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Rolling back from Windows 11 to Windows 10

Get Back!

Article from ADMIN 71/2022

By Thomas Joos

If you want to try Windows 11 but keep your options open, we show you how to install Windows 11, restore it to its factory default state if it's misbehaving, or roll back to Windows 10 – as long as you act within 10 days after updating.

Many users are updating to Windows 11, the version that was never supposed to exist. But what can you do if the update fails and you want to go back to Windows 10 (without losing any data, of course)? In this article, I show you how to get back to Windows 10. This approach is available for 10 days after updating to Windows 11, and major problems are not likely to occur. But the Windows 11 uninstall features do expire over time.

Installing Windows 11 Update

Microsoft provides the free update to Windows 11 as a feature update through Windows Update. The installation can take place directly in Windows 10 or from installation files. Both variants have the same options for uninstalling or repairing the operating system afterward.

In all cases, you need to make sure the hardware you are using is supported before upgrading to Windows 11. An open source tool named WhyNotWin11 [1] tests whether a computer's hardware is suitable for the upgrade. For example, a trusted platform module (TPM) is installed on many computers but not enabled in the UEFI/BIOS. If a TPM is not installed on the PC, you can find out whether a TPM chip can be retrofitted by checking the motherboard.

With a little research, you will find numerous tips online that let you manipulate the Windows 10 registry so that Windows 11 can be installed. If you don't have a TPM on the PC or you do not want to use Secure Boot, the preferred approach is to install from a Windows 11 image that already has verification disabled. The easiest way to do this is with the free Rufus [2] tool.

After booting, simply specify the Windows 11 ISO file in Boot selection . Microsoft provides ISO files free of charge [3]. After loading the ISO file, you will see the Extended

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