The 10-day roll back period to my previous window 10

mackie · Nov 29, 2021

Concerning the ten day grace period to roll back from Win 11 to Win 10, which allows us keep all our data/apps/settings/etc.
I haven't found any reason to roll back yet... only been a few days. But like they say, "you never know what the future may bring."

Aside from having a previous clone of the Win 10 drive which would retain all your data and eliminate the need for a future clean install, or moving previously backed up data to a new clean install of Win 10, what would you do if you were forced to go back? This would be after the ten day period expires.

wordsworth · Nov 29, 2021

You can give yourself more time by using dism to extend the days you have.

To see the days you have left at a command prompt: DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow

To extend the days put the number of days you wish in the brackets, don't use the brackets: DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:[days]

If I wished to go back I'd use a backup.

Edit: I should say I'd use a backup if the days had run out; if I had no backup then a clean install would be necessary from retail license or downloaded ISO.

mackie · Nov 29, 2021

Thanks wordsworth. Interesting.. I just did DISM to see how many days I had left, and it said 10. I did the upgrade 3 days ago. I'm going to check it often between now and the end of my tenth day.

On extending it, is there any limit to it? Like if I put in 180 days? I think after about 6 months worth, I would feel better about MS support for these "incompatible hardware" type pc's.

wordsworth · Nov 29, 2021

mackie said:
Thanks wordsworth. Interesting.. I just did DISM to see how many days I had left, and it said 10. I did the upgrade 3 days ago. I'm going to check it often between now and the end of my tenth day.

On extending it, is there any limit to it? Like if I put in 180 days? I think after about 6 months worth, I would feel better about MS support for these "incompatible hardware" type pc's.

60 days is the limit you can extend the roll back period; put a number in higher and it defaults to 10 days. I have not tried extending it again for another 60 days but you can extend the time indefinitely by renaming the folders that contain the old Win 10 files for which see this website, although this was to roll back to Windows 7 from 10 I'd expect the idea still applies.

glasskuter · Nov 29, 2021

After the rollback period expires the only options you have to go back is to restore a backup of the previous OS or insert a cloned drive of the previous OS or do a clean install.

mackie · Nov 29, 2021

wordsworth: will go with 60 days. thanks!

glasskuter: that pretty much covers it. thanks!

So far, the updates are working and it's stable on this pc....... so far.

The-Hive · Nov 29, 2021

you can use DISM as @wordsworth said, the only thing I would say is do not go above 30-40 days or it won't work. From my experience using the rollback via settings>system>recovery worked perfectly on my old machine

cereberus · Nov 29, 2021

Make an image backup using Macrium Reflect Free or similar, and you can go back in 10 days, 10 weeks even 10 years (I guess 10 centuries is stretching things a bit ha ha).

The-Hive · Nov 29, 2021

as @cereberus said Macrium Reflect is the way to go, as you always want to do a backup with Reflect regardless of what you do

The-Hive · Nov 29, 2021

BTW if you do use DISM above 40 days use DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow to make sure it has accepted it as it doesn't like too many days for some reason.

mackie · Nov 29, 2021

The-Hive said:
you can use DISM as @wordsworth said, the only thing I would say is do not go above 30-40 days or it won't work. From my experience using the rollback via settings>system>recovery worked perfectly on my old machine

Agree on Settings>System>Recovery and choosing “Go Back."

When you rolled back, had it been beyond the ten day window after a DISM change?

Good to know about the 30-40 days limit. Thanks

mackie · Nov 29, 2021

cereberus said:
Make an image backup using Macrium Reflect Free or similar, and you can go back in 10 days, 10 weeks even 10 years (I guess 10 centuries is stretching things a bit ha ha).

I'll be doing an image backup of my Win 11 partition soon with MR. My Win 10 is already backed up. Thanks.

wordsworth · Nov 29, 2021

mackie said:
Agree on Settings>System>Recovery and choosing “Go Back."

When you rolled back, had it been beyond the ten day window after a DISM change?

Good to know about the 30-40 days limit. Thanks

I've set using mine using DISM at 60 days and as far as I know it worked. This tip from a Microsoft site:

Tip

If value passes anything <2 or >60, the default value of 10 will be set

zbook · Nov 29, 2021

An additional method for backing up is to save the windows.old to another disk drive or the cloud.

Then restore the windows.old

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10 When you refresh, upgrade, or custom install Windows 10 on the same partition as the previous Windows installation without doing a clean install, then you will have a C:\\Windows.old folder in you

www.tenforums.com

mackie · Nov 30, 2021

I just ran:

wordsworth said:
DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow

and I got:

Uninstall Window : 10
The operation completed successfully.

It shows I have 10. Doesn't DISM count down and display how many days you actually have left before the end of the roll back?
Or are we supposed to keep track of that ourselves? Just trying to understand how it works.

Ghot · Nov 30, 2021

mackie said:
I just ran:

and I got:

Uninstall Window : 10
The operation completed successfully.

It shows I have 10. Doesn't DISM count down and display how many days you actually have left before the end of the roll back?
Or are we supposed to keep track of that ourselves? Just trying to understand how it works.

Most of us just use backup software.
That way we don't have to even "try" to understand Microsoft's methods. :)

Get Reflect 8 Free, here: Reflect Free Edition

Once you have a full backup, you can upgrade to Windows 11 and run it for however many days you want.
Then, if you want to go back to Windows 10, simply restore from your Windows 10 backup.

This is how I use backup software...

How to be a Windows mad scientist, AND avoid software problems. - Windows 10 Help Forums

Not everyone will be able to implement these suggestions. This is mainly for a stand alone computer, with one user in the Administrators group, on a local account. The secret here, is to try to figure out everything that "could" happen, and to t

www.tenforums.com

mackie · Nov 30, 2021

Oh, I have backup of my Win 10 and data. :wink:

Just new to DISM.

The-Hive · Nov 30, 2021

mackie said:
Agree on Settings>System>Recovery and choosing “Go Back."

When you rolled back, had it been beyond the ten day window after a DISM change?

Good to know about the 30-40 days limit. Thanks

I can't remember to be honest, I did it on a very old test machine.

mackie · Dec 1, 2021

Hi all,

I have extended my roll back period from 10 days to 60 days.

I entered: DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60

The operation completed successfuly.

I checked it: DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow

Uninstall Window : 60
The operation completed successfully.

I also have an image of Windows 10 that I can use to go to after the 60 days. If I should have the need to go back within the limited 60 days, my
first option will be to use the easy roll back with a few clicks.

Windows 11 is running as good as Windows 10 was here on my pc........ so all is good so far.

The-Hive · Dec 1, 2021

mackie said:
Hi all,

I have extended my roll back period from 10 days to 60 days.

I entered: DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60

The operation completed successfuly.

I checked it: DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow

Uninstall Window : 60
The operation completed successfully.

I also have an image of Windows 10 that I can use to go to after the 60 days. If I should have the need to go back within the limited 60 days, my
first option will be to use the easy roll back with a few clicks.

Windows 11 is running as good as Windows 10 was here on my pc........ so all is good so far.

Glad youre sorted. There is no reason at all while Windows 11 should not run as well as Windows 10 .... Enjoy