Intel Gen 7 Platform Running Win 11 25H2 - No Muss, No Fuss, and No Rufus

Scannerman said:

RAID 0 is about the hardest to keep intact. Your drives have to be in perfect condition before you set it up and ideally they should be identical. I also found that the wider the stripe the harder it is to keep it. RAID 0 is good for converting two smaller drives into one bigger drive that will give you faster read and write speeds but when it's gone, baby it's gone. So a backup is essential. My Win 7 is in RAID 0 on SSDs. Normally I won't run an OS on RAID 0 but it was a bit of an experiment. I mostly use RAID for storage and redundancy. RAID 0 has zero redundancy.

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That's why RAID 10 was invented. Only a bit slower than RAID 0, but you never have to worry about losing your data if one of the drives fails. The only kicker is you need at least 4 (preferably identical) drives. I have a linux box for video editing with that setup.

DJNelson said:

That's why RAID 10 was invented. Only a bit slower than RAID 0, but you never have to worry about losing your data if one of the drives fails. The only kicker is you need at least 4 (preferably identical) drives. I have a linux box for video editing with that setup.

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That is good to know. I have RAID 10 on two arrays on this old i7 Gen 6 platform (initialized when Broadwell E was still a thing) and I have never had to rebuild it saving once when a 16 year old Velociraptor finally cratered on me. I simply popped in same make and model used hard drive (that I bought from Ebay years beforehand) and viola! It did the rest of the work. Easy peasy. RAID 10 is great if you have the drives to run it. Two arrays = 8 hard drives.

Now that I have Linux on this unit it might be an idea to use one of those RAID 10 arrays for backup. Whoever said RAID is not backup wasn't entirely correct as it certainly can be when done right. Admittedly, I've never used it as BU for Linux but you just gave me the idea.

Incidentally, there is a way to lose data on RAID 10. For years I ran Windows 8.1 on RAID 10. Then one day it just decided that it did not like logical drives and committed sewer side. Not even my backups could save it. Not sure how it happened and don't care. No system is 100% safe. That's why I'm a big fan of cloning and archiving because even backups fail.

Yup can't do much about a storage controller giving up the ghost in the middle of a critical write operation.

There's always an exception except when there isn't, in which case there's an exception.

XxXxX said:

if MS keep pushing things like they are such as passkeys with no other choices
must have a MS account and email to install and they are making harder to do without an account
then i will just delete my hotmail/outlook account which i have had since about 1995
and move the whole house over to Linux, something like Zorin OS

all the computers in the house use LibreOffice and Thunderbird most good browsers are ported to Linux
because i am really getting tired of fighting MS just to use my computer.

Linux now has real time AV/malware software Kaspersky for Debian based systems
so its not like its a hardship and if set up correctly my wife wouldn't even notice.

best of luck Steve ..

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@XxXxX AND LibreOffice, is fantastic.

@XxXxX Couldn't agree more. If I knew of an easy way to run windows-ported games on linux (key word being easy) I'd have dropped windows permanently a long time ago.

DJNelson said:

@XxXxX Couldn't agree more. If I knew of an easy way to run windows-ported games on linux (key word being easy) I'd have dropped windows permanently a long time ago.

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i and the wife are not gamers, well maybe a game of freecell or that type of thing.
but MS are just going down a route of total and absolute control over how an individual wishes to use their computer.

i can understand about updates but the rest, no. its like trying to swim through treacle to get the system installed
most people just want to use it to go online to do their thing or play their games
enterprise/work systems are different but most home computers are not within an enterprise.

maybe i spent to long using Ubuntu Linux but Windows is bloody hard work.
best of luck Steve ..

Used to be part of the Main Windows 11 Intel CPUs supported list:

1. Intel CPU List
Intel 7th Generation Core series

• Intel Core i7-7820HQ
• Intel Core i5-7640X
• Intel Core i7-7740X
• Intel Core i7-7800X
• Intel Core i7-7820HQ
• Intel Core i7-7820X
• Intel Core i7-7900X
• Intel Core i7-7920X
• Intel Core i9-7940X
• Intel Core i9-7960X
• Intel Core i9-7980XE

They changed/updated above list - with their OEM Corporate scam-like BS - where they claim - those list as purely orientative for OEM only (as if the 7th Gen High End CPUs were cut down only for them). Tho, it still fits all the official requirements (like Intel SSE4.2) - so i don't see any reason for it - not to work. Despite its age - that was in top of the High End list for 7th Gen - and still a powerful CPU (around i5-13600K / 14600K, Ryzen 7700X/7800X3D - multi-core equivalent).

Don't see any reason for it not to run Windows 11. It's not like you're running Windows 11 on a Pentium 4 661 (now that, would be impressive) or even a Core Duo.

neves said:

Used to be part of the Main Windows 11 Intel CPUs supported list:

1. Intel CPU List
Intel 7th Generation Core series

• Intel Core i7-7820HQ
• Intel Core i5-7640X
• Intel Core i7-7740X
• Intel Core i7-7800X
• Intel Core i7-7820HQ
• Intel Core i7-7820X
• Intel Core i7-7900X
• Intel Core i7-7920X
• Intel Core i9-7940X
• Intel Core i9-7960X
• Intel Core i9-7980XE

They changed/updated above list - with their OEM Corporate scam-like BS - where they claim - those list as purely orientative for OEM only (as if the 7th Gen High End CPUs were cut down only for them). Tho, it still fits all the official requirements (like Intel SSE4.2) - so i don't see any reason for it - not to work. Despite its age - that was in top of the High End list for 7th Gen - and still a powerful CPU (around i5-13600K / 14600K, Ryzen 7700X/7800X3D - multi-core equivalent).

Don't see any reason for it not to run Windows 11. It's not like you're running Windows 11 on a Pentium 4 661 (now that, would be impressive) or even a Core Duo.

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The X suffix CPUs are still listed, but just as the "Intel Core 7000X Series".

I'm thinking of putting 25H2 on this old Gen 6 just for kicks. Maybe I should leave well enough alone but it would be really nifty to have if I could run a local account this time. Then again, it would really be horrible if I lost my activation or things locked up on me. Hmmm...

neves said:

Used to be part of the Main Windows 11 Intel CPUs supported list:

1. Intel CPU List
Intel 7th Generation Core series

• Intel Core i7-7820HQ
• Intel Core i5-7640X
• Intel Core i7-7740X
• Intel Core i7-7800X
• Intel Core i7-7820HQ
• Intel Core i7-7820X
• Intel Core i7-7900X
• Intel Core i7-7920X
• Intel Core i9-7940X
• Intel Core i9-7960X
• Intel Core i9-7980XE

They changed/updated above list - with their OEM Corporate scam-like BS - where they claim - those list as purely orientative for OEM only (as if the 7th Gen High End CPUs were cut down only for them). Tho, it still fits all the official requirements (like Intel SSE4.2) - so i don't see any reason for it - not to work. Despite its age - that was in top of the High End list for 7th Gen - and still a powerful CPU (around i5-13600K / 14600K, Ryzen 7700X/7800X3D - multi-core equivalent).

Don't see any reason for it not to run Windows 11. It's not like you're running Windows 11 on a Pentium 4 661 (now that, would be impressive) or even a Core Duo.

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Indeed. That really would be impressive. Wish I had more time to fiddle, but I would really like to get this i9 7960 back in a box, namely, that old COOLERMASTER ATCS 840 at some point. Steve was right. This project is keeping me busy, but the case isn't the culprit — Windows 11 strikes again! It's starting to look as though I might have to give up on Thunderbolt altogether. It used to work fine in Windows 7 (at least the USB part of it did) but now all my tweaking in BIOS seems to have disasterfied the entire Thunderbolt project. Apparently there is a way to make it work in Linux so perhaps I'll go that route instead.

I've been doing a little research in the meantime and the prospects for recovery don't look good. I seriously do NOT recommend this card.

I may have to cut my losses. Doesn't matter if I try it with X99 or X299. Same issues.