Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

Bree · Aug 31, 2022

spapakons said:
The power utility is not a driver.

Lenovo say it is....

hsehestedt · Aug 31, 2022

I guess that they must figure you can use the Win 10 drivers / utilities with exception(s) being what they post for Windows 11.

I've never owned a Lenovo, but that actually impresses me. There are some companies that do a lousy job of providing drivers, even for the OS that they ship on the system, most notably some of the cheap Chinese branded systems, but not it's not exclusively a problem with them.

Bree · Aug 31, 2022

hsehestedt said:
I've never owned a Lenovo, but that actually impresses me. There are some companies that do a lousy job of providing drivers, even for the OS that they ship on the system

Yes, in fact as a lot of my systems were bought as used machines I think a good support site is if anything more important than going for the top hardware specs. Particularly ones where you can type in the serial number of the PC and get a precise match of suitable drivers. You can even see the shipping date, original warranty, and (especially on Dell's site) the exact original hardware your PC was supplied with.

Of the 'big names' the two I find the most useful, particularly as they provide manuals with full dismantling instructions, are Dell closely followed by Lenovo. HP are third in my estimation, mainly because they have a habit of removing driver support for PCs and printers they regard as 'end of life' after around 10 years. One to avoid IMHO is Sony

TM21 · Aug 31, 2022

I've just installed Win-11/Pro/64 on a seven year old (more or less) home made PC, with a Gigabyte mobo and an 6 Core AMD CPU, with 8 GB ram.
No VM's or other mickey mouse stuff. Just a download, burn to FD with Rufus and boot and run install from the FD. That's the Reader's Digest condensed version.

I found that 11 will work with everything (Programs) that 10 or even 8.1 works with. Including all the Tweaks I use for Win-10.
The most important thing I installed was the new Classic Shell.
That makes 11 a whole lot easier to tweak and tune for my own preferences.

This was only a TEST! Win-11 will NEVER be my everyday OS.

The big secret to my success was where I downloaded my Win-11 ISO from.

TM

hsehestedt · Aug 31, 2022

TechnoMage2021 said:
The big secret to my success was where I downloaded my Win-11 ISO from.

I'm just curious as to what this means. I'm not asking for the source of your download, merely wondering if you are saying that there was something different about this ISO image vs what you can download directly from Microsoft.

TM21 · Aug 31, 2022

Ha Ha! Yes, the one I downloaded worked!

As I type this, Win-11/Pro/64 is installing on an old HP Laptop, that I received several years ago as a possible Parts Machine. I fixed it!
An original ISO from MS would not load on this old machine. It's been happily running Windows 8.1/Pro/64 for quite a while now.

This is all just a part of my Hobby, of testing what will work and where.
If you do ever want to know my source, just drop me an email. If you're not a Govt agent or MS employee, I might just tell you.
You could probably find it for yourself with a simple Google Search.

WAI · Aug 31, 2022

Here's my ISO. What I did some builds back I used Rufus to create a USB setup then extracted the files thus used IMGBurn to create the ISO

hsehestedt · Sep 1, 2022

TechnoMage2021 said:
If you do ever want to know my source, just drop me an email. If you're not a Govt agent or MS employee, I might just tell you.

I do appreciate the offer, but I'm fine with a plain ISO image directly from Microsoft because I guarantee that I have the knowledge to tweak it (if even needed) to make it work on your hardware

. It's also from a safe and trusted source!

spapakons · Sep 1, 2022

For not well known brands that have lousy driver support, I only download drivers not found elsewhere. I just ignore known chipset, graphics, audio and network drivers and download directly from manufacturer (Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Realtek etc). They are guaranteed to be the latest and 99% of the cases they work without issues.

Regarding Warranty, best is Dell, then HP. Avoid Lenovo, I had some trouble repairing old hardware in the past. I don't know about USA, but here in Greece Lenovo support is not the best.

Bree · Sep 1, 2022

spapakons said:
For not well known brands that have lousy driver support, I only download drivers not found elsewhere.....

As I recall, you have said before that you are mostly working on customers' machines. If so, then you have to be prepared to deal with whatever brand comes in. I'm only talking about machines I bought for myself, so can pick and choose which brands to buy.

spapakons said:
Regarding Warranty, best is Dell, then HP. Avoid Lenovo, I had some trouble repairing old hardware in the past. I don't know about USA, but here in Greece Lenovo support is not the best.....

My comments in post #1,023 relate purely to the availability of drivers and documentation on the respective support websites.

I am in no position to comment on warranty support here in the UK. Only a couple of my machines had any warranty left by the time I purchased them, and only once have I ever needed to call on it. That was for phone support from Dell to clear the bios password of a laptop I had just purchased. I was pleased to find that the warranty was tied to the machine, not the owner. I had no need to provide any proof of my purchase and I got the password reset successfully.

spapakons · Sep 1, 2022

Best support experience: I had bought a used Samsung SSD which was locked by an unknown user password. I did a support ticket to Samsung. They told me to send it back on their own expense and replaced with a new sealed one!

Berton · Sep 1, 2022

Not an insider but a hardware issue with a 3-year-old HP Desktop. It came with Win10 but client had tried Upgrade to Win11, turned out things got corrupted so it was given me for parts. I reinstalled Win11 and 3 items did not install, didn't have drivers and HP had only Win10 drivers available. I then wiped the drive and installed Win10, fully updated and tried Win11 again, it kept the 3 devices and is fully functional. Bottom line, if upgrading be sure to get what is installed running properly first.

spapakons · Sep 1, 2022

Berton said:
Not an insider but a hardware issue with a 3-year-old HP Desktop. It came with Win10 but client had tried Upgrade to Win11, turned out things got corrupted so it was given me for parts. I reinstalled Win11 and 3 items did not install, didn't have drivers and HP had only Win10 drivers available. I then wiped the drive and installed Win10, fully updated and tried Win11 again, it kept the 3 devices and is fully functional. Bottom line, if upgrading be sure to get what is installed running properly first.

You did it the hard way. It would be easier to try installing Windows 10 drivers for the missing devices first. It would save you a couple of hours.

Berton · Sep 1, 2022

spapakons said:
You did it the hard way. It would be easier to try installing Windows 10 drivers for the missing devices first. It would save you a couple of hours.

The problem was that HP had no drivers for that model except for Win10, since the computer didn't cost me anything it turned into a good learning and a workable solution.

spapakons · Sep 1, 2022

Windows 10 64-bit drivers and 8 and 7 and Vista 64-bit drivers work in Windows 11. If one is not available try the other.

Berton · Sep 1, 2022

Now why didn't I think of that?

The problem was that HP had no drivers for that model except for Win10, since the computer didn't cost me anything it turned into a good learning and a workable solution.

hsehestedt · Sep 1, 2022

spapakons said:
Regarding Warranty, best is Dell, then HP. Avoid Lenovo, I had some trouble repairing old hardware in the past. I don't know about USA, but here in Greece Lenovo support is not the best.

I guess that user experiences can vary. I had an ultra high end Dell laptop that I spent in excess of $3,000 on a few years ago. Top of the line in every way. I'll spare you all the details, but I had a hardware problem right from the start that it took Dell 10 months (!!!!) to even acknowledge and allow me an RMA to get repaired. I had to go through a nightmare in order to even be allowed to get service in spite of the fact that about 3 months into this nightmare Dell published an article stating that the exact issue I had was due to a known bad chipset batch!

In fact, at one point they promised me on site service the next day (to which I was entitled), and when the tech did not show up and I called them, they revoked that offer and refused all service!

I have sworn that I will never ever have another Dell product until the day I die!

Contrast that with HP: About 2 years ago I had an HP laptop, well out of warranty, but the battery had become swollen. I opened a support case with HP. A manager contacted me directly, apologized profusely, and overnighted a new battery to me - free of charge. Again, I'll note that I was no longer under warranty. But THAT is how you build brand loyalty.

spapakons · Sep 1, 2022

Sorry to hear that. I had similar bad experiences with Lenovo. Dell was fine every time I needed. HP was OK too. I had to file a n official complain at the Customer Protection Institution to persuade Lenovo repair the computer under Warranty.

Berton · Sep 1, 2022

I had an issue arise with a Dell Vostro purchased last Oct. and still in warranty. Repair required sending it in and motherboard replaced. Been using it for 2 weeks without issue, got a phone call from a Dell Rep. little over an hour ago asking how it was going, seems follow-up sometimes does work.

TM21 · Sep 1, 2022

After 40+ years of working with home computers there are several companies that I absolutely do not want to deal with, and I won't go through the entire list, which is LONG, but Dell is still at the top of my Sh** list. WD is next and I won't elaborate further.
Thank God, I'm now out of the business so I don't have to deal with all the CRAP out there on the market, these days.
Lenovo was IBM till they sold out to the Chinese, or so I'm told. So that took care of that.
I won't even give them bench space.
Most of my old PC's today are x86 only, so they are all on shaky ground.

When someone gives me a defunct PC, I just totally rebuild it with quality parts, install a known good OS on it and "Away we go!"
Some turn out better than others, depending on what the basic machine was. But hey....they all run. So far anyway.
And when they stop running, they go in to the recycling bin. I can always save the screws, if nothing else. lol

Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware

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