Nevertheless, Microsoft’s latest desktop OS has retained some design features from 10X. You can still activate 10X’s alternative ring animation in Windows 11 even though there’s no visible option for enabling it. This is how you can change Windows 11’s boot animation to a progressive ring alternative.
How to Change the Boot Animation by Manually Editing the Registry
Windows 11’s progressive boot animation can be considered a hidden design feature. To enable it, a registry tweak needs to be applied that creates a new BootControl key with a BootProgressAnimation DWORD. That’s a pretty straightforward registry tweak you can apply as follows:
Press the Win + R Run shortcut and input Regedit inside the Open box. Then select OK to view Registry Editor. Place the cursor inside Registry Editor’s address bar to select and clear the current location. Open the Control key by inputting this path and pressing Return: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control Next, right-click Control and select the New context menu option. Select the Key option to add a new registry entry. Type BootControl to be the new subkey’s title. Select the BootControl key. Right-click inside the Registry Editor’s right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit). Enter BootProgressAnimation in the text box for the DWORD. Double-click the BootProgressAnimation DWORD to view a value window for it. Erase 0 and input 1 in the Value data box. Select the OK option to save the new value. Click the Registry Editor’s window X button to close.
Now it’s time to see Windows 11’s new progressive ring boot animation. Click the Restart Start menu option. When Windows restarts, you’ll see a different ring, shown in the screenshot below.
The difference between them is that the new animation is a solid ring. The default Windows 11 boot ring is a dotted one. The solid ring from 10X is a slightly clearer and bolder boot animation.
However, you can restore Windows 11’s original boot animation if you prefer it. Open the Control key, as covered in steps one to four above. Then right-click the BootAnimation key you added and select Delete. Click Yes to confirm you’re sure about erasing that registry entry.
How to Change the Boot Animation With a Registry Script
A registry script is a file that applies registry modifications. You can set up a registry script that enables the progressive ring animation in Windows 11, which is a slightly more automated method. This is how to set up a script that changes the boot animation:
Press the taskbar button that has a magnifying glass icon. Open Notepad by right-clicking the search result for that text editor and selecting Run as administrator. Select the script text below, and press the Ctrl + C key combination for copying. Windows Registry Editor Version 5. 00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BootControl]“BootProgressAnimation”=dword:00000001 Click Notepad’s Edit menu, and select a Paste option from there. Then select the File menu. Click Save As to view options for saving. Next, click anywhere along the Save as type drop-down menu to open it. Select the All files option from there. Type Progressive Ring. reg in the File name text box. You can add a different file name there, but the . reg extension must be included at the end. Save the script in the Desktop folder so it’s easy to find. Click Notepad’s Save option. Then close the Notepad app to view the desktop. Double-click the Progressive Ring. reg file on your desktop. Press the Yes button when asked to continue. Finally, click OK on the Registry Editor window.
Now you’ll see the progressive ring animation when you restart Windows 11. You can disable that animation by deleting its key as covered at the end of method one. Or you can set up a registry script to do it for you. Create a registry script with the same steps above, but paste this code into Notepad instead:
How to Change the Boot Animation With Winaero Tweaker
Winaero Tweaker is customization software with which you can change Windows 11’s boot animation. That freeware software incorporates numerous options for customizing the boot and login, among which is a Windows 10X Boot Animation setting. These are the steps for changing the boot animation with Winaero Tweaker:
First, you’ll need to download and install Winaero Tweaker. You can download the ZIP archive for that software from the Winaero Tweaker website. Select the Download Winaero Tweaker link on that website. Extract the Winaero Tweaker archive, and install the software with its setup wizard. Our Winaero Tweaker guide for customizing Windows includes full instructions for installing the software. Bring up the Winaero Tweaker window. Double-click Boot and Logon in the navigation sidebar. Select Windows 10X Boot Animation at the bottom of the Boot and Logon category. Click the Enable Boot Animation from Windows 10X checkbox to select that setting. Then restart your Windows 11 desktop or laptop to see a new ring animation.
If you decide you don’t want a progressive ring circle, you can restore the default animation with Winaero Tweaker’s settings. Deselect the Enable Boot Animation from Windows 10X checkbox. Or you can click the Reset this page to defaults button.
Winaero Tweaker also includes some other interesting boot and login options worth noting. For instance, you can disable the boot animation ring altogether. To do that, click Boot Options to view the settings below. Unchecking the Enable loading circle checkbox will disable that animation. You can also remove the Windows 11 logo from the boot sequence by deselecting the Enable Windows logo box above that setting.
There you can also select four boot behavior settings. You can set Windows 11 to always display startup settings during startup by selecting the Always show advanced boot menus checkbox. Or select Always show boot menu to view the Windows Boot Manager when you start up your PC.
Add a Stylish New Boot Animation to Windows 11
So, how do you like the new 10X progressive ring boot animation in Windows 11? Some users will probably love the more stylish ring, but others may prefer the old one. Try enabling the progressive ring animation with one of the methods above to see which one you prefer.
