New Windows upgrade

[Count Steer]

As Tech Support I'm getting a bit hacked off that every other radio programme my customer/wife listens to seems to be intent on scaring the bejaysus out of her due to the perils of not moving to the latest processor hungry release of Windoze on her HP mini tower. She also advises that it won't take the upgrade and therefore, of course, the solution is a new machine.

Is sticking with the old version really such an issue if they no longer release security updates etc? She has some pretty hefty antivirus etc stuff on it. (Also a Microsoft Office suite that will probably insist on becoming subscription based ).

It's not the cost that I mind, it's just that the procedure is a major pain in the (my) gluteus maximus. If push comes to shove I'm likely to get my local tech-heads in and say 'See that? Replace it and clone everything on it onto the new HP one apart, obvs, from the operating system. Make sure it's connected to that, that, that, that and that. Let me know when you're finished'.

[Silly Car]

I’m in the same boat with my aging laptop but did start the research process of circumventing the ‘you cannot update this device’ blocker by following a post made recently by @Sunny

I’ll see if I can find it

[Silly Car]

Here it is.

Upgraded my 'not-upgradable' laptop from Windows 10 to Windows 11.


I don't use it much, so didn't really want to shell out for a new one. Wondered if I could replace a component or something, so had a quick Google and found this very helpful article:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-up ... e-options/

Piece of piss. Took about 30 minutes. Win.

[Eclipse]

I wonder when support for 10 stops if Microsoft will implement checks to see if the installed version of 11 is legit
before allowing it to update ?

[Count Steer]

Here it is.

Upgraded my 'not-upgradable' laptop from Windows 10 to Windows 11.


I don't use it much, so didn't really want to shell out for a new one. Wondered if I could replace a component or something, so had a quick Google and found this very helpful article:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-up ... e-options/

Piece of piss. Took about 30 minutes. Win.

Cheers!

[mangocrazy]

I've recently installed Win 11 on a machine that doesn't conform to MS standards. I even downloaded the ISO from MS. To be fair, it wasn't an upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11, but a fresh install. I currently can boot between Win 7, Win 10, Win 11 and Linux Mint.

The major trick is using the latest version of Rufus to write the ISO to a USB stick, and taking all the options that allow you to de-bloat Windows at install time, and remove the requirement for a Windows Id and all the associated 'security' bollocks. I'll see if I can find the YT video I followed.

[Cousin Jack]

As Tech Support I'm getting a bit hacked off that every other radio programme my customer/wife listens to seems to be intent on scaring the bejaysus out of her due to the perils of not moving to the latest processor hungry release of Windoze on her HP mini tower. She also advises that it won't take the upgrade and therefore, of course, the solution is a new machine.

Is sticking with the old version really such an issue if they no longer release security updates etc? She has some pretty hefty antivirus etc stuff on it. (Also a Microsoft Office suite that will probably insist on becoming subscription based ).

It's not the cost that I mind, it's just that the procedure is a major pain in the (my) gluteus maximus. If push comes to shove I'm likely to get my local tech-heads in and say 'See that? Replace it and clone everything on it onto the new HP one apart, obvs, from the operating system. Make sure it's connected to that, that, that, that and that. Let me know when you're finished'.

Based on my recent experience avoid a new HP anything. They have fcuked me about for 4 weeks and totally failed to honour their 12 month guarantee.

I did the W11 upgrade (including a new HP machine). I wish I hadn't, W11 is just different and is IMHO shite.

[KungFooBob]

As a qualified IT expert with nearly 30 years of experience, I'd suggest the problem here is that you're all old miserable bastards who don't like change or spending any money.

[Mussels]

The danger of forcing an upgrade is probably due to the big security flaw found in Intel chips what Win10 released a hotfix for, it caused quite a performance drop and I suspect Win11 left it out because later versions of the chips were fixed.
As CJ said there's not a vast difference and I can't upgrade my MS tablet, as it's only function is as a telly now I won't lose sleep over it being out of support.

[Count Steer]

As Tech Support I'm getting a bit hacked off that every other radio programme my customer/wife listens to seems to be intent on scaring the bejaysus out of her due to the perils of not moving to the latest processor hungry release of Windoze on her HP mini tower. She also advises that it won't take the upgrade and therefore, of course, the solution is a new machine.

Is sticking with the old version really such an issue if they no longer release security updates etc? She has some pretty hefty antivirus etc stuff on it. (Also a Microsoft Office suite that will probably insist on becoming subscription based ).

It's not the cost that I mind, it's just that the procedure is a major pain in the (my) gluteus maximus. If push comes to shove I'm likely to get my local tech-heads in and say 'See that? Replace it and clone everything on it onto the new HP one apart, obvs, from the operating system. Make sure it's connected to that, that, that, that and that. Let me know when you're finished'.

Based on my recent experience avoid a new HP anything. They have fcuked me about for 4 weeks and totally failed to honour their 12 month guarantee.

I did the W11 upgrade (including a new HP machine). I wish I hadn't, W11 is just different and is IMHO shite.

The shite bit doesn't bother me....I won't be the one using it.

[Count Steer]

As a qualified IT expert with nearly 30 years of experience, I'd suggest the problem here is that you're all old miserable bastards who don't like change or spending any money.

Don't mind either of those. It's the being the in-house IT expert that's roped in to make the change that's the bit.

[mangocrazy]

As a qualified IT expert with nearly 30 years of experience, I'd suggest the problem here is that you're all old miserable bastards who don't like change or spending any money.

Good point, well made.

I resent spending money for something 'new' when what I have is perfectly capable and fills my needs. Happy with change that improves something or makes life better but most change is just for changes sake, to squeeze more cash out of punters, or is actually retrograde. An example of the latter is the control of most of a car's functions being moved to a centrally-mounted tablet. Give me physical buttons and switches every day of the week.

But can't argue with the 'old miserable bastards' bit...

[Rockburner]

I bet you a tenner she can do everything she currently does in Linux.

[Count Steer]

I bet you a tenner she can do everything she currently does in Linux.

Yeah, but I'm not going to risk it. Just checked and I specced and bought it 8 years ago so it's time for a new one. Once that's sorted and set up I might have a dabble at installing Linux with the old one. If that works I'll put Linux on my laptop too - which doesn't get used much since I got a decent Samsung tablet.

[mangocrazy]

I bet you a tenner she can do everything she currently does in Linux.

A mate of mine was using an old HP notebook running Win 10 to watch YT music videos on and it was a nightmare - freezing up, running slow, constantly trying to update but couldn't because of insufficient disk storage. He was getting ready to chuck it when I offered to stick Linux Mint on it as a last resort.

The upshot? It's given his manky old notebook a new lease of life, and it now does exactly what he wants it to, and we have a new convert to Linux.

[mangocrazy]

I bet you a tenner she can do everything she currently does in Linux.

Yeah, but I'm not going to risk it. Just checked and I specced and bought it 8 years ago so it's time for a new one. Once that's sorted and set up I might have a dabble at installing Linux with the old one. If that works I'll put Linux on my laptop too - which doesn't get used much since I got a decent Samsung tablet.

No risk. Linux will fly on an 8 year old laptop.

[KungFooBob]

Chrome OS Flex might be a better option than a Linux flavor depending on how much the user wants to 'fiddle'.

[Sunny]

The win11 upgrade thing worked for me, as per the post Silly dug out. It was on a Dell. Haven't noticed any difference in performance, but then I don't use it much.

I have also worked in tech for yonks, and while I splurge on all sorts of stuff, I can confirm I've never wanted to shell out on laptops for some reason - maybe cos I'm not a gamer?

Anyway, I reckon the instructions in that link were dead easy to follow and worked for me. YMMV.

[Count Steer]

Update: Contacted my local IT support business (last used in 2011). Said I wanted them to source, configure and install a new Win11 machine and clone the old one onto it.

Chap got in touch asked about the old machine, explained HP, SSD system disk etc. He said 'Why replace it? That's pretty much what we're using here'.

Called that afternoon equipped with a thumb drive on his key ring. Installed Win11, tidied a few things up, improved the performance a bit somehow, drank a mug of tea and left an hour later. (He looked at my Toshiba laptop, suggested swapping out the hard drive for an SDD and shifting that to Win11, so that'll be next).

Dunno what he'll charge for the hour but it'll be less than a new machine!

Happy bunny.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Zenith or Everest?