Question How to install Win-10 on a M/C that came with Win-11

[dan99t]

Hello,

I got a brand new Dell Workstation 3660 with following specs.

i-7 12700
2 NVIDIA T-600 Cards To Run 8 Monitors
Win-11 Pro
Three M.2 NVMe 512GB where Win-11 is on one of them
Three 4TB SATA 5400 rpm HDD
Eight 24 inch Monitors ( 1920 x 1200 ) Resolution

I am running into lots of issues starting from day one when Dell guy installed the system & for last 3 weeks Dell engineers have worked on it online & in person & reinstalling Win-11 with no success even with a small issue like Microphone not working & Dell is not helping or responding to my emails. So I want to try something different.

Remove the NVMe that has Win-11.

Put the blank NVMe in that slot & Fresh Install Win-10 on it.

Will that work or am I going to create more problems ? Meaning which drivers will I have to change & where can I find some of those ? ( Graphics I can from NVIDIA ) but what about BIOS OR Chipset or Sound ( Realtek ) I can't install them from Dell because I got M/C with Windows-11.

I read up on How to download Win-10 iso from MS & create a bootable USB pen drive with Rufus. Would I need a key for Win-10 to install it or do I get a 30 day trial ?

Please help. Many Thanks.

 

[mikeymikec]

If they sold you a machine running Windows 11 and that machine isn't working despite their efforts, that's a warranty job. Don't waste your time doing their job for them, only to potentially find that it's a hardware problem and ends up being in their court anyway.

I've never downgraded a machine that came with Win11 back to Win10 so I have no idea if win10 will accept the embedded win11 key. If it doesn't then a legitimate Win10 Pro key will set you back a bit (in the UK it's nearly £150 UKP).

The whole point of buying from a PC builder is that they handle the building and ensuring that the whole thing works properly, otherwise you may as well have built it yourself if you're going to treat a problem with their kit as your problem.

Also, if you've never installed Windows before, then trying to do it for the first time on potentially faulty hardware is just going to confuse the hell out of you. Furthermore, if you do that then try to claim on the warranty, you've destroyed evidence and given them more reasons to claim that you're the cause of the problem.

 

[dan99t]

Also, if you've never installed Windows before, then trying to do it for the first time on potentially faulty hardware is just going to confuse the hell out of you

I have installed the Vanilla version of Win-7 few times but a long time ago.

I've never downgraded a machine that came with Win11 back to Win10 so I have no idea if win10 will accept the embedded win11 key.

Where do they embed that key just for curiosity & would that prevent me from installing Win-10 on a totally new blank NVMe that is sitting there idle with no data ?

The whole point of buying from a PC builder is that they handle the building and ensuring that the whole thing works properly, otherwise you may as well have built it yourself if you're going to treat a problem with their kit as your problem.

So True. Thank You.

 

[mikeymikec]

Where do they embed that key just for curiosity & would that prevent me from installing Win-10 on a totally new blank NVMe that is sitting there idle with no data ?

It's embedded in the BIOS somehow. An "invalid" Win10 key shouldn't prevent you from installing Win10 though, you could tell it to install and then choose the option "I don't have a product key" (if it asks), which is what I do with every clean install of Windows on a machine I've just built, until I've done all the testing and can be reasonably sure I'm not attaching a Windows licence to a faulty board.

 

[JackMDS]

In most cases it is Not a matter of embedded key.

When a computer with Win 10/11 is one time Activated, MS keep some code on their activation server that ID th computer (most time has to do with the MOBO).

You can install Win 11 on one computer then take out the Installed SSD/HD and put it on another computer that was already waso activated before. If the version of Win is he same it would ge activate whem boot and connected to the internet on the second computer.

Online support in serious Cases is like doing nothing in live and beleive that one day the Messiah will come and correct everything.

 

[dan99t]

Lots of good advice. Really appreciate all of your input.

Thank You so much.

 

[Tech Junky]

Boot up Linux from a USB drive and see if everything functions. If it does then it's a Windows issue. W10 might work better or be more stable or it might break something else.

In general though I've seen some quirks with 12700K on my system where some HW act differently than it did on a system with 8700K. I had an OTA quad tuner card work 100% for years on the 8700K and only produce 50% of the channels on the 12700K. Ran MBR on the 8700K and the 12700K required converting to UEFI as CSM didn't work. 12700K has an RTL NIC on board that requires some driver intervention to make it work. Some other little gremlins that I can't recall off the top of my head.

Now those issues / quirks aren't related to the CPU itself but more than likely to the MOBO / chipset.

 

[vailr]

The Windows activation will continue to work when "downgrading" from a factory installed Win11 to Win 10. The version will remain the same: Win 11 Home to Win 10 Home, for example. For best safety purposes, I would strongly recommend disconnecting all hard drives or SSD's except for the one single target boot drive. Too often, any other drives present can get modified during the initial Windows installation process.