HOMELAB // k3s

Lenovo G50-80 · i7-5500U · 8 GB RAM · SSD 447 GB · SSHD 1 TB (data)

user@homelab:~/docs$ cat windows.md

Install media and Windows 11

Multi-ISO USB media with Ventoy, Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, and dual-boot preparation

# contents

Overview

GoalWindows 11 on part of the SSD, the rest left unallocated for Ubuntu
ToolsVentoy on an external USB disk, Windows 11 and Ubuntu Server ISOs
ResultWindows 11 Home activated, 150 GB partition, ~300 GB free for Linux
Time~2 h including media preparation

1. Install media (Ventoy)

Ventoy turns a USB disk into boot media where ISO files are simply copied; a menu at boot selects the image. One disk carries several installers and still has room for data.

  1. Run Ventoy2Disk.exe, enable Option → Show All Devices (external HDDs are hidden by default).
  2. Option → Partition Style → GPT, then Install (wipes the disk).
  3. Copy the ISOs to the data partition: Windows 11 x64 and ubuntu-26.04.1-live-server-amd64.iso.

The i7-5500U is not on the Windows 11 support list (5th gen CPU, no TPM 2.0). Ventoy skips the checks via ventoy/ventoy.json:

json @ windows 
{
  "control": [
    { "VTOY_WIN11_BYPASS_CHECK": "1" },
    { "VTOY_WIN11_BYPASS_NRO": "1" }
  ]
}
  • BYPASS_CHECK: skips the TPM, Secure Boot, CPU and RAM checks,
  • BYPASS_NRO: allows setup without network and Microsoft account.

Drivers were exported from the previous Windows installation beforehand:

powershell @ windows 
Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination "F:\drivers"

2. Firmware settings

Novo → BIOS Setup:

SettingValueReason
Boot ModeUEFIGPT disks, one EFI partition shared by both systems
Fast BootDisabledotherwise USB devices are skipped
Secure BootDisabledVentoy does not boot without key enrollment
Intel Virtual TechnologyEnabledVMs for a future kubeadm cluster

Save with Fn + F10.

3. Windows installation

  1. Custom install: delete all partitions on the SSD and the SSHD.
  2. Create a 150,000 MB partition on the SSD; Windows adds EFI (200 MB), MSR (16 MB) and Recovery.
  3. Leave the remaining ~300 GB unallocated.
  4. On the network screen, Shift + F10 and create a local account:
cmd @ windows 
start ms-cxh:localonly

4. Dual-boot preparation

  • Disable Fast Startup (Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do). Fast Startup hibernates instead of shutting down and leaves NTFS locked.
  • Keep the hardware clock in UTC, as Linux does; otherwise time shifts when switching systems:
cmd @ windows 
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation" /v RealTimeIsUniversal /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Verify

  • Windows boots and is activated (the Windows 10 licence covers Windows 11),
  • Disk Management shows ~300 GB Unallocated on the SSD.

Notes