MediaCreationTool.bat: download Windows 11 ISOs and bypass system compatibility check

[harlan4096]

MediaCreationTool,bat is a useful script for Windows to download Windows ISO images from Microsoft servers. The developer has updated the program recently; the latest release introduces support for downloading Windows 11 ISO images and includes a standalone script to toggle the Windows 11 compatibility checks during setup.

I reviewed the MediaCreationTool back in March 2021 when support for Microsoft's Windows 10 version 21H1 system was added by its developer.

The latest version includes support for downloading  a Windows 11 ISO image from Microsoft. Microsoft will update its Media Creation Tool when Windows 11 is released, likely on the day of release on October 5, 2021. The tool is useful, as it includes functionality to copy the operating system to a USB drive or create an ISO image which can be burned to a DVD.

MediaCreationTool is an open source script that supports downloading Windows 11 and also most release versions of Windows 10, including Windows 10 version 21H2.

All it takes is to run the script with elevated privileges to download the desired Windows ISO image from Microsoft.

Downloading the script is a bit more complicated than it could be. Here is what you need to do:

1. Visit the project's GitHub website.
   
2. Make sure that the screen is large enough. Activate the Download Zip button to download the entire archive to the local system.
   
3. Extract the ZIP file once it has been downloaded.
   
4. Right-click on the MediaCreationTool.bat script file and select Run as administrator from the context menu.
   

MediaCreationTool displays all version that can be downloaded. Select a version, e.g. Windows 11, Windows 10 version 21H2, or something else that is listed.

Several options are displayed on the next page. Create ISO and Create USB are self-explanatory: the first saves the downloaded file as an ISO image, the other copies it to a USB Flash drive. I
 

• Auto Setup choice for upgrade directly without prompts, with edition change / intelligent fallback
  
• Create ISO choice for authoring iso file directly via DIR2ISO snippet, including any 'oem' customizations
  
• Create USB choice for authoring usb via native MCT, including any 'oem' customizations (prompts once)
  
• Select in MCT choice for vanilla MCT processing without 'oem' modifications [..]
  

The extracted archive includes another file that may be useful to some users. The command file Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update.cmd configures the system to skip the TPM check during setup of Windows 11.

Tip: Microsoft re-released its own PC Health Check tool to find out if a device is compatible with Windows 11.

Closing Words

MediaCreationTool.bat includes several options that are missing from Microsoft's Media Creation Tool. It includes options to download older versions of Windows 10 among other things. The command file may be useful on systems that prevent the installation because of incompatibilities.

Now You: do you plan to upgrade to Windows 11?
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