Windows 11 assist

bean

bean

Legume Liaison
I built my last desktop in 2016 and upgraded to Win 10 maybe 2 years ago. I've only upgraded RAM and the video card since 2016 and I have no desire to upgrade hardware further. It does what I need it to do and it runs the games and software I wanna use just fine.

What's the skinny on hardware requirements for 11 now? I've heard conflicting things on compatibility. First, that there were workarounds for non-compatible hardware then that MS had dropped the compatibility upgrade requirement. I've got a fresh, unused 2TB SSD waiting for a new Windows install (long overdue) but I'm not sure if I should try to upgrade to 11 now or just hold out with 10 until things start to break.

My essential software is EagleCAD, Adobe suite, Steam, Reaper and Samplitude. That's it.
 
It's a bit up in the air at the minute. It was really easy to bypass the hardware compatibility requirements and for a while Microsoft even had instructions on how to do it themselves.

In one of the most recent updates though they patched the main way people were doing it. It can still be done but Microsoft appear to be getting stricter on trying to enforce their arbitrary security requirements.

I'm holding off and keeping our gaming rig on win10 for as long as possible. Official support is ending in October this year but it looks like you'll be able to pay a small fee to keep windows 10 support for another year after that and I'm thinking about doing it.
 
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bean said:
I built my last desktop in 2016 and upgraded to Win 10 maybe 2 years ago. I've only upgraded RAM and the video card since 2016 and I have no desire to upgrade hardware further. It does what I need it to do and it runs the games and software I wanna use just fine.

What's the skinny on hardware requirements for 11 now? I've heard conflicting things on compatibility. First, that there were workarounds for non-compatible hardware then that MS had dropped the compatibility upgrade requirement. I've got a fresh, unused 2TB SSD waiting for a new Windows install (long overdue) but I'm not sure if I should try to upgrade to 11 now or just hold out with 10 until things start to break.

My essential software is EagleCAD, Adobe suite, Steam, Reaper and Samplitude. That's it.
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There's a w11 compatibility test on the MS site, somewhere. I ran it on a new-ish laptop but it failed, SO no upgrade for the laptop......
 
I have a PC here that runs Win11 and was originally Windows8. I used it to test the install instructions to bypass compatibility requirements. It runs, does not crash a lot but can sometimes be really slow. I think the generation of your CPU was also a criteria.
 
I hope to stretch some of my teens pc's out as long as I can.... My 3 teenage boys and myself have some pretty sick gaming pc's I've built.. I've upgraded them here and there the last several years but it's looking like motherboard, cpu and ram is unpreventable by next year for all 3 of theirs.. I'm already running 11 on an x570 platform with AMD 5900x .. All four of us are running 30 series cards but they are still very relevant for what we are running.. I have asus rog strix 3090ti and the kiddos have 3060ti's... Still cooking fps on our games.
 
swelchy said:
Your motherboard dictates if it's windows 11 compatible... I have built around 50 pc's for friends, family and work the last 7 years.. It has to be TpM 2.0 ready
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Yeah, mine is definitely not. This is so damned frustrating. Go with the workaround and hope for the best or replace my mobo, processor, and memory. Then deal with any potential headaches of a basically new system. My current one is ridiculously stable right now.
 
bean said:
Yeah, mine is definitely not. This is so damned frustrating. Go with the workaround and hope for the best or replace my mobo, processor, and memory. Then deal with any potential headaches of a basically new system. My current one is ridiculously stable right now.
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if ya were closer I'd come build it for ya and put an unbloated version of 11 on it for ya...
 
bean said:
My current one is ridiculously stable right now.
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This hit me too. Win 10 as an update from 7 ran stable over years. I even swapped the hardware without an issue in '20 but then the cpu died and a new installation was needed. I still don't know why because the hardware swap was perfect before. Then I switched to 11 with the workaround and now the file explorer is horribly slow. Everything else is okish.
 
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fontoponto said:
Sorry I don't want to go OT but I am a linux user and configured all perfectly fine for everyhing including Kicad etc BUT gaming sucks...
As usual: Linux for work, Windows for gaming and pr0n.
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I concur, I actually don’t even use Linux for desktop stuff lol.
 
To actually address bean’s concerns. I would stick with W10 for as long as you need, within reason. Take the time to plan hardware upgrades that work best for you and upgrade to W11 when you can. If your concerned about security you could get a good third party antivirus or pay for the extended support.
 
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