Windows 11 upgrade - not clean install advice

[poisonheart]

Hi guys

Yes, I know...a clean install is 100% preferred, but right now time isn't on my side.

My pc is used for mainly studio use (reaper, many many plugins etc) and the odd game as well as general day to day use.

My studio setup is so complex that I can't face a clean install right now, but I'm aware time is now against me.

We finished our last recording, so I can now look at the upgrade.

My question: Will it really keep all my apps and setting? Will Reaper and all it's vsts work after the upgrade?

I will do a clean install at some point (maybe next year), but for now...is it viable?

Also, what will the biggest changes be to me after upgrade? Any immediate downfalls?

thanks in advance

 

[ED209]

Hi guys

Yes, I know...a clean install is 100% preferred, but right now time isn't on my side.

My pc is used for mainly studio use (reaper, many many plugins etc) and the odd game as well as general day to day use.

My studio setup is so complex that I can't face a clean install right now, but I'm aware time is now against me.

We finished our last recording, so I can now look at the upgrade.

My question: Will it really keep all my apps and setting? Will Reaper and all it's vsts work after the upgrade?

I will do a clean install at some point (maybe next year), but for now...is it viable?

Also, what will the biggest changes be to me after upgrade? Any immediate downfalls?

thanks in advance

Before doing anything do a back\image of the current state so if anything goes wrong you have something to fall back on.

we are not going to know until the upgrade is done if everything is still going to work, sometimes it goes well and sometimes there maybe a few issues.

The UI is a bit different to Windows 10 so there maybe a little learning curve.

What's your PC spec? Does it meet the requirements for Windows 11?

From what I remember you get 10 days from point of upgrade to roll back and after this the files are removed and a rollback is not possible.

Once upgraded to Windows 11 make sure its activated before doing a clean install.

Before doing the upgrade I would make sure that the software you use\rely on is Windows 11 compatible as when Windows 11 first came out it would uninstall any unsupported software during the upgrade process (unsure if that is still the case now Windows 11 has been around awhile)

 

[poisonheart]

Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700K 3.60 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
Storage 5.46 TB HDD ST6000DX000-1H217Z, 932 GB SSD Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB, 932 GB SSD Samsung SSD 870 EVO 1TB, 2.73 TB HDD WDC WD3003FZEX-00Z4SA0
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB)

 

[Tetras]

My question: Will it really keep all my apps and setting?

Apps: yes, but you can't guarantee anything 100%.

Settings: for the most part, but installing an OS is a big deal and a lot of changes happen "under the hood".

Will Reaper and all it's vsts work after the upgrade?

I'd recommend you check on the forums for this (if it has one). The impact on specialist software is not something randoms like us can know. Upgrading to a new OS can introduce all kinds of unexpected glitches.

Also, what will the biggest changes be to me after upgrade? Any immediate downfalls?

In an ideal world, nothing, but I'd expect some niggles/annoyances.

I will do a clean install at some point (maybe next year), but for now...is it viable?

Personally, in your situation I would recommend that you don't upgrade, because the benefits seem far less worthwhile than the risks.