1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, clean install Windows 11 24H2.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, clean install Windows 11 24H2.
Here's a question... If you decide to upgrade to Windows 11 as I did. Should you leave everything default and learn to use it as is?? OR! Use third-party apps and bastardize Windows 11 to look like Windows 10 like you never left. I changed the right-click context menu to look like Windows 10 and also Task Manager. But that was actually a fix and not a change because MS messed up with its update. So suck it up and learn it as we all did with all the other Windows versions as they came along?? So! Keep Windows 11 Original? OR! Bastardize. That Is The Question...
Here's a question... If you decide to upgrade to Windows 11 as I did. Should you leave everything default and learn to use it as is?? OR! Use third-party apps and bastardize Windows 11 to look like Windows 10 like you never left. I changed the right-click context menu to look like Windows 10 and also Task Manager. But that was actually a fix and not a change because MS messed up with its update. So suck it up and learn it as we all did with all the other Windows versions as they came along?? So! Keep Windows 11 Original? OR! Bastardize. That Is The Question...
Personally, I use maybe 6-8 tweaks in Winaero, and about 10-12 tutorial tweaks.
That's pretty much it.
Things I altered...
1. Context menus
2. Removed junk from Search and Start and File Explorer
3. Removed most apps
4. Made it so I could easily grab scroll bars.
5. Clear Taskbar
6. Local Account and 3rd party AV/firewall.
I keep it original, same as I have done with Windows 10 since I first got it in August 2015. No third party tweaks, and about the only tutorial used was to restore the Windows Photo Viewer.
I suspect that is a contributory factor in never having had a cumulative or feature update fail on me.
1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, clean install Windows 11 24H2.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, clean install Windows 11 24H2.
Familiarity... That is the clincher. We lean toward that which keeps us comfortable. Windows XP to Windows 7 was harsh for me but easy for others. So is this just a personal preference thing? As it should be! Everyone reacts differently to a NEW MS OS Release. I am still adjusting...
Age, I think is the thing. We cling more to familiarity as we get older.
My laptop was running XP when I retired, and I could feel myself getting 'comfortable' with it and not having to think too much.
Then it died and I had to get a replacement quick. At the time every new machine came with Windows 8 and I certainly didn't want anything to do that. So it was a 2nd hand Windows 7 laptop that I got. Harsh? No, but it was certainly a wake-up call. I could feel my brain cells starting to work for a living again.
Then in August 2015 it got the free upgrade to Windows 10. That was really disorientating - for all of two weeks until I started to feel as 'at home' as I had been in Windows 7. Even Windows 8 now started to make some sense in retrospect, I run it in a VM these days (and XP, and 7). The transition from 10 to 11 was minor in comparison.
Change keeps the brain young and active. I embrace it rather than trying to live in the past.
1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, clean install Windows 11 24H2.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, Canary, and Release Preview builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, clean install Windows 11 24H2.
I have some good Win10 machines but after Win11 came out a year ago none will properly Upgrade so I got a new Notebook back then and in April a new Desktop, both Dell Vostro. My need is to see what my clients will see if having to get new computers, had 2 just before Christmas last year. I do very little customizing for that reason. I do check each computer I access to see if they can be properly Upgraded or advise what to do if they can't be.
I try. Some may think I'm crazy but if I can't fix it I don't charge them, no need to pile on more woes. There's 2 things about being a tech, in most industries, fixing a problem to the point of the tech wanting to use it the client will want to use. The other is that if the tech does the job right he/she doesn't need to be called back very often. Most of my working life has involved some teaching/instructing.
