How to Install Windows 11 on Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 Using a USB Drive

Preparing for Windows 11 Installation

• 💡 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 is the target device for this Windows 11 installation guide.
• 📌 A USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of memory is required for creating a bootable drive.
• ⚠️ Ensure you are downloading Windows 11 directly from the Microsoft website to avoid malware.

Creating a Bootable Windows 11 USB

• 🚀 Download the Windows 11 multi-edition ISO for x64 devices from Microsoft.
• 🛠️ Download Rufus, a program for creating bootable USB flash drives.
• 💾 Select your USB drive in Rufus, choose the downloaded Windows 11 ISO, and click Start to begin the process.
• ⚠️ All data on the USB drive will be erased; back up personal files beforehand.

Driver Preparation and USB Setup

• 🔍 Search for Lenovo drivers, specifically the wireless LAN driver, on the Lenovo support website.
• 💻 Identify your specific laptop model (e.g., Idea Pad Slim 5 16 ABR8) to download the correct drivers.
• 📂 After Rufus completes the bootable USB creation, copy the downloaded drivers to the USB drive.
• 🔌 Eject the USB drive and plug it into the Lenovo laptop, ensuring the laptop is connected to its charging cable.

Booting and Installing Windows 11

• ⚡ Turn on the laptop and immediately press F12 to access the boot menu.
• 🖱️ Select EFI USB Device from the boot menu and press Enter.
• ⚙️ Follow the on-screen prompts for language, time, and keyboard input.
• 🗑️ In the disk setup window, delete all existing partitions to start with unallocated space.
• 💾 You can choose to create separate partitions or let the installer use the entire unallocated space for a single C: drive.
• ▶️ Click Install and wait for Windows 11 to be installed.

Post-Installation Driver Setup

• 💻 After Windows installation, press Shift + F10 to open the Command Prompt (cmd).
• 🌐 If the cmd doesn't open, use Fn + Esc to enable the function keys, then try Shift + F10 again.
• 📁 Navigate to your USB drive in cmd using its drive letter (e.g., D: or E:) and the cd .. command.
• 🖱️ Use the dir command to list files and find the driver executable.
• ✅ Execute the driver installation command by typing its name and pressing Enter.
• 📶 Once the driver is installed, you can connect to your network and complete the Windows setup.