Installing Windows
WARNING
Do not use Windows 8 or older. Only recent Windows 10 and 11 builds are supported.
DANGER
Do not use unofficial versions of Windows, such as Ghost Specter or tiny10/11. They are not supported and may contain undetectable malware and/or security vulnerabilities.
TIP
If you want to create a Windows installer from ChromeOS, see the Installing Ventoy page.
Get a USB containing a Windows image. Ventoy, Rufus, and the official Windows media creation tool are the only methods that can be used to create a Windows USB.
Bypassing Windows 11 installation checks:
- At the Windows installer, select "Repair my Computer".
- Select "Command prompt". (May be hidden under an advanced section)
- Type in
regedit
and press Enter - Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup
- Right click
Setup
and create a newKey
calledLabConfig
- Right click
LabConfig
and create newDWORD
(32-bit) calledBypassSecureBootCheck
and set its value to 1 - Right click
LabConfig
and create newDWORD
(32-bit) calledBypassTPMCheck
and set its value to 1 - Close Registry Editor.
- Run
setup
in the command prompt. - Install Windows as you would normally.
Install drivers:
- See Coolstar's Windows Install Helper for drivers. Some of the drivers may be paid.
Installing .cab
drivers
Cab drivers are a little weird, but they're easy to install.
- Create a new folder.
- Open your cab driver using Windows Explorer. 7Zip will not work.
- Copy all the files to that empty folder.
- Enable the option to show file extensions.
- Right click on all the
.inf
files, and select install. - Reboot.
Paid Drivers
Please see CoolStar's driver portal for a step by step tutorial on purchasing drivers.
What drivers do I need to buy?
CPU Generation | Paid Drivers | Notes |
---|---|---|
Sandybridge | n/a | |
Ivybridge | n/a | |
Haswell | n/a | |
Broadwell | n/a | |
Baytrail | n/a | |
Braswell | n/a | |
Skylake | AVS | Models with a Celeron, Pentium, i3 or m3 CPU are eligible for a AUE discount. |
Apollo Lake | AVS or SOF | Can use either SOF or AVS |
Kaby Lake | AVS | |
Amber Lake | AVS | |
Gemini Lake | SOF | |
Comet Lake | SOF | |
Picasso / Dali | n/a | |
Tiger Lake | SOF, TB4 | TB4 and SOF can be purchased as a bundle. |
Jasper Lake | SOF | |
Alder Lake | SOF, TB4 | TB4 and SOF can be purchased as a bundle. |
Cezanne | SOF | |
Mendocino | SOF |