Solved A costly lesson I just learned about W11 Upgrades


Run the computer for a few days.

If there are any major problems then post a V2 share link into the newest post.
Will do. As I said, all the updates completed OK. I manually deleted all the leftover Win10 stuff, rebooted, and ran a Macrium image backup after that. No problems encountered.

But as you noted - the proof is in the pudding. I'll post an update here in a few days. The PC is my wife's system, and although she doesn't run heavy duty stuff like I do (3D renderings etc.) she does use all the standard apps (Chrome, Word, Excel, etc.) pretty extensively. So a few days should tell the story.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    Intel i5-12600K 3700 MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus B660-M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none
    Sound Card
    none
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary: LG 4K; Secondary: Dell U2412M
    Screen Resolution
    Primary: 3860 x 2160; Secondary: 1200 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung NVme SSD970 256K
    E: 1 TB HDD
    F: 500K HDD
    W: Samsung SSD 840 128K
    Keyboard
    Logitech Lighted
    Mouse
    Kensington ExpertMouse trackball
    Internet Speed
    500/500
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Today, as if by magic, I found a Gigabyte GT1030 on my doorstep. I have no idea how it got there, but I'm pretty sure it came from Amazon. No, I never ordered a GT130 from anyone, and Amazon shows my GT710 is still on order. Regrettably the GT1030 didn't allow Win11 to install either.
Do you have GT1030 in your computer now? It is a much better card than any of the other one you talked about. In fact it is 3 times as fast as the GT710. The GT1030 came out in 2017 and is fully supported by Windows 10 & 11.

The GTX750Ti is a little bit faster than the GT1030 but is 3 years older (2014). You have to decide which one you want to use.

BTW, both Gigabyte and Nvidia have Windows 11 drivers for the GT1030. I suggest you get the driver from Nvidia since it is a lot newer.

GT1030 Driver.jpg
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2022)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon 680M GPU (486MB RAM)
    Memory
    Crucial DDR5-4800 (2400MHz) 32GB (2 x 16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 3060 Laptop (6GB RAM)
    Sound Card
    n/a
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6-inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 300Hz
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 980 (1TB M.2 NVME SSD)
    PSU
    n/a
    Mouse
    Wireless Mouse M510
    Internet Speed
    2000Mbps/300Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming WiFi II
    Memory
    G.SKILL Flare X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-RTX3060TI-08G-V2-GAMING (RTX 3060-Ti, 8GB RAM)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23A300B (23-in LED)
    Screen Resolution
    1080p 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    2TB XPG SX8200 Pro (M2. PCIe SSD) || 2TB Intel 660P (M2. PCIe SSD)
    PSU
    Corsair RM750x (750 watts)
    Case
    Cooler Master MasterCase 5
    Cooling
    Scythe Mugen 6
    Mouse
    Logitech K350 (wireless)
    Keyboard
    Logitech M510 (wireless)
    Internet Speed
    2000 Mbps down / 300 Mbps up
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes (Premium)
    Other Info
    ASUS Blu-ray Burner BW-16D1HT (SATA) || Western Digital Easystore 20TB USB 3.0 external hard drive used with Acronis True Image 2025 backup software || HP OfficeJet Pro 6975 Printer/Scanner
Some thoughts.....

Win11 does not require Secure Boot to be "On" but the motherboard has to be Secure Boot compatible. The problems with older GPUs is UEFI support. Drivers should not matter as there are no GPU drivers required for a clean install of Win11. The video out required simply uses the GPUs onboard bios to support any video output.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    I'm a computer enthusiast so have quite a few systems that I run. More like an advanced hobby.
Do you have GT1030 in your computer now?

Yes - the 1030 is in the box (the PC box I mean) and seems to be working fine. The card is quite small and has a very cute heat sink and tiny fan attached to one side. As I noted, I have no idea how or why I got the card - I didn't order it and, even though I cancelled the order for the GT710 before it shipped Amazon says it will be delivered tomorrow. So I guess I'll just have to return it.

Thanks for all your info about the 1030. TBH I don't know what driver version is installed now, but I'll check and see how it compares to whatever is current. I've had so many video cards in the PC I can certainly imagine the the video driver situation is a mess internally. I should probably look for some piece of software that finds and deletes old obsolete drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    Intel i5-12600K 3700 MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus B660-M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none
    Sound Card
    none
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary: LG 4K; Secondary: Dell U2412M
    Screen Resolution
    Primary: 3860 x 2160; Secondary: 1200 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung NVme SSD970 256K
    E: 1 TB HDD
    F: 500K HDD
    W: Samsung SSD 840 128K
    Keyboard
    Logitech Lighted
    Mouse
    Kensington ExpertMouse trackball
    Internet Speed
    500/500
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Drivers should not matter

Yup - "should not" is the key phrase there. I tried a total of 4 different video cards in the system (it was late at night and was just trying different cards at random), and each try required 2 reboots and tweaking the BIOS each time. It seems to me that the Secure Boot requirement, whatever it actually is, is likely not well understood in general, and is certainly not well documented. The best info I found was the very brief Rufus page that essentially said "Do this to get rid of that." Fortunately for me it worked just like that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    Intel i5-12600K 3700 MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus B660-M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none
    Sound Card
    none
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary: LG 4K; Secondary: Dell U2412M
    Screen Resolution
    Primary: 3860 x 2160; Secondary: 1200 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung NVme SSD970 256K
    E: 1 TB HDD
    F: 500K HDD
    W: Samsung SSD 840 128K
    Keyboard
    Logitech Lighted
    Mouse
    Kensington ExpertMouse trackball
    Internet Speed
    500/500
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Thanks for all your info about the 1030. TBH I don't know what driver version is installed now, but I'll check and see how it compares to whatever is current. I've had so many video cards in the PC I can certainly imagine the the video driver situation is a mess internally. I should probably look for some piece of software that finds and deletes old obsolete drivers.
You can see which Nvidia driver you have by running the Device manager

nv1.jpg

If you download the driver from Nvidia it also installs the program Geforce Experience. You can use it to see what driver you have and download a driver update if you want.

nv2.jpg

The Device Manager gives a different driver number than Nvidia. For example, for my GTX1060 it is:
  • Device Manager: 32.0.15.5612
  • Nvidia Driver: 556.12
If you look closely at the Device Manager it is easy to figure out what the actual Nvidia driver is.

BTW, there are 4 Gigabyte GT1030 variations.
GeForce® GT 1030 | Graphics Card - GIGABYTE Global

GT1030.jpg
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2022)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon 680M GPU (486MB RAM)
    Memory
    Crucial DDR5-4800 (2400MHz) 32GB (2 x 16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA RTX 3060 Laptop (6GB RAM)
    Sound Card
    n/a
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6-inch
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 300Hz
    Hard Drives
    2 x Samsung 980 (1TB M.2 NVME SSD)
    PSU
    n/a
    Mouse
    Wireless Mouse M510
    Internet Speed
    2000Mbps/300Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming WiFi II
    Memory
    G.SKILL Flare X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-RTX3060TI-08G-V2-GAMING (RTX 3060-Ti, 8GB RAM)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23A300B (23-in LED)
    Screen Resolution
    1080p 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    2TB XPG SX8200 Pro (M2. PCIe SSD) || 2TB Intel 660P (M2. PCIe SSD)
    PSU
    Corsair RM750x (750 watts)
    Case
    Cooler Master MasterCase 5
    Cooling
    Scythe Mugen 6
    Mouse
    Logitech K350 (wireless)
    Keyboard
    Logitech M510 (wireless)
    Internet Speed
    2000 Mbps down / 300 Mbps up
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes (Premium)
    Other Info
    ASUS Blu-ray Burner BW-16D1HT (SATA) || Western Digital Easystore 20TB USB 3.0 external hard drive used with Acronis True Image 2025 backup software || HP OfficeJet Pro 6975 Printer/Scanner
Yup - "should not" is the key phrase there. I tried a total of 4 different video cards in the system (it was late at night and was just trying different cards at random), and each try required 2 reboots and tweaking the BIOS each time. It seems to me that the Secure Boot requirement, whatever it actually is, is likely not well understood in general, and is certainly not well documented. The best info I found was the very brief Rufus page that essentially said "Do this to get rid of that." Fortunately for me it worked just like that.
I literally just got finished installing Win11 on an AMD system using the same(or similar) GPU....GTX 1030. No problems at all. I think you're issue lies elsewhere. Either with the motherboard settings or the Win11 installer you're using.
Perhaps the motherboard TPM settings?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    I'm a computer enthusiast so have quite a few systems that I run. More like an advanced hobby.
If you look closely at the Device Manager it is easy to figure out what the actual Nvidia driver is.

GAK! All this time I could never understand why the driver numbers didn't match. Now I know the (strange) secret. Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    Intel i5-12600K 3700 MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus B660-M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none
    Sound Card
    none
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary: LG 4K; Secondary: Dell U2412M
    Screen Resolution
    Primary: 3860 x 2160; Secondary: 1200 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung NVme SSD970 256K
    E: 1 TB HDD
    F: 500K HDD
    W: Samsung SSD 840 128K
    Keyboard
    Logitech Lighted
    Mouse
    Kensington ExpertMouse trackball
    Internet Speed
    500/500
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
For full information on the GPU in the computer GPU-Z is a good tool. It also shows if the GPU is UEFI compliant.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.3025
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    Intel Core i9 13900K
    Motherboard
    Asus ProArt Z790 Creator WiFi - Bios 2703
    Memory
    Corsair Dominator Platinum 64gb 5600MT/s DDR5 Dual Channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X 24GB
    Sound Card
    External DAC - Headphone Amplifier: Cambridge Audio DACMagic200M
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Panasonic MX950 Mini LED 55" TV 120hz
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160 120hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 2TB (OS)
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Files)
    Lexar NZ790 4TB
    LaCie d2 Professional 6TB external - USB 3.1
    Seagate One Touch 18TB external HD - USB 3.0
    PSU
    Corsair RM1200x Shift
    Case
    Corsair RGB Smart Case 5000x (white)
    Cooling
    Corsair iCue H150i Elite Capellix XT
    Keyboard
    Logitech K860
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Ergo Trackball
    Internet Speed
    Fibre 900/500 Mbps
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Total Security
    Other Info
    AMD Radeon Software & Drivers 24.12.1
    AOMEI Backupper Pro
    Dashlane password manager
    Logitech Brio 4K Webcam
    Orico 10-port powered USB 3.0 hub
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.2894
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Vivobook X1605VA
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i9-13900H
    Motherboard
    Asus X1605VA bios 309
    Memory
    32GB DDR4-3200 Dual channel
    Graphics card(s)
    *Intel Iris Xᵉ Graphics G7 (96EU) 32.0.101.6078
    Sound Card
    Realtek | Intel SST Bluetooth & USB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16.0-inch, WUXGA 16:10 aspect ratio, IPS-level Panel
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 60hz
    Hard Drives
    512GB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 3.0 SSD
    Other Info
    720p Webcam
I literally just got finished installing Win11 on an AMD system using the same(or similar) GPU....GTX 1030. No problems at all. I think you're issue lies elsewhere. Either with the motherboard settings or the Win11 installer you're using.
Perhaps the motherboard TPM settings?
Well I'm glad you didn't run into the same problems I did. Bur my sense is the reason is more about the fact that you have an AMD motherboard and I have an ASUS one. And my i5 CPU chip is the "cheap" one with no graphics support. In fact the chip is the same as the regular one, but they tweak the chip's microcode to disable the graphics. (This is what happens when you let the marketing people mess with the technical stuff/)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    Intel i5-12600K 3700 MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus B660-M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none
    Sound Card
    none
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary: LG 4K; Secondary: Dell U2412M
    Screen Resolution
    Primary: 3860 x 2160; Secondary: 1200 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung NVme SSD970 256K
    E: 1 TB HDD
    F: 500K HDD
    W: Samsung SSD 840 128K
    Keyboard
    Logitech Lighted
    Mouse
    Kensington ExpertMouse trackball
    Internet Speed
    500/500
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Well I'm glad you didn't run into the same problems I did. Bur my sense is the reason is more about the fact that you have an AMD motherboard and I have an ASUS one. And my i5 CPU chip is the "cheap" one with no graphics support. In fact the chip is the same as the regular one, but they tweak the chip's microcode to disable the graphics. (This is what happens when you let the marketing people mess with the technical stuff/)
It's an ASUS board with an AMD chipset. The issue here isn't AMD vs Intel vs GPU. Something is amiss with your settings or hardware. Whether you're using a K skew CPU or not shouldn't make any difference in installation process.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 7/10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    I'm a computer enthusiast so have quite a few systems that I run. More like an advanced hobby.
I upgraded 2 desktops to be compatible soon after inception of win 11

Me and my other half.

I would first choose the motherboard at Amazon. There would often
be some information below the choice "frequently bought together".

I would then choose the CPU and speak to computer assembly guy to
confirm my choice.

Once I had the components, 1)Motherboard 2) CPU and 3) memory - if necessary

I would take it to my computer guy. He would have it ready the next day with
no mistakes!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    No Name - Assembled by a Compute shop in a Strip Mall.
    CPU
    Intel i511400
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME B560-PLUS motherboard
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    0
    Sound Card
    0
    Monitor(s) Displays
    28 in Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    6 SSDs a mixture of 3 Nvme and 3 Sata.
    PSU
    600w
    Case
    Antec- VSK4000E-U3 Mid Tower
    Internet Speed
    40 MPS download and 3.5 MPS upload. The condo building is nor wired with Fibe yet
    Browser
    Firefox, Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Too much money, too much trouble for nothing. Why you don't just bypass compatibility check to upgrade Windows 10 to 11 without meeting all the requirements? See relevant thread.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (build 22631.4249) test laptop, Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2894) main PC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Extensa 5630EZ
    CPU
    Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Extensa 5630
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobile Intel(R) GMA 4500M (Mobile 4 series)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC268 @ Intel 82801IB ICH9 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB SATA Device (250 GB, SATA-III)
    Internet Speed
    VDSL 50 Mbps
    Browser
    MICROSOFT EDGE
    Antivirus
    WINDOWS DEFENDER
    Other Info
    Legacy MBR installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, no WDDM 2.0 graphics drivers, no SSE4.2, cannot get more unsupported ;) This is only my test laptop. I had installed Windows 11 here before upgrading my main PC. For my main PC I use everyday see my 2nd system specs.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2894)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-built PC
    CPU
    Intel Core-i7 3770 3.40GHz s1155 (3rd generation)
    Motherboard
    Asus P8H61 s1155 ATX
    Memory
    2x Kingston Hyper-X Blu 8GB DDR3-1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward NE5105T018G1-1070F (nVidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD audio (ALC887)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia KDL-19L4000 19" LCD TV via VGA
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 32-bit 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WD Blue SA510 2.5 1000GB SSD as system disk, Western Digital Caviar Purple 4TB SATA III (WD40PURZ) as second
    PSU
    Thermaltake Litepower RGB 550W Full Wired
    Case
    SUPERCASE MIDI-TOWER
    Cooling
    Deepcool Gamma Archer CPU cooler, 1x 8cm fan at the back
    Mouse
    Sunnyline OptiEye PS/2
    Keyboard
    Mitsumi 101-key PS/2
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Legacy BIOS (MBR) installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, WDDM 3.0 graphics drivers, WEI score 7.4
Too much money, too much trouble for nothing. Why you don't just bypass compatibility check to upgrade Windows 10 to 11 without meeting all the requirements? See relevant thread.
Making a mountain out of a molehill?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
Rufus isn’t even required either. There is a .cmd you can run and then immediately update. No reboots. Nothing. Upgrading hardware is like buying a movie whereas bypassing is like renting a movie on Amazon. Either way you’ll get to watch the movie.. just depends on how much you want to spend out of pocket. Not required, just preference.. I suppose.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
Making a mountain out of a molehill?
What do you mean? Is not that hard as it seems to bypass compatibility check. You can download the Windows 11 ISO, use Rufus to create a USB flash drive and remove the compatibility check. Then disconnect from the internet and run Setup. Keep disconnected until complete.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (build 22631.4249) test laptop, Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2894) main PC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Extensa 5630EZ
    CPU
    Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Extensa 5630
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobile Intel(R) GMA 4500M (Mobile 4 series)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC268 @ Intel 82801IB ICH9 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB SATA Device (250 GB, SATA-III)
    Internet Speed
    VDSL 50 Mbps
    Browser
    MICROSOFT EDGE
    Antivirus
    WINDOWS DEFENDER
    Other Info
    Legacy MBR installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, no WDDM 2.0 graphics drivers, no SSE4.2, cannot get more unsupported ;) This is only my test laptop. I had installed Windows 11 here before upgrading my main PC. For my main PC I use everyday see my 2nd system specs.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2894)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-built PC
    CPU
    Intel Core-i7 3770 3.40GHz s1155 (3rd generation)
    Motherboard
    Asus P8H61 s1155 ATX
    Memory
    2x Kingston Hyper-X Blu 8GB DDR3-1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward NE5105T018G1-1070F (nVidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD audio (ALC887)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia KDL-19L4000 19" LCD TV via VGA
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 32-bit 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WD Blue SA510 2.5 1000GB SSD as system disk, Western Digital Caviar Purple 4TB SATA III (WD40PURZ) as second
    PSU
    Thermaltake Litepower RGB 550W Full Wired
    Case
    SUPERCASE MIDI-TOWER
    Cooling
    Deepcool Gamma Archer CPU cooler, 1x 8cm fan at the back
    Mouse
    Sunnyline OptiEye PS/2
    Keyboard
    Mitsumi 101-key PS/2
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Legacy BIOS (MBR) installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, WDDM 3.0 graphics drivers, WEI score 7.4
What do you mean? Is not that hard as it seems to bypass compatibility check. You can download the Windows 11 ISO, use Rufus to create a USB flash drive and remove the compatibility check. Then disconnect from the internet and run Setup. Keep disconnected until complete.
Just run the Cmd/batch then run the iso setup.

 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
The CPU was one that included graphics support because I wanted to avoid a separate graphics card.
Very wise. Is it too late to return the non graphics cpu? Graphics card is a waste of money, space and electricty unless you have special requirements that need one.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7,Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7,win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
Just run the Cmd/batch then run the iso setup.

Either way you must stay disconnected from the internet during the upgrade to avoid a hidden online compatibility check. I have confirmed with at least 5 unsupported systems, if you stay connected after the initial stage is about 70%-80% you will see an error message that upgrade failed. If you are disconnected from the internet Setup cannot make this hidden online compatibility check and just let the process complete and restart to continue in stage 2. Also if you are online Setup will try replacing some drivers or install updates and might result in BSOD if it doesn't install all of them properly. You can update any drivers and install updates after you have successfully upgraded to Windows 11. The same caution is true for upgrading an unsupported computer from one Windows 11 version to another (such as from 21H2 to 22H2 or 22H2 to 23H2 etc).
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (build 22631.4249) test laptop, Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2894) main PC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Extensa 5630EZ
    CPU
    Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Extensa 5630
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobile Intel(R) GMA 4500M (Mobile 4 series)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC268 @ Intel 82801IB ICH9 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB SATA Device (250 GB, SATA-III)
    Internet Speed
    VDSL 50 Mbps
    Browser
    MICROSOFT EDGE
    Antivirus
    WINDOWS DEFENDER
    Other Info
    Legacy MBR installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, no WDDM 2.0 graphics drivers, no SSE4.2, cannot get more unsupported ;) This is only my test laptop. I had installed Windows 11 here before upgrading my main PC. For my main PC I use everyday see my 2nd system specs.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2894)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-built PC
    CPU
    Intel Core-i7 3770 3.40GHz s1155 (3rd generation)
    Motherboard
    Asus P8H61 s1155 ATX
    Memory
    2x Kingston Hyper-X Blu 8GB DDR3-1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward NE5105T018G1-1070F (nVidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD audio (ALC887)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia KDL-19L4000 19" LCD TV via VGA
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 32-bit 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WD Blue SA510 2.5 1000GB SSD as system disk, Western Digital Caviar Purple 4TB SATA III (WD40PURZ) as second
    PSU
    Thermaltake Litepower RGB 550W Full Wired
    Case
    SUPERCASE MIDI-TOWER
    Cooling
    Deepcool Gamma Archer CPU cooler, 1x 8cm fan at the back
    Mouse
    Sunnyline OptiEye PS/2
    Keyboard
    Mitsumi 101-key PS/2
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Legacy BIOS (MBR) installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, WDDM 3.0 graphics drivers, WEI score 7.4
To clear up a couple of things about my particular experience:

1. I knew I'd need the official MS Win11 upgrade install ISO, so I tried to download it on my PC which has been running Win11 for a long time. The MS downloader told me I was already running the latest version of WIn11 and would not do the download. So I got it using the Win10 system I was trying to upgrade to Win11.

2. I did try using the registry tweaks in this site's Tutorial section that are supposed to remove or bypass the "compatibility check" for upgrading Win10 ==> Win11. That tweak did not work, so I had to try something else.

3. I did a fair amount of web searching and found a post that identified an Easus utility that supposedly eliminated the check. That did not work either.

4. One of the people responding to my original post here said Rufus could bypass the check. I'd not ever used Rufus in the past and was surprised at how simple and small it was. The Rufus method allowed the WIn10 ==> Win11 upgrade to complete successfully.

5. During step 4 the PC was connected to the Internet the entire time.

6. This whole scenario was caused by Amazon's inability to ship a graphics enabled Intel i5 CPU in the timeframe I needed. So I cancelled that order and replaced it with a non-graphics i5 - and saved a little $ because of that. I ran into trouble when I attempted to use any of the old VGA cards I had saved from previous PC's. There is clearly some sort of interaction between the Win11 installer and the graphics support (whatever it is) in the system being upgraded.

What happened in my case was this: after installing any of the old graphics cards and making the Bios changes required for Trusted Boot, when the system reboots the BIOS throws up a message saying (not an exact quote) "An incompatibility with VGA video has been discovered. Press F2 to correct this and then press F1 to restore default BIOS settings so you have a smooth experience." There are no options - the only way to proceed is to do what it says. So the only way I could get past this was to use the Rufus method to eliminate the so-called "compatibility" test.

7. I found several web postings that said that if I was able to bypass the Secure boot check my new Win11 system would not be able to install updates, or do other things that Win11 does. After I got Win 11 installed (I used the "update later" option for the install) I had no problem installing a sizeable bunch of Windows updates identified by Win11's Windows Update.

After going through this process it's pretty clear to me that there are lots of online postings that may or may not be correct. The only way I was able to get this upgrade completed was by persevering though a number of trial-and-error attempts until finding one that actually worked.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom build
    CPU
    Intel i5-12600K 3700 MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus B660-M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none
    Sound Card
    none
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary: LG 4K; Secondary: Dell U2412M
    Screen Resolution
    Primary: 3860 x 2160; Secondary: 1200 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung NVme SSD970 256K
    E: 1 TB HDD
    F: 500K HDD
    W: Samsung SSD 840 128K
    Keyboard
    Logitech Lighted
    Mouse
    Kensington ExpertMouse trackball
    Internet Speed
    500/500
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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