# Windows 11 Pro

ZCP offers a Windows 11 Pro (64-bit) image, available in every region. It boots with the firmware Windows 11 requires (UEFI Secure Boot and a TPM 2.0 device) and ships with the drivers and agents needed for good performance and clean management. On first boot it sets a unique administrator password for immediate sign-in.

Windows 11 is licensed bring-your-own-license (BYOL). The image is not activated, and you supply your own valid Windows 11 license. See [Licensing](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/operating-systems/windows-11/#licensing-bring-your-own-license-byol) below.

Windows 11 Pro is validated and available in every region.

## What’s included

| Component | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Operating system | Windows 11 Pro, 64-bit |
| Firmware | UEFI + Secure Boot + TPM 2.0 (meets Windows 11 requirements) |
| Paravirtual drivers | Pre-installed for fast disk and network I/O |
| Guest agent | Graceful shutdown/reboot and application-consistent VM snapshots |
| First-boot setup | Sets a unique admin password and the hostname automatically |
| Regions | Montréal and Ottawa |
| Activation | Not activated. Bring your own license (BYOL) |

Because the TPM and Secure Boot are present, features such as BitLocker drive encryption and Windows Hello are available once you activate Windows.

## Licensing: bring your own license (BYOL)

The Windows 11 Pro image is provided without a license. ZCP does not include or sell a Windows client license with the instance. You must provide and activate your own. Until you activate, the instance runs as an unactivated copy of Windows (a desktop watermark appears and some personalization settings are locked), but it is otherwise fully usable.

You are responsible for holding a valid Windows 11 license whose terms permit use on hosted or cloud infrastructure, and for keeping that license compliant. Confirm your entitlement with Microsoft or your reseller before relying on a Windows instance for production.

### Activate after first sign-in

Sign in (see [First login](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/operating-systems/windows-11/#first-login)), then activate with whichever method matches your license:

- Retail / OEM product key: Settings → System → Activation → Change product key, or from an elevated PowerShell:

  ```powershell
  slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
  slmgr /ato
  ```
- Volume licensing (MAK): enter your MAK key the same way (`slmgr /ipk` then `slmgr /ato`).
- Volume licensing (KMS): point the instance at your KMS host:

  ```powershell
  slmgr /skms your-kms-host:1688
  slmgr /ato
  ```

Confirm activation with `slmgr /xpr` or in Settings → Activation.

## Deploy a Windows 11 Pro instance

1. Go to Compute → Create Instance (see [Create Instance](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/compute/create-instance/)).
2. Choose the Windows 11 Pro image.
3. Pick a region and a plan. Windows 11 needs at least 4 GB RAM and 2 vCPUs. 8 GB RAM is recommended for a responsive desktop.
4. Attach to a network and create the instance.

The instance boots straight through to the Windows desktop. There are no setup wizards or region/keyboard prompts.

Windows plans are larger than Linux plans because the desktop OS needs more memory and disk. Size the plan for your workload, not the minimum.

## First login

1. Open your instance and retrieve its auto-generated admin password from the portal (the image sets a unique password per instance on first boot).
2. Connect with Remote Desktop (RDP) to the instance’s public IP. See [Connect via RDP](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/compute/connect-rdp/), or use [Console Access](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/compute/console-access/) from the portal.
3. Sign in as `Administrator` with that password.

Regenerate the admin password from the portal at any time. The new password applies after the next reboot. Keep RDP locked down with a [firewall rule](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/compute/settings/firewall/) that allows port 3389 only from your own IPs.

## Recommended first steps

- Activate Windows with your license (see [Licensing](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/operating-systems/windows-11/#licensing-bring-your-own-license-byol)).
- Change the `Administrator` password to one only you know.
- Set the time zone and run Windows Update.
- If you store sensitive data, enable BitLocker (the TPM 2.0 backs it automatically).

## Microsoft documentation

For Windows 11 features, administration, and licensing details, see the official Microsoft documentation:

- [Windows 11 documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/)
- [Activate Windows](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows-c39005d4-95ee-b91e-b399-2820fda32227)

## Good to know

- Snapshots and backups work with the guest agent installed. See [VM Snapshots](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/backups-snapshots/vm-snapshots/) and [Backups](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/backups-snapshots/backups/).
- The image is rebuilt and re-validated for each release. Existing instances are unaffected.
- Only Windows 11 Pro is offered as a hosted client image today. For the server OS, see [Windows Server](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/operating-systems/windows-server/).
- For the full image catalog, see [Operating System Images](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/operating-systems/).