My studio desktop, from about 8 years ago, uses an Intel Kaby Lake i7-7700 processor. I have 32 Gb of RAM and use 1 SSD and have 3 mechanical hard drives. Like many of you, the MS analyzer said I couldn't update to Win 11, even though I had the required TPM 2.0. It appears that my processor wasn't on the list of supported processors. I really hated to give up on this machine that I use for music and being somewhat of a geek I was determined to find one way or another of updating it to WIN 11.

Long story short and after many tricks, hacks and endless reverts back from a failed WIN11 install back to WIN 10, there is a way to do this. It involves a bit of registry hacks and seemingly may have to be done a few times to get it to work, but it can be done! Here is the procedure I followed: https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-upgrade-your-incompatible-windows-10-pc-to-windows-11-for-free/

I did this upgrade about two months ago and have been using this desktop for about 4-5 hours a day with no glitches and no problems. All installed programs have been confirmed to work fine, all upgrades to WIN 11 from MS are installing correctly, have been confirmed and are working fine. Bottom line...no issues that I can find.

One chink in the armor that I wasn't able to get around was MS Office Professional. I was using Office 2016 Professional which is approaching end of life in a month or so. Seems MS is moving to the subscription based Office 365. I'm not a subscription type of guy! There is a way around this too. Using what's called an LTSC license. This is a one time license that's available with an MS authorization code. These licenses are available on-line from many sellers and run about 20-25 dollars. You buy one of these licenses, download the software directly from MS and then enter in the software authorization code. The only downside to this approach is that you get the full authorized MS Office Professional suite with security updates for 5 years, but you don't get any new features that they may offer during those 5 years...and I don't need them. I have now done this approach on 4 different machines. No problems, all programs run correctly. All previous spreadsheets, Outlook emails, PowerPoint presentations, Access databases all work correctly. MS security updates are all downloading and are installing correctly.

Just thought I would pass alone these tips. Not saying this is the best approach to renew your older machines but it is a way that might work for you. Be careful and follow all instructions for which ever way you go very carefully.

Jeff

Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2026, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3