N & P on Win10 Machine - Can one do the paving with Windows 11 afterward?

[britechguy]

I have never attempted a N & P where I was doing anything other than a completely clean reinstall of the version of Windows that was on the machine prior to the nuke part.

This week, it's likely I'll be doing an N & P on a machine currently licensed for Windows 10, and I do have Windows 10 install media, but I also have Windows 11 install media and the end goal is having this be a Windows 11 machine when complete.

Is it possible to "re-pave" directly to Windows 11? I've never tried it, and I'd prefer not to experiment as it would be a big waste of time if it doesn't work.

If anyone knows whether one can take what had been a Windows 10 machine and "re-pave" with Windows 11 instead, please share.

 

[Sky-Knight]

There is no difference between Win10 and WIn11 licenses as far as I know. The only difference is the hardware requirements for Win11.

Yes, you can install Win11 fresh, given a Win10 key and have it activate.

 

[Markverhyden]

What was the machine originally licensed for?

 

[britechguy]

What was the machine originally licensed for?

I should have been crystal clear and said "originally licensed for and using Windows 10 up to the date where it ceased working."

It came with Windows 10 and is not an upgrade to 10 from either 7 or 8.1.

 

[britechguy]

given a Win10 key and have it activate.

That's the trick, though. If you mean the key that MS should recognize based on the mobo, then we have a key. If you mean an actual key you type in then, no, we don't.

The computer meets the minimum hardware requirements.

 

[Markverhyden]

I should have been crystal clear and said "originally licensed for and using Windows 10 up to the date where it ceased working."

It came with Windows 10 and is not an upgrade to 10 from either 7 or 8.1.

In that case I think you'd be able to do a clean install with W11 especially if it was an OEM machine. But I would be interested in the outcome anyways.

 

[Sky-Knight]

That's the trick, though. If you mean the key that MS should recognize based on the mobo, then we have a key. If you mean an actual key you type in then, no, we don't.

The computer meets the minimum hardware requirements.

You have a key, it's stored in the EFI.

You can get it from an admin powershell: (Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’).OA3xOriginalProductKey

You can also get it from many of the keyscanners like this one: https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_key_scanner.html

Sometimes I have to manually feed that key into the activation window to get these to stick, but they always stick.

 

[ThatPlace928]

To get keys quickly, I use this one. https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

It's okay to continue to the site, even though your adblocker will try to block it. I use it all the time. Just download the free version and keep it on a stick for later. Then, you don't have to visit the site again.

 

[fincoder]

Even if it didn't find the Windows 10 key during the Windows 11 clean installation, it would activate based on the online digital license.

 

[britechguy]

To wrap up this story/question:

I managed to get back to this client's place today, with a replacement SSD in hand as well as my external SSD drive enclosure. When I pulled out the existing SSD and tested it, it worked perfectly and CrystalDiskInfo said it was perfectly healthy. Looked like a typical Windows instance on it, but it simply wouldn't boot.

The UEFI/BIOS on this Asus RoG machine was the strangest I've ever seen as far as the hoops I had to jump through to actually boot from Windows 11 install media, including having to set things saying that I was NOT booting Windows. Very strange.

In the end, I did a N&P and Windows 11 installed, and activated, without a hitch. The machine was definitely running Win10 prior to the "sudden collapse."

I'm also very thankful that the original SSD was fine, as I did purchase one that was too short, and that standoff did not want to budge. I think someone either used power tools to screw this thing in or used superglue on the threads. Something that small should not fall into "immovable object" territory.

The client is thrilled, and so am I. What bothers me is that there is no way that I can determine what actually happened here. I've never experienced a failure quite like this and I hope to never do so again (but if I did, at least I now know what my only option is).

 

[timbo4506]

I believe that a Windows 8 through Windows 10 license keys will activate in windows 11 without an issue. They recently stopped the windows 7 licenses from being able to upgrade to 10/11

 

[Porthos]

@britechguy Was the processor on this computer officially compatible with win 11?

 

[britechguy]

@britechguy Was the processor on this computer officially compatible with win 11?

I have to presume so, as an upgrade or clean install of Windows 11 on non-compatible hardware should have thrown up an error message. Also, the machine was of an age that it should have been well within the Windows 11 compatible hardware period.

But last November is "like a lifetime ago" as far as tech water under the bridge, so all details are hazy at this point.

 

[Porthos]

I have to presume so, as an upgrade or clean install of Windows 11 on non-compatible hardware should have thrown up an error message.

I just did a clean install on my 4th gen OEM Windows 8 era machine without issues and no hacks or workarounds.
It only has TPM 1.2 as well.

A clean install will work even on non-supported hardware.

 

[britechguy]

A clean install will work even on non-supported hardware.

For Windows 11? I could never get it to clean install on incompatible hardware without using Rufus (or similar) to neuter the requirement for TPM and the 8th gen or later intel processor.

I've got Windows 11 running on an i7 4th gen, but it was clean installed using neutered install media on a machine that had been upgraded to Windows 10 years prior, so there was definitely an existing digital license/entitlement for Windows 10 for that hardware.

 

[Porthos]

For Windows 11?

Yes

 

[britechguy]

@Porthos: Interesting. I'll have to try this at some point just for fun.

 

[ThatPlace928]

I just did a clean install on my 4th gen OEM Windows 8 era machine without issues and no hacks or workarounds.
It only has TPM 1.2 as well.

A clean install will work even on non-supported hardware.

Will Windows 11 get updates on unsupported hardware?

 

[Porthos]

Will Windows 11 get updates on unsupported hardware?

Only monthly not feature updates.

 

[britechguy]

Will Windows 11 get updates on unsupported hardware?

It is claimed that the Feature Updates will not occur automatically, but since I did the 23H2 update manually on all my hardware, compatible and incompatible, I have no idea if that's true.

I can definitely say that incompatible hardware has been getting the same "non-feature" updates as my supported hardware has been.

It would be so nice if Microsoft actually meant what they said, at all times. This entire topic would have been unnecessary if what they said was consistent and could be trusted. But since what was supposed to be the end of the free update period to Windows 10 in July 2016, which never was the end, and where multiple "it's the end" announcements for ends that weren't have been made, we have to rely on what we hear about what's actually happening in practice to know what's going on.