Replace Windows 11 by Windows 10

[UWEB]

Have bought a new Notebook with Windows 11 some weeks ago, what an awful bunch of r....sh. As I still have the old SSD with Windows 10 from my previous Notebook can I just change the Hard Drive and will have W10 on the new Notebook?

All personal Files are on a separate SSD Hard Drive, so I hope it can be done without any problem?

[degrub]

Maybe not. 
did the laptop come with “downgrade rights “ for win 11 to 10 ?
if so, there should be a document that tells you how to do it, probably on the manufacturer’s help pages for that model. 
 

Otherwise, contact the place you bought it from as a start.
 

 

[Roger That]

It's an all round bad idea.

 

Windows 11 isn't that different. I suspect after a few weeks you will get used to it.

[KannikaP]

21 minutes ago, UWEB said:

Have bought a new Notebook with Windows 11 some weeks ago, what an awful bunch of r....sh.

Would be interesting to know what you don't like in W11 as opposed to 10.

[tomazbodner]

Your notebook might have Windows 11 only drivers, so while majority should still work fine, you might get into trouble with some devices unsupported.

 

Replacing SSD would likely break warranty stickers and by that void warranty. As the old notebook had different processor, graphics, sound card, chipset, etc. you may be in for a rather large disappointment in terms of performance and stability. And since the hardware changes, you'll be forced to buy a new Windows 10 license unless you had bought it before as a box (not OEM or preinstalled on old laptop).

 

What's bothering you about Windows 11?

[userabcd]

Download from microsoft an installation of windows 10 to a USB and plug it into the usb port.

 

You can try get your windows 11 license key via cmd and write it down:

How to Find Your Windows 11 Product Key using CMD

Click Start icon, type cmd in the Search box, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

In the Command Prompt window, you can type the following command: wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey.

Press Enter to execute the command and it will show your Windows 11 product key.

 

During boot process access the bios and set USB to boot first, reboot the PC.

 

Windows 10 install will appear on the screen, click install windows 10 and follow the instructions.

 

When it asks to input license either input your license or if it is a digital license could leave blank and click next as the license will be already activated on MS servers and during installation it will auto activate.

 

At the point where it lists the existing disk partitions, format and delete all of them and then create a new partition.

 

Click install windows 10 and it will install.

 

It can always be updated to windows 11 later if you so want.

Edited November 6, 2022 by userabcd

[tomazbodner]

1 minute ago, userabcd said:

Download from microsoft an installation of windows 10 to a USB and plug it into the usb port.

...

It can always be updated to windows 11 later if you so want.

True but Windows 11 doesn't come with digital license for Windows 10 AFAIK so when Windows 10 is installed it'll ask for it to be activated, for which OP will have to buy Windows 10 license (although likely a cheap Lazada license would do).

[Lemsta69]

16 minutes ago, userabcd said:

Download from microsoft an installation of windows 10 to a USB and plug it into the usb port.

 

During boot process access the bios and set USB to boot first, reboot the PC.

 

Windows 10 install will appear on the screen, click install windows 10 and follow the instructions.

 

When it asks to input license, leave blank and click next as the license will be already activated on MS servers and during installation it will auto activate.

 

At the point where it lists the existing disk partitions, format and delete all of them and then create a new partition.

 

Click install windows 10 and it will install.

 

After install windows 10, you can open disk partition in windows 10 from start menu and then create new partitions (shrink C drive) to store files separate from the OS "C drive" partition.

 

It can always be updated to windows 11 later if you so want.

I thought we weren't supposed to partition SSDs because of the wear levelling thingy?

[userabcd]

11 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

True but Windows 11 doesn't come with digital license for Windows 10 AFAIK so when Windows 10 is installed it'll ask for it to be activated, for which OP will have to buy Windows 10 license (although likely a cheap Lazada license would do).

From MS web site

 

Methods of Windows activation

Depending on how you got your copy of Windows 11, you'll need either a digital license or a 25-character product key to activate it. Without one of these, you won't be able to activate your device.

A digital license (called a digital entitlement in Windows 11) is a method of activation in Windows 11 that doesn't require you to enter a product key.

A product key is a 25-character code used to activate Windows. What you'll see is PRODUCT KEY: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.

[userabcd]

2 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

I thought we weren't supposed to partition SSDs because of the wear levelling thingy?

Yes that could be, maybe take out that step if the OP does not want it.

[JaiMaai]

 

Perhaps try this first? 

 

[clearance]

First question, what CPU is in your laptop? If it is Intel 12 or 13 gen with P-cores and E-cores, it is a bad idea to switch back to Windows 10, because it can't switch processes between P and E cores when needed, so you will lose a chunk of performance and battery life.

 

If you have an AMD system (or Intel gen 11 or older) you can go to 
https://www.microsoft.com/th-th/software-download/windows10
Create a USB-stick with Windows 10 and install it from scratch.
Then you can go to eBay and get Windows 10 Pro key for $3-15 (those keys are in a grey area, they are legit and working, but using them for your system can be considered piracy, do not use them for OS if you want to use it for commercial purposes)

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by clearance
updated