Windows 11 is now officially available to all users. Here you can get the ISO file and the installation tool.
Microsoft will start shipping Windows 11 on October 5, 2021. Both the ISO file and the installation wizard for Windows 11 and the media creation tool for Windows 11 are now available for download. With it, all the most advanced users can switch from Windows 10 to Windows 11 immediately and do not have to wait for Windows Update to offer it.
Windows 11 for free: Buy Win10 Pro for only 49.99 euros and upgrade to Windows 11 for free
Basically, Windows 11 is only available in 64-bit version. This means that only an upgrade from Windows 10 Pro or Home 64-bit to Windows 11 Pro or Home 64-bit is possible. The change is free. The product key used in Windows 10 will continue to be used in Windows 11. After the upgrade, you have 10 days to go back to Windows 10 directly with a click of the mouse. After that, it is no longer possible and you will have to reinstall Windows 10 if you want to go back. We strongly recommend that you
Back up all your important files before upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
If you are using Windows 10 Home then you can
here in the PC-WELT software shop
Buy a license key for Windows 10 Pro for as little as $50, activate it, and then switch directly to Windows 11 Pro.
Three ways to switch to Windows 11
Possibility number 1:
Microsoft recommends using the
Windows 11 Setup Wizard (download here)
. The 4.2-megabyte tool boots into Windows 10. It checks if the computer is compatible with Windows 11, and then guides the user through installing the new operating system. To do this, Windows 11 is first downloaded, with a download size of around 5.2 gigabytes.
Possibility 2:
With the
Media Creation Tool for Windows 11 (download here)
users receive a tool with which they can create a Windows 11 installation media on DVD or USB. To do this, first select the desired language version of Windows 11, and then decide whether you want to use a USB stick (at least 8 gigabytes of storage space is required) or download the ISO file to burn to a DVD later. The tool takes care of the rest.
Possibility 3:
Finally, Microsoft also offers the Windows 11 ISO file directly for download. On this page from Microsoft on “Download a Windows 11 disk image”. Users can then burn the ISO file to a DVD themselves or use it to install Windows 11 in a virtual machine.
Enlarge
Windows update signs in Windows 10: Windows 11 may be installed soon
Windows 11 via Windows Update: delivery also starts here
As a fourth way, Windows 11 is also delivered to users through Windows Update. But this will happen over a longer period of time. Computers that are compatible with Windows 11 currently have a corresponding message on Windows Update indicating that the PC is ready for Windows 11. Windows Update will offer to install Windows 11 in the coming days, weeks, and months. If you’re in a hurry to switch to Windows 11, you can use the Windows 11 setup wizard or the Windows 11 ISO file.
Install Windows 11 on a separate hard drive or partition
The old and new operating systems can be completely separated if you use Windows 11
on a separate hard drive
install. This is not a problem on an internal hard drive by booting the PC from previously created installation media (DVD or USB stick) and following the setup wizard: “Install Now –› I don’t have a product key”, the boot choice or pro version, “Custom: Install Windows only…” and select the second hard drive as the destination.
The rest runs automatically, at the end you link the PC to a Microsoft account. You choose from which data medium, and thus with which Windows the PC starts, each time you start it with the boot selection button.
Windows setup is a bit more complicated.
on an external USB hard drive
because to do this you must first install Windows 11 on another platform and clone the content from there to the external drive, for example with Macrium Reflect via the “Clone this drive” function.
Side-by-side installation works similar to two physically separate hard drives
two partitions of the same disk
.
To do this, first shrink a partition by around 50GB using Windows Disk Management or Macrium Reflect, create a new partition on this free space and name it “Windows 11” for clear mapping. Install the new OS on it as described by booting from the DVD or USB stick.
With parallel installation on the same data carrier, the boot manager requests the desired operating system every time the PC is started. Since both are initially labeled “Windows 10”, the mapping is unclear. You can fix this with Easy BCD by correcting the first (new) entry via “Rename” in “Windows 11” and confirming by clicking “Save Settings”.
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