How to Download & Boot Windows 11 using ISO File?

Windows 11 ISO file is necessary to build a bootable media that can be used to boot target computers into Windows 11. Windows 11 comes with various advantages like Android application support, quicker reset, improved security, and better performance.

Thus it is recommended to upgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 11and let us discuss the steps involved downloading a Windows 11 ISO and booting machines into Windows 11.

How to download Windows 11 ISO?

Follow the steps given below to download a Windows 11 ISO:

1. Navigate to Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices on Microsoft website.

   

2. Select Windows 11 (multi-edition ISO for x64 devices) and click Download Now.

   

3. After validation, you will be taken to the product language. Select the language as per your requirements and click Confirm.

   

4. Finally, click the 64-bit download to complete the Windows 11 ISO download.

   

Thus, you can download a Windows 11 ISO file that can be used to install the Windows 11 operating system on your target computers. However, this Windows 11 ISO installation process cannot be customized to suit your organizational requirements.

For example, OS Deployer allows you to customize the Windows 11 installation process like the relevant applications to be installed, computer names/ patterns, SID, user profiles, and much more. Also, with our zero-touch deployment you can deploy the Windows 11 image to multiple computers simultaneously right from your desk.

In this article, we will discuss the steps involved in booting computers using Windows 11 ISO bootable media using OS Deployer.

1. Image a Windows 11 machine
2. How to create bootable ISO for Windows 11?
3. Download Windows 11 ISO file
4. Boot Windows 11 using ISO

Image a Windows 11 machine

The first step involved in this process is to image a Windows 11 machine with the required set of applications to create a Windows 11 ISO image. You can use either online imaging or offline imaging to image the customized Windows 11 machine.

This image will be stored in our image repository where the target computers will reach out to copy the image for deployment. This image can then be deployed directly using a deployment template or the deployment process can be scheduled using a deployment task.

For detailed information regarding the imaging process, follow this link.

How to create bootable ISO for Windows 11?

The next step is to create the Windows 11 ISO file to load the WinPE tool and the necessary network and hard disk drivers. The bootable media can then be used to boot the target computers for deployment.

1. Under Deployment tab, click Bootable Media and select Create Bootable Media.
2. Choose the ISO media type.

   

3. Enter a bootable media name
4. Choose the WinPE tool installed location if it is installed already. If not, you can either automatically or manually download and install the tool.
5. Choose the architecture of the target computers which can be 32 bit or 64 bit.
6. Add the required drivers by adding the vendor drivers or adding drivers available in the driver repository.
7. Now to add the required drivers, choose between adding the vendor drivers / adding drivers available in the driver repository.

   To add vendor drivers, we have two options:

   1. Selecting vendor drivers (recommended)
      
      • Click on the Select drivers option.
      • You can choose from a list of readily downloadable vendor drivers.
      • The chosen drivers will be downloaded on the server machine from the vendor site and then the media creation will proceed.
   2. Uploading drivers using download links
      
      • If the server machine does not have access to the internet, use this option to upload the vendor drivers.
      • Click on the Upload drivers option. You will have the official links provided for Dell, Lenovo and HP respectively.
      • You can download the files from the website and add them here by clicking on the browse option. The drivers will be uploaded to the server.

   To add drivers available in the repository, follow the steps given below;

   • Enable Add drivers from repository -> Select network & hard disk drivers. You will get list of driver files available in driver repository.
   • Search the required drivers based on the hardware ID or filter based on the share path, storage type, manufacturer or model.
   • Select the driver files and click save.
8. Click on Create bootable media

Download Windows 11 ISO file

Once the Windows 11 ISO bootable media is created, the next step is to download the Windows 11 ISO file by navigating to Action-> Download Media. The Windows 11 ISO file can then be burned/ copied to CD/DVD/USB using third-party software.

Boot Windows 11 using ISO

The final step in Windows 11 ISO file installation is to the boot the target computer using the downloaded Windows 11 ISO file.

1. Insert the CD/DVD into the target computer.
2. Open the Boot order menu, and select the CD/DVD drive either from LEGACY BOOT or UEFI BOOT.
3. Ensure that you select the required boot option based on the created image to perform the proper deployment.
4. For virtual machines, you can directly upload the downloaded ISO file to the target virtual machine to perform imaging and deployment.