Question The Plot Continues: A Better Solution To Win 10 Security Updates And Migration to Win 11

[BonzaiDuck]

I AM SORRY I AM PROLIFERATING THESE THREADS ON CLOSELY RELATED TOPICS, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO OBSCURE NEW INFORMATION ON THESE SUBJECTS AS I CONTINUE TO FIND MORE.

My hardware situation is more specific than "any old unsupported Intel system" for Windows 11 "properly working". I have TPM 2.0, UEFI, Secure Boot, and an i7-7700 CPU. The CPU has cores similar to the eligible Coffee Lake, but it is "officially" excluded.

We talked about upgrading your Win 10 Pro to Win 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC for security updates through beginning 2032. If you feel confident about your hardware as do I, there is an additional option: Updating to Windows 11 Enterprise 2024 LTSC, offering 10 years of security updates.

Further, this version of Windows 11 has RELAXED REQUIREMENTS for hardware. This may be explained on the Massgrave.dev web-pages for these Windows editions. But I am going to assure I have active TPM 2.0 and the other features, excluding the nearly-eligible CPU.

That website explains how the subject version of Windows 11 should get your desired updates, including feature updates, how its binaries are identical to other consumer versions, but you have to do a special install to get the Windows App Store link.

The only thing I'm unsure of is the license key. I purchased the Win 10 LTSC license at KyMakers.com. I'm thinking that license is valid for the Win 11 LTSC update. I'll double-check that, and then proceed to install my TPM 2.0, download the install media ISO, and run an "in-place" upgrade saving files and programs. This will be better than using my retail-box Win 11 Pro for clean installation.

Now I've also determined that KyMakers doesn't sell a license key and download for the Win 11 . . . LTSC version, but the Massgrave.dev site posts valid license keys. [These versions were meant for multiple groups of PC devices at a corporate level.]

I'll report back. Comments welcome. As soon as the Core Ultra 7 265K refresh is available, I will pull the string on my hardware orders to build a totally new system.

 

[Jimminy]

I AM SORRY I AM PROLIFERATING THESE THREADS ON CLOSELY RELATED TOPICS, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO OBSCURE NEW INFORMATION ON THESE SUBJECTS AS I CONTINUE TO FIND MORE.

My hardware situation is more specific than "any old unsupported Intel system" for Windows 11 "properly working". I have TPM 2.0, UEFI, Secure Boot, and an i7-7700 CPU. The CPU has cores similar to the eligible Coffee Lake, but it is "officially" excluded.

We talked about upgrading your Win 10 Pro to Win 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC for security updates through beginning 2032. If you feel confident about your hardware as do I, there is an additional option: Updating to Windows 11 Enterprise 2024 LTSC, offering 10 years of security updates.

Further, this version of Windows 11 has RELAXED REQUIREMENTS for hardware. This may be explained on the Massgrave.dev web-pages for these Windows editions. But I am going to assure I have active TPM 2.0 and the other features, excluding the nearly-eligible CPU.

That website explains how the subject version of Windows 11 should get your desired updates, including feature updates, how its binaries are identical to other consumer versions, but you have to do a special install to get the Windows App Store link.

The only thing I'm unsure of is the license key. I purchased the Win 10 LTSC license at KyMakers.com. I'm thinking that license is valid for the Win 11 LTSC update. I'll double-check that, and then proceed to install my TPM 2.0, download the install media ISO, and run an "in-place" upgrade saving files and programs. This will be better than using my retail-box Win 11 Pro for clean installation.

Now I've also determined that KyMakers doesn't sell a license key and download for the Win 11 . . . LTSC version, but the Massgrave.dev site posts valid license keys. [These versions were meant for multiple groups of PC devices at a corporate level.]

I'll report back. Comments welcome. As soon as the Core Ultra 7 265K refresh is available, I will pull the string on my hardware orders to build a totally new system.

Good luck. But don't put too much time and money into it. Microsoft is famous for saying one thing, then abruptly changing their mind.

They may dump whatever you come up with in a year or so.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Good luck. But don't put too much time and money into it. Microsoft is famous for saying one thing, then abruptly changing their mind.

They may dump whatever you come up with in a year or so.

For now, this looks like it will work. It offers 10 years of security update support, but no guarantee about feature updates. But that's OK! What I'm saying, though, is that these Enterprise versions support Corporate IT, and Corporate IT drives Microsoft's profits now. That's why the enthusiasts and tech-veterans are so pissed -- as am I.

So far, I haven't put much money into it. $25 for the TPM 2.0 circuit card -- recognized in my Z170 BIOS. $11 for the Win 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC license. $0.00 for the Win 11 IoT Enterprise 2024.

The Win 11 IoT made it to 100% of installation without any warnings or problems with my hardware, and it was going to save my files and apps. It had a problem with the boot drive, and reverted itself, returning me to Win 10 IoT Enterprise. I GOT THE ERROR CODES! I ran through the checklist of possible causes, and it looks like it was my third-party anti-malware program or my PrimoCache disk-caching program -- both of which can be easily turned off for the next installation attempt.

But it has NO problem with my Kaby Lake CPU! None! There are no problems with my Win 10 drivers. This IS going to work, and I'll resume with another installation attempt tomorrow. This means I can SALVAGE these "old" computers, maintain security, and calmly move forward with building an Arrow Lake system. It will ALL be GOOD!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

NOT EDITING MY PREVIOUS POST -- JUST TO CALL ATTENTION TO THE THREAD!

OK! I got TPM 2.0 working on a Z170 motherboard, recognized in the existing OS, and it has to be working WELL, because it raises attention to "problem drivers" so I had to turn off the drivers-block under "core isolation". I got Secure boot. I got UEFI.

And! I got a Kaby Lake i7 processor that just didn't quite make the Windows 11 eligible list. BUT! BUT! I didn't have to make any registry hack to deal with the CPU!

The Windows 11 IoT Enterprise 2024 LTSC version just freaking accepted the processor.

I might not get the next feature upgrade, but I WILL get 10 years of security updates!

Nice! Really Nice!! Ti-i-i-me . . . is on my side! Yes it is! Ti-i-i-me . . . is on my side! Yes it is!

 

[Jimminy]

Congrats.

Say, when a feature upgrade becomes available, maybe you can just download the ISO and do a manual upgrade/repair installation, keeping all your apps and data. That's something we have to do anyway if we are using Win 11 on unsupported machines.