIOS update (do I need to do it through a USB key or the Zx440 allows for automatic update through the BIOS menu?)
- prepare a USB key with Rufus 4.6 (as per Paul instructions)
- disconnect from Internet (thanks for the tip!)
- do a clean install of W11 24H2

I’m still not clear, though, whether I need to do the DiskPart step on the boot drive … I usually leave the boot drive dedicated exclusively to the OS. For Apps. VMs and other programs I would use the additional SSDs/M.2 drives (on my Z620 I have 9 partitions across the 2 non-bootable SSDs)

I’m quite intrigued by the option of the HP Cloud Recovery – would be great if they catered for W11 too 😉

JC

[JC_Work]

Hi DGroves,

Great tip regarding BitLocker : I wasn't aware that the latest Windows builds enable it by default - thanks for pointing this out! 😉

As for removing  all SSDs and other connected storage prior to the OS installation, I've been doing this for years as I experienced many moons ago the pain of wiping out the wrong partition 😉

Thanks again!

JC

[SDH]

JC_Work,

Happy to help. I'll go through some items:

1. You likely know there is no M.2 socket built into the ZX40 family of workstations. Hopefully it is coming with a HP Z Turbo Drive G2 (with the good sized aluminum heatsink) and yet some original owners installed another maker's PCIe card. I consider the ZTD G2 to be the best. There even are the ZTD Dual Pro and the ZTD Quad Pro cards you install in PCIe x8 and PCIe x16 slots, respectively. For those you need to learn about setting bifurcation of the slot in BIOS. For the DP in an x8 slot you set it to x4x4. For the QP in the bottom x16 slot you set to x4x4x4x4. All these are single slot width, and all can be connected to the single on-motherboard drive activity 2-pin header. I've done all that and posted here on how, in the ZX40.

2. If your ZX40 workstation has ever booted W10Pro64 and then linked to the internet the motherboard will be registered at the mothership (MS) as digitally licensed for both W10Pro64 and W11Pro (which is 64-bit only). So, when you first load W11Pro24H2 and connect to the internet it will auto-authenticate itself. You can see that has happened by looking in the system settings for the "activation" status... that happens quickly.

3. I'd update BIOS from within BIOS using the USB approach. I've posted on my method of getting the .bin file onto the USB at the bottom of 3 layers of directories named correctly. However, the BIOS update SoftPaq also has a create-USB-BIOS-updater mechanism and that will work well also. The BIOS is smart enough now also to establish a rudimentary network connection to a Microsoft server and download the .bin file directly (all from BIOS) too but in my experience there are some non-default BIOS settings that need to be set properly for that to work. I don't ever update BIOS from within the OS because that is where we've seen higher risks. Many get away with it, however.

4. I'll attach my latest HowTo for DiskPart that includes a bit more of DGroves' advice below. Your drive may be MBR partitioned and that does not work as well with UEFI BIOS as a GPT partitioned drive does. I used to only use MBR partitioned drives and Legacy BIOS settings but have learned that the GPT/UEFI combination removes odd behavior better and gets me better advanced installs.

5. I like your SSD approach. You might really like the ZTD Dual Pro. There is now an original DP and a G2. I actually like the older one quite a bit because its heatsink is not so delicate (but its drive activity and device ID headers are a bit jammed together). I've gotten the original version for as low as 25.00 new from eBay (844779-001). I've posted here on them; we have both and both can run side-by-side high quality M.2 sticks that are even PCIe 4 rated equally well in our ZX40 workstations (which only have PCIe 3 slots). Those PCIe 4 M.2 SSDs run a little faster in your PCIe 3 slots (you don't get HP PCIe 4 slots until the ZX G5 generation). 

6. The ZX40 generation is excellent but was released before W11 and HP has moved up 2 more generations now. Don't hold your breath for a HP Cloud Recovery W11 build for your ZX40 workstation, but it is pretty easy to get their ZX40 Cloud Recovery W10Pro64 build upgraded via Rufus 4.6 to W11Pro 24H2. However, I'd recommend you start with a clean install of W11 onto a GPT partitioned M.2 SSD.

[DGroves]

per Microsoft a windows 10 and 11 activation key is exactly the same

a key for win 10 will activate win 11 and vice versa

your HP zx40 bios has the necessary OEM key embedded in the bios

there is no need to install win 10 first if wanting to install win 11 using

a modified installer that bypasses the hardware check

as for Windows 10 pre-installed on new systems, the product key is typically embedded in the BIOS (or UEFI firmware). This key is used automatically during the initial setup and installation process. You don't need to manually enter a key if the Windows 10 installation detects this embedded key. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• OEM Keys:  (what your Zx40 HP system has)

  If your Windows 10 was pre-installed by the manufacturer (OEM), it's likely an OEM key is embedded in the BIOS. These keys are tied to the specific hardware of the machine and are not transferable. 
• Digital Entitlement:  (if you did the win 7 to win 10 free upgrade)

  When you upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 or receive a new computer with Windows 10 pre-installed, the hardware (your PC) gets a digital entitlement. This means a unique signature of your computer is stored on Microsoft Activation Servers. 
• Automatic Activation: (mostly applies to Retail installs and some OEM setups)

  When you reinstall Windows 10 on that machine, it will automatically reactivate if the hardware is the same (e.g., same motherboard), even without a product key. 
• No Separate Key Needed:  (HP Zx40 uses embedded key activation)

  You don't need to enter a product key if the installation detects the embedded key or the digital entitlement. 
• Where to find the key:

  You can't usually view the OEM key directly in the BIOS. Microsoft support. Windows itself reads the key from the BIOS and uses it for activation. 

[JC_Work]

HH DGroves,

Excellent - thank you so much for this