Windows 11

[jttheclockman]

Well Windows 10 is coming to an end and will stop being supported. My question is how hard is it to switch to Windows 11. What are the do's and dont's? Windows was loaded on my computer when I bought it but stuck with Windows 10 for as long as I could. I heard there were growing pains with 11. Have they worked those out? I do not have a hard drive to back up any info right now. Should I get one? What could go wrong when downloading Windows11 and making the switch? Thanks.

 

[Mortalis]

Windows 10 will still operate just fine. It just will not get updates anymore. That includes any security updates.
Doing the upgrade is relatively painless........Provided your computer is Windows 11 compliant. I had to upgrade my mainboard (Motherboard, new RAM and an SSD) in order to comply with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM2)) requirement. If your computer has TPM2 then you are pretty much ready to go. Just use the upgrade option through control panel and your computer will do the rest. There really is no need to back up your hard drive unless you have paranoid tendencies. Us the option to not format the drive when you are going through the installation process.
Steps to Upgrade From Win10 to Win11
There are ways to upgrade without meeting the requirements and there are a lot of youtube videos on how to do that.
Upgrade Unsupported Win10 to Win11
Of course you could always take the computer to a local PC shop and ask them to do it.

 

[jttheclockman]

Windows 10 will still operate just fine. It just will not get updates anymore. That includes any security updates.
Doing the upgrade is relatively painless........Provided your computer is Windows 11 compliant. I had to upgrade my mainboard (Motherboard, new RAM and an SSD) in order to comply with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM2)) requirement. If your computer has TPM2 then you are pretty much ready to go. Just use the upgrade option through control panel and your computer will do the rest. There really is no need to back up your hard drive unless you have paranoid tendencies. Us the option to not format the drive when you are going through the installation process.
Steps to Upgrade From Win10 to Win11
There are ways to upgrade without meeting the requirements and there are a lot of youtube videos on how to do that.
Upgrade Unsupported Win10 to Win11
Of course you could always take the computer to a local PC shop and ask them to do it.

I just checked and I do have that platform. I was also able to extend the security updates for 1 year on Windows 10 for free. I did that.

 

[monophoto]

My computer updated to Windows 11 a couple of years ago. I still don't know if that was something that Microsoft forced, or if it was something that I did because I didn't know what I was doing. But regardless, I've found Windows 11 to be not significantly different from Windows 10.

 

[NJturner]

@Mortalis gave you good info. If you have a Windows 11 compatible machine, the upgrade is pretty straightforward. But as also said, you don't have to do it, and since you got the 1 year of security updates - which quite honestly is the most important part of the upgrade - you should be good to go. Make sure you also have a good anti-virus/anti-malware application running on your machine as well like BitDefender which is pretty inexpensive or free depending on what you use. For what it's worth, I recommend their Total Security option - it covers a few devices in one license.

Kevin

 

[carlmorrell]

My machine is a 7 year old Lenovo Carbon X1 was not eligible according to Windows update. So I found a youtube
on how to do the manual update. Took a few hours. And I have been good for almost 2 months now.

 

[bsshog40]

My windows 10 desktop keeps popping up with the win11 stuff all the time. When I check compatibility, it says my pc is not compatible. It's an older solid state drive Asus that works better and faster than any of my former pc's. I think I'll just leave it as is. I basically just use it for documents. I have a win11 laptop. Using it looks no different than my win10 computer.

 

[KMCloonan]

I subscribe to an online newsletter by Leo Notenboom called "Ask Leo" - He writes on a large variety of topics related to computers, cyber security, software, backing up your computer, etc.

He just published a newsletter yesterday regarding whether or not to upgrade to Windows 11. You may find it interesting. Here is a link to the newsletter:

Should I Update to Windows 11? (October 2025 update)

Windows 10 support ends October 14, 2025. Should you move to Windows 11? I’ll walk you through the pros, cons, and options: upgrade now, wait for new hardware, or even stick with Windows 10 safely. The choice is yours, but it’s time to decide.

askleo.com