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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!

I bet!

Oh no!.

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!!

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 .......

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

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.

jenniren wrote: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.

jenniren wrote: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

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

Three glasses of wine.....