Moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11

Hello
I plan to move from Windows 10 to Windows 11 - My current disk is a 2Tbytes used at 55 %) with plenty of applications installed
I don't want to reinstall them all !
If I upgrade the "normal way" (i.e via the Update in Windows 10, will all the applications be kept ?
Is there some "precautions" to be taken ? What would be the best procedure ?
PS Of course, I'll take a backup before doing anything

Thanks for your help Have a good day

If you have a Windows 11 compliant PC and you are offered the Upgrade from Windows Update, then yes, you can do it. All your applications and data will not be affected. But because Murphy's Law says that something might go wrong, take a full backup (or clone) of your disk before you start.

spapakons said:

If you have a Windows 11 compliant PC and you are offered the Upgrade from Windows Update, then yes, you can do it. All your applications and data will not be affected. But because Murphy's Law says that something might go wrong, take a full backup (or clone) of your disk before you start.

Click to expand...

EDIT: I accidentally committed my post before I meant to. I accidentally hit something on the keyboard Below has been updated...

This advice from spapakons is the best advice on this issue. I just wanted to add some details. If an upgrade fails, Windows will generally roll you back to the previous OS or allow you to roll it back by choice. However, a backup is still a good idea in case the upgrade goes really horribly wrong (reboot loop, or something that could not normally be recovered from).

But it is ALWAYS a good idea to have backups anyway. You never know when something will fail. Hardware sometimes fails, for example, at a completely random time with no advanced warning. Always have a backup plan in place!

sfleury said:

Hello
I plan to move from Windows 10 to Windows 11 - My current disk is a 2Tbytes used at 55 %) with plenty of applications installed
I don't want to reinstall them all !
If I upgrade the "normal way" (i.e via the Update in Windows 10, will all the applications be kept ?
Is there some "precautions" to be taken ? What would be the best procedure ?
PS Of course, I'll take a backup before doing anything

Thanks for your help Have a good day

Click to expand...

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

I thought I recognised the name, we've talked before while preparing for this move...

An upgrade from 10 >11, whether done by Windows Update, or a manual in-place upgrade using an ISO, should keep all your installed apps.

If you use OpenShell or similar to modify Windows appearance it may not work properly after the upgrade, it may need updating/reinstalling. Any 3rd party AV is best uninstalled before the upgrade.

In fact you get a warning that Open Shell or Explorer Patcher (and similar utilities) is not compatible with Windows 11 and you have to uninstall it before upgrading. Make sure you have the installers and remove any such utility as asked. You can then reinstall it on Windows 11.

sfleury said:

Hello
I plan to move from Windows 10 to Windows 11 - My current disk is a 2Tbytes used at 55 %) with plenty of applications installed
I don't want to reinstall them all !
If I upgrade the "normal way" (i.e via the Update in Windows 10, will all the applications be kept ?
Is there some "precautions" to be taken ? What would be the best procedure ?
PS Of course, I'll take a backup before doing anything

Thanks for your help Have a good day

Click to expand...

You can always revert to Windows 10 if you don't like Windows 11.

Every new version of Windows seems a little odd at first, but once you are familiar with it you won't mind. Also there are utilities to make Windows 11 look like older Windows versions and put back the removed features, see the personalization section of this forum. You can even load Internet Explorer if you want. It is hidden, not entirely removed.

I had to unplug/replug my Realtek USB LAN adapter after the upgrade to get it to work like normal again. (October 9, 2021, I ran the Installation Assistant from Microsoft to upgrade System Two in my specs.)

If you have ExplorerPatcher currently installed on Windows 10, uninstall it before you allow the upgrade to begin, and reinstall ExplorerPatcher after the upgrade completed successfully. (This same advice also applies whenever you need to repair Windows 11 with an in-place upgrade.)

IMO Open-Shell alongside ExplorerPatcher is the perfect combination on Windows 11 version 24H2. It lets you solve many problems that are typifying of Windows 11. (Mildly put, you have to be a bit of a sado masochist to be able to love the taskbar, the start menu, and the File Explorer with tabs.) Just remember that Windows Update can break some of their features, but always updating both Open-Shell and ExplorerPatcher [to their latest Stable version or, if available, their latest Pre-release version] has proven to be infinitely better than choosing to ditch either one of both these two different programs, at least for me. So, to me, they are downright compulsory.

Also IMO, the only real important thing that still hasn't been fixed in ExplorerPatcher currently is its Window switcher: Simple Window Switcher feature. Next in line would be the Taskbar texture option of Open-Shell; the texture is missing in the Pinned/open apps area of the taskbar if using ExplorerPatcher's Taskbar style: Windows 10 (ExplorerPatcher).

The latter problem can be "fixed" by selecting [in Open-Shell] the transparent taskbar option, then editing your desktop background picture/wallpaper to make it look like you've got a taskbar texture; the taskbar opacity level and taskbar background color still work. But this is assuming that you have disabled [on the taskbar in Windows Settings > Personalization > Taskbar] the Search icon/bar and the Task View icon. Otherwise there may be visible glitches like the taskbar background going back (or going back only momentarily) to a solid background and the Search icon disappearing until you flip the aforementioned Search setting back and forth again in Windows Settings (or until you restart Open-Shell's StartMenu.exe process).

Finally, when you updated ExplorerPatcher and/or you changed one or more of its settings and that required you to restart explorer, if you're suddenly getting visible glitches on the taskbar at some point after that, you might want to reboot. Even though these are just minor glitches, what I like to do is just reboot each time before these glitches can start to occur. Otherwise these glitches often start to occur after some random period, in which case you'd still need to reboot anyway after all to make them go away.

Thank you foryour advices and tions
I still have one problem : My computer seems to be "ready for Windows 11" (after running a Microsoft utility, but the upadte proposal does not appear in the ae update process - Is that normal or could it be a "hidden" problem ? Thanks

Microsoft hesitates to offer the upgrade for some computers to avoid bugs. Just manually download Windows 11 ISO and run Setup. If you have any bugs, here we are to help you. Scroll down to the third option, download the ISO directly without using tools.


Just make sure you download the same language as the one you have (language packs don't count) to be able to upgrade. "English" is US English, while "English International" is UK English. Mixing two different languages (even two different dialects of the same language) will not allow you to make a full upgrade (keep both your data and apps). If you have any language packs installed you will have to install the new respective ones after the upgrade.

sfleury said:

Thank you foryour advices and tions
I still have one problem : My computer seems to be "ready for Windows 11" (after running a Microsoft utility, but the upadte proposal does not appear in the ae update process - Is that normal or could it be a "hidden" problem ? Thanks

Click to expand...

spapakons said:

Microsoft hesitates to offer the upgrade for some computers to avoid bugs. Just manually download Windows 11 ISO and run Setup....

Click to expand...

There are some known issues with specific hardware and/or software where Microsoft will put a compatibility hold on offering Windows 11 to such machines. Your Windows should regularly check for upgrade compatibility, the check results are stored in the registry at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\TargetVersionUpgradeExperienceIndicators with the results for Windows 11 version 24H2 in the GE24H2 key.

The significant values to look at are GatedBlockID/GatedBlockReason which will tell you if there is a Compatibility Hold due to your particular hardware or software. A list of current issues, and which ones have compatibility holds is here: Windows 11, version 24H2 known issues and notifications

The RedReason lists items that do not meet W11 minimum requirements.

Thank you for your answer
I checked the 3 entries outlined in your post : they are all set to "None"
In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\TargetVersionUpgradeExperienceIndicators entry; I have 2 sub-entries 20H1 and UNV ... when it seems you have GE24H2

sfleury said:

In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\TargetVersionUpgradeExperienceIndicators entry; I have 2 sub-entries 20H1 and UNV ... when it seems you have GE24H2

Click to expand...

The UNV key is always present. Windows creates a new key in TargetVersionUpgradeExperienceIndicators when it runs the checks for each new OS as it becomes available. The name of the key is the code name for the OS that has been tested for. Your 20H1 key was for Windows 10 version 20H1 (aka version 2004). My NI23H2 key was for Windows 11 23H2, and GE24H2 is for the current Windows 11 24H2.

As you do not have a GE24H2 key (yet) it means that Windows Update has yet to check your PC for the upgrade. Until it does so Windows Update will not offer the Windows 11 feature update. Instead it will just say 'Get ready for Windows 11'.

T hank you
I used to have Windows 10 Pro - When I look at the download link, it shows "Windows 11 (ISO Multiple for" (or something vey similar in my own language (french) - Does the "mumtiple edition" mean that I"ll also get a Windows 11 Pro ?

sfleury said:

T hank you
I used to have Windows 10 Pro - When I look at the download link, it shows "Windows 11 (ISO Multiple for" (or something vey similar in my own language (french) - Does the "mumtiple edition" mean that I"ll also get a Windows 11 Pro ?

Click to expand...

The ISO you can download from Microsoft contains multiple editions, Home, Pro, etc. When you use it to do an in-place upgrade from 10 to 11 it will install exactly the same edition of 11 as you have for 10, Pro in your case.

When you download the ISO directly, you first select Windows 11 (Multi-edition ISO for x64 devices), then you click Download now to select the language. In simple English is means that the ISO has more than one versions (Home, Pro etc) and that is suitable for Intel or AMD 64-bit CPUs (known as x86-64 or x64 architecture). The ARM64 versions and the Enterprise versions are not available from this site.

T hank you
I'm not ready to upgrade yet - Before I do it I have to
- "Clean" my current Windows 10 and clone it to a larger SSD
- Backup this larger SSD to a new one I just ordered
Then I can safely start the upgrade to Windows 11

I have downloaded the Win11_24H2_French_x64.iso file
Should I burn it on a BlueRay or use it directly from my computer - What would be the best process ?
Thanks again Have a good week-end

sfleury said:

I have downloaded the Win11_24H2_French_x64.iso file
Should I burn it on a BlueRay or use it directly from my computer - What would be the best process ?

Click to expand...

No need to burn it to anything, you can use the ISO file directly. Windows 10 can mount the ISO as a virtual DVD. Just double-click on the ISO and it will appear as a new drive in File Explorer. You can then run Setup.exe you'll see there to start the upgrade. See Step 4 in this tutorial for details.

FWIW - I wondered why I did NOT get the 24H2 upgrade notification in WindowsUpdate even tho my PC was "24H2 ready", so I downloaded the ISO to do an in-place upgrade. During that upgrade - which went fine - I was told I needed to update the firmware on one of my installed NVME drives.
First I heard of that requirement, but I did that firmware update, then the upgrade from 23H2 went smoothly.

NOTE: I did NOT check the registry entries discussed here (I did not know about them until just reading this thread).
I'm posting this to let others know that there maybe reasons one doesn't see the upgrade being offered because MS doesn't tell you about them.

There are certain WD M.2 SSD models that had issues in 24H2 due to different storage controller handling. Updating the firmware from the official WD utility addresses these issues. Needless to say that you must first upgrade the firmware and then upgrade to 24H2.