I guess it’s good timing that I’m trying to get the blog up and running again. The recently released Windows 11 upgrade from Microsoft is a good place to get back into things.
Since I work mainly with virtual machines (VMs) on my laptop, I posted an article last week about installing and working with Hyper-V. The computer I’m using this week is one of my Hyper-V VMs and was purpose-built running Win10 Pro (x64) with this in-place upgrade in mind.
One of the first things you want to do before you start any in-place OS upgrade is to make sure the computer is fully patched. If you don’t normally run updates manually, you can access the interface by clicking on the Windows Start Button in the lower left of your screen. Then click on “Update & Security”. That will bring you to the Windows Update page. Win10 is fairly autonomous at installing patches and updates, so you might not have anything pending.
Next, you may want to run Disk Cleanup, as addressed in a previous post, to get rid of any digital garbage on your drive. See the link below for more information.
Once updates and cleanup are done, it’s recommended that you reboot the computer before moving on. Rebooting will usually resolve any minor issues related to the disk cleanup and clear the RAM.
Microsoft changed their hardware game with Win11. Win11 is not compatible with older hardware that boots from a BIOS (Basic Input Output System). The BIOS is the minimal basic configuration that your PC needs to be able to find and access the bootable drive, such as your primary hard drive, and boot the operating system. Win11 requires Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) with secure boot and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) technology (see the links below for more information).
The easiest way to see if your hardware is up to MS’s standards is to install and run the PC Health Check app. Type “PC Health” into the search box on your Win10 PC to see if it’s already installed. If not, you can find it here along with information about what it is and what it does: How to get Windows 11.
If you need to download it, click on the “CHECK FOR COMPATABILITY”. You should land towards the bottom of the page with a hyperlink titled “DOWNLOAD PC HEALTH CHECK APP”. Click on that link and the app installer will download to your default location.
My Win10 VM, “FREYR”, initially failed the system check for compatibility for upgrading to Win11. My Gen 1 Hyper-V VM did not have UEFI Secure Boot or TPM. Interestingly, when writing the post about Hyper-V, I specifically said that I was building the VM as a Gen 2 with this upgrade in mind. Over the course of writing the two articles and spinning up the new VM, I inadvertently re-created it as a Gen 1 VM, which obviously was not going to work. I had to nuke the VM and start from scratch.
I rebuilt the VM as Gen 2 so that it had UEFI secure boot and TPM support enabled, patched it, etc. I installed and ran “PC Health Check” and passed the compatibility test.
If your PC passes the tests, you can click the “Device Specification” button to launch your web browser to the Introducing Windows 11 upgrade page. You should see a “CHECK NOW FOR FREE UPGRADE” hyperlink. Click on the link. You may be prompted to allow Microsoft.com to open your computer’s Settings page.
If the update is available for your PC, you'll see “Feature update to Windows 11”. Click “Download and install”.
If the upgrade isn't available to you yet, but you still want to upgrade now, you can download the Windows 11 Installation Assistant. Click the “DOWNLOAD NOW” button and then click “Run” or “Open File” after the download completes.
Click “Yes” is UAC prompts you for permission for the file to run.
Click “Accept and install” for the EULA to proceed.
The interface will change several times while the software is downloaded and installed. There are three steps and the process will proceed automatically from one to the next.
- Step 1 of 3: Downloading
- Step 2 of 3: Verifying download
- Step 3 of 3: Installing
You can continue working on your PC during this time, but it’s prudent to save your work often. Just in case. There’s no interaction required until the installation completes and the PC is ready to be rebooted. During the installation process, you’re informed that the computer will be rebooted 30 minutes after the installation completes. You can restart it manually if you prefer, by clicking “Restart now”.
After about 30 minutes and at least one reboot, the job is done. You can see an immediate difference when you log in, specifically that that Taskbar icons are centered instead of left-aligned on the Taskbar. You can right click on the Taskbar, click on “Taskbar settings”, and then expand “Taskbar behaviors” to change it to left-aligned. I don’t see an option any longer to use small icons in the Taskbar.
The Start menu looks a lot different. The apps that are presented appear to be some of the more commonly used apps.
You can click on “All Apps” to see a list more like Win10 had. Clicking “Back” will take you back to the previous grid-layout menu.
Clicking Start > Settings will take you to the new style interface for configuring your system.
File Explorer also has a slightly different look, but functionality remains the same.
Search still functions the same. Even though Control Panel isn’t readily visible, you can search for it and launch it for certain admin and maintenance functions. It looks almost identical to Win10. You can still use it to get to the “Network and Sharing Center”, “Programs and Features”, and apps like that.
I uninstalled some bloatware like the app to download and install Office 365 and the TikTok app. I also ran Disk Cleanup and got rid of 20 GB of data left over from the OS upgrade since I don’t intend to roll this VM back to Win10.
Most of what I’ve read about the Win11 “upgrade” leads me to believe that it was just a cosmetic upgrade, possibly to make Windows look more like MacOS. I’m not sure why MS would want to do that. There seem to be three main groups concerning PC OS’es: Windows, Linux, and Apple (Mac). Trying to make Windows look like MacOS is not going to draw anyone from Apple computers.
As always, I'm open to questions and constructive comments. Your feedback is welcome.
Sources:
- Working With Hyper-V (15 Jan 22)
- How to recover drive space (Disk Cleanup, CCleaner) (08 Jul 18)
- How to get Windows 11
- How to use the PC Health Check app
- Find Windows 11 specs, features, and computer requirements
- Windows 11 and Secure Boot
- Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
- Trusted Platform Module Technology Overview
- Enable TPM 2.0 on your PC
