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How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 - for free today


Microsoft really doesn't want customers to upgrade older PCs, but there are workarounds for many models. Here's everything you need to know before support ends in less than three weeks.

Over the past few years, Microsoft has played a cat-and-mouse game with enthusiasts, adding occasional speed bumps that make it more difficult to bypass these compatibility checks. Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNETCheck for errors before proceeding -- Windows is frustratingly literal about the contents of the registry, and if you misspell the key or value name, or if you create the required value in the wrong location, your upgrade will fail. It is technically possible to do this manually by replacing the Appraiserres.dll file (in the Sources subfolder on the Windows 11 installer drive) with a zero-byte version and then making a series of registry edits.

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