Upgrading to Windows 11

Last week I replaced my aging NVMe Gen 3 drive with a Gen 4: a Samsung 990 Pro, doubling the speed and capacity of my old drive.

My old NVMe drive had Windows 10 installed on it. Initially, I wanted to stick with Windows 10; it’s a lightweight and stable operating system that has been extensively battle-tested over the past 10 years. Its main downside is that it’s now unsupported by Microsoft unless you get the Extended Security Updates.

I decided to migrate to Windows 11, despite it being less efficient than 10. I thought the advantages were worth it: I use Windows almost exclusively for gaming, and I wanted to get the latest DirectX updates and support for DirectStorage. It was released 4 years ago, and most of the early bugs and issues have been addressed and fixed.

I downloaded the Windows 11 ISO and created a bootable USB drive with Rufus. Rufus has excellent Windows 11 support and lets you customize the installation, such as bypassing the Microsoft Account requirement for a local account. I highly recommend you use Rufus to create the bootable media.

Then I proceeded with the installation; it was all done in less than 15 minutes with minimal input from me. Overall, it was a smoother and more pleasant installation experience than Windows 7 or 10. I didn’t have to activate the operating system since my hardware (tied to the motherboard) was already licensed and recognized by Microsoft.

With the operating system installed and running smoothly, I turned to debloating Windows 11 to optimize performance.

First, I ran Chris Titus’ ultimate Windows utility. There’s nothing to install. Run the following command in a terminal with administrator privileges:

irm christitus.com/win | iex

It has a tweak tab that allows you to disable the redundant and/or undesirable applications and services that may slow down your computer. It also lets you install applications via WinGet — the Windows package manager. This speeds up the configuration and probably saved me a couple of hours.

I installed the excellent Open-Shell, which restores the classic Start menu and brings back other Windows XP features removed in the infamous Windows Vista.

I was dreading the upgrade to Windows 11, but with a few tweaks, it feels just like home—light, responsive, and ready for gaming. I mostly boot Windows to play games like StarCraft II and Deep Rock Galactic. They load noticeably faster on the new drive, and the system feels light and responsive. I was dreading the upgrade to Windows 11, but with a few tweaks, it feels just like home.