Background:
For many of me, it was a real shock and a big annoyance that two of my then computers with Windows 10 were not considered compatible with Windows 11. I scrapped the desktop one but an old HP from around 2012 (yes, it even came with Windows 8 (the version that was supposed to give all Windows computers a “Phone-like OS”) that most people just hated. Windows 10 came as a sobering up and a return to “normal”. Windows 10, which until recently was bigger than Windows 11 on the market, has now been flagged by Microsoft as “End of Life” and now millions of Windows 10 users risk that their operating system will no longer receive any so-called security upgrades. As a result, the need to be able to upgrade even Windows 10 compatible machines has become urgent for millions of users.
The machine requirements that have made an upgrade impossible have been:
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The machine must support so-called “Secure Boot” and this must be activated.
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The machine must support TPM 2.0 which must be activated
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The machine must have a sufficiently new processor (I have at least generation 12 of Intel’s processors)
(so it was perhaps not surprising that people saw this as a joint project from Intel and Microsoft to sell more hardware and OS)
- The machines must also have at least 4 GB RAW.
How do you do that?
There are lots of tips and tricks on Youtube where you should go into the Windows Registry and add “keys” to the system settings there, etc., but you can actually forget about them. I have tried it with poor results.
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Instead, you start by making or obtaining a sufficiently large USB memory.
At least a 16 GB USB is required. -
Then you download a free program called RUFUS. (landing in Downloaded files)
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You continue by downloading an ISO file with Windows 11 from Microsoft (landing in Downloaded files) files)
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Then you should watch the following Youtube video about how to do it and what you have to check and think about before running Rufus.
Check in particular how to set the file system selection in Rufus and how to check which one to use.
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Then plug the USB stick into your computer, run RUFUS and configure before running.
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When the run starts, you will first get a menu and there you can turn off all these requirements that prevented you from upgrading previously: Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, the requirement for at least 4 GB RAM and then it may be a good idea to turn off the requirement for disk encryption in the computer. I do this for two reasons: firstly the computer runs faster without encryption and secondly it is easier to save data from a disk that may not boot but your data will remain undamaged if this happens. Also, don’t forget to tick that you want to install with a “local” user account instead of the Microsoft account Microsoft would rather have you choose - if you want to avoid the Microsoft grief that otherwise overflows er.
Important!!! During the installation, the program will ask you for the software code (4 x 5 characters) and in many cases when Windows is shipped (OEM) many users do not have one but don’t worry (just choose: “you don’t have the code”. If your computer has had Windows 10 installed before, Microsoft already has your machine ID and will approve your upgrade without any problems.
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Now you have a bootable USB with instructions on it that allows Windows 11 to upgrade a Windows 10 disk on a Windows 11 incompatible computer - without deleting your data if you want to or you choose to install Windows 11 without keeping any of the old. In my case, I also needed to delete two old partitions and merge them into one. The installation program also contains functions that make this possible.
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The last step before the installation is to start the computer and try to enter the BIOS on the computer to change the boot order in the computer, so that it boots first from the USB stick instead of from the hard drive or The SDD disk if you have one instead. On my old HP laptop, the function key F10 applies.
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Once this is done, just run the installation. In my case, the computer’s built-in WIFI did not work, so I had to get a new WIFI-7-USB instead, but that was only good because then it really sucked when surfing the web.
The end result exceeded my expectations really. It is like new again thanks to a fresh install, my configurations, a local account and my WIFI 7 stick. I will only have this computer as a backup and a mobile alternative for surfing, emailing, controlling and monitoring our technical systems such as the heating plant and our geothermal heat pumps, as well as printing a few documents occasionally.
I think most people can manage to upgrade their old machines with the help of the excellent Youtube video I linked to. Give it a try - I think it is a shame and quite upsetting that people might throw fully functioning machines into the bins at our recycling centers unnecessarily just because they might think that these machines cannot be upgraded - they can!
I don´t necessarily suggest that this is a method to revive an old PC to be used with Photolab - It is not! - but you might find an older machine can be used for not so demanding tasks and Internet-surfing. If you are on the Internet it is good to be in sych with the the current security level of your OS and with upgrading to Windows 11 you will get that protection and with Windows 10 it ceases when that version hits the End of Life.
How many miljons of old computers has been scrapped the last five years because we have though they were not possible to upgrade to Windows 11? Personally I can´t understand why Microsoft pushed this so hard. They did for sure what they did also with a good mening when trying to lift the security level in our machines BUT not all of these machines where used at government offices or in banks. Wouldn´t it have been better to leave the decission to the users on which security level they prefer instead of forcing this on the users in a very brutal matter.
Buying miljons and miljons of new computers just like that around the globe before the old ones has even really reached the “end of life” technically is beyond the means of many people today in most countries and it borders on pure destruction of capital.