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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   3705 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 14, 2024

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What's the best way for me to upgrade to Windows 11?

I've had my current computer running Windows 8.1 for about 10 years. When Windows 10 came out a bunch of people complained about it and I was happy with what I had so I never upgraded. And no longer being forced to update my computer suddenly and without my permission was really convenient. I've upgraded the actual physical computer itself multiple times, basically ship of Theseusing out parts as they wore out or just got outdated such that at this point I don't think a single component is the same as it was 10 years ago, but when the hard drive got upgraded I cloned it over so I had continuity of experience, and it stayed on Windows 8.1. So most of the actual computer parts right now are two years old and mid to high end, but some are older and cheaper.

Gradually though, the amount of videogames that I can't play because they don't work on Windows 8.1 has increased and become rather inconvenient, so it's probably time to switch. Unfortunately, the time period where I can do that for free has long passed, presumably because they don't want people digging up old decrepit computers in order to recycle the windows keys. And some... nautical attempts at downloading and manually upgrading didn't work, I'm not entirely sure why, but I eventually gave up.

My computer skills are kind of mishmash hacked together by necessity. I did build my own computer myself, but only with a lot of googling, advice from my brother, and suffering. I would very much prefer not to have to learn more command line registry nonsense, but can probably follow step by step instructions if I have to. So I think my best bet is to just buy a new hard drive with Windows 11 installed on it, but I'm not sure. I don't actually want a new computer, I want my computer, but able to play modern games. I would like to keep continuity of experience as much as possible, including if possible all my files and folders, their positions on the desktop, my hundreds of Firefox tabs that I use in lieu of bookmarks. What's the best route for me to take to get my computer upgraded with as little difficulty as possible?

Get a macbook

It’s the year of the Linux desktop though.

The year of the Linux laptop is still a decade away or however long it takes for Ubuntu to not have 1/3rd the battery life as Windows on supposedly supported hardware

I actually did switch from Windows to Linux for my daily driver a few years ago. It's been a very solid choice. But if @MathWizard doesn't feel comfortable installing Windows on his own, I'm guessing Linux is right out for him.

Hard agree. I was a Windows fan since 3.1 and switched to Ubuntu a few months ago. The transition was not smooth. I have spent a lot of time troubleshooting, which I accepted as necessary since the alternatives are either ads in my Windows 11 or getting locked into the overpriced Apple ecosystem. But I would not recommend it for someone who is not technical, especially not for someone who "would very much prefer not to have to learn more command line registry nonsense".

Back your files up to another disk/cloud/whatever, download the win11 installer from Microsoft, stick it on a flash drive, boot from the drive, install win11.

Then download massgravel's Microsoft activation scripts from GitHub, follow the instructions, and you're done.

Very good chance you're just going to have to back up your Firefox tabs to a json file (all the tab manager add-ons have that. Tab session manager is my favorite)
Continuity is nice, but imo a fresh install once in a while is good for clearing out crap.

What I would do is buy a new hard drive and install it, and keep your old hard drive attached as a second disk (if you have the room) or in a drawer, to serve as a backup. Before you shut it down, though, go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11 and choose the option to create Windows 11 installation media. This will let you use a USB thumbdrive to create a Windows 11 boot device. You should be able to then boot off of this USB drive and step through the relatively simple installation wizard to install it on your new hard drive. You should not need a product key at this time; you can activate it later if you want to and you may actually discover that there is a product activation linked to your Microsoft account. If it's not nagging you about activation, you're good to go. And if you don't mind the nagging, you can actually continue to use it this way, albeit some nonfunctional things like customization options are disabled.

Note that if you install Home, you are basically required to log in with a Microsoft Account, and it's difficult to avoid even with Pro. In know plenty of people are ideologically opposed to it, but IMO it's not worth fighting Microsoft over and actually provides some nice benefits (i.e., roaming files, synchronized browser profiles, that kind of thing.)

nautical attempts at downloading

If you're not averse to piracy look at massgravel. It will point you to legit images, simple ways to confirm they're legit, and the activation process is as easy as pasting one short command into the command line and then choosing "activate windows" from the menu that it loads. After that your Windows is authenticated by hardware ID meaning you could if you choose wipe it entirely and reinstall from scratch to eliminate the possibility of third party shenanigans.

Firefox should be fairly easy to backup. Either look for manual instructions or make a Firefox account. If you want to keep tabs you'll have to look for some way of backing up the session.

Copying your files and folders might be a bit more involved unless you've been prepared enough to store them anywhere other than the C: drive. You could simply buy a new HDD to use as the C: and then reassign your current C: as D: to keep all the files unaltered.

I would recommend Windows 10. Windows 11 sucks major ass.

I felt the same way about 8.1 vs 10. But if I go to 10 I'm going to run into the same issue again in half the time.

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