Forum Discussion
MarlonSP
May 29, 2026Brass Contributor
How to upgrade to Windows 11 for free in 2026?
Running an older PC that's been on Windows 10 for years and starting to think about upgrading to Windows 11 before support runs out. The machine works perfectly fine for everyday tasks so replacing i...
MadisonGreen
May 29, 2026Iron Contributor
The /product server trick.
This is a command-line workaround that tricks the Windows 11 installer into skipping hardware compatibility checks (TPM, CPU, RAM) by making it behave as if it's installing Windows Server instead of a consumer edition — which has different/looser hardware requirements.
How It Works? When you run setup.exe /product server, the installer bypasses the standard Windows 11 consumer hardware checks while still installing the normal Windows 11 on your machine. It's not actually installing Windows Server.
setup.exe /product serverThis is one of the simplest methods to upgrade to Windows 11 free from Windows 10 since it requires no third-party tools — just the official ISO and a command prompt.