Question Is going back to Windows 10 a good idea?

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LeeRex

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May 19, 2015
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My Alienware r7 was not designed to handle Win 11, yet I found a way to install it anyway about a year ago. All seemed well at the time, but lately I've realized that there are several useful things that are no longer available to me. All of the native Win10 tools are no longer functioning, likely due to the fact that the R7 is a Win 10 computer but sees that Win 11 is installed. If computers had emotions I would say that the R7 is confused! So I'm wondering about the pros and cons of reverting to Win 10! Will I have to reinstall all of the software or even format the disk and start over. I just don't want to go for it and find out I've created a monster.
 
What are the specs of this system?

Given this long timespan, there is no "just go back".
You'd need to do a full reinstall. The OS, and all of your applications.

What was it in Win 10 that you no longer have in Win 11?
 
USAFRet said:
What are the specs of this system?

Given this long timespan, there is no "just go back".
You'd need to do a full reinstall. The OS, and all of your applications.

What was it in Win 10 that you no longer have in Win 11?
Click to expand...
The specs are the ones that came with the R7 circa 2019.
The Alienware Aurora R7 is a gaming desktop computer that has the following specs12:
  • Z370 chipset motherboard that supports 8th gen Intel Core processor
  • Up to 64GB of DIMM DDR4-2666/2933 memory
  • Dedicated graphics card with HDMI or DisplayPort output
  • Windows 10 Home operating system
  • Intel Core i7 8700 CPU
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GPU
  • 18.6 x 14.9 x 8.35 in. dimensions
But my original question was about the pros and cons of returning to Win10. The specs, I think, have no bearing on my issue. And yet, I have supplied them.

Because of my unauthorized installation of Win 11, I now have no access to Alienware support (Support assist, updates etc.), cannot create restore points, no graphics card updates, and many drivers and other software will not install, and so forth.
 
LeeRex said:
The specs are the ones that came with the R7 circa 2019.
The Alienware Aurora R7 is a gaming desktop computer that has the following specs12:
  • Z370 chipset motherboard that supports 8th gen Intel Core processor
  • Up to 64GB of DIMM DDR4-2666/2933 memory
  • Dedicated graphics card with HDMI or DisplayPort output
  • Windows 10 Home operating system
  • Intel Core i7 8700 CPU
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GPU
  • 18.6 x 14.9 x 8.35 in. dimensions
But my original question was about the pros and cons of returning to Win10. The specs, I think, have no bearing on my issue. And yet, I have supplied them.

Because of my unauthorized installation of Win 11, I now have no access to Alienware support (Support assist, updates etc.), cannot create restore points, no graphics card updates, and many drivers and other software will not install, and so forth.
Click to expand...
That system is natively Win 11 capable.

No sneaky workarounds needed.
 
Can you be a bit more specific about what isn’t working on your PC Under Win11? Perhaps a screenshot of Device Manager. And it’s not ‘unauthorised’ if Microsoft Update Tool / PC Health Checker deemed your system OK for update, as the licence carries over.

Only thing I can think of is Dell using proprietary drivers for their motherboard devices. But nothing about Z370 and 8700 is incompatible with Win11. And a lot of Win10 device drivers work fine with Win11.

The Dell crapware and telemetry support tool not working is a good thing. You don’t need it. You can do GPU driver updates and restore points manually, like everyone else - it’s actually better to do it this way as OEMs drag their feet with versioning. It’s just a case of adjusting your mindset from vendor support to user support.
 
Last edited:
NedSmelly said:
Can you be a bit more specific about what isn’t working on your PC Under Win11? Perhaps a screenshot of Device Manager. And it’s not ‘unauthorised’ if Microsoft Update Tool / PC Health Checker deemed your system OK for update, as the licence carries over.

Only thing I can think of is Dell using proprietary drivers for their motherboard devices. But nothing about Z370 and 8700 is incompatible with Win11. And a lot of Win10 device drivers work fine with Win11.

The Dell crapware and telemetry support tool not working is a good thing. You don’t need it. You can do GPU driver updates and restore points manually, like everyone else - it’s actually better to do it this way as OEMs drag their feet with versioning. It’s just a case of adjusting your mindset from vendor support to user support.
Click to expand...
I didn't install Win 11 with the MS Update Tool. The R7 lacks TPM support so I had to do a work around by changing a few things in the registry. In other words, I forced it to work! Wait...there's a knock at the door. I think it's the monster I created.
Sincerely, Dr. Frankenstein
 
LeeRex said:
The R7 lacks TPM support so I had to do a work around by changing a few things in the registry.
Click to expand...
fTPM.
AKA, firmware in the CPU. It might just have needed to be enabled.

In any case, your system is almost certainly Win 11 capable.

But, going back to Win 10 will be a full wipe and reinstall.
There is no clicky clicky "go back".


And we still don't know what applications you need that are not Win 11 compliant.
 
LeeRex said:
I didn't install Win 11 with the MS Update Tool. The R7 lacks TPM support so I had to do a work around by changing a few things in the registry. In other words, I forced it to work! Wait...there's a knock at the door. I think it's the monster I created.
Sincerely, Dr. Frankenstein
Click to expand...
In that case I see your options thusly:
  1. Wipe system clean, reinstall Windows 10 and Dell crapware, be in bliss until 14 Oct 2025
  2. Continue hacking your current hacky Win11 setup
  3. Fit a TPM module and try a non-hacky Win11 install
  4. Buy a new computer after 14 Oct 2025 (what Dell wants you to do)
  5. Install Linux!
 
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