I'm using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit for my Windows setups and I'm interested in upgrading my boyfriend's old Lenovo ThinkCentre from Windows 10 Pro to either Windows 10 or 11 LTSC without doing a fresh install. The machine doesn't officially support Windows 11, and I've got the user profile migration sorted out with USMT. However, I want to avoid having to reconfigure his creative software, especially with the Windows 10 end-of-life deadline approaching. If an upgrade to LTSC isn't feasible, I'd also be open to finding a workaround to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro while bypassing the hardware requirements. My main goal is to achieve an in-place upgrade. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
5 Answers
MDT's not dead yet! It still functions for Windows 11 deployments, for the time being.
Yeah, transitioning to LTSC usually requires a clean install since it involves different components compared to the regular versions. Most of my clients are deploying Windows 11 LTSC through Autopilot now.
If you want to upgrade without hacks or registry edits, check out this guide. It shows how to upgrade from Windows 10 to 11 on unsupported hardware officially. Super straightforward!
You can definitely try upgrading, but just know it won't be super simple. A popular method is using a modified ISO or the Media Creation Tool. You'll probably need to tweak the registry to skip the hardware checks. Just a heads up, upgrading from Windows 10/11 Pro to LTSC in-place isn't officially supported, so clean installs might be unavoidable. Good luck!
Just remember, LTSC licenses are mainly for commercial enterprise users. So, if you’re looking to get one, be careful. Some sellers might not deliver if Microsoft finds out.
That's good to hear! I was worried about using it for future upgrades.