Windows 11 Upgrade Issues

My "Trump" PC server is getting long in the tooth. It won't run Windows 11 so I set out to replace it sometime down the road.

I clearly wanted the new PC to run Windows 11 so I carefully selected a tower system that supported that. In a future post, I'll detail what all I've done.

But when I began to run through Windows Update on the new system, it consistently told me that it wasn't capable of running Windows 11. I ran "msinfo" (archive.org) and it showed that all the requirements were met. Then I ran "PC Health Check" (archive.org) and it too said that Windows 11 was supported.

So I Googled "windows update says no windows 11 but pc health check says yes" and BINGO!

I'll cover the solution later but first look at that page (archive.org). It was created 16 months ago. 421 users had said "I have the same question" AND Microsoft has locked that topic to stop new posts.

tl;dr - Ignore Windows Update. Use the Installation Assistant (archive.org) to download Windows 11.

You would think that Microsoft would fix that in a year.

But my story doesn't end there.

I ran the Installation Assistant and it churned away. Then I got this screen.

Back to Google "We couldn't update the system reserved partition." and BINGO!

I'll cover the solution later but first look at that page (archive.org). It was created almost 2 years ago. 299 users had said "I have the same question" AND Microsoft has locked that topic to stop new posts.

And worse, the problem isn't new. That page links to a Windows 10 installation page (archive.org).

Unfortunately, there is not a tl;dr solution.

Microsoft warns:

Caution: these steps are complicated, and carry some risk. This is best done by advanced users with experience using the command line. If you make an error in entering these commands, you could put your device in a no-boot situation, and possibly lose data you have stored on the device.

Here's the solution:

1. Search for cmd. Press-and-hold or right-click on Command Prompt in the results, and select Run as administrator.
2. At the command prompt, type mountvol y: /s and then hit Enter. This will add the Y: drive letter to access the System Partition.
3. Switch to the Y drive by typing Y: and press Enter. Then, navigate to the Fonts folder by typing cd EFI\Microsoft\Boot\Fonts. Once there, type del *.* to delete font files. The system may ask you if you are sure to continue, press Y and then Enter to continue.

The solution worked and Windows 11 installed with no more problems.

C'mon Microsoft. You can make this simpler than this.