Conflict between Win 10 and Win 11?

LRG · Monday at 4:29 PM

I have several older Win 10 computers that can't run Win 11. I recently aquired a Win 11 laptop and any file or picture I have saved on a flash drive from Win 10 computers will not open in on Win 11 computer and any file or picture saved on Win 11 will not open an my Win 10 computers. My daughter has a Win 11 computer and I have the same problem usung her computer. I keep getting an error saying that the files are corrupt but I can open them on any computer running the same OS as they were saved in. It is as if the two OSs have a conflict with the other. I am using an Asus VivoBook laptop with Windows 11 version 24H2. I don't know any other specs about this computer. My other computers are HPs. This problem has occured from the time I first aquired my Win 11 computer in December 2024. Is there some kind of cure fot this condition?

Spunk · Monday at 5:22 PM

There are no conflict between Windows 11 and 10 no matter what version. I have Windows 10 and 11 computers and I drag and drop or copy and paste between them seamlessly.

I would think there is a problem with the Flash Drive. Or the drive you are saving the files to. Have you tried a new out of the box Flash drive to save your files to? If the old flash drive was previously opened on a computer with the same OS, you can view the files because they are saved in Cache. If the drive wasn't opened on that OS previously, you may need to Take Ownership of the drives Files before you can view them.

Porthos · Monday at 5:47 PM

Is the Win 11 computer in S Mode?

Got a new laptop with Windows 11 in S Mode? Let’s break down what that means (and how to switch it off if it’s not for you)

Windows 11 S Mode: simplified, secure, switchable — your choice awaits

www.techradar.com

antspants · Monday at 6:22 PM

To determine if your Windows OS is in "S" mode, navigate to Settings > System > About.
In the "Windows Specifications" section, look for the "Edition" entry. If it says "in S mode" next to it, your Windows is in S mode.

LRG · Monday at 8:12 PM

Sorry, but, this is a flash drive that I can access to open or save files to on either computers, I just can't open files saved from the other OS computer.
I have checked for "S" mode using both methods mentioned and my computer is not in "S" mode.
Are there any other suggestions?

Spunk · Monday at 8:18 PM

What is the Format of the USB Flash drive (ie) exFAT, NTFS, or FAT32. If any of the files are larger than 4GB, they cannot be saved to a drive formatted as FAT32.

Just to eliminate it out of your troubleshooting.
Try a Different USB Flash drive.

LRG · Monday at 8:34 PM

Actually, I have this same problem with at least 3-4 flash drives (all formated to exFat) and an external harddrive (formatted to NFTS)

spapakons · 2025-04-15T08:38:25-0400

You can try opening the files with another application, such as the good old Windows Photo Viewer. It is still there but hidden. To enable it follow this Tutorial. It works in both Windows 10 and 11:

Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10

How to Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

Third-party solutions include ACDSee, XnView and others.

Helmut · 2025-04-15T13:02:20-0400

You should have no problems with common image formats like TIF, PNG, JPG.
There is no conflict between Windows 10 and 11.
The actual format of the flash drive does not matter, FAT, exFAT, NTFS.

But you have not said what format, you could be using some unusual format or a proprietary Album format.

I use IrfanView which covers almost any Image format, there are many others.

LRG · 2025-04-15T14:05:42-0400

I save in Gif, Tif, Png, Jpg, Doc, Xls, Pdf, Mp3, Mp4, M4f, etc. I do not save in unusual formats. The problem is that there should not be a conflict, but there is! I'm getting very frustrated with this problem!

dacrone · 2025-04-15T14:19:34-0400

screenshot the error that shows on the win 11 PCs when trying to open one of the images

spapakons · 2025-04-15T14:20:01-0400

There is a similar thread with the same issue. It turned out the files from the camera or smartphone have some extra information (metadata), such as lens opening, speed, light etc, that the default Windows Photos app cannot interpret properly and cannot open the file. Other programs didn't have that issue. Once the file was opened and then saved as, effectively losing the metadata, Photos could open it. That's why I suggested to try another app. Forget Photos. That's why I prefer third-party applications and I don't use Microsoft ones, let alone I don't like their minimal flat interface. I prefer more colorful applications I am used to since Windows 7. The good old Windows Photo Viewer may not open all the exotic formats that modern Photos app opens, but who cares. As long as I can open almost any standard format, .jpg, .gif, .png etc, I am OK with that. Plus it has a much nicer interface than Photos. So use either an old application that ignores the metadata and simply opens the images, or a new application that can interpret the metadata properly on both computers.

AndreyT · 2025-04-15T14:49:08-0400

LRG said:
I have several older Win 10 computers that can't run Win 11. I recently aquired a Win 11 laptop and any file or picture I have saved on a flash drive from Win 10 computers will not open in on Win 11 computer and any file or picture saved on Win 11 will not open an my Win 10 computers.

"Will not open" is a nonsensical combination of words. It has no meaning.

What does your "will not open" mean precisely? You can't access the flash drive at all? You have no access to/permission to open specific files? The files are accessible but programs complain about invalid file format? Something else?

What exactly do you see?

This is a technical forum. If you want someone to help you, you need to provide a technically meaningful description of the issue.

spapakons · 2025-04-15T15:13:11-0400

AndreyT said:
"Will not open" is a nonsensical combination of words. It has no meaning.

What does your "will not open" mean precisely? You can't access the flash drive at all? You have no access to/permission to open specific files? The files are accessible but programs complain about invalid file format? Something else?

What exactly do you see?

This is a technical forum. If you want someone to help you, you need to provide a technically meaningful description of the issue.

You don't have to be an expert to understand what the OP tries to say. Files from the Windows 10 computer fail to open on the Windows 11 computer (there is an error message) and vice versa. The USB flash drive is fine. In fact he said that he tried more than two drives with the same issue. So it is a software issue, not hardware. See my previous post to see what might be the cause. The solution is to use another app, not the default Windows Photos app, or open the files in some image editor and "Save as" them to get rid of their metadata. I imagine doing that for hundred of images is not convenient, so just forget about Photos (unless some update fixes that) and use another app to view the photos. That's what I like with Windows, you get a choice of many apps to do your job, unlike other OSes that have a very limited choice.

dacrone · 2025-04-15T15:26:34-0400

spapakons said:
You don't have to be an expert to understand what the OP tries to say. Files from the Windows 10 computer fail to open on the Windows 11 computer (there is an error message) and vice versa. The USB flash drive is fine. In fact he said that he tried more than two drives with the same issue. So it is a software issue, not hardware. See my previous post to see what might be the cause. The solution is to use another app, not the default Windows Photos app, or open the files in some image editor and "Save as" them to get rid of their metadata. I imagine doing that for hundred of images is not convenient, so just forget about Photos (unless some update fixes that) and use another app to view the photos. That's what I like with Windows, you get a choice of many apps to do your job, unlike other OSes that have a very limited choice.

well... not exactly. all three statements below (semi)contradict themselves. there is a VERY small percentage of issues that could have this specific of an impact on ONLY the win 11 operating system. until we see the actual error (of invalidity) and the properties dialog of one of the images (in any format), there isnt really much advise anyone can offer, aside from throwing out 3rd party programs to utilize as Photos app alternatives.

LRG said:
Actually, I have this same problem with at least 3-4 flash drives (all formated to exFat) and an external harddrive (formatted to NFTS)

LRG said:
I save in Gif, Tif, Png, Jpg, Doc, Xls, Pdf, Mp3, Mp4, M4f, etc. I do not save in unusual formats.

LRG said:
I keep getting an error saying that the files are corrupt but I can open them on any computer running the same OS as they were saved in.

spapakons · 2025-04-15T17:21:55-0400

The error might be due to the inability of Photos to properly decipher the metadata before opening the image. These metadata are useless unless you want to edit the image and improve it. Photoshop, for example, can read these data and optimise the image. A simple image viewer can safely ignore these data and just display the image. That's why I suggested to use an older application that ignores the metadata or a new one that can properly decipher them. For just viewing the image the interpretation of the metadata won't make any perceptible difference in quality, especially on an average non-calibrated consumer monitor. We are not talking about a professional photographer with an expensive well calibrated monitor, the OP is a typical PC user.

dacrone · 2025-04-15T17:30:28-0400

I’d be willing to bet that if there was any special software used in the making or viewing of these (multi format) images on the Windows 10 side, OP would’ve mentioned it. But I digress. We shall wait for a response to know for sure.

spapakons · 2025-04-15T17:34:11-0400

The only difference a special program would make is to add some metadata to the image. The base image format (without these metadata) should be the same and any application that can read .jpg files should be able to open it.

Helmut · 2025-04-15T19:03:07-0400

"The problem is that there should not be a conflict, but there is! I'm getting very frustrated with this problem!"

The problem would be related to the Applications used the exact File Format, and/or metadata, codecs and so forth.
With no additional details of Applications used, metadata, codecs and so on then this thread will go nowhere.

spapakons · 2025-04-16T02:50:53-0400

The similar thread I mentioned had exactly the same issue. Some images from his smartphone would not open by Microsoft Photos app, but they did open by another app on the same computer. So the files were fine, Photos has the issue. In the other thread someone suggested that a recent Windows update changed something and broke compatibility in Photos and some other Microsoft applications. It is a known issue. However, it would not harm if the OP of this thread would post a screenshot of the error message so we can investigate further. To produce the screenshot you can simply press the PRINT SCREEN aka PTR SCR button on the keyboard and then paste the image on Microsoft Paint or other application. Alternatively you can use the Snipping Tool.

Conflict between Win 10 and Win 11?

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