Frequently Asked Question

Updating from Windows 10 to Windows 11
Last Updated 3 days ago

As you may know, Microsoft will cut the support for Windows 10 end of October 2025. To continue receiving security updates, you must upgrade to Windows 11. This also applies to private devices, which is why this article also contains a section with instructions to carry out the update on unsupported hardware yourself. In general, all outdated computers may no longer be connected to the university network

What needs to be done?

Check for the upgrade via Windows Update.
If it's available, please proceed with the upgrade. This is an in-place upgrade, meaning your programs, settings, and files will be preserved.

If no upgrade is offered:
Use Microsoft’s official PC Health Check Tool to check compatibility with Windows 11. Please open a ticket if the device is not compatible to let us check if the update is possible. Because some lab computers for example still require a PCI slot for some old hardware, they can’t be replaced easily. It is also considered unreasonable to dispose of functioning hardware just due to Microsoft’s strict requirements.

In many cases (e.g., unsupported CPU or missing TPM 2.0), Windows 11 can still be installed as an in-place update by applying adjusted registry settings. If Secure Boot is not available, enabling UEFI Boot in BIOS and converting the system disk to GPT is usually possible, even on 10-year-old systems.

Note on the end of support for Windows 11 version 24H2, installed on unsupported hardware:

The current version, Windows 11 24H2, is supported until fall 2027 in the Education and Enterprise editions we use, the other editions until fall 2026. After this support expires, another manual intervention is expected to update to a newer, still supported Windows 11 version. If technically possible, we also will provide solutions for upgrading to version 25H2 and later.

What happens to your data?

During an in-place upgrade, all apps, settings, and personal data are preserved. A clean install is not required.

Updating from Windows 10 or older Windows 11 versions to Windows 11 24H2 on unsupported hardware

We observed that some systems failed to boot during the update process. This has been fixed by converting the system disk from the MBR partitioning layout to the GPT partitioning layout prior the Windows 11 update. This conversion has a high probability that the system will no more boot if the BIOS does not support (U)EFI boot and this boot option cannot be enabled in the BIOS. Because of this risk, taking a system image is mandatory. The easiest way to create a system image is with the last version of Macrinum Reflect that is still free for personal use. You can download it from MajorGeeks.

Please be aware that your CPU must support the SSE4.2 CPU instruction called POPCNT to boot Windows 11 24H2. Intel introduced SSE4.2 in the first Core i CPU generation from 2009, AMD introduced it with the FX processors in 2011. This requirement cannot be bypassed and the Windows setup will abort with a warning. This CPU requirement does not apply to Windows 11 23H2 and older.

Step by step procedure:

  • Create a system image with Macrinum Reflect Free
  • Prepare a bootable USB stick with Macrinum Reflect Free and test if you can use it to boot the system, then reboot back to Windows.
  • If the PC Health Check Tool reports missing Secure Boot support, you need to open an elevated PowerShell prompt for converting the system disk partition layout from MBR to GPT:
    • Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
    • Type powershell into the Run dialog.
    • Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open PowerShell with elevated privileges.
    • If prompted by the User Account Control (UAC) dialog, click Yes to grant administrative privileges.
    • In the PowerShell terminal: Type mbr2gpt /convert /allowfullos and press Enter to start the conversion. This command can fail for many reasons, for example if already 4 primary partitions exist on the system disk. If the conversion was successful, reboot the system. In case booting fails, enter the BIOS setup and try to enable (U)EFI boot (enabling the actual secure boot option is not required for getting the green Secure Boot checkbox in the PC Health Check Tool). In case you can’t fix the boot failure, restore the Macrinum system image by booting from the Macrinum USB stick.
  • Since you have a Macrinum system image as a backup, you can now initiate the automatic upgrade to Windows 11 24H2 on unsupported hardware, even if the previous MBR to GPT conversion has failed. Press Windows + R, then paste and run the following command:
powershell $v = '11_24H2'; $path = """$env:TEMP\auto $([CultureInfo]::InstalledUICulture) $v MediaCreationTool.bat""""; Invoke-WebRequest https://raw.githubusercontent.com/geissbuehler/MediaCreationTool.bat/main/MediaCreationTool.bat -OutFile $path; .$path

This will start a script that applies the same registry settings as Rufus and downloads and installs Windows 11 24H2 automatically. The project page can be found here: https://github.com/geissbuehler/MediaCreationTool.bat

Clean install of Windows 11 on unsupported hardware

Use Rufus to prepare a bootable USB stick from a Windows 11 ISO file. Make sure to select the GPT partition scheme for the first try (will require UEFI boot support in the BIOS, see above). After clicking Start, a dialog will show that allows to remove the hardware requirements. Boot from the USB stick to install Windows 11.

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