Tiny11 makes Windows 11 run on low-end unsupported systems

Tiny11 is a custom unofficial image that allows Windows 11 to run on unsupported hardware and only requiring 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage.

Tiny11 Windows 11
Tiny11 Windows 11 / Image: NTDEV
  • Tiny11 is a custom ISO image of Windows 11.
  • The project allows you to install Windows 11 on low-end and unsupported devices.
  • The custom image removes bloatware, allowing a small installation footprint.
  • Tiny11 only requires 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage and bypasses TPM and Secure Boot requirements.

You can now install Windows 11 on a computer with 2GB of RAM and a hard drive with 8GB of space using Tiny11.

Tiny11 is a custom image of Windows 11 that has all the “unnecessary” elements stripped out, such as many of the default applications, services, and features. The idea of Tiny11 is to have the ability to install the operating system on low-end devices since it only requires 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage.

The most interesting part about this project is that everything works as expected (but without the bloatware). You can use Windows Update to download system updates. You can activate the copy of Windows 11 like any other version. In addition, you can run the available applications (Paint, Notepad, and others) without dependencies issues.

Also, most security features, such as Microsoft Defender Antivirus, Core isolation, and Data encryption, are still available.

Tiny11 removes Microsoft Edge from the installation, which means you will have to use another computer to download the Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox installer onto a USB flash drive, or you’ll have to use the Microsoft Store to download Firefox.

The installation experience has also been untouched, but the TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements have been disabled to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, and you can upgrade from Windows 10. The out-of-box experience (OOBE) is the same as the regular installation, with the difference that you can create a local account.

Although the Tiny11 ISO offers an alternative method to install Windows 11 on less powerful hardware, there are some caveats you have to consider. First, this is an unofficial image, which means that Microsoft does not support it. Second, you can encounter security problems because of the vulnerabilities that this modified version of Windows 11 opens up since many of the system components have been removed, and no one knows if anything extra has been added to the image that may be considered a privacy concern.

The one behind Tiny11 is a person going by NTDEV on X and YouTube who often experiments with new takes on Windows.

While it’s not recommended, you can download the Tiny11 ISO file to install a stripped-down version of Windows 11 from the Archive.org website. (You would need to create an account to access the download.)

The Windows 11 installation using the Tiny11 ISO file is similar to the fresh install using the original image on a new device. You can use a spare computer or virtual machine to try the operating system.

Also, an even smaller version of Tiny11 exists, which they refer to as “Minwin.” This text-only Windows 11 image removes the graphical interface and only uses the command line shell (similar to the Core edition of Windows Server).

In addition, this is a lightweight version of Windows 11 that reduces the installation footprint to 100MB, and it can be installed on a drive with less than 2GB of space. However, since there isn’t a link to download the Minwin image, this seems to be only an experiment to show how small the operating system can get.

Update January 30, 2024: This content has been updated to ensure accuracy and reflect new information.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.