Upgrade to Windows 11 for free?

[Gasman]

Both my laptop, and two desktops were not able to update to win 11.
Using a technique revealed on YouTube all three were updated to win 11 and work fine.

 

[Jason Lee Hayes]

It can be upgraded..

 

[jdraw]

Paul,

Using a technique revealed on YouTube all three were updated to win 11 and work fine.

Can you provide the link to the YT you used successfully? Older Lenovo, no TPM in my case.

 

[Gasman]

I believe that my method has now been blocked by MS, but there are other ways.
I got my info from this guy.

I used the server method on all 3 PC's
I believe I did this. https://www.elevenforum.com/t/upgra...xe-method-bypasses-all-hardware-checks.22310/

https://www.xda-developers.com/install-windows-11-unsupported-pc/

 

[The_Doc_Man]

We are currently running Win10 on wife's machine, but (as reported elsewhere) I am now on Win11 because my darned good but 10+-year-old Win10 machine finally bit the big one when the SSD died. A few games that ran on the Win10 O/S from a disc install kit won't run on Win11. However, STEAM had those games ready for Win11 use so I bought new copies. Just as a note for those who put it off until the last minute... there are at least a dozen things to do to personalize your Win11, mostly to turn off or block features that you REALLY don't want your machine doing unless you have highly specialized needs. The potential for the RECALL feature (I believe only on Win 11 Pro) is enough to chill the blood in its implications. There is also the "auto-encrypt" situation where you would do best to just disable Bitlocker from the registry. Win11 ALSO wants to "personalize" your experience... i.e. tell Redmond what you do so they can optimize your machine according to your habits - via feedback. If EVER there was an invasive O/S, it is Win11. And not all of those incursions and feedback systems are limited to Win 11 Pro.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Paul,

Can you provide the link to the YT you used successfully? Older Lenovo, no TPM in my case.

Search for Rufus on YouTube.

 

[Gasman]

Search for Rufus on YouTube.

I seem to recall that I just mounted the iso and used the server option?
That is described in the second link I believe.

 

[Jason Lee Hayes]

Get it done Tony, and consider yourself lucky. I have an i7 with 12Gb that cannot be upgraded
Make a system image backup first, in case it goes awry

Paul,

Can you provide the link to the YT you used successfully? Older Lenovo, no TPM in my case.

Search and Download Rufus
Link: https: //rufus. ie/en/
Visit Official Microsoft Website and download Windows 11 ISO
Run Rufus and select the ISO image you downloaded from Official Microsoft
Insert a USB Pen Drive into a Spare USB Port
Write the image to the USB (There are options to Bypass the 4GB Ram, Secure Boot & TMP 2.0) with Rufus before writing
All the instructions are given within Rufus!

 

[AccessBlaster]

The TPM requirement isn't a major issue if you're willing to reboot and reformat using Rufus and a USB stick. However, most people want to upgrade their current OS to Windows 11 — and right now, that won't happen without some assistance.

 

[June7]

I upgraded 2 HP Pavilion laptops that did not meet "minimum" requirements. As The Doc indicated, requires workaround. Registry hack is one. My effort involved use of a tool called Rufus (https://rufus.ie/en/) which created an install disk of Windows 11 that would go around the restrictions. Both machines are running just fine. Didn't even disturb installed apps and user profile. This is the site that led me to Rufus https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/bypass-windows-11-tpm-requirement.

So far, my biggest disappointment with W11 is that the taskbar cannot be positioned to side edge, stuck with bottom display without 3rd party add-in. I tried several add-ins but none worked to my satisfaction so I am living with the default bottom taskbar.

 

[Gasman]

Download ExplorerPatcher.
That allows you set it like win 10 or however you like. Move taskbar ( prefer mine at the top), Menu to the left, just like win 10

 

[June7]

github page (https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/releases) on ExplorerPatcher says "We DO NOT recommend using EP on work machines running Windows 11 version 24H2". Also, says will have to work around virus detection because Microsoft flags it as malware.

I'm not disappointed enough to deal with this aggravation.

 

[Gasman]

I am still on 23H2 and that appears to be what I upgraded to.

 

[arnelgp]

So far, my biggest disappointment with W11 is that the taskbar cannot be positioned to side edge

right-click on empty area of taskbar and choose, "Taskbar settings"

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I am still on 23H2 and that appears to be what I upgraded to.

Recently I got upgraded to 24H2 and that was the one I feared. Fortunately, I had already gone in to adjust the registry for certain things - such as automatic use of Bitlocker and automatic Screen Recall features through CoPilot - so they never fired up. But I had been monitoring articles on the subject of egregious overstepping of personal privacy via Win 11 "customization" features, so I hardened the system. I double-checked after that patch to assure that MS didn't silently diddle with the registry to undo the major changes.

 

[CJ_London]

And did they?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

And did they?

I couldn't find anything major. Most of the privacy-invading customization stayed disabled, perhaps because I also skewered CoPilot in the registry. I might have forgotten a couple, so I'll say "mostly no changes" but not with 100% certainty.

 

[June7]

Arnel, that just aligns Search and active app icons to center or left side of bar, doesn't position the entire bar vertically to left edge of screen. MS eliminated that option.

Doc, could you be more specific about the registry edits? You deactivated features? Seems Bitlocker does not apply to Home edition. I don't remember anything about Recall but my guess is it is also not in Home.
What do you mean by "skewered" CoPilot? I only unpinned from taskbar.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I found cautionary YouTube videos on switching to Win 11.

Run Regedit As Admin: CMD prompt
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BitLocker
Create DWORD (32 bit) value: Name “PreventDeviceEncryption” Value 1

If already encrypted, Start >> Settings >> type in: Control Panel >> System and Security >> Bitlocker
From there it is possible to force decryption and to tell Windows don’t encrypt.

As far as the Bitlocker part, I did have registry entries for Bitlocker even though I was only on Win 11 Home. Among other things, the folks who use Bitlocker to set up a ransomware situation will at least initially be blocked, and if you have a good security setup it will block an internally triggered edit of registry settings by a web-based hacker. (If a hacker thinks you are worth the effort, this isn't a foolproof solution.)

I can't find my full list at the moment. Here are a few things that were recommended:

Start >> Settings >> Win Update >> Check for Updates >> Delivery Optimization >> Download from Other PC (turn OFF)
Start >> Settings >> Networking >> Settings >> Hotspot 2.0 >> Online Sign-up (turn OFF)
Start >> Settings >> Privacy and Security >> Options (huge list of candidates for DISABLE or turn OFF)
Start >> Settings >> Privacy and Security >>Diagnostics and Feedback - several candidates on this page to turn off diagnostic feedback
(In particular, "Inking and typing" - it would let MS develop your typing profile.
Start >> Settings >> Privacy and Security >> Location settings (several candidates to turn off selectively)

Although they are moving away from Cortana and on towards CoPilot, you MIGHT find Cortana still on a system. If you found her to be as annoying as I did, you can open up Cortana and strip it of certain abilities such as Deny Microphone use, Background Run OFF, Deny Run At Login. But if I recall correctly, you couldn't actually uninstall Cortana. Though with CoPilot as a successor, who knows?

IF you have CoPilot on your system, then
Start >> Settings >> Personalization >> Taskbar (where you can toggle off CoPilot as a "permanent" taskbar item.)

If you are gutsy and understand to not randomly explore too much, then
Start the Group Policy Editor by Win + R and run "gpedit.msc"
User Config >> Admin Template >> Win Components >> Win Copilot.
You will be able to doubleclick "Turn Off Copilot"
Finish by clicking Enabled >> Apply >> OK - and policy editor will exit.

 

[June7]

No sign of CoPilot on this PC. gpedit.msc errors "can't find".

As for all the other Settings, either I don't find or they are Off.

Tried the Bitlocker procedure but it does not show in System and Security. Maybe I need to restart computer.