Windows 11 became available on the 5th October 2021 and for those people with compatible machines, this guide will help you jump the queue and force the Windows 11 upgrade.
Before you start…
- Take a backup all all important data onto an external storage device/location.
- set aside at least 1 hour for the upgrade – maybe longer, depending on your internet connection speed.
- Make sure that your Windows 10 installation is up to date with no pending updates.
Compatibility
You might have seen a number of articles and news stories floating around about Windows 11 dropping support for a large number of computers, particularly older systems. The quickest way to test your system’s compatibility with Windows 11 is using the Microsoft WindowsPCHealthCheckSetup tool: https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp
Windows Health Check Tool
Once you have the application installed and running, press the ‘Check now‘ button to test Windows 11 compatibility.
Downloading the Windows 11 installer
To get started with the upgrade, first download the installer:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
Once the installer is running, it will start to download Windows 11 and begin the in-place upgrade. This will not perform a clean install of Windows and retain most of your settings and keep all of your files and applications.
Once the installer reaches 100% on stage 3/3, your computer will ask to restart or automatically restart after a 15 minutes countdown. This reboot might take longer than usual as the upgrade is applied. On completion, expect to see a Windows 11 welcome screen.
And finally, your system will now be running Windows 11!
