A bad weekend and last few days.

[Workingman]

Last Thursday night Windows 11 updated and broke my laptop. When I turned it on on Friday it would open the welcome screen and let me login but then everything went black - I was locked out. I tried it time after time but nothing changed. I had to use my phone to go on the Internet for clues / repairs. Nothing worked! Nothing!

I eventually had to keep pressing F2 as the laptop started to go into BIOS and the only option there was Troubleshoot. I tried all the suggestions but the only one that was going to work was to reinstall Windows 11.

To cut the story short I lost all my data - programs, apps, documents, downloads - everything. It has taken me till now to redownload all the programs I had - and at some cost because I lost all the product keys and login details.

Boy have I been stressed!

[cromwell]

I bet!

[Kaz]

Oh no!.

[jenniren]

Oh wow what a disaster

My desktop pc and laptop aren't compatible with windows 11 so I'll eventually be forced to replace both at some considerable cost, not looking forward to that!!

[TheOstrich]

So sorry to read this, Frank. Complete PITA, and I can empathise with you.

Last month my desktop hard drive completely failed - F2 and a BIOS reset wouldn't work, it had wiped Windows Boot Manager completely - luckily I had all my documents on a USB drive.
As both our existing machines were Windows 10, I took the opportunity to source a new desktop and laptop locally and upgrade to W11. Am now firmly crossing all my fingers.
And yes, Jen, it cost an arm and a leg .......

[jenniren]

I haven't really heard a lot about Windows 11, is it really much different and if so, for good or bad??

[Workingman]

Jen, Win 11 is (generally) fast and stable, but there is a slight learning curve from Win 7 / 10 - nothing spectacular.

However, it only likes compatible software so be aware if you want to install other stuff. It comes with most of the thing you will normally use - Word, Exel, a Photo Viewer, a browser, email and so on - and they all work fine.

Unfortunately I had a lot of older software installed and having read around that seemed to be the problem Just copy any documents you need to keep to a USB pen drive and then past them into Win 11 and you should be good to go.

Have a look here: https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ct/lapt ... ortOrder=1

You really do not want to go below a 15" screen.

[TheOstrich]

I haven't really heard a lot about Windows 11, is it really much different and if so, for good or bad??

I guess it all depends what you use it for .... I do a lot of Excel and Word documents, so I have "subscribed" to Microsoft 365 Personal which costs £84.99 a year and covers both devices. On the other hand, I now rely on Windows Defender / Firewall which comes with that package, so I'm not paying an annual fee for Avast Anti-Virus. There are cheaper versions of Microsoft 365 available, but you get what you pays for.

For spreadsheets and that, I find it not too far removed from Windows Office 2010 which I was using before; there are subtle differences but nothing which has over-affected me or I haven't got used to.

Browsing's just the same - I use MS Edge, similarly emails using Outlook.

What I haven't got to grips with is all this OneDrive "Saving documents in the Cloud". I had hoped that it would automatically back up my documents in the Cloud, but as far as I can see, if I'm basically keeping them on a USB stick, it doesn't.

[medsec222]

Oh wow what a disaster

My desktop pc and laptop aren't compatible with windows 11 so I'll eventually be forced to replace both at some considerable cost, not looking forward to that!!

I used the link below to convert from my old Windows 10 to Windows 11. My PC is not compatible and this is the recommended way to convert approved by Microsoft. I followed his instructions and successfully converted to Windows 11. Hope this helps.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE6SxkDn_O0

[JanB]

Thank you Medsec. My laptop is also not compatible, so I-ll have a look tomorrow.

Three glasses of wine.....