Windows 11 PC upgrade

snaver

Hi, can anyone help me please?

I keep getting messages from Microsoft on my Windows 10 PC, telling me to upgrade to Windows 11 before updates become obsolete. I'm fine with this, as my tower PC is rather old, having bought it nearly 9 years ago, in 2016, but anything with the same or similar specifications (below) now seems to cost thousands of pounds, rather than the few hundreds (just over £400, I think) that I paid. What's the way around this please? Should I buy a cheap laptop and upgrade the RAM and possibly graphics card and plug in my monitor and a larger 2gb external hard drive, with my files on, into it? Or are there any reliable cheaper tower options, with the same or higher spec please?

Any advice or suggestions gratefully appreciated.

Lenovo PC

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6400 CPU @ 2.70GHz   2.71 GHz

Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.9 GB usable)

Storage 1.82 TB HDD ST2000DM001-1ER164

Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics 530 (128 MB)

System Type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 10 Home

Version 2009

BFBW

What is this?  Storage 1.82 TB HDD ST2000DM001-1ER164

How can you still be running Windows on an HDD in 2025?  

Fit an SSD as the Boot Drive. Create installation media and install Windows 11 using RUFUS. It's perfectly legitimate. Read the RUFUS FAQ for confirmation. Microsoft include 'flags' within the installation media that allow you to switch off the compatibility check in order to upgrade or clean install Windows 11 24H2 to pre-2017 devices.
Windows 11 24H2 is supported until October 2026. No need for you to spring for a new device. With an SSD(Solid State Drive) fitted(takes a few minutes to fit), your PC will be a lot faster and more efficient. Keep the 2TB within as secondary storage and easy access to your files.
Try to ignore the baseless conjecture that may follow my post.

GDB2222

I would recommend getting a new processor, motherboard and RAM. You can get that for £120. Fitting it takes a few minutes, and it is not difficult. If you want specific recommendations, I am happy to help. 

debitcardmayhem

BFBW said:

What is this?  Storage 1.82 TB HDD ST2000DM001-1ER164

How can you still be running Windows on an HDD in 2025?  

Fit an SSD as the Boot Drive. Create installation media and install Windows 11 using RUFUS. It's perfectly legitimate. Read the RUFUS FAQ for confirmation. Microsoft include 'flags' within the installation media that allow you to switch off the compatibility check in order to upgrade or clean install Windows 11 24H2 to pre-2017 devices.
Windows 11 24H2 is supported until October 2026. No need for you to spring for a new device. With an SSD(Solid State Drive) fitted(takes a few minutes to fit), your PC will be a lot faster and more efficient. Keep the 2TB within as secondary storage and easy access to your files.
Try to ignore the baseless conjecture that may follow my post.

This is not conjecture ….. it’s how I would do it 😎

RavingMad

If you find the speed of the pc fine, then you shouldn't need to change anything. In Windows update, does it give you the option to update to Win11?

debitcardmayhem

RavingMad said:

If you find the speed of the pc fine, then you shouldn't need to change anything. In Windows update, does it give you the option to update to Win11?

Not with that cpu.

Heedtheadvice

debitcardmayhem said:

BFBW said:

What is this?  Storage 1.82 TB HDD ST2000DM001-1ER164

How can you still be running Windows on an HDD in 2025?  

Fit an SSD as the Boot Drive. Create installation media and install Windows 11 using RUFUS. It's perfectly legitimate. Read the RUFUS FAQ for confirmation. Microsoft include 'flags' within the installation media that allow you to switch off the compatibility check in order to upgrade or clean install Windows 11 24H2 to pre-2017 devices.
Windows 11 24H2 is supported until October 2026. No need for you to spring for a new device. With an SSD(Solid State Drive) fitted(takes a few minutes to fit), your PC will be a lot faster and more efficient. Keep the 2TB within as secondary storage and easy access to your files.
Try to ignore the baseless conjecture that may follow my post.

This is not conjecture ….. it’s how I would do it 😎

Me too. Good post BFBW

HillStreetBlues

The only different is that I would use Flyby11

grumpycrab

Flyby11 recommended by me also.  Buy a shiny new SSD (if your motherboard has a slot for M.2 NVMe do that otherwise a nice big cheap SATA SSD will do).  Unplug the 2TB HDD and clean install W11 to the SSD.
** I haven't had much success upgrading from 10 -> 11 but a clean install of 11 has always worked.  Then plug your 2TB HDD in either to motherboard (as D drive) or external caddy.  Main issue with this of course is you have to reinstall your old programs (sorry apps :-)
GitHub - builtbybel/Flyby11: Windows 11 Upgrading Assistant

Vitor

If the OP isn't tech-savvy, an option is a mini-PC, which are under £200, and a USB caddy for the 2GB disk taken out the tower PC. MINISFORUM UN100P Mini PC, Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake- N100,16 GB DDR4 RAM 512 GB PCIe SSD, Mini Desktop PC 4K Triple Display, 4xUSB Ports,2.5G RJ45 LAN,Business PC for Home-Server/Network Firewall : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Xenon

What do you use the PC for ?

If it is for general web browsing etc then why not just get Linux

I would recommend Linux Mint Cinnamon for new Linux users (although most Linux Distro's are easy to use)