There is no choice of Windows 11 version during installation - if you are faced with a similar situation when you decided to perform a "clean install" of the operating system from a USB drive, then you actually have two options for action:
- There is nothing to do and put up with what you have installed in automatic mode;
- Act and solve your problem once and for all, especially since solving the problem will not take much time and effort.
It's worth starting with the fact that most often the problem in which it is impossible to choose the OS version occurs on those devices that originally had a preinstalled system: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8. If such a device is subjected to a "clean install" and use UEFI mode, the tool responsible for installing the software it will check for the presence of the pre-installed Windows product key (it is hidden and stored in the BIOS / UEFI) and when it is detected, the version of the system that corresponds more to the device will be automatically installed. Most often, Windows 11 Home is installed, since its developers almost always install it on most devices.
All of the above is not a software failure or a critical error, since this is an initially thought–out log of actions for the system, which allows the user not to think about which edition will suit his device and how to activate it all. In fact, the process of installing the system and activating an existing key proceeds automatically. But if you are not satisfied with this, we suggest doing the following:
- It is necessary to create a "Text document" / "Notepad" by right-clicking on an empty area of the desktop → a context menu will appear in which we hover the mouse cursor over "Create" → select "Text document we write the commands: [EditionID], [Channel] and Retail.
- Now, you need to save the text document correctly, which should be named "ei.cfg". Please note that when saving – in the "File Type" area, you definitely need to specify "All files" - this is necessary so that the file being created does not receive the .txt extension. Here, the encoding type must be selected - UTF-8.
Next, the "ei.cfg" file you created needs to be copied and placed in the "sources" folder located on a bootable USB drive.
If everything is done correctly, then you will be able to see that the problem in which there is no choice of the version of Windows 11 during installation has disappeared and you have the opportunity to choose the version of the operating system.
