Windows 11

[GabeU]

Anyone upgrade yet?  If so, what do you think of it?  Any problems?  

I've upgraded two systems to W11, and it's working perfectly on both of them.  One is a home built Ryzen 5 based desktop and the other is an AM02 mini PC.  I first did an upgrade in place, both to ensure that Microsoft's servers would have a copy of the digital license and to save the driver file repository, just in case I needed any drivers after performing a clean install.  I then saved a system image of the W11 install.  After that I performed a clean install.  I'm not too keen on upgrades in place, as they drag problems that may have existed to the new OS, so I always end up performing a clean install in the end.  

I like it.  It's going to take a bit of getting used to, especially with finding all of the settings, but the layout is cleaner than it was.  It very much reminds me of Mac's Big Sur.  It also seems more responsive.  

I did read about an issue with AMD processors that may result in reduced performance with some processes, but AMD and Microsoft are working on it.  Unfortunately, this affects both of my systems, though I haven't actually noticed any problems and the performance hit is supposed to be minimal.  

So far, so good.

[maratsade]

I haven't upgraded yet. Right now, Windows 10 is fine and works well. 🙂

[MarkJFine]

I went through the trouble of converting my Win10 VM from BIOS to UFI, added the TP chip and secure boot, just so I could fail the PC Health Test on having an 'unacceptible' Intel Core i7-3740QM processor, despite it having all the  requisite technical characteristics and capabilities. The only flaw: It's from early 2013 and deemed 'too old' to be passable. 🤬 Currently fighting it out with Microsoft.

[maratsade]

Weird! I have an old laptop that was originally Win 7, and that one passed the check. I'm sure it's way older than 2013. 

[GabeU]

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@maratsade wrote:

Weird! I have an old laptop that was originally Win 7, and that one passed the check. I'm sure it's way older than 2013. 

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That defnitely is weird, as with a unit that old the CPU can't be on the approved list.  Weird for sure.  

[GabeU]

@MarkJFine 

I joined a W11 group on Facebook and have read some posts where people are still installing it in systems that don't support it, and with it still working properly.  Who knows?  

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/installing-windows-11-on-devices-that-don-t-meet-minimum...

[MarkJFine]

If you have a .iso of the Win11 install, and have your original Win10 product key you can install it no problem.

The problem is that Windows Update won't update anything after you do that, because it senses it's an unsupported machine.

[maratsade]

I haven't installed Win 11 -- I ran the PC Health Check and it said the machine was compatible. That's why i said the device passed the check.  EDIT: the laptop (which is from before 2013)  has Windows 10 on it. 

[MarkJFine]

On other factor for me: I'm running a Mac and Win10 is running in a virtual machine, so I have no idea if they will even know to check that processor for compatibility because it's not a PC.

[maratsade]

I don't have Windows on my Mac, but I had wondered about that.  

[MarkJFine]

So apparently there's a Registry hack:
You create the key AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup\ and set it to a REG_DWORD of 1. This tells the installer to ignore the TPM or the CPU.

[GabeU]

Eek.  Yeah, on a Mac it might be whole different story, though I did see a post last night in an M1 Mac group on FB where someone had W11 on their Mac, running it with 'Parallels' or whatever it's called.  I think I'll keep my Mac solely a Mac.  

Regarding the updates, it looks like that may not actually be true on all unsupported machines.  Quite a few of the ones I'm seeing in the W11 group that have put it on unsupported machines, including those without TPM, Secure Boot or even an adequate CPU are still receiving updates.  I thought about trying it on one of my unsupported mini PCs, but I'm still playing around with the two that do support it.  

Last night, however, I did have my AM02 freeze.  It's the first time that's ever happened with it.  It took a hard shut down to get it going again.  I don't know if it was because of W11 though.

[maratsade]

"Last night, however, I did have my AM02 freeze.  It's the first time that's ever happened with it.  It took a hard shut down to get it going again.  I don't know if it was because of W11 though."

I hope it wasn't because of W11, though potential issues like this is why i'm not keen on installing it yet. They'll be supporting W10 for a while, so I have the luxury of waiting a while. 

My Mac continues to be a paperweight, and I probably won't update it anymore, but will try to trade it in for a new one at some point.  

[MarkJFine]

I may have to replace my early 2013 15" Retina MBP. The keyboard membrane is finally going. This started about 6 months ago where the power button was sketchy trying to turn it on. Now it doesn't work at all and I never shut it off until I go to bed. I have it automatically wake at 3am in case I get up early. If I bring it anywhere I just close the lid.

If I accidentally turn it off I have to physically open the bottom (9 tiny screws), disconnect the battery with a spudger, then reconnect it after a minute, replace the cover and plug the magsafe power cable back on. That's the procedure to boot a MacBook without a power button.

That was somewhat livable, but now the E, C, I and down-arrow buttons have started missing connections too. So, it's time.

The battery I replaced in it a while ago is still good tho. That was a fun job. The old one was swollen so bad it would press against the bottom of the trackpad so it wouldn't click anymore.

[GabeU]

@MarkJFine 

Replacing it with another MBP?  If so, are you waiting for the new ones later this month?  

[MarkJFine]

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@GabeU wrote:

Replacing it with another MBP?  If so, are you waiting for the new ones later this month?  

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Likely with another MBP. Whether it's a new one or not depends on how flaky this one gets and timing.

[GabeU]

Well, my mini PC had two instances of freezing, necessitating a hard shutdown each time.  I ended up performing another clean install and it's been working all day without issue, so hopefully it was just some kind of glitch that won't rear its ugly head again.

[maratsade]

Have you seen this issue discussed anywhere? I wonder if it's happening to others. EDIT: I did a cursory search and it seems to be happening to other users too. One of the theories is that it may be related to an improper screen resolution, but there seem to be others. 

[GabeU]

I saw that too.  I've run the recommended checks and such, though nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Hopefully it won't happen again with the new install.