Windows 10->11 broke my computer

I'm one of the many W11 users that have a "spare" Windows 10 computer that has hardware that won't support W11. I use the W10 computer because I need the optical drives. So I jumped at the opportunity here to upgrade my non-compliant W10 computer. Unfortunately, not only did the upgrade not work, but now my DVD computer doesn't boot. I continue to get the message shown on the image below.

At this point I'm willing to get my W10/DVD players back. How can I do that? I have the file "Win11_24H2_English_Arm64.ISO" but I'm reluctant to mount it fearing that it'll brick my main W11 computer by running the ISO-generated virtual disk. Also, I don't know how to invoke a command prompt on my defunct W10 computer. If I could, I'll mount/run the ISO file there (nothing to lose).

Thanks

lbeck said:

"Win11_24H2_English_Arm64.ISO

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Why the ARM version? I suspect that's the reason the upgrade borked ....

EDIT
Altho I would have thought Windows would have warned about an inappropriate upgrade option ...?

EDIT 2
Or did it? But was overriden?

At this point you cannot fix Windows 10 anymore. I suggest to backup your data and then wipe the disk and clean-install Windows 11 using the x64 ISO which is compatible with every PC using an Intel/AMD CPU. The ARM64 version is only for tablets and other devices using an ARM CPU, such as Snapdragon. Here is the official download site from Microsoft:


You don't have to download the Installation Assistant or the Media Creation Tool, scroll down to the third option, to download the ISO directly.

To create a bootable USB flash drive from the ISO and bypass compatibility check to install on unsupported computers, use Rufus to create the USB flash drive:


To backup your data before starting, either move the disk to another computer and copy your data from \Users\your_user_name folder, or use a Live Linux USB or a Live Windows (aka WinPE) USB. If you, like me, prefer Windows environment you can use Sergei Strelec WinPE ISO in Rufus to create the Live WinPE USB.


Rufus will bypass compatibility check and let you install Windows 11 25H2, provided the CPU is at least 1st generation Intel Core-i3 or newer. If it is Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad, it supports up to 23H2 for which support ends this November. If it is newer and supports SSE4.2, then you can install 24H2 and 25H2. You can configure the settings in Rufus to automatically create a local account (the default is to connect to the internet and use a Microsoft account).

Go to Internet Archive to find your Windows 10 Pro version. Download and extract the iso to a bootable USB disk to do a fresh install. I trust you have your Windows serial number ready.

If you haven’t copied it somewhere, you can use a generic key for now.

hxxps://archive.org/search?query=windows+10+Pro

Once installed, go online and your Windows will be automatically registered. If it isn’t, let us know and we will tell you how you can find your original product key.

Doing a clean install of Windows 11 Pro as spapakons has suggested is another option. However your devices on the pc must meet the following minimum hardware requirements. Otherwise, you can’t install Windows 11 Pro.

I doubt you can install WoA (Windows on Arm) version of Windows 11 Pro. It was only recently introduced.

You can download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from here:


Run it and select to download the ISO for installation on another computer. However, I think at this point is much better to install Windows 11 25H2, if your CPU has SSE4.2 instructions, than go back to Windows 10. All the same drivers you would install in 10 also work in 11. Also all the same apps and games work in 11, so you shouldn't have any compatibility issues. All standard updates download and install in all unsupported computers, except the ones to upgrade from an older version to a newer version of Windows 11. To do that, you have to manually download the newer ISO and use Rufus to bypass compatibility check. See my previous post for links.

pewa said:

I trust you have your Windows serial number ready.

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Activation should use your digital license. It is tied to the hardware and your MS account on MS servers.

I hope you have made an backup image of your old installation. If so the easiest way to recover is to restore it. Otherwise it's clean install city as @spapakons pointed out.

If you were recently using the laptop and the backup is not too old (more than 2-3 months), it might be worth to restore it. Otherwise, just backup your data and do a new Windows 11 installation. It will be much faster.

spapakons said:

To backup your data before starting, either move the disk to another computer and copy your data from \Users\your_user_name folder, or use a Live Linux USB or a Live Windows (aka WinPE) USB. If you, like me, prefer Windows environment you can use Sergei Strelec WinPE ISO in Rufus to create the Live WinPE USB.

WinPE 10-8 Sergei Strelec English » Sergei Strelec

Bootable disk Windows 11 and 10 PE - for maintenance of computers, hard disks and partitions, backup and restore disks and partitions, computer diagnostics, data recovery, Windows installation. WinPE x64 version only

sergeistrelec.name

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Hahahahaha ... You must be fluent in Russian. I wish I were too.

jimminy said:

Hahahahaha ... You must be fluent in Russian. I wish I were too.

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No, I don't speak Russian. There is an English version.

Thanks to everyone for your help. I tried the routines suggested by spapakons but no success. The only thing other than the BIOS blue screens is shown in the B/W part of the image. But at least it appears to be addressable and shows several apparently recognizable commands (but not setup.exe). Is there something shown that can get me to W10 or 11? I may need to use one of the commands offered and follow with some other routines that will get to an OS.

Also, I have found a 25-digit alphanumeric number labeled "Product Key" on a label affixed to the computer. Hopefully that is what I need once I load the operating system.

Looks like you created a bootable USB flash drive with MS-DOS commands.

How to create a bootable Windows 11 Setup USB with Rufus:

1) Connect your USB flash drive to the computer.
2) Load Rufus 4.5 or newer. Make sure you select your USB flash drive in Device section.
3) Click on the Select button at the right to select your Windows 11 ISO.
4) In Partition scheme make sure you select GPT to create an UEFI bootable USB flash drive.
5) In Format Options, File System should be FAT32 by default, don't change it.
6) Click START button to begin the process.
7) At this point Rufus detects it is a Windows 11 ISO and gives you checkboxes to bypass compatibility check. Check them all.
8) If you want to create a local account instead of using a Microsoft account, use the respective option at the bottom.
9) When ready, click the button to proceed creating the USB flash drive.

I recommend using the official ISO from Microsoft (scroll down, third option, download the ISO directly). Any weird third-party modified version might not be detected as Windows 11 and Rufus won't offer to patch compatibility check.