{"id":424250,"date":"2023-09-17T10:36:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-17T17:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/?p=424250"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:02:16","slug":"what-to-do-with-pcs-that-are-not-windows-11-compatible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-pcs-that-are-not-windows-11-compatible\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do with PCs that are Not Windows 11 compatible?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Part of a series:  <a href=\"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/windows-10-end-of-life-road-to-windows-11\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/tag\/windows-10-eol\/\">Windows 10 end-of-life<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The race has started&#8230;.    Many small and large organization have began the process of updating their PC fleet to Windows 11, but the minimum requirements of it leave behind a lot of PC hardware.      Over the next couple of years (Windows 10 end of life is  October 14, 2025)   will force millions of computers (both at home and at work) to be &#8220;retired&#8221;     &#8212;   I myself have 3 computes here at home that use Windows 10 and will not be able to upgrade to Windows 11.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-111-1024x534.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-471009\" style=\"width:602px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-111-1024x534.png 1024w, https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-111-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-111-768x400.png 768w, https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-111.png 1239w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So the question becomes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to do with these devices?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You cannot give those to a friend, family member or even donate them to a charity, but they will face the same issue you do &#8212; Windows 10 is no longer a supported operating system.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hardware you have on those devices may be very good (maybe you have a 32G RAM, i5 3340 Processor, Good GPU and large hard drive, so what options do you have to continue to use the HARDWARE?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-nv-light-bg-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Side note:   Continuing to use Windows 10 after October 2025 may still be a valid scenario for some, but it is a risky one, as no more security updates will be made beyond that date.  Side note: , I wrote this article: <a href=\"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/staying-with-windows-10-past-october-2025\/\">Staying with Windows 10 past October 2025<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>So what do we do this these machines?   <\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what, Windows 10 has to go.  So a few alternative options to consider are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Although unsupported, and very much discouraged, you can also upgrade to Windows 11, bypassing the system requirements check in the process.( See videos in resources below)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Switch the Operating system a Linux-based distribution (there are MANY)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/zorin.com\/os\/\">ZorinOS <\/a> (free and <a href=\"https:\/\/zorin.com\/os\/pro\/\">Pro<\/a>) &#8211; at this time this is my #1 option<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/linuxmint.com\/\">Linux Mint<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/kubuntu.org\/\">Kubuntu (w\/KDE Plasma)<\/a> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linuxliteos.com\/index.html\">Linux Lite<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/pop.system76.com\/\">Pop OS<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you are technical enough you may want to convert that device into a Virtual Machine Server with a hypervisor like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proxmox.com\/en\/\">PROXMOX<\/a>, VMWare, Microsoft Hyper-V Server, Citrix, and many others. <strong>I myself love PROXMOX!!<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The funny thing about hypervisors is that you can place one or more virtual Windows 11 in them   and still run Windows 11 on it.   <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Any others you can think of?     Leaving a comment below !<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Resources:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ug__CVQQQsc\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/help.zorin.com\/docs\/getting-started\/install-zorin-os\/\">Install Zorin OS &#8211; Zorin Help<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7ff8jsOyoIk\">USB Installer For Windows 11 Unsupported PCs (youtube.com)<\/a> (Dec 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ug__CVQQQsc\">New Method For Windows 11 Unsupported PCs (Easiest Yet) (youtube.com)<\/a> (Nov 2023) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UL_maCWM5bk\">Installing Windows 11 on Unsupported Hardware (youtube.com)<\/a> (April 2023) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghacks.net\/2022\/01\/30\/what-happens-to-all-the-windows-10-devices-that-are-incompatible-with-windows-11-in-2025\/\">What happens to all the Windows 10 devices that are incompatible with Windows 11 in 2025? &#8211; gHacks Tech News<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TTQkICBQtqA\"> Zorin OS 17 vs Mint | Which is better for new users? (youtube.com)<\/a> (Dec 2023)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Window 10 is expiring.  The hardware you have on those devices may be very good so what options do you have to continue to use the HARDWARE?  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[681,441],"tags":[742,430,875,779],"class_list":["post-424250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moderneuc2","category-tech-talk","tag-moderneuc1","tag-windows-10","tag-windows-10-eol","tag-windows-11"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":681,"label":"ModernEUC"},{"value":441,"label":"Tech Talk"}],"post_tag":[{"value":742,"label":"ModernEUC"},{"value":430,"label":"Windows 10"},{"value":875,"label":"Windows 10 End-Of-Life"},{"value":779,"label":"Windows 11"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-72-e1695871016804.png",439,247,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Jorge Pereira","author_link":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/author\/jorge\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":681,"name":"ModernEUC","slug":"moderneuc2","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":691,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":261,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":681,"category_count":261,"category_description":"","cat_name":"ModernEUC","category_nicename":"moderneuc2","category_parent":0},{"term_id":441,"name":"Tech Talk","slug":"tech-talk","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":451,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":671,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":441,"category_count":671,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Tech Talk","category_nicename":"tech-talk","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":742,"name":"ModernEUC","slug":"moderneuc1","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":752,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":284,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":430,"name":"Windows 10","slug":"windows-10","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":440,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":78,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":875,"name":"Windows 10 End-Of-Life","slug":"windows-10-eol","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":885,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":779,"name":"Windows 11","slug":"windows-11","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":789,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":23,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":518753,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424250\/revisions\/518753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jorgep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}