I couldn’t wait! 😉 Download Windows 11…

  • 1) ‘Windows 11 Installation Assistant – This is the best option for installing Windows 11 on the device you’re currently using. Click Download Now to get started.’
  • 2) ‘Create Windows 11 Installation Media – If you want to perform a reinstall or clean install of Windows 11 on a new or used PC, use this option to download the media creation tool to make a bootable USB or DVD.’
  • 3) ‘Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) – This option is for users that want to create a bootable installation media (USB flash drive, DVD) or create a virtual machine (.ISO file) to install Windows 11. This download is a multi-edition ISO which uses your product key to unlock the correct edition.’

See the ‘Windows 11: \o/ ’Hippity hip Hoorah’ \o/ – new PC Health Check app to see if your PC can run Windows 11’ post for links for downloading the PC Health Check app, and some other brief info.

Some Prep Work

Nothing is wrong wid Windows 11, i.e. 99.9999999999999999999999% of the time Windows OS problems are caused by 1) User, 2) Hardware, 3) added Software. I’ve upgraded two computers to Windows 11 today, and also did one clean installation – to ‘InWin’ (Intel) & ‘CM130’ (AMD w/ NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER) – without a problem. Prep work counts!

  • Make sure your computer is compatible wid Windows 11.
  • You are supposedly able to revert back to Windows 10 from Windows 11 if you don’t like it, within a certain time frame. However, I use the free “Backup and Restore (Windows 7)” app, in the Control Panel, to create an easily restorable image, just in case.

Media Creation Tool

MediaCreationToolW11 is an Application (.exe) file that you can get from the #2 option mentioned above – “Create Windows 11 Installation Media.”

Easy ‘n automated process to have Microsoft create an installable Windows 11 USB for you. You can do upgrades wid it, clean installations, repairs, and full system restorations wid it.

I also do #3 above, “Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO),” just to have the ISO in case I want to do create a quick bootable USB.

Wid prep done ‘n tools created, let’s move on!

Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11

Exciting day for me…popped right up, turned on coffee pot, made the cot, turned on power surge unit to main computer ‘n Verizon wireless internet, took the outside morning shower, fixed the coffee, set down and booted up ‘Apevia’.

Ran a search for “download windows 11” and it was the first google Link. As Orca says, \o/ \o/ \o/! 😉

Not long afterwards, I decided to go ahead and do an upgrade to Windows 11 on the ‘InWin’ test computer. It doesn’t get a lot of work, but enough for me to keep it handy ‘n ready for something.

Doing the upgrade is a little different than doing a clean install, i.e. you need to insert the installable USB after the computer has booted to WIN10 desktop (method for “upgrade” to WIN11). From inside WIN10, open “Setup” on the USB installer, and let it do the upgrade for you:

  • That will open the upgrade installation process:

  • Then accept license agreement:

  • Now we’re ready to install Windows 11, and I want to keep personal files and apps:

Am keeping all files ‘n apps on this installation. I like to do the “upgrade” first, since Windows 10 has been so steady ‘n reliable, and regular disk checks plus defragmenting keeps it that way. (Later on, I may do a clean install of WIN11 and won’t keep files and apps.)

Took me about 30 minutes to do the upgrade method on each of the two computers (the clean installation method is a *LOT* faster, but more on that later).

Installation finished, do a reboot, there are changes, and the first one you might notice is that the taskbar apps are in the Center!?! That won’t do for humble me at all…geez. Open taskbar settings:

  • See red rectangle at botton, wid Left or Center location options. Here’s a before ‘n after pic:

  • There are other changes, some I like less ‘n others more. Here is About info for ‘CM130’:

  • For the upgrade method I used an internet connection, and the new WIN11 installation already had the license Activated:

Wid those two upgrade tests done, let’s move on!

Doing a Clean Windows 11 Installation

OK…still using the same earlier created installable Windows 11 USB, I’ll do a clean install on the ‘InWin’ test computer.

I used a different SSD this time, since I liked how the upgrade method worked, and how it kept all my files, apps, settings, etc. (will go back to the other SSD after test).

I don’t use an internet connection this time – just clicked “I don’t have an internet connection.” I’ll add needed info ‘n updates ‘n get it Activated when I connect to the internet after clean installation is done. No ‘Pesky Passwords’ or Pin numbers this way.

Incredibly *FAST* using this method! Less than 5 minutes on my slowest desktop computer.

Rebooted ‘n connected to internet ‘n moved the taskbar apps to left side ‘n then went to check if license was Activated. It was. These digital licenses are great! I paid from $10-20 for most of my WIN10 Pro OEM license keys, and they all activated w/o a problem back then. These five desktop computers are all fairly new, so they’ll be running Windows 11 for awhile.

Conclusion

Windows 11 is clearly going to bypass Windows 10 as the best Operating System in the history of OSes, and it will accomplish that task a lot faster also.

If you can still catch a great deal on a Windows 10 computer, then grab it, because upgrading has never been easier.

Will add this post to the Windows 11 page…

LINUX IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES – you never know what you’re gonna get!

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