Home laptop doesn't meet Windows 11 requirements

[midibiker]

Microsoft introduced new requirements for Windows 11 that most devices were unable to meet.
This was probably due to TPM requirements that were necessary for storing Encryption Keys.

I think there was a patch or a workaround that was released to get around it.

Try installing it, or look for a new laptop that is compatible with Windows 11.

It sounds like your laptop is old, and could do with replacing. I think you have done quite well out of it for 8 years.

 

[templehead]

Or you can go niche and install your own Linux OS - good luck teaching granny to use that one!

That's a bit of a 1990s POV... Ubuntu and Mint are as intuitive and easy to use (and install) as Windows. Sure Linux isn't for everyone but if it was me I'd be investigating all avenues before replacing a perfectly good 8YO laptop.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It sounds like your laptop is old, and could do with replacing. I think you have done quite well out of it for 8 years.

No need to replace after 8 years. Doesn’t age like a bike frame at the bottom of a canal.

 

[templehead]

No need to replace after 8 years. Doesn’t age like a bike frame at the bottom of a canal.

This. My 'new' machine is a 2013 27" iMac; these are cheap because Apple have stopped issuing security updates for them, but they're decently specced machines even now, and run Linux Mint like a champ. I expect to get at least five years out of this one.

 

[vickster]

Completely forgotten I had already checked for Win 11 on 10 year old laptop and have just done again and got the same result which is reassuring I am not techy enough to try some of the alleged workarounds online (I might ask a local PC guy though).

So I am in the market for a new one (hopefully last another ~10 years so decent enough for future proofing)
- Must be Windows (if just going to poo-poo MS, don't waste you time posting about it )
- Must be able to run full MS 365 suite (PPT, Excel, Word, Teams, Outlook) so this rules out Chromebook (be good to be able to get a bundle deal with the software)
- Don't need massive speed but enough for streaming TV
- Light and slim, 13/14" screen (prefer not touchscreen)
- Open to refurbs as long as have a 1+ year warranty
- HP good as works seamlessly with my equally old but functioning HP printer
- £500 max ideally (which rules out Macbooks, and I don't want one anyhow despite having other Apple kit)

The battery on mine is toast anyhow, only works plugged in

No great urgency so can wat for Black Friday/Cyber Monday if worthwhile

Any of these good?
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/nav...band/13-to-14/brd/hewlett-packard?sortOrder=2

Thanks in advance

 

[wafter]

FWIW I'd be looking at used ex-business machines as these are typically far better built, easier to upgrade / repair, nicer to use and longer-lived than new consumer grade units at similar prices.

Also I'd steer clear of HP - they used to be good but not any more; I reckon pretty much everyone in the trade hates them now. FWIW I'd be looking at Dell and Lenovo...

 

[vickster]

FWIW I'd be looking at used ex-business machines as these are typically far better built, easier to upgrade / repair, nicer to use and longer-lived than new consumer grade units at similar prices.

Also I'd steer clear of HP - they used to be good but not any more; I reckon pretty much everyone in the trade hates them now. FWIW I'd be looking at Dell and Lenovo...

Thanks

What about this? Do I need really 32GB of RAM if small stuff or in Cloud?
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ref...ch-windows-t1-7420i716gb256gbw10p/version.asp

Or actually I can get this for £325 with a voucher on eBay? With the 32gb
https://ebay.us/m/ccZt8o

 

[Dadam]

FWIW I'd be looking at used ex-business machines as these are typically far better built, easier to upgrade / repair, nicer to use and longer-lived than new consumer grade units at similar prices.

Also I'd steer clear of HP - they used to be good but not any more; I reckon pretty much everyone in the trade hates them now. FWIW I'd be looking at Dell and Lenovo...

Agree with this. Dell are good these days and well supported. Lenovo aren't quite as good as the glory days when Thinkpads were THE corporate laptop gold standard, but still decent.

- £500 max ideally (which rules out Macbooks, and I don't want one anyhow despite having other Apple kit)

Oh ok then. Hands up, I'm a Macbook fan. Before I go what I will say is they are just better in most respects and despite Apple's rep for pushing folks to upgrade, generally have a longer usable life before obsolescence than the typical Windows machine. It is also nice having everything just automatically available, shared and synced across all your apple devices. But I'll shut up about it now, promise.

I do also use Windows machines daily and had many laptops through work over the years; just got a new work one a few weeks back (top of the range Dell XPS as it happens).

Thanks

What about this? Do I need really 32GB of RAM if small stuff or in Cloud?
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ref...ch-windows-t1-7420i716gb256gbw10p/version.asp

You absolutely do not need 32Gb RAM for normal use. Gaming, image processing, semi pro video creation yes, but not needed for home use. You'd even get by with 8 to be honest, but 16 would be the sweet spot.

That Latitude looks pretty good overall. It's a bit low on storage (256Gb SSD). If possible I'd upgrade that before the RAM every time, but if you store stuff in the cloud that's less of an issue and you can always plug in external storage. The deal breaker for me would be the screen. 1377x768 (so called "HD ready") is quite low these days. I'd be wanting FHD 1920x1080 minimum on a 14" screen. I'd want to see the screen in real life before making a decision though. Quality beats resolution in the end.

 

[vickster]

Agree with this. Dell are good these days and well supported. Lenovo aren't quite as good as the glory days when Thinkpads were THE corporate laptop gold standard, but still decent.


Oh ok then. Hands up, I'm a Macbook fan. Before I go what I will say is they are just better in most respects and despite Apple's rep for pushing folks to upgrade, generally have a longer usable life before obsolescence than the typical Windows machine. It is also nice having everything just automatically available, shared and synced across all your apple devices. But I'll shut up about it now, promise.

I do also use Windows machines daily and had many laptops through work over the years; just got a new work one a few weeks back (top of the range Dell XPS as it happens).



You absolutely do not need 32Gb RAM for normal use. Gaming, image processing, semi pro video creation yes, but not needed for home use. You'd even get by with 8 to be honest, but 16 would be the sweet spot.

That Latitude looks pretty good overall. It's a bit low on storage (256Gb SSD). If possible I'd upgrade that before the RAM every time, but if you store stuff in the cloud that's less of an issue and you can always plug in external storage. The deal breaker for me would be the screen. 1377x768 (so called "HD ready") is quite low these days. I'd be wanting FHD 1920x1080 minimum on a 14" screen. I'd want to see the screen in real life before making a decision though. Quality beats resolution in the end.

Ah yes, I'd like a decent screen

The spec of the ebay one Dell Latitude 7420 Core i7-1185G7 3.00GHz 32GB Ram 512GB SSD Wndows 11 Laptop and says Screen Size: 14-inch FHD widescreen. 1920 x 1080

Buying laptops is a bloody minefield!

 

[Dadam]

Ah yes, I'd like a decent screen

The spec of the ebay one Dell Latitude 7420 Core i7-1185G7 3.00GHz 32GB Ram 512GB SSD Wndows 11 Laptop and says Screen Size: 14-inch FHD widescreen. 1920 x 1080

Buying laptops is a bloody minefield!

Ebay one looks a lot of spec for the money, but you're in the "pig in a poke" territory of what they deem refurbished. Laptops Direct at least have a couple of long established bricks and mortar locations. Refurbished can mean everything from someone opened the box, didn't like the colour, and sent it back, to battered ex corporate units that have been data wiped and maybe a external clean with a damp cloth!

However I'm not sure I'm liking the "professionally repainted (if required)" and "keyboard reprinted (if required)". I've never seen a repainted laptop and it rings alarm bells. Most laptop cases are either metal with a plain or anodised finish, or coloured plastic. Repainted conjures up visions of spraying it with a rattle can! 🤯

 

[vickster]

Ebay one looks a lot of spec for the money, but you're in the "pig in a poke" territory of what they deem refurbished. Laptops Direct at least have a couple of long established bricks and mortar locations. Refurbished can mean everything from someone opened the box, didn't like the colour, and sent it back, to battered ex corporate units that have been data wiped and maybe a external clean with a damp cloth!

However I'm not sure I'm liking the "professionally repainted (if required)" and "keyboard reprinted (if required)". I've never seen a repainted laptop and it rings alarm bells. Most laptop cases are either metal with a plain or anodised finish, or coloured plastic. Repainted conjures up visions of spraying it with a rattle can! 🤯

Yeah, I did check their info.. 99.7% feedback on 244k items over at least 10 years

About us​

Founded in November 2007, here at Newandusedlaptops4u, we have retailed Core Branded, Robust & Quality Laptops for more than 15 years on eBay with a positive feedback rating from more than 70,000 happy customers.

Newandusedlaptops4u are proud to be an eBay Top-Rated Seller and offer excellent customer service both before and after sale with our in-house technical team and dedicated Office Staff reading and responding to queries 7 days a week.

As one of only 3 'Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher' companies in the UK, we offer all of our products Professionally Refurbished and licensed with Legitimate Software & License giving our customers that peace of mind.

The difference between our refurbished laptops & those of other suppliers is that although both have been Pre-Owned as such, we put our items through an extensive reconditioning process that includes testing all peripherals & upgrading items such as Hard Drive & Memory, a thorough Hard Drive wipe, Software Installation

I've messaged about the battery. Bear in mind, I probably won't even use this laptop more than once a week if that!

 

[wafter]

Thanks

What about this? Do I need really 32GB of RAM if small stuff or in Cloud?
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ref...ch-windows-t1-7420i716gb256gbw10p/version.asp

Or actually I can get this for £325 with a voucher on eBay? With the 32gb
https://ebay.us/m/ccZt8o

No worries!

Seems @Dadum has given you some decent advice with which I'd largely concur. To add a bit more:


On the subject of RAM, FWIW most of our clients are on 8Gb while the more demanding corporate clients have 16Gb as standard and the really demanding individuals get 32Gb.

Bear in mind that typically RAM is fitted in discrete units that are usually straightforward to replace (i.e. pull out an 8Gb module and replace it with a16Gb unit as necessary). However, many manufacturers are now switching to fixed / soldered on / non-upgradeable RAM on their smallest machines (Dell typically do this on 13.3" laptops, as far as I know 14" units are still running replaceable RAM).

So, if the machine can be upgraded the amount of RAM present isn't that important and can be added according to future need; if it's soldered on however buy a machine with as much as you can get since you won't be able to add more at a later date.

Note also that the RAM is transient / working memory (used temporarily when processes are going on) and is different to the hard drive which is permanent storage space for files etc. 256Gb hard drives are common and perfectly acceptable, however 512Gb is becoming the new standard. These are all fairly cheap and physically easy to replace in future, however transferring the data from one to the other can be less trivial.

I'd echo Dadum's thoughts on the above machines - they both look like decent machines intrinsically, but bear in mind that the flipside of business machines being more favourable is of course that they might have had a hard life and many commercial sellers will only show generic images in listings - preventing you from gauging cosmetic condition which is a good illustration of past usage.

Remaining battery capacity is also a good indicator of this (and is worth asking about anyway) - newer machines will give an indication of their battery condition in Windows / the BIOS, although this is somewhat vague / qualitative and optimistic in its assessment. Much better is a small bit of free software call Batterymon, which shows both the cell's original and current capacities - and with that a much better idea of actual health. Of course many sellers might not want to spend the time getting this info / might actively try to avoid giving accurate data on battery health.

Asa a bit of an aside batteries are usually relatively easy to replace; OEM originals are expensive but aftermarket units are generally OK and a lot cheaper. Also if you use the machine plugged in a lot most brands have propriatory software that allows you to control charging behavour to prolong absolute battery service life - such as capping charge to 80% as charging to 100% accelerates degradation...

 

[markemark]

Don’t do the workaround. It’s entirely possible (likely) that MS will prevent updates.

You can pay to continue with updates. It’s not massively clear how long that is for and some say 1 year and some say 3. But if your pc is working fine it might be worth paying to continue using it and extend its life.

 

[Alex321]

Ah yes, I'd like a decent screen

The spec of the ebay one Dell Latitude 7420 Core i7-1185G7 3.00GHz 32GB Ram 512GB SSD Wndows 11 Laptop and says Screen Size: 14-inch FHD widescreen. 1920 x 1080

Buying laptops is a bloody minefield!

That is a very good buy, and I would go for that for what you want. While the 32Gb of RAM isn't really necessary, the better resolution screen and the 512Gb SSD will make a difference.

 

[vickster]

That is a very good buy, and I would go for that for what you want. While the 32Gb of RAM isn't really necessary, the better resolution screen and the 512Gb SSD will make a difference.

They've replied and said it'll have a minimum of 80% battery health too