Workarounds for Windows 11 on Incompatible Hardware

[phaZed]

No, that would be cost. The majority of people buy cheap PCs. They can't afford to buy a Mac or an expensive PC.

Doesn't look like it. The average computer per unit sales cost is between $780-860. So, with a $599 Mac Mini still not selling, something else must be going on.

That's why cars are basically all the same when it comes to where they put the steering wheel, brake pedals, etc. There are minor changes each time they redesign a vehicle, but the way you operate it remains the same (hence the word operating system).

Well, I appreciate the analogy, but I think this one fails. The reason the steering wheel and pedals stay the same is primarily because it has to work with the unchanging anatomy of a human being - that, and that the NHTSA have standards that must be adhered to(Such as which side the drivers seat is on, or which side the turn signal stock is on. A software system (OS) is not the same as physical machinery controls.

As for XP, I'm not saying that there wouldn't be a learning curve to going to Windows 11 - but it's not very complicated once learned. Let's face it, I still have these folks from XP, too - and they can't generally "correctly" use XP after 20 years, either. The amount of times I see an XP desktop full of Icons for every program, and every PDF and file they download is stunning. No concept of organization or where things are. But still, if you look at OS usage rates, most people have already moved from XP, or 7 or Vista or 8... the majority have moved on. Edge cases will always exist and people will always have favorites - but it doesn't make something new, "unusable", or even "desired" after one becomes semi-proficient with it. I liked XP. Would I go back? Hell no.

 

[Blues]

Doesn't look like it. The average computer per unit sales cost is between $780-860. So, with a $599 Mac Mini still not selling, something else must be going on.
View attachment 17078

The problem with average cost is that is majority of units sold exist on the extremes that mid range is not a viable market share and does not negate a cost argument. The chart is labels marker price per unit while not stating this is per unit sold so it could simply be per unit available to buy which is a useless figure to make the case that cost isn't an issue.

When we want to talk cost we need to begin comparing specs by price point between manufacturers as well is a Mac mini specs going to compare favorably or dis-favorably to a Windows PC in the same price point on average? Really the Mac vs PC why one dominates and the other doesn't just boil down to a single issue. Windows has had decades of dominance defeating that is not a simple task as people will accept changes to their home quicker than they will buy a new one. In the business space the dominance of Windows is even greater than in the consumer space so also many people will chose to use the same types of systems they deal with at work for at home as rarely do people want to have to know how multiple things work when knowing one is really enough. Cost I know has been a major issue for Apple in the past and while they don't have much if anything at the bottom level they do have equipment in more affordable ranges today than they once had so cost has hurt them and they may still have a stigma with cost. To me again with out really looking at spec to spec and comparing those prices how much it impacts them outside of reputation today I would say at best is a questionable claim and likely one that really doesn't exist anymore. I could also go on about the issues of why I currently won't recommend apple PCs to anyone except those with specific needs the are best fulfilled by apple at this time but this is really get off topic now.

To steer back to topic what MS, Intel, or anyone says won't much matter as there will be those who find ways to make things work as desired so MS opening up a degree of acceptance of that is to me just them saying "We see many people are bypassing our protections and instead of fighting that we will put a warning and watermark on the systems to cover our backsides and wash our hands of it"

 

[Sky-Knight]

"We see many people are bypassing our protections and instead of fighting that we will put a warning and watermark on the systems to cover our backsides and wash our hands of it"

And this approach is:
Legally safer, as programmatic bombs are the stuff that create class actions.
Technically easier, no control is the easiest control to implement and maintain.
Ethically superior, See the impact of the above two realities play out across the ecosystem.

So you're exactly right, Microsoft isn't going to go out of its way to enforce every Windows 11 installation meet the documented requirements. They aren't going to do that any more than they ever have!

It's just "unsupported", which will cause unknown problems, which will generate unknowable risk, and therefore have an undefined investment required to manage the situation.

Users will eventually be annoyed into compliance, for the same reason they choose to give up old cars... maintenance costs skyrocket after a point and you either keep dumping money into the pit, or you get something better. Car analog is a bit off though... because with a car eventually you replace everything and it's "new" again. We can't "replace" software like that universally.

 

[Metanis]

Later in January I created a Rufus Win11 bypass disk and tried it on 2 of my older systems just to experiment.

A first gen Core I7 (i7-980x) works remarkably well on Windows 11. (It was a $1000us CPU when released!)

The other system is an AMD FX-6300 (circa 2009) and initially seemed to respond well to Win11, but the February mandatory update causes a blue screen every time. I've restored back to the Win10 image and it's working fine even patched to the current March Preview update.

Something in 11 doesn't like that old AMD microcode I think.

I'm not likely to recommend illegal Win11 upgrades at this time. Probably better to stay on Win10 but subscribe to 0patch critical updates when the time comes.

 

[ThatPlace928]

Later in January I created a Rufus Win11 bypass disk and tried it on 2 of my older systems just to experiment.

A first gen Core I7 (i7-980x) works remarkably well on Windows 11. (It was a $1000us CPU when released!)

The other system is an AMD FX-6300 (circa 2009) and initially seemed to respond well to Win11, but the February mandatory update causes a blue screen every time. I've restored back to the Win10 image and it's working fine even patched to the current March Preview update.

Something in 11 doesn't like that old AMD microcode I think.

I'm not likely to recommend illegal Win11 upgrades at this time. Probably better to stay on Win10 but subscribe to 0patch critical updates when the time comes.

I won't even try a work around. When the times comes, I'll swap my Windows 10 hard drive into a Windows 11 laptop and do the upgrade to 11. This way, I don't have to transfer files and I'll be ready to go that afternoon or next morning. Some of the upgrades take hours and hours.

 

[Metanis]

I'll swap my Windows 10 hard drive into a Windows 11 laptop and do the upgrade to 11.

Or just clone to the new laptop to take advantage of the presumably faster modern hardware? PCI-5 will be readily available by then and will be pretty damn fast compared to even PCI-3.

 

[ThatPlace928]

Or just clone to the new laptop to take advantage of the presumably faster modern hardware? PCI-5 will be readily available by then and will be pretty damn fast compared to even PCI-3.

It would clone from Windows 10 anyway. Doing a swap and upgrade would be faster, IMO.

 

[britechguy]

I'm not likely to recommend illegal Win11 upgrades at this time. Probably better to stay on Win10 but subscribe to 0patch critical updates when the time comes.

Nor am I, only because we're back to what I said on another topic moments ago: Fragile technology almost certain to break.

I'd tell people to stay on Windows 10 and buy extended support before I'd tell them to do a workaround upgrade to Windows 11. Even though I've done them on my own hardware for my own amusement, that was enough to tell me that they're not worth doing for "the general public."

 

[johnrobert]

$30 a year for Windows 10 that has the most users, I just read about half a billion
that's the biggest con since trying to sell the Golden Gate Bridge for $5

 

[ThatPlace928]

$30 a year for Windows 10 that has the most users, I just read about half a billion
that's the biggest con since trying to sell the Golden Gate Bridge for $5

For only 1 year. Nothing after that for residential users, only businesses. I advise my customers against it and talk them into a Windows 11 PC.

BTW, it's $61 the first year for businesses and they can get up to 3 years' support. But the cost doubles the 2nd year, then doubles again the 3rd year.

"

How much does ESU cost?​

Extended Security Updates for organizations and businesses on Windows 10 can be purchased today through the Microsoft Volume Licensing Program, at $61 USD per device for Year One. For more information, see When to use Windows 10 Extended Security Updates. The price doubles every consecutive year, for a maximum of three years. ESU is available at no additional cost for Windows 10 virtual machines running in Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop. Additionally, Windows 10 endpoints connecting to Windows 365 Cloud PCs will be entitled to the ESU for up to three years, with an active Windows 365 subscription license. For more information about Windows 365, see What is Windows 365?.

For individuals or Windows 10 Home customers, Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 will be available for purchase at $30 for one year."

 

[britechguy]

For only 1 year. Nothing after that for residential users, only businesses.

Microsoft is trying to force people into the inevitable. And I have no problem with that. We've been here in other ways before. You cannot, and should not, attempt to encase any computing environment in amber in almost any case. There are very rare exceptions, and almost all of those involve offline use.

When you can get a way more than adequate for any home use computer for under $500 these days, spend that money there rather than keeping very near corpses alive.

 

[frase]

No workarounds for me, if the system will not support Win11. New system with Win11 Pro [never use home] with customer data backed up and restored to new.

I am not going to walk around in circles in future.

 

[johnrobert]

It is not about being able to buy a new computer for $500 it's about having to junk a perfectly good working computer
I am advising my clients to use an alternative antivirus like Malwarebytes, as for other updates they did more harm than good in my opinion.

 

[britechguy]

it's about having to junk a perfectly good working computer

People have been doing this with computers, phones, and other electronics for as long as I've been in the business. "Oooooooh, Shiny!" syndrome (particularly for smartphones) has been in full swing for a very long time.

The only place I'm hearing bitter wailing, really, is on sites like this. There is just not this massive amount of hardware out there that can't run Windows 11 that isn't at "time to replace" or near to it.

Think about just how long ago 8th gen i-series processors hit the streets. It wasn't a short time ago, and if you have something that predates that, you really need to be thinking about replacing what you've got.

I've retired plenty of "perfectly good working computers" because they ceased to be up to the specs needed to keep "what's happenin' now" (as opposed to what that was when they were initially released) running smoothly.

This is not a conspiracy, but a natural occurrence that will occur again in the future. Not the first time and certainly not the last.

 

[Diggs]

I'll swap my Windows 10 hard drive into a Windows 11 laptop and do the upgrade to 11. This way, I don't have to transfer files and I'll be ready to go that afternoon or next morning.

How well does this work? I don't mind upgrading my hardware to run Win11 on my daily driver (laptop) as my gaming machine is already Win11 (desktop). I just don't want to go through the machinations to get everything back to the way it is now.

 

[ThatPlace928]

How well does this work? I don't mind upgrading my hardware to run Win11 on my daily driver (laptop) as my gaming machine is already Win11 (desktop). I just don't want to go through the machinations to get everything back to the way it is now.

You have to start with a Windows 11 PC. Move your drive with Windows 10 over to the 11 laptop, do all the updates to 10, then do the upgrade to 11. Once the upgrade is done, check for updates.

It's actually pretty easy, just takes awhile and the upgrade to 11 in the updates may not show up until the next day. If you have a Windows 11 install disk, you can do it after you get all the Windows 10 updates, to get 11 installed faster.

Everything that was on the original drive is still there but is now upgraded. So much easier than doing file transfers, if the customer has a huge amount of stuff on their drive.