Windows 11. Anyone going to install it? Plus discussion and observations, experience etc.

[Torper]

You should be able to switch off individual notifications by right clicking on them when they come up and then clicking the box not to have that notification any more.

 

To get rid of all notifications I am advised that you should type Notifications into the search box at the bottom left of your screen.  That should bring up an app.  Click on that, a windows Notification screen should appear, and the top header on it will ask if you want notifications on or off.  On Windows 10 you get the same thing by going PC Settings - System - Notifications and Actions.

[Chris Turnbull]

Have you seen this?

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-11-do-not-distrub-constantly-turns-itself/5a5dfd5f-a286-4972-9457-161a3616cc6c?page=1

 

Chris Turnbull

[Izzy]

32 minutes ago, Chris Turnbull said:

Have you seen this?

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-11-do-not-distrub-constantly-turns-itself/5a5dfd5f-a286-4972-9457-161a3616cc6c?page=1

 

Chris Turnbull

 

Thanks, and no I hadn't. It seems others are having similar problems so that's a relief if youknow what I mean, we're not going mad. But it isn't being solved going by the last post. Everything turned off and notifications still have a mind of their own when they feel like it.  Only started happening with the latest W11 version so something has caused a conflict somewhere it would seem.

 

Ah well. Like it or lump it I suppose.

 

Bob

[RFS]

1 hour ago, Izzy said:

 

Thanks, and no I hadn't. It seems others are having similar problems so that's a relief if youknow what I mean, we're not going mad. But it isn't being solved going by the last post. Everything turned off and notifications still have a mind of their own when they feel like it.  Only started happening with the latest W11 version so something has caused a conflict somewhere it would seem.

 

Ah well. Like it or lump it I suppose.

 

Bob

 

You might have better luck finding a solution by raising the issue on a specialist Windows 11 forum such as https://www.elevenforum.com/ .

[Chris Turnbull]

12 hours ago, RFS said:

 

You might have better luck finding a solution by raising the issue on a specialist Windows 11 forum such as https://www.elevenforum.com/ .

 

That looks interesting.  I shall have a look at that myself.

 

Chris Turnbull

[Izzy]

A very basic question I know so forgive but it's been a while since I've done this. I have a W11 (home) laptop with a small 128Gb M2 sata drive I want to upgrade to 500Gb. Can I just do a clean install of W11 for free on it? I think there's some downloadable installation media available somewhere but I can't seem to find any details now.  Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places? I can't clone the current SSD because I don't have a usb/M2 sata connector.

 

many thanks for any help and suggestions,

 

Bob

Edited June 10, 2023 by Izzy

[melmerby]

10 minutes ago, Izzy said:

A very basic question I know so forgive but it's been a while since I've done this. I have a W11 (home) laptop with a small 128Gb M2 sata drive I want to upgrade to 500Gb. Can I just do a clean install of W11 for free on it? I think there's some downloadable installation media available somewhere but I can't seem to find any details now.  Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places? I can't clone the current SSD because I don't have a usb/M2 sata connector.

 

many thanks for any help and suggestions,

 

Bob

If you link your W11 license to a Microsoft account, you can install it on any single machine you like.

IIRC if you attach it to a new machine it automatically removes it from the previous one. (?)

 

As regards a new install, you can create an installation medium on a USB stick, then install the new Windows onto the replaced SSD

You can do it without a MS account quite happily but if something goes wrong with the electronic license you could be on a lengthy chat to MS to sort it out.

 

I replaced a drive on a Win 10 PC and it would not re-activate the license on the new install and I was on the chat for a couple of hours, during which time the MS (human) assistant needed to check my PC to ensure it was the same one, the license was originally on.

Other times there has been no problem with replaced drive.

[RFS]

26 minutes ago, Izzy said:

A very basic question I know so forgive but it's been a while since I've done this. I have a W11 (home) laptop with a small 128Gb M2 sata drive I want to upgrade to 500Gb. Can I just do a clean install of W11 for free on it? I think there's some downloadable installation media available somewhere but I can't seem to find any details now.  Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places? I can't clone the current SSD because I don't have a usb/M2 sata connector.

 

many thanks for any help and suggestions,

 

Bob

 

If your laptop came with Windows pre-installed, then the installation key will have been recorded in the UEFI BIOS. If you do a clean install, Windows will retrieve it from there automatically. 

 

Windows 11 installation media can be created from here .

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, RFS said:

If your laptop came with Windows pre-installed, then the installation key will have been recorded in the UEFI BIOS. If you do a clean install, Windows will retrieve it from there automatically.

Is that only pre-installed OS?

Is it only Win 11 or is Win 10 the same?

[Izzy]

Thanks both, it came with W11 installed so it appears using the installation media will work okay. Just got to find a spare USB drive among those hanging around....!

 

Bob

[55020]

57 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Thanks both, it came with W11 installed so it appears using the installation media will work okay. Just got to find a spare USB drive among those hanging around....!

 

Bob

 

I did this very recently, with a complete re-install after downloading the W11 ISO to a USB.  I did come across some online comments stating that the ISO would only launch from a DVD, but I found that not to be the case.

The only thing you will need to do is access the machines BIOS and make sure the USB drive is selected as the primary boot.  The install process picked up my licence automatically from the UEFI BIOS.

 

 

Steve

[RFS]

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Is that only pre-installed OS?

Is it only Win 11 or is Win 10 the same?

 

As I understand it, the storing of the licence in the BIOS started in Windows 8 days and from that point laptop PCs were no longer being sold with the licence key on a sticker.  As W8 and W10 licences are valid for W11 too, it therefore makes it easy to upgrade to W11, assuming of course that the laptop in question is compliant with W11 requirements. 

[melmerby]

1 minute ago, RFS said:

As W8 and W10 licences are valid for W11

So are Win 7 but unfortunately two of my PCs aren't up to scratch being a couple of generations down the Intel tree.

[Ian J.]

I was able to use the UEFI key for Windows 10 that came with the laptop I have, for an install of Windows 10 in a VM on my Linux Mint install on that very same laptop. So yes, it should be there. I think with Windows 11 the TPM2 requirement just means that it's easier for M$ to check on valid installs and make sure only one is active at any time (?)

[RFS]

58 minutes ago, Ian J. said:

I was able to use the UEFI key for Windows 10 that came with the laptop I have, for an install of Windows 10 in a VM on my Linux Mint install on that very same laptop. So yes, it should be there. I think with Windows 11 the TPM2 requirement just means that it's easier for M$ to check on valid installs and make sure only one is active at any time (?)

 

Don't believe the TPM plays any role in managing the Windows licence. After all, you can force a Windows 11 install on a PC that does not have a TPM. Indeed, I have a 10-year old laptop with no TPM on which I have Windows 11 installed using its original OEM Windows 7 licence key.  

 

If you really want to know the role the TPM plays then here's Microsoft's explanation of it. 

[whart57]

The last Windows version I've used to any extent was Windows 7. When Windows 8 came out it was a WTF moment - where have they put everything? The pro versions for business might be OK but I felt the home versions were really dumbed down. That went for things like Office as well. I have Windows 10 on the PC but it's a dual boot machine and if I ever do boot into Windows I'd better leave aside a day or two for getting and installing all the updates it decides are needed. Since then - or in fact for about ten years before that - I have done everything on Linux and using Open Source software.

 

Now it has to be said that I first installed Linux as Red Hat 4 back when we still put "19" at the front of the year number, and I spent a large chunk of my working life working on UNIX systems. I was also working for IBM when that company made the decision to make Red Hat Linux the internal standard. IBM have since bought the Red Hat company.

 

Now it seems to me that every Windows upgrade causes problems, so I am glad to be out of that loop. I know I will have to upgrade my Ubuntu 20.04 to Ubuntu 22 sometime in the next two years but in the past that has been pretty straightforward. My background and capabilities are obviously not usual ones, but I do like being able to look at logs and query via the command line when things go wrong.

 

So to answer the top question - no, not me.

[Izzy]

One reason why I want to increase the SSD size in my laptop is because as it was quite small at 128Gb and W11 takes up half of that I have been using a 256 Gb micro-SD card in the SD card slot for all docs, with the C drive just being for W11. So a bit like having either two drives or a partitioned one, C/D etc.  However in recent times W11 has had occasional issues seeing and accessing the SD and as I understand they are not really meant or designed to cope with constant read/write rates wondered if it was starting to fail. As an aside I now find getting a M2 sata drive wasn't as easy as I thought, many firms seem to have stopped making them as M2 PCle/NVMe is now the standard format which of course can't be used in a M2 sata slot......  Luckily I found WD still have them - WD blue.

 

One point I have often meant to ask, and I wonder if anyone can say, is that with Windows machines whatever the HDD size is quoted at you have to allow for the space the O/S will take. However with my Apple iphone and ipad the space available for storage is what is stated, so 256Gb for both quite apart from the O/S loaded. Does this also apply to their laptops etc? That if they say 256Gb, 512Gb, that is the space available for docs over and above the O/S? I've often wondered of late.

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[melmerby]

Normally it is the size of the memory before anything is saved to it, be it OS or docs of whatever.

 

2 hours ago, Izzy said:

with my Apple iphone and ipad the space available for storage is what is stated, so 256Gb for both quite apart from the O/S loaded.

I'm surprised at that.

My Samsung Tab has just 8Gb and a lot of it is taken with the OS and apps but I have a 132Gb micro SD to save pictures and docs to.

 

Looking at some Apple info, it suggests the OS does take up quoted system memory.

 

This from apple support pages:

The new iPadOS can tale up any between 5.5 and 6.0 GBs of free, internal, data storage space.

 

The amount of available, practical, usable storage is based not only on how much iOS/iPadOS takes up but on the actual size that 1.0 GB is equivalent to, which for Apple 1.0 GB ≈1.075 GBs

Also, iOS/iPadOS devices need to maintain a minimum constant of between 2-4 GBs to ensure nominal, expected performance and function of iOS/iPadOS.

Also, my “current” installation of iPadOS 13.2.3 takes up approx. 5.5 GBs of my iPad's internal storage space.

 

So,

A 16 GBs storage iPad starts out, after initial drive formatting, at approx. 14.5 GBs of free, internal storage.

After the installation of iPadOS, at nearly 5.5 GBs, leaves 9 GBs of of free, internal data storage space.

iOS/iPadOS needs a minimum of 2-4 GBs of constant remaining storage, AT ALL TIMES to insure/ensure nominal, acceptable operation of all iOS/iPadOS functionalities.

This leaves a 16 GBs iPad with ONLY a practical, usable storage space of between 5 and 7 GBs AND THAT IS IT!

 

This is virtually NO internal data storage to do much of anything with that iPad!

This is why Apple quietly, silently did away with all 16 GBs iOS device back sometime in 2016.

 

A 64 GBs storage iPad starts out with 60 GBs, after drive formatting. Minus 5.5 GBs for iPadOS, leaves 54.5 GBs. Minus 2-4 GBs for iOS iPadOS system reserve equals approx. between 50.5-52.5 GBs of usable data storage space.

 

iOS devices and iOS/iPadOS need to maintain, at the very least, a minimum of between 2-4 GBs of free data storage space, AT ALL TIMES, to insure normal/nominal functionalities/operation and general overall performance of any iOS device running iOS/iPadOS.

 

 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by melmerby

[melmerby]

BTW Windows 11 takes up about 24-27Gb on clean install

Edited June 11, 2023 by melmerby

[Izzy]

9 hours ago, melmerby said:

BTW Windows 11 takes up about 24-27Gb on clean install

Although I suppose it’s not really that surprising given the different requirements it shows just how ‘svelte’ IOS is compared to Windows with its need to be all things to all people. I did try Linux mint a while back but just being an end user with no command line knowledge I found it a struggle to do anything other than what came in the basic install so gave up. I guess there are a lot of Windows users such as me.

 

Bob

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, Izzy said:

Although I suppose it’s not really that surprising given the different requirements it shows just how ‘svelte’ IOS is compared to Windows with its need to be all things to all people. I did try Linux mint a while back but just being an end user with no command line knowledge I found it a struggle to do anything other than what came in the basic install so gave up. I guess there are a lot of Windows users such as me.

 

Bob

Yes, windows needs to work with all known graphics cards, all known makes of memory, all motherboards etc. and still appear the same, whereas Apple only have a limited number of variations to contend with, all of which are of their own design.

 

I currently have a complete PC with a SSD and Kubuntu 20.04 installed but it does little more than run JMRI so that I can use Decoder Pro and I can do that on a Raspberry Pi running Linux

Kubuntu is a nice graphical version of Ubuntu with the KDE GUI but is still nowhere near as straightforward to use as Windows or Mac.

 

[whart57]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Kubuntu is a nice graphical version of Ubuntu with the KDE GUI but is still nowhere near as straightforward to use as Windows or Mac.

 

 

I'd agree. I like Ubuntu but I have some 25 years experience of working with UNIX systems behind me. My wife prefers Ubuntu and Open Office over Windows and Office 365 too, but that's only because she has Linux IT support available 24/7 within shouting distance.

 

Trying to make Linux distributions more friendly for non-techies generally creates pushback from the techies. Partly because of a sense of dumbing down but also because greater user friendliness often comes with knocking out the quick shortcuts techies like to use as a trade-off

[Ian J.]

Linux's biggest problem is that you're considered to be either a 'dumb' user, or an outright Guru. There's no allowance for being a power user who only occasionally needs to change settings, where GUI elements help to remember how to set things. The command line requires seriously learnt knowledge, retained in memory constantly, and doesn't allow for making sure typos don't screw things up.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Ian J.

[whart57]

20 hours ago, Ian J. said:

Linux's biggest problem is that you're considered to be either a 'dumb' user, or an outright Guru. There's no allowance for being a power user who only occasionally needs to change settings, where GUI elements help to remember how to set things. The command line requires seriously learnt knowledge, retained in memory constantly, and doesn't allow for making sure typos don't screw things up.

 

Actually, no. What you need is a basic set of CLI instructions, not so much under your fingers but so that you recognise them. Most things you can use your favourite search engine to describe your problem, add the terms "Ubuntu" or "Linux" and there will usually be someone providing a potential solution. At first glance that may appear to be written in Hungarian but if you recognise the commonest commands then you can see what the solution proposed might be.

 

Key ones these days are (in Ubuntu systems)

 

sudo    -    this gives you root (aka administrator) privileges for the command you type immediately behind it and you will be prompted for a password.

 

apt   -    this is the command line version of the software install programme. You will almost certainly want to "sudo" this to make sure you have write permissions in all the locations needed. For example sudo apt install mypaint is a command line instruction to install a programme called "mypaint" (an interesting art application incidentally)

 

ps  -ef    -     this lists running apps. This will return a huge list so you want to "pipe" it to another command

 

|              -    the "pipe" command. This is found next to the "Z" key on UK keyboards but will be somewhere else on others. Put between two commands it outputs the result of the first to be the input to the second, so:

                     ps -ef | more returns that list of running apps one page at a time and you advance by pressing the space bar.

 

grep      -     is a simple word search, very useful connected to ps -ef via a pipe:

                    ps -ef | grep -i firefox will list all processes associated with Mozilla Firefox. It's useful to discover a zombie left by some badly behaved javascript in a web page. Unix systems like Linux - but unlike Windows - are case sensitive. the "-i" switch makes grep case insensitive.

 

top      -     lists the top resource hungry applications

 

A little bit of play is needed to learn how to use cd, cp and mv to navigate directories and copy and move files

 

A decade or so ago it would have been necessary to know how to unpack an archive, unzip a compressed directory or link files, but I haven't done that in years, the graphical application managers do the job well enough. It's been a while too since I needed to use vi to edit a set up file, and as for complicated scripting using sed and awk, I never needed that in my personal computing, only in my work stuff. I couldn't do it now anyway.

 

Any command in a solution can be checked using the internet so you can decide how uncomfortable you feel with something before proceeding.

 

 

 

[Izzy]

On 13/06/2023 at 19:30, whart57 said:

 

Actually, no. What you need is a basic set of CLI instructions, not so much under your fingers but so that you recognise them. Most things you can use your favourite search engine to describe your problem, add the terms "Ubuntu" or "Linux" and there will usually be someone providing a potential solution. At first glance that may appear to be written in Hungarian but if you recognise the commonest commands then you can see what the solution proposed might be.

 

Key ones these days are (in Ubuntu systems)

 

sudo    -    this gives you root (aka administrator) privileges for the command you type immediately behind it and you will be prompted for a password.

 

apt   -    this is the command line version of the software install programme. You will almost certainly want to "sudo" this to make sure you have write permissions in all the locations needed. For example sudo apt install mypaint is a command line instruction to install a programme called "mypaint" (an interesting art application incidentally)

 

ps  -ef    -     this lists running apps. This will return a huge list so you want to "pipe" it to another command

 

|              -    the "pipe" command. This is found next to the "Z" key on UK keyboards but will be somewhere else on others. Put between two commands it outputs the result of the first to be the input to the second, so:

                     ps -ef | more returns that list of running apps one page at a time and you advance by pressing the space bar.

 

grep      -     is a simple word search, very useful connected to ps -ef via a pipe:

                    ps -ef | grep -i firefox will list all processes associated with Mozilla Firefox. It's useful to discover a zombie left by some badly behaved javascript in a web page. Unix systems like Linux - but unlike Windows - are case sensitive. the "-i" switch makes grep case insensitive.

 

top      -     lists the top resource hungry applications

 

A little bit of play is needed to learn how to use cd, cp and mv to navigate directories and copy and move files

 

A decade or so ago it would have been necessary to know how to unpack an archive, unzip a compressed directory or link files, but I haven't done that in years, the graphical application managers do the job well enough. It's been a while too since I needed to use vi to edit a set up file, and as for complicated scripting using sed and awk, I never needed that in my personal computing, only in my work stuff. I couldn't do it now anyway.

 

Any command in a solution can be checked using the internet so you can decide how uncomfortable you feel with something before proceeding.

 

 

 

 

And I'm afraid that while it may seem simple to you that's just all gobbledygook to me. Way above my pay grade and what my old brain can cope with sadly. I'd love to be able to deal with it but digging around in Windows device manager and registry is pushing it for me.

 

Anyway, just to say that I have now installed the M2 500Gb sata SSD with the new install of W11 on it. All went without issue and as soon as I logged on with my Microsoft account all was ticked off as okay.

 

The only slight hassle I had was in trying to load Java 11 for JMRI/Decoder Pro. Previously I loaded Azul JRE as reccommended by JMRI which had worked fine, but with this latest incarnation of W11 it just wouldn't run. After several attempts I eventually tried the latest Azul JDK version which works just fine...  I really couldn't do DCC without DP and my elderly (now) Sprog 11, a quite early version.

 

I did also split the drive into two partitions, C & D, C being 115Gb with the rest, 350Gb being for docs. I also managed to rid myself of a lot of the multiple shortcuts in the tree stucture which makes navigating W11's folders mesmerising at times although I'm not quite sure how I did it!

 

Bob