Windows 10 to 11 upgrade

ingeborgdot · May 20, 2024

I have a system that is new, but won't upgrade to W11 because my NVME when cloned did not clone GPT but MBR. I will have to do the settings change to convert my OS to GPT from the MBR. I'm a little scared about doing this since I have SO many programs installed on my drive. I have done it to another PC and that went well and was pretty easy to do.
Many say it is best to just do a clean install of W11, but that would mean I would have to reinstall and setup all of my programs on my PC. That would actually mean at LEAST 24 hours of install and setup of these programs. I'm not exaggerating on this either. I have worked with PC's for many, many years, but have never had to do anything like this.
What would everyone recommend? Clone my W10 drive to a new drive, convert my W10 drive to GPT, and then upgrade to W11? I have searched Google for this, and found many answers, but want advice from experts on here of what they would do.
Thanks so much.

Ghot · May 20, 2024

ingeborgdot said:
What would everyone recommend?

Welcome to ElevenForum.

I don't completely understand your situation? I can't tell if the original Windows 10 installation is on a GPT or MBR disk.
IF.... the original Win 10 installation is on a GPT disk...

...then you can just do an In-Place Upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

You haven't filled out your computer specs, so I don't know what "drives" you have.
If you have a storage drive as well as a Windows drive, then I would do this....

1. Make a full Windows 10 backup, and save it on the storage drive.
2. Then just do the In-Place upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11, on the Windows 10 drive (if it's a GPT disk)

I wouldn't Update or Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11, unless your Windows 10 install is running perfectly.

If Windows 10 isn't running perfectly... I would just do a clean install of Windows 11.

Like this...

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

Here is the short version of the In-place upgrade tutorial...

DISABLE non-Microsoft:
a) antivirus software
b) firewall software
c) drive encryption software

Make a full OS backup with a program like Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper Standard
Making a backup is optional, but always a smart move.
Macrium Reflect
AOMEI Backupper Standard (free)
Hasleo Backup Suite (free)

Get the Windows 11 ISO (Option #2), and save it to your desktop...

Right click the ISO image and choose: MOUNT
Open File Explorer and you will see a new drive letter. It will "look" like a DVD optical drive.
Double click the new drive letter to open it.
Find setup.exe and double click it to start the in-place upgrade.

Choose the Keep personal files and apps option.

After it's all done... to UNmount the ISO image, right click the new drive letter and choose: EJECT.

The ONLY thing you will lose is some of your personalizations.
Your drivers, programs and data will be intact.

=====================================================================================
=====================================================================================

If your current Windows 10 drive is an MBR disk, then you can convert it to a GPT disk, without losing data.
Like this...

Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss

How to Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss

www.tenforums.com

====================================================================================
====================================================================================

If you decide to do a clean install...

Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

Ghot · May 20, 2024

Here are some things you might find useful, when you're on Windows 11...

Quickie Eleven Forum Setup Guide for new Members

Quickie Interface tour... Quickie set up... At the top right, click on your name, then choose "Preferences". Then go through everything on the left side. Quickie navigation... Click Forums and choose a subforum, OR... Click Forums, then New Posts or What's New Ranks, Trophies...

www.elevenforum.com

Macrium Reflect, AOMEI Backupper and Hasleo Backup Suite - GUIDES

How to use backup software... 1. When everything is working perfectly... make a full Windows backup. 2. Then, if something breaks... restore from the latest backup. 3. Then... try "whatever you were doing" a different way. If it still breaks Windows, then... go to step #2. 4. Repeat...

www.elevenforum.com

Windows 11 Tweaks - Leader Board.

These are tweaks I've seen asked for... many times. They are collected here for easy access. All of these and more can be found in the Eleven Forum Tutorials Completely remove Copilot... https://www.elevenforum.com/t/completely-disable-and-remove-copilot-in-windows-11.23264/ Classic...

www.elevenforum.com

ingeborgdot · May 20, 2024

Ghot said:
Welcome to ElevenForum.

I don't completely understand your situation? I can't tell if the original Windows 10 installation is on a GPT or MBR disk.
IF.... the original Win 10 installation is on a GPT disk...

...then you can just do an In-Place Upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

You haven't filled out your computer specs, so I don't know what "drives" you have.
If you have a storage drive as well as a Windows drive, then I would do this....

1. Make a full Windows 10 backup, and save it on the storage drive.
2. Then just do the In-Place upgrade from Win 10 to Win 11, on the Windows 10 drive (if it's a GPT disk)

I wouldn't Update or Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11, unless your Windows 10 install is running perfectly.

If Windows 10 isn't running perfectly... I would just do a clean install of Windows 11.

Like this...

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

Here is the short version of the In-place upgrade tutorial...

DISABLE non-Microsoft:
a) antivirus software
b) firewall software
c) drive encryption software

Make a full OS backup with a program like Macrium Reflect or AOMEI Backupper Standard
Making a backup is optional, but always a smart move.
Macrium Reflect
AOMEI Backupper Standard (free)
Hasleo Backup Suite (free)

Get the Windows 11 ISO (Option #2), and save it to your desktop...

Right click the ISO image and choose: MOUNT
Open File Explorer and you will see a new drive letter. It will "look" like a DVD optical drive.
Double click the new drive letter to open it.
Find setup.exe and double click it to start the in-place upgrade.

Choose the Keep personal files and apps option.

After it's all done... to UNmount the ISO image, right click the new drive letter and choose: EJECT.

The ONLY thing you will lose is some of your personalizations.
Your drivers, programs and data will be intact.

=====================================================================================
=====================================================================================

If your current Windows 10 drive is an MBR disk, then you can convert it to a GPT disk, without losing data.
Like this...

Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss

How to Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss

www.tenforums.com

====================================================================================
====================================================================================

If you decide to do a clean install...

Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

My OS is on an MBR drive. I need to convert it before I can do any upgrades.

Ghot · May 20, 2024

ingeborgdot said:
My OS is on an MBR drive. I need to convert it before I can do any upgrades.

Yes.

Your other option of course, is to just do a clean install.
I know that's a pain... but... Windows 11 is at best, kind of twitchy.

You might be happier, down the road, if you just do a clean install.

/edit

I see you've filled out your specs. You have a LOT of storage.
Just make a full backup of Windows 10, in case you want to go back to Windows 10... then just do a clean install of Windows 11.

Or... do the steps I listed in post #2 above.

And... I gave you ten "cookies" for filling out your computer specs.

ingeborgdot · May 20, 2024

Ghot said:
Yes.

Your other option of course, is to just do a clean install.
I know that's a pain... but... Windows 11 is at best, kind of twitchy.

You might be happier, down the road, if you just do a clean install.

And I understand that about a clean install, but my W10 is working great. I like it, but I need to get it done since it is going to be unsupported next year sometime. It will take me at a minimum of 24 hours since I have so many programs and so many of them are large and take a long time to install. Then the setup for each is a long process also. I really want to bypass all that if possible. I'll look it over.

Ghot · May 20, 2024

ingeborgdot said:
And I understand that about a clean install, but my W10 is working great. I like it, but I need to get it done since it is going to be unsupported next year sometime. It will take me at a minimum of 24 hours since I have so many programs and so many of them are large and take a long time to install. Then the setup for each is a long process also. I really want to bypass all that if possible. I'll look it over.

See my edit in post #5.

However you convert MBR to GPT, make SURE the option you choose is for the conversion "without data loss".
Besides the conversion tutorial I linked in post #2, there are also 3rd party programs that will do the conversion also.

If you use one of those... make SURE it will convert and OS disk (Windows disk), without data loss.

When I converted a Win 10 disk from MBR to GPT, I used option #1, here...

Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss

How to Convert Windows 10 from Legacy BIOS to UEFI without Data Loss

www.tenforums.com

Scott · May 20, 2024

ingeborgdot said:
when cloned did not clone GPT but MBR

Ghot · May 20, 2024

@ingeborgdot

Your BIOS can run in two different "modes".
The mode you choose has to match the disk (MBR or GPT), Windows is installed on, or the computer won't boot.

Short version...

The BIOS type and the disk type, have to "match", or the computer won't boot.

UEFI BIOS goes with GPT boot disk.
Regular BIOS (non-UEFI), goes with an MBR disk.

This is what MY BIOS looks like. It's also a 500 series ASUS board, so yours should be similar.

The RED boxes are the settings you need to be concerned with to be able to run the BIOS is UEFI mode.

For Boot Device Control, you need to choose either... UEFI and Legacy OPROM, or just UEFI only, for a GPT disk.
For Secure Boot, you need to choose Windows UEFI Mode

In order...

1. Convert the Windows drive to GPT...
2. Then enter the BIOS and on the Boot tab... deal with the settings in the RED boxes.
3. On some motherboards, you'll need to have CSM enabled, or some you'll want it disabled.
4. Either way, you'll need to temporarily enable CSM so you can get to the Boot Device Control settings.
5. After you set the Boot Device Control... then you may have to leave CSM enabled, or you might need to disable it.

zbook · May 20, 2024

As Ghot commented MBR > GPT

BIOS: Legacy > UEFI

An alternative in case MBR2GPT fails: Consider making backup images > save to another disk drive or the cloud

Modify the BIOS: UEFI native

Clean install Windows 11 with it's 4 default partitions (drive GPT architecture)

Restore an image of only C: partition converting MBR to GPT.

Perform startup repair as needed.

ingeborgdot · May 20, 2024

zbook said:
As Ghot commented MBR > GPT

BIOS: Legacy > UEFI

An alternative in case MBR2GPT fails: Consider making backup images > save to another disk drive or the cloud

Modify the BIOS: UEFI native

Clean install Windows 11 with it's 4 default partitions (drive GPT architecture)

Restore an image of only C: partition converting MBR to GPT.

Perform startup repair as needed.

But by performing a clean install I will lose all of my programs, and have to spend literally days reinstalling and setting up again with everything I have. I really don't want to do that, but may have to do it one day.

zbook · May 20, 2024

All partitions are deleted and Windows 11 is clean installed with a BIOS UEFI and drive GPT.

Then the C: partition with it's programs is restored with a conversion of MBR to GPT.

The above is an alternative in case MBR2GPT fails.

Ghot · May 20, 2024

ingeborgdot said:
But by performing a clean install I will lose all of my programs, and have to spend literally days reinstalling and setting up again with everything I have. I really don't want to do that, but may have to do it one day.

Sooner or later, for one reason or another, we all have to do that.

The good part of a clean install is this... "backups".

Once you do a clean install, and install all your programs, etc., you make a full OS backup.
Then you try to come up with a system, that you can deal with.
If you do it right... you may never have to re-install Windows 11 again.

Also... I always install large programs or large games on my storage drive.
I try to keep the "used space" on my C:\ drive under 50GB total.
This makes backups and restores... take less than 2 minutes.

When backups and restores are that fast... you can then use backup software as a tool.
Any time you want to test some new program, or have to do Windows Updates... make a new backup, first.
Then... if something breaks... no biggie. Just restore from a backup and try again, or not.

ingeborgdot · May 20, 2024

Ghot said:
Also... I always install large programs or large games on my storage drive.
I try to keep the "used space" on my C:\ drive under 50GB total.
This makes backups and restores... take less than 2 minutes.

I used to do that, but someone a while back said not to do it because it will cause problems later, so when I redid my pc several years ago, I did it on the c drive.
I wish I hadn't of listened.

Bree · May 20, 2024

ingeborgdot said:
I understand that about a clean install, but my W10 is working great. I like it, but I need to get it done since it is going to be unsupported next year sometime. It will take me at a minimum of 24 hours since I have so many programs and so many of them are large and take a long time to install. Then the setup for each is a long process also. I really want to bypass all that if possible.

I have my own method to convert from MBR to GPT. I used it to migrate my Windows 10 and all its installed apps from my old and unsupported Legacy/MBR machine to a replacement UEFI/GPT machine that's now my System One Below.

I had to use it again yesterday. It was my own fault really, having just finished installing, configuring and backing up Windows 11 on an unsupported laptop, I realised that it was not (as I had assumed) a Legacy bios machine, but it did in fact have a UEFI bios (but set up to boot in CSM/legacy mode). So I disabled CSM and enabled secure boot then, rather than reinstall and reconfigure from scratch, I did a clean install in UEFI mode then just restored the backup of its C: partition.

Bree said:
You might like to try the method I used to migrate a legacy/MBR install of Windows 10 from an old unsupported machine to my System One in My Computers below, a new UEFI/GPT supported one, so that it could then be upgraded to Windows 11.

First make a Macrium Reflect image of the old machine.

Next do a clean install in UEFI mode of the same version of Windows 10 on the new machine, this formats the drive as GPT and sets up all the required partitions. If it says the drive is currently MBR and it can't install, then from a command prompt use Diskpart to convert it to GPT.

Then restore JUST the C: partition from the Reflect image to replace the one created by the clean install (you can resize the partition to fit during the restore, if required).

Finally use the Reflect rescue media's 'Fix Windows boot problems' too to build the correct BCD entry. Windows should now boot.

Windows 11 Upgrade - MBR to GPT Issues - post #11

Ghot · May 20, 2024

ingeborgdot said:
I used to do that, but someone a while back said not to do it because it will cause problems later, so when I redid my pc several years ago, I did it on the c drive.
I wish I hadn't of listened.

I don't move the User folders to the storage drive. IMO, that does cause problems.
I just "install" large programs and games on a storage drive.

In fact, I don't even use the USER folders, like Documents, Pictures, Videos... etc.
I make my own folders for those type things... on a storage drive.

Microsoft can't seem to get those User folders... working properly.

Since MS can't seem to get things... right... I ujust decided to do it myself.