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sc10
Conversationalist ⭐
March 1, 2023

Upgrade to Windows 11 for older PC's

  • March 1, 2023
  • 18 replies
  • 20765 views

If your PC is slightly older, it might not meet the MS hardware requirements for Window 11 upgrade.. But with Tiny 11, a stripped down Windows 11, you can switch to Windows 11 with a PC merely with 2 Gb ram and 8 Gb storage. However, the PC must have a 64 bit processor. Tiny 11 is developed by NTDev (not MS). It does not have bloatware and reported it runs very fast. If you want to give it a try, download the Tiny 11 "iso" file from NTDev and burn it into a bootable usb (8Mb min) drive using Rufus. Boot your PC with the usb drive and you will be in business. Tiny 11 does not include Edge or any other browser, so you have to download your favorite 3rd party browser and install it yourself.

 

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      18 replies

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      az8739
      Contributor ⭐
      March 8, 2023

      I understand with Windows 11 that Microsoft is making hardware with so-called Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chips on the motherboard mandatory:

      Why Windows 11 is forcing everyone to use TPM chips - The Verge

       

      Any idea if NTDev gets around this requirement?

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        sc10Author
        Conversationalist ⭐
        March 9, 2023

        I have not used Tiny 11. From reading about the hardware requirements, TMP is not in it. Only 64 bit processor and 2Gb ram and 8 Gb of storage. Of course more is better.

         

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          sc10Author
          Conversationalist ⭐
          April 4, 2023

          I finally installed Tiny 11 on an old PC. The PC is around 8 years old with an Intel i5 processor and 500 Gb SSD hard drive. Overall experience was rather painless. Initial reaction is it runs quite fast since it did not have all the bloatware in it.

          Here are some comments:

          1) Download from NTDev site is very slow. It would take more than 2 hours. You can use Bit Torrent and get it in a few minutes since there are a lot of resources there.

          2) When use Rufus to burn the iso image to an USB drive, choose "MBR' as the partition scheme.

          3) You need to find what key or combination so you can boot from the USB drive.

          4) There is no web browser included. You can go to Microsoft store to download the browser you want. I installed Firefox and Brave. Just a little tip about Brave browser, it blocks ads (don't know if it blocks everything). But running Youtube without any ads is quite enjoyable.

          5) I am just going to go with the free versions of Microsoft Office by using the Office app or the web version from office.com.

          6) Upon reboot after installation, there was an update. I don't know why someone said there is no update on Tiny 11.

          I have not try a lot of software on it yet, but everything I throw at it seems to work faultlessly.

           

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            m995706a
            Contributor ⭐
            April 26, 2023

            Personally, I am done with Windows.  I do understand that some people feel tied to using Windows because so many popular programs run on it, but there are also alternatives for many programs that allow you to use other operating systems.  The breaking point for me was using Windows 10 on my Asus VivoBook Max.  This laptop should never have come with Windows 10, which in my opinion uses too much system resources for the hardware.  I also got fed up with Windows automatically going into update mode whenever I booted up my laptop, regardless of how I changed the settings.  After setting up my laptop to dual boot Windows 10 and Linux Mint, I realized I was using Linux a lot more than Windows, and just deleted Windows from my laptop.  I am much happier without Windows!  I realize that installing a completely new operating system isn't for everyone, but if you're a little tech savvy and adventurous, I highly recommend putting Linux onto an older PC.  There are many versions to choose from, all of which are FREE, with Linux Mint being one of the most popular versions for people coming from Windows as it has a similar desktop (interface).

              EricC28201
              EricC28201
              Community Champion ⭐⭐⭐
              April 26, 2023

              Well said @m995706a . 

              I bought a laptop years ago with Windows 7 preinstalled.  When the free Windows 10 upgrade was made available I got the auto-notify that the laptop was eligible.  I tried it and it failed.  Automatic Updates was also disabled.  After getting no help from either vendor I did a backup and restored the O.S. from the recovery partition...no improvement.

              Ended up formatting and installing Linux.  Still use it for web research, email, and can create Documents and Spreadsheets that will convert to Office format if somebody needs them that way.

              I still gut and rebuild my desktop case every few years and I always configure it to dual boot both O.S.'s.  Linux gets so much more use that soon I may stop bothering with Windows.

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