Upgrade to Windows 11 for free?

[Deleted]

My computer just notified me that I can upgrade to Windows 11 at no cost. Should I go ahead and install it right away, or hold off to see if others run into issues first? Am I being overly cautious here? I’d appreciate any thoughts, feedback, or constructive criticism.

 

[Gasman]

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

 

[moke123]

I upgraded a while back. Keep an eye on the install. When I hit 94% installed it stopped. After a while I googled "Win11 94%" and got a ton of hits. Apparently a common problem. Tried a few solutions that were posted but the one that worked entailed stopping a few services, deleting a few folders in the windows folder, and restarting the services. Not a good process for the computer illiterate.

Win11 is pretty good so far.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

My machine isn't capable of upgrading without a registry hack and I don't think I can add the required device. To say that I am livid over this just doesn't cover it. 3.4 GHz x 64 bit x 16 GB but it won't run Win11 because of some stupid TPM. Makes me want to nuke Redmond, but I left my nuke in my other pants at the dry cleaners.

 

[Jason Lee Hayes]

Be careful, I've been so busy since Windows 11 release the revenue I've earned has payed for Christmas. I should not complain being self employed but the volume of failed upgrades is staggering. I would encourage everyone to hold off upgrading until the install/upgrade set has been looked at more closely. If you MUST go down this route ensure you Image your drive and check the integrity of the backup before starting. If your upgrading a laptop ensure you have a separate USB keyboard to hand.. You just might need it lol.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I did a clean install from a USB stick, with zero issues. Win 11 found all my drivers for my HP laptop. Most issues occur with the "upgrade option" you're basically putting lipstick on a pig and hoping all the gremlins you have accumulated over time go away.

 

[Sun_Force]

I think most of the problems are about upgrading an existing OS. Everything I read about win 11 installing problems, is related to upgrading the existing OS.
Win 11 has been made on a completely different core, and upgrading may cause a lot of problem.
I did a clean install from USB flash memory with zero issues. The whole process was smooth and took less than 15 min.

As @AccessBlaster mentioned, every single hard ware (Printers, Graphic Card, Sound Card, Scanner, etc)'s driver was updated and I only had to install the applications I needed.

I strongly suggest to clean install win 11. Though you have to install your apps again, but the outcome is great. I have a feeling I've exchanged my BMW with a Ferrari. My PC was fast on win 10, but now it's as fast as a lightning.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

you're basically putting lipstick on a pig and hoping all the gremlins you have accumulated over time go away.

First part almost sounds like a Robert A Heinlein quote, though it wasn't original with him I'm sure. The "normal" finishing line is "doesn't make the pig any prettier but DOES annoy it a lot."

 

[Gasman]

My machine isn't capable of upgrading without a registry hack and I don't think I can add the required device. To say that I am livid over this just doesn't cover it. 3.4 GHz x 64 bit x 16 GB but it won't run Win11 because of some stupid TPM. Makes me want to nuke Redmond, but I left my nuke in my other pants at the dry cleaners.

I am just 'thinking' of treating myself to a new laptop, but what is putting me off, is moving the programs to the new PC.
Yes, I know that would be time for a 'spring clean', but still chance to miss something.

I was looking at a program to move programs, as my data files are fine and easy to move.

Found this, so if anyone tries it out, please report back as to it's effectiveness.

EaseUS Todo PCTrans - Free PC Transfer Software

EaseUS Todo PCTrans Free, as the best free pc transfer and migration software, offers easy but quick solutions to transfer applications like Microsoft Office, Adobe Toolkit, anti-virus applications, game programs, etc., from Windows 10 to Windows 11. It can significantly save your time and...

www.easeus.com

 

[moke123]

what is putting me off, is moving the programs to the new PC.

Thats why I went the windows update route. I have a lot of software.

I'm at this moment downloading the Media Creation tool to do a clean install. Of course it got stuck at 55%. I didnt wait and went straight to google. Thre first thing that came up was make sure your usb is formatted to NTFS. Did that and its now past 55%, slow but working.

 

[moke123]

Well that didn't go so smoothly.

It made it to 98% and froze again. It also screwed up my flash drive and made it read only.
I didn't have another flash drive that was big enough so had to go shopping. On a good note they had a 2 pack of 32 Gb on sale for $16.

From there it was smooth sailing. I do notice a bit of a speed increase with the clean install.

Just a few more hours of reinstalling software and we're good to go.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Well that didn't go so smoothly.

It made it to 98% and froze again. It also screwed up my flash drive and made it read only.
I didn't have another flash drive that was big enough so had to go shopping. On a good note they had a 2 pack of 32 Gb on sale for $16.

From there it was smooth sailing. I do notice a bit of a speed increase with the clean install.

Just a few more hours of reinstalling software and we're good to go.

It's weird because it sounds like system resources are running in the background. When booting from the media creation stick it prevents resources from interfering with the installation. The whole installation shouldn't be more than ten minutes tops.

 

[KitaYama]

I'm Ready to upgrade to Win 11 --- any last warnings?

I strongly suggest a clean install not an update.

Ways to install Windows 11 - Microsoft Support

Learn how to install Windows 11, including the recommended option of using the Windows Update page in Settings.

support.microsoft.com

 

[Eljefegeneo]

You ever hear of the saying.... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"!!

 

[AccessBlaster]

It's not like you can't go back-

 

[Gasman]

You only get a set period though, don't you, to rollback?

I would have traded up, but even with an i7 and 12GB on this laptop, it says it is not ready, and I am not going to jump through hoops just to install it, so I will stick with windows 10 until I get a new computer. By that time, it will probably be Windows 14

 

[AccessBlaster]

You only get a set period though, don't you, to rollback?

I would have traded up, but even with an i7 and 12GB on this laptop, it says it is not ready, and I am not going to jump through hoops just to install it, so I will stick with windows 10 until I get a new computer. By that time, it will probably be Windows 14

I believe rollbacks only affect "updates" whereas fresh installs cannot be rolled back. You would need a fresh install of Windows 10.

It's definitely NOT for everyone. I would never do this on my sister-in-law's computer or a computer I relied on for work.

Right now I'm running the latest version of Windows 11 with all its feature updates, this version is not recommended yet because it is so new.

UPDATED 11/4/2022: Windows 11 22H2 (2022 Update) is available starting September 20, 2022. It represents the first major update of the new generation of Windows, introducing a new set of features and enhancements to improve security, productivity, and the overall user experience.Nov 4, 2022

 

[Gasman]

Having just moved *most* of my stuff to a new to me laptop, I would not like to do a fresh install.
I would just want to upgrade in place, and it is that I think when you only get a set time to decide if it is for you or not.?

 

[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..