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ZDNET's key takeaways
Hundreds of readers have completed upgrades using ZDNET's help.
In general, they report the upgrade is easy, with few issues.
For those who had problems, there were typically simple fixes.
Microsoft's warnings about the end of support for Windows 10 are becoming more strident as the October deadline approaches. For anyone who owns a PC that's more than five years old, those messages come with a prohibition that seems ironclad: "Sorry," the Windows installer shrugs. "You need to buy a new PC because you can't upgrade this old one to Windows 11."
I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that's the gist of the message. And you know what? It's simply not true. I have nearly 400 firsthand reports from readers this year alone that prove it. Those readers followed the instructions in my article, "How to upgrade an 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 - 2 free options," and the overwhelming majority were able to complete the upgrade without issues.
All of the respondents chose one of two options to upgrade:
Option 1 is for PCs that were originally designed for Windows 10 but whose CPUs are too old to make the compatibility cut. This technique involves making a single registry edit and then running the Windows 11 Setup program.
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