Thurday morning computer question

Me | 6/27/2024 | Paul R.

[Paul R.]

Can Windows 11 Pro be used with 6th or 7th gen Intel processors without running into lack of support problems with Microsoft? I see MANY refurbs on eBay with such combinations, yet SFAIK Microsoft still says it does not support Intel processors that are not at least 8th generation.

[Paul R.]

I assume the above means that MS might at any point fail to provide, for example, security updates to Win 11 Pro (and Win 11) computers with processors not 8th generation or more?

I'm presently in the hunt for a fairly inexpensive Win 11 Pro desktop, as the end of support for Win 11 Pro is not that far away, er, well, IF MS will ever get "12" fully launched...

I must confess that even though I bought (lucked into a good deal!) a Win 11 Pro laptop last year, and it has been fairly trouble free, I'm still not fully up to speed on Win 11 Pro. Several seemingly simple actions have been unnecessarily complicated in "11", which is one reason I bought a "stop gap" Win 10 Pro desktop to replace my outdated 10 Pro machine. (The latter still works, but my "stopgap" machine is much faster and rarely crashes.)

Since Win 12 is not hugely far off, and my budget is increasingly squeaky tight (THANKS, Brandon!) I don't want to spend a lot on a new desktop machine, but, just for security alone it'd be best for my primary desktop to be an "11", I think...

It looks like I should be able to get a Win 11 Pro desktop machine with a NVme SSD for drive "C:", and 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, for well under $200. But many that have the ports I want (lots, and much preferably to include at least one HDMI port) have those under 8th gen processors.

Are they big trouble in the making?

Thanks, All!

[z3n]

I could be wrong but I think windows11 also supports 32 bit processors, and the main problem with loading or upgrading to windows11 is typically not having enough memory. I think the minimum is 16gbs of ram.

[butlerweave]

Windows 11 can be installed on also all computers , down the ISO from Microsoft and burn it with Rufus one of the options is to remove the requirements and remove the requirement for a Microsoft account

[FreedomPoster]

This list

Here are the CPUs that officially can run Windows 11
https://www.pcworld.com/article/394793/what-cpus-can-run-windows-11.html

starts with 8th Gen as the minimal requirement. It’s an older article FWIW.

Might be a good time for me to get a cheap 7th gen for a Linux box.

[butlerweave]

One other thing you have to do a fresh install

[bigbob]

I bought a refurbished pc with Win 10 upgrade and it worked fine til an update broke the video driver. I was unable to find the correct driver because Dell said it was unsupported because they did not sell the configuration I had, and the refurb seller said “ alll sales are as-is” and it was past the warranty period. Just one example of what can happen.

[protoconservative]

I got to say if you want to use this, just load a 32 bit Ubuntu Desktop and you have a chrome based web browser and all the tools to do any sort of work with either of the openoffice clones. If you need something windows run it in a virtual box cut off from the internet.

You are getting to the point you would have better support with a raspberry pi than worring about the next patch tuesday nuking the system. Stop pushing trash forward.

[ansel12]

Buy a used gen 8 or newer and if you need more ports buy adapters and plug in ports.

[Gideon7]

Use Rufus. It copies the Windows .iso file to a USB stick, then it disables the blocks that prevent installation on older PCs.

https://rufus.ie/en/

I used it to install Windows 11 on a 4th generation Haswell CPU with no TPM chip Works fine.

[Paul R.]

Well... cost is cost, whether in the original machine or buying USB 3.0 hubs, DP to HDMI adaptors, etc. The problem is that if one cheaps out on the hubs and adaptors too much, they can give ya' trouble too.

(I would note that my present "main" desktop machine has TEN USB ports: 4 are 2.0, and 6 are 3.0, and I still have 3 hubs and a card reader-hub connected to it! Hahahaha! Yes, Paul R. is sometimes a really busy boy... But then again, not all the USB ports are particularly handy as I need to use right angle adaptors to keep them from getting clonked sometimes, and Dell did not consider the spacing and location of the 4 on the front to each other and also relative to the headphone jack very wisely.)

Having perused eBay pretty thoroughly last early a.m., the "right" combination of specs and price is likely to turn up sooner or later, but in the end, yeah, it looks like I'll be able to nab a machine with "enough" RAM (16 GB minimum), an 8th or 9 gen processor, HDMI out, a 250 GB or more NVme SSD, and all those USB ports needed. Although my more recent familiarity is with Dells, it MAY be back to HP again. I like the spread out front panel ports' configuration on the HP's. Then again, I...
WOW... just got a 15% off offer on a Dell. It doesn't have the HDMI output, but for that I can get a good quality adaptor.

I suspect a good strategy is to put all my prospectives in my cart and see what transpires with offers. ;-)

I wonder what planned obsolescence of present machines that are actually plenty fast, etc., will be built into Win 12? :-(

[ansel12]

I’m still using the 7 port powered USB hub that I bought in 2014, I like the ability to use the adapters and hubs for different computers.

The laptop I’m using right now I bought for $125.00 (included ship/tax) off of eBay, it is a Dell 7490 i7 gen8 with 16 ram, W11Pro, HDMI.

[Paul R.]

Heh, my laptop is a Dell 5490 gen8 and Win 11. Very similar: You have a bit better display and the 7490 is IIRC slightly lighter and thinner. The 5490 has a VGA output which was / is handy for some service work jobs I still do on occasion. (Haha - the last couple were non-profit, for my wife's classroom at the church school she teaches at.) You may have received a NVme drive in yours? Mine was SATA but I swapped in a NVme and use the SATA drive as the data drive. I also boosted the RAM to 16 GB (started with 8 GB IIRC.) Price was ~ $120 B4 the upgrades, so overall it looks like you got a little better deal. But that may have been timing -- at the time I was looking, the 7490's were higher (and I wanted that VGA output.) :-)

In any event, I don't risk sensitive info. on the laptop, not even encrypted, since it could get stolen, etc., in my "travels".

I do have one of those big bulky high power Dell WD15 / K17A 130 watt docking station / hubs that has all sorts of outputs but its so much to add to the laptop case that I bought one of the Acer 7-in-one hubs for the laptop case. :-) I guess I should see how the USB C to 4k (supposedly) HDMI conversion works on the Dell, as that might solve the HDMI output problem on some of these desktops I'm looking at!

[Paul R.]

The question is not so much the installation as whether Microsoft will support it in the future.

[Paul R.]

Was the video totally dead?

That’s what happened on my old Win 10 pro HP laptop. :-(

[ansel12]

I don’t actually use laptops as laptops, they are just PCs to me, I plug in a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and speakers, or I have them in rooms with quality speakers plugged in to use as a stereo while I’m working in that area.

[Paul R.]

That approach is just fine too. I used it particularly in my consulting jobs, setting up workstations both at home and at the customer’s offices if I needed to be there very much. Sometimes the laptop was mine, but very often the customer wanted to supply the laptop, have their IT team maintain it (particularly with regard to security), etc. Either way, the laptop(s) got shuttled back and forth a lot.

My laptops get used a lot in our kitchen too: Prepare food or eat while listening to music (over good external speakers, as you do), catch up on weather, news, FR, e-mail, etc. :-)

I also don’t particularly understand why desktops with limited ports are even much of a “thing” anymore. Few of those low-end users are going to be getting in there under the hood, such as to add an expansion board. If you are going to have the real estate available, fill it up with ports! The one exception might be in business or educational uses, where a SFF desktop or better yet a small tower or tower is a bit more conspicuous than a laptop, to carry out of the building...

[Paul R.]

Well, I have a couple so-so offers on eBay, and a couple better ones, so it’s looking like I can come up with an acceptable price and go at least 8th gen on the processor. Maybe even a NVme drive. :-)

I nabbed one of those Dell docking “hubs” with 4k HDMI output port, for just over $10 (with “free shipping and a power adaptor, so, that may take care of the HDMI output.