How to Upgrade Win 10 to Win 11 after Motherboard Upgrade

ish4d0w · Jan 15, 2022

Dru2 said:
In order for technology to advance sometimes things have to be left behind. Windows is moving into a new age.

And I'm in that boat with my 2017 Lenovo laptop because of the CPU, not TPM

I see. But isn't this highly unusual, even from them?
I mean... The requirements haven't changed since much 2007 to, 2021 let's say. (Vista to 10, was more or less the same. More or less.)
Gradually new smaller requirements were added, such as SSE, PAE-NX etc... of course leaving behind hardware... but those were old hardware, like really old, XP-age hardware... Not something made in the previous 2-3 years.

While now they are abandoning Intel 6th and 7th generation which is what, about 4 years old at most? Declaring hardware made in 2017 obsolete? I still cannot grasp that. I hope Windows 10's support will be extended, by a few years. That would make it perfectly tolerable.

Bree · Jan 15, 2022

ish4d0w said:
I hope Windows 10's support will be extended, by a few years.

Windows 10 will remain supported until 14 October 2025. Do you mean a few more years beyond that?

ish4d0w · Jan 15, 2022

Bree said:
Windows 10 will remain supported until 14 October 2025. Do you mean a few more years beyond that?

Yes. An extension beyond that, is what I wish. 2025 isn't far away.

wordsworth · Jan 15, 2022

ish4d0w said:
I see. But isn't this highly unusual, even from them?
I mean... The requirements haven't changed since much 2007 to, 2021 let's say. (Vista to 10, was more or less the same. More or less.)
Gradually new smaller requirements were added, such as SSE, PAE-NX etc... of course leaving behind hardware... but those were old hardware, like really old, XP-age hardware... Not something made in the previous 2-3 years.

While now they are abandoning Intel 6th and 7th generation which is what, about 4 years old at most? Declaring hardware made in 2017 obsolete? I still cannot grasp that. I hope Windows 10's support will be extended, by a few years. That would make it perfectly tolerable.

The Intel 7th Gen began release in Q1 of 2017 making it 5 years old, and the 6th Gen is 6 years old, but the age of the processor is not relevant, but rather the capabilities of the processor. Some of those built in capabilities I discussed in this thread at post #20. I have an Intel 6th Gen with Win 11 installed on it and it runs without hiccups, alas it does not have the built in security features Microsoft is looking for to run their future OSs.

Bree · Jan 15, 2022

ish4d0w said:
Yes. An extension beyond that, is what I wish. 2025 isn't far away.

Well, anything is possible. MS did give Windows 7 several stays of execution, presumably under pressure from their commercial customers. In fact for those who were prepared to pay for it the Windows 7 Extended Security Updates continue until January 10 2023.

I suppose it really depends on how much pressure commercial customers may put on MS to keep supporting W10.

Dru2 · Jan 15, 2022

ish4d0w said:
I see. But isn't this highly unusual, even from them?
I mean... The requirements haven't changed since much 2007 to, 2021 let's say. (Vista to 10, was more or less the same. More or less.)
Gradually new smaller requirements were added, such as SSE, PAE-NX etc... of course leaving behind hardware...

Yeah, but changes still occur and there are also things you can't see such as instruction sets. New iterations of processors get new/updated instructions. There's also the advanced technologies. if you compare say an i7-7700K vs an i7-8700K, you'd notice the i7-8700K supports "Intel® Stable IT Platform Program (SIPP)", the i7-7700K doesn't. The main point being different instructions/technologies.

Just because you don't see or readily feel something doesn't mean it isn't there :wink:

ish4d0w said:
While now they are abandoning Intel 6th and 7th generation which is what, about 4 years old at most?

Uh.... 6th gen processors came out in 2015! And 7th gen 2016.

optimxr · Jan 15, 2022

Macrium is good for cloning, yet if you want to try something difference, I consider Acronis True Image to be the most reliable, above everything else. Sadly they moved to a subscription-only model, which is annoying because I merely use the core features - backup, restore, and cloning, and honestly don't need a new version every year, but still, it is my personal favorite as it had never failed on me, not even in the more complex scenerios, restoring to a different disk layout etc. AOMEI Backupper is also great for this purpose.

When I was updating the firmware for the Samsung 980 Pro ssd, I downloaded an app called "Magician" which claims to have a tool for migrating any drive to their ssd. Has anyone used this app or done a migration to a ssd? Otherwise, I will just use Macrium which I am familiar with and trust as a good tool to use.

Dch48 · Jan 16, 2022

Samsung Magician works very well.

fmw · Jan 18, 2022

Dru2 said:
I seriously doubt they think they could do this (stop people from installing 11 on unsupported machines). I think it's more about Whether Windows 11 will function properly on "unqualified" machines.

Microsoft is simply warning there is a hardware baseline and if your PC is below that baseline you may run into issues. And that those PCs won't be supported.

That said, I think it's way too early to fully access where these "unsupported" PC's stand as there hasn't even been any major Windows 11 updates/upgrades yet; So, it remains to be seen if said updates/upgrades will actually skip or fail to install on said machines.

That's the next step in this will they/won't they waiting game for unsupported PC's.

Being a businessman I tend to look at things from a business perspective. If someone is using a legally validated unit of Win 11 on their computer (supported or not) Microsoft isn't being harmed. It is certainly better for them than using an obsolete version of Windows or even Linux. The unusupported system won't have TPM and Secure Boot operable but that is an issue for the computer user, not Microsoft. Personally I don't understand why they set up 11 the way they did from a business perspective. Perhaps there are legal motivations. Perhaps they really are trying to spike new computer system sales. I don't know but all this upgrade hassle isn't doing them any good from a business perspective.

But they did what they did for whatever reason. So the question remains, how would they gain from disabling windows on systems which are using it legally and effectively? I can't think of one unless sales of their laptops is declining. It would probably make newspaper headlines if they did such a thing. The "warnings" could have come from the legal department rather than a tech department. Obviously, I don't know but I would put my bet right there.

spapakons · Jan 18, 2022

They could have made a deal with manufacturers to help boost sales when everyone panics his computer is obsolete and rushes to upgrade or buy a new. For every unit sold with Windows 11 they could have some profit, hence the strict requirements. Remember Vista when everyone rushed to buy a new graphics card? Similar here. The computers of the Vista era rarely had more than 4GB RAM, so it made perfect sense to install Windows Vista 32-bit, since it was more difficult to find Vista 64-bit drivers for many devices. In Vista 32-bit (and later in Windows 7 32-bit) WDDM drivers were not mandatory. One could install the Windows XP graphics drivers (XPDM) sacrificing the new Windows Aero effects. Similarly, one can install Windows 11 on unsupported machines sacrificing the extra security of TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. It is fine for me, if I can avoid investing a fortune on a new computer to do exactly the same things I do in my current computer, only faster. Speed is not very important to make me upgrade.

Dch48 · Jan 18, 2022

I think them wanting to tout Windows as a much more secure OS plays a big part here. People are always ranting about how it's less secure than Mac, or Linux, or even Android. I think that is the major motivation for the requirements. They have plans to introduce new security measures that older hardware either wouldn't support or would struggle with maintaining performance when implemented.

Dru2 · Jan 18, 2022

Dch48 said:
People are always ranting about how it's less secure than Mac, or Linux, or even Android.

No, that's those Mac fans telling people Windows is less secure. The same ones that told people Mac OSs didn't get viruses :)

Seriously though, what's so wrong with Microsoft wanting a more secure OS in a world rampart with ransomware, spyware, and malware all over the place? Add that the world just upped its PC use with millions of people now working from home.

Yeah, any company in today's world not taking security seriously won't last. That's the world we're in today.

Dch48 · Jan 19, 2022

Dru2 said:
No, that's those Mac fans telling people Windows is less secure. The same ones that told people Mac OSs didn't get viruses :)

Seriously though, what's so wrong with Microsoft wanting a more secure OS in a world rampart with ransomware, spyware, and malware all over the place? Add that the world just upped its PC use with millions of people now working from home.

Yeah, any company in today's world not taking security seriously won't last. That's the world we're in today.

Where did I say there was anything wrong with it? I think it's a good move.

Dru2 · Jan 19, 2022

The question was rhetorical (not specifically targeted towards anyone) :wink:

spapakons · Jan 19, 2022

Security is welcome, but I don't like the idea to replace my PC for extra features I will hardly use. Thankfully there are workarounds for non-compliant systems.

Dch48 · Jan 19, 2022

spapakons said:
Security is welcome, but I don't like the idea to replace my PC for extra features I will hardly use. Thankfully there are workarounds for non-compliant systems.

It certainly is an annoyance for many, including me with my laptop, who have powerful and relatively new systems that are suddenly deemed not good enough. The 2 other major players in the OS game have done it with regularity though. Especially Google.

I have chosen not to use any workarounds at this time.

jvickers · Jan 19, 2022

glasskuter said:
That's their rule, BUT several times in the past, I have changed a mobo in an OEM machine with a different model mobo. The activation troubleshooter did not work to activate so I called MS at 888-725-1047. They weren't a$$e$ about it when I explained what I had done. They helped me activate. So guess they're not complete sticklers about their rule all the time. Or maybe I just got a sympathetic rep when I called.

I'm late to the party. This has been my experience in the past. When you change motherboards, you usually have to call Microsoft, who will walk you through reactivating Windows once you explain what occurred.

Dru2 · Jan 19, 2022

jvickers said:
I'm late to the party. This has been my experience in the past. When you change motherboards, you usually have to call Microsoft, who will walk you through reactivating Windows once you explain what occurred.

I've done a number of builds / upgrades which included both CPU and MB since moving to Windows 10 and have not needed to call Microsoft to activate my Windows 10 installs. Reason... I use a Microsoft Account, in which my digital license is tied to it.

All I needed to do was install the OS, log in with my Microsoft account, and all was good. I didn't even have to input a key. This only needs to be done is you're switching OS - Home to Pro for example.

Is there a possibility you may need to call Microsoft, yes, but that is typically not the normal procedure.

My two cents.

spapakons · Jan 19, 2022

I don't know how calling Microsoft works outside Greece, but here in Greece we are asked if we are an individual or company. If one chooses individual, he gets connected to the automatic activation service, not representative. Once typing all the numbers of the installation ID, it is usually a question of how many computers we have installed this key of Windows on. We reply 1 and we are given the activation code, provided the key has not reached the maximum activation times. If one gives a different reply he is denied activation and the key might be blocked. So be careful what you reply at each step.

Winuser · Jan 20, 2022

spapakons said:
I don't know how calling Microsoft works outside Greece, but here in Greece we are asked if we are an individual or company. If one chooses individual, he gets connected to the automatic activation service, not representative. Once typing all the numbers of the installation ID, it is usually a question of how many computers we have installed this key of Windows on. We reply 1 and we are given the activation code, provided the key has not reached the maximum activation times. If one gives a different reply he is denied activation and the key might be blocked. So be careful what you reply at each step.

I live in the U.S. and I recently had to call MS to get my Windows 10 VM reactivated. After answering a few questions I was transferred to a rep. who was very helpful.