Upgrade to Windows 11 for new Lightroom update?

[andyptak]

I'm running an older version of Windows 10 and no matter what, every attempt at updating fails. My IT guy spent hours fiddling with it and got nowhere too. I want to update to take advantage of the new features in Lightroom - my version of Windows is not compatible. My thought now is should I try to upgrade to Windows 11 and if I do and am successful, what will that do to all of my programs? I have an awful lot of PS Plug Ins etc., as well as custom brushes and overlays that I have bought and would hate to lose. (Not even sure where I got them all). Should upgrading affect anything like these? Thanks.

[simon.garrett@iee.org]

I'm running an older version of Windows 10 and no matter what, every attempt at updating fails. My IT guy spent hours fiddling with it and got nowhere too. I want to update to take advantage of the new features in Lightroom - my version of Windows is not compatible. My thought now is should I try to upgrade to Windows 11 and if I do and am successful, what will that do to all of my programs? I have an awful lot of PS Plug Ins etc., as well as custom brushes and overlays that I have bought and would hate to lose. (Not even sure where I got them all). Should upgrading affect anything like these? Thanks.

Do you mean you can't update an old build of W10 to the latest build of W10?  Not sure why you can't, but if it won't update to the latest W10 then you might find it won't upgrade to W11 either.

I'm running the latest W10 build (22H2) and it runs the latest LR and PS without problem. 

[andyptak]

My Windows 10 is older than yours. My IT guy said that an update to Windows 11 might fail too and if so he would have to do a complete wipe of the drive. Perish the thought.

[MattBurt]

If you are a Lightroom license holder can you ask Adobe Support about the failure to update?
Win11 might fix it but it also might not. As long as you have a good backup of the entire system it would be safe to try knowing you will need to restore from backup if it fails.
I'm running Win11 on my editing PC and it seems good to me. Everything runs pretty smoothly like it did on Win10.

[Rhossydd]

My Windows 10 is older than yours. My IT guy said that an update to Windows 11 might fail too and if so he would have to do a complete wipe of the drive. Perish the thought.

Firstly you need to find out why the W10 update fails. If it's a hardware issue you are stuck, if it's a software issue there are options.
A lot will depend on your IT skill set.
If you're confident; I'd suggest pulling the old system drive and putting in a new HDD and doing a clean install of W11 onto that. Then hooking up the old drive as an external and copying data, plug-ins etc across into the correct places. Preferably using the original installers. Any problems and you can just replace the old HDD and be back where you were*.

A clean install is always a good idea for a new OS anyway.

*If installing the new drive involves any bios changes make sure you keep a record to allow you to replicate the working system.
 

[andyptak]

My computer guy has no idea. The MS error code pointed to an unamed conflict so he deleted or updated everything he could - drivers etc - as well as other things. I'm not a computer guy so I can't be specific but I've known and trusted this guy for over 25 years so when he's tried everything he can think of and is still stumped I take him at his word.

While a clean install sounds like a good idea I'm concerned about replicating everything I have in my current PS install. Making a list and reinstalling Topaz, Luminar, DXO , NIK etc., is straightforward, but I have "assets" that I have assembled over time like custom brushes, overlays, library files (replacement skies etc) that I'm not sure where they are kept and how I would add them back again - I don't know what the original instructions were. I can't see how I would get back to where I was after a new and clean install.

I have an Asus PA 90, a relatively new, top of the line machine and I find it hard to beleive that there should be a conflict in such a product. I didn't assemble this thing myself and there are no "off brand" parts etc. If I'm having a problem then so should everyone else who bought this machine. It's from their Pro Art line, designed and built for creators so my software installs should be be common stuff and the hardware components should be compatible with Adobe products - that's what they're built for Frustrating.

[MattBurt]

Although potentially painful I also think the clean install is the way to go at this point. If you buy a new drive to do that you can always put your old drive back in if you have to punt. Win11 runs pretty well on a lot of hardware so if the PC is not ancient it seems likely to work.
I am a computer guy although my specialty these days is software. I deal with my own hardware and OS issues and was a corporate IT guy in the past.
Or just stay where you're at now but at some point you'll have to deal with it.

[mcbroomf]

As long as you do a clean install on a new drive you can also keep the other drive so that you can search (and hopefully find) and errant presets, plugins etc that you find missing down the road.  If you installed them in the appropriate folder they should be easy to find, but if not (usual for me!) you can search the whole drive for the file name.

[andyptak]

As painful as it is, it looks like a new install of Win 11 on a new drive is the better way. However, that may not fix the problem . Only one way to find out though. Damn.

[mcbroomf]

Make sure your IT guy installs Lightroom (and maybe PS) before any other programs. 

I hesitated to say this because it was such a long time ago, many iterations of Windows and PS past (it was even before LR was released), but I built a computer and either could not update PS or could not install it (don't recall which).  Adobe no help, did not reach out to MS.  Wiped the drive and installed PS 1st after the OS and all was good.  It's been a while but your IT guy could also boot to safe mode (though I don't know if you can install software in safe mode).

[Rhossydd]

it looks like a new install of Win 11 on a new drive is the better way. However, that may not fix the problem .

What problem could be left ? If you've a clean working W11 install you're away with whatever you want to install.

You should be able to copy settings, brushes and PS specific presets etc fairly easily.

Regard it as a learning experience. It can also be an opportunity to improve your installation by making it more robust and easier to back up.

[Rhossydd]

I hesitated to say this because it was such a long time ago, many iterations of Windows and PS past (it was even before LR was released), but I built a computer and either could not update PS or could not install it (don't recall which).

Never read of anyone else having that issue. 15yrs ago things like this happened, but the compatibility of PC systems has improved immensely over the years.

[andyptak]

That's what I thought too. Whatever happened to "plug and play"?

[jrsforums]

That's what I thought too. Whatever happened to "plug and play"?

‘Plug ‘n play’ works very good for most hardware drivers.  Often, however, manufacturers stop supporting older hardware, which I just experienced with the Dymo 400 Labelwriter on win11.

If, as can happen, the drivers get ‘mucked up’, there is often not much that can be done but to do a clean install….and if you are gonna do that, I think Win11 seems mature enough to go to vs. A redo of Win10.  I would check the support sites of the Sw/Hw you use to check if the support Win11.  I’d expect only those that are not actively still being offered may have problems.

BTW….have you run DISM & SFC to do an integrity check of your old system?

[andyptak]

I don't know what that is John, but I'll ask my tech guy. Thanks.

[jrsforums]

I don't know what that is John, but I'll ask my tech guy. Thanks.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-system-file-checker-in-windows-365e0031-36b1-6031-f804-8fd86e0ef4ca

[andyptak]

I finally upgraded to Widows 11 - without losing anything! Now the next problem, the machine is really slow. Almost every action is crawling at a snail's pace, in PS and LR. LR is the worst I think. Even changing the color flag on a shot in LR takes many, many seconds. This is ridiculous. Any ideas folks?

[David Eckels]

Same thing happened to me. Make sure your power settings are maximized and that LR/PS have High or Real Time priority. And make sure you have the latest drivers from the original mfrs; Windows sometimes settles for old drivers from Win 10.

[andyptak]

Thanks David. On a hunch I rebooted - voila! Something must have been hung up. Thank goodness it wasn't a known bug or something more permanent.

[David Eckels]

Great. Keep my suggestions in mind if anything develops in the next week or two.