Extending the life of an older computer

I personally used Windows less when I got a Mac, I was so used to the experience that I really never maintained a Windows computer that was running non-stop outside of the occasional new software or problem that needed fixing. This left an unsupported computer running a very old version of Windows 11. After the end of life for Windows 10, I realized how big an issue it was. After successfully getting ESU for a different Windows 10 laptop, I thought the process wouldn’t be that hard.

At first, I tried manually installing the setup.exe files, as suggested a few times, to in place upgrade Windows. However, even trying to do that results in a screen saying “Windows can’t do it because you’re not supported” (paraphrase) and you just can’t do anything from there. At least, initially. After watching a video discussing what to do now hat Windows 10 is unsupported, it was suggested to do the common method of reinstalling Windows with the new version that just doesn’t have these restrictions. After first, this seems useful but it seemed like a lot of work when I was aware there were other options that allowed you to upgrade inside of your current Windows setup. I just knew that I had to try harder. Another restriction was that Windows forced you to do this every single time there was an update or something, since it’s unofficial.

So, I continued. Looking for solutions until I stumbled upon the elusive Windows 10/11 LTSC channels. Well, I actually knew what these were but what I did not know was that Windows had dropped the need for secure boot and TPM for these versions. Initially it seemed smarter to use just LTSC but there is a special version with even more security support and recent updates called Windows 11 IOT. LTSC and the related IOT versions are for devices that serve a function. Sometimes, you may have an application exclusively Windows only. The application needs to be on 24/7 because otherwise (let’s say we are in an office building) the digital sign where all of the important news, weather, and other various random things on some screen in the lobby will completely disappear. You’d probably need a version of Windows that doesn’t magically restart when it feels like it, which rarely ever needs to be updated and if it did, would probably just include some new fancy security updates or whatever. That is where these versions of Windows come into play. They act as versions of Windows for these niche use cases. Even that doesn’t scratch the surface on what Windows does in the random things it has been shoved in.

It’s not the only time random versions of Windows existed for a specific purpose as Windows XP was the OS of choice for many random ATMS and lots of little devices doing very important things. But, Windows XP is just so old! What do you do when you need a long lasting, stable, and whatever else, version of Windows XP to do these specific tasks? Well, you use Windows XP POSReady of course! This is a real version of Windows that received essentially two decades of active support just for point of sale systems (cash registers basically) or other little things could run forever. As the names IOT and LTSC suggest, these are made for embedded systems or other little “appliances” which need Windows. IOT meaning internet of things (think smart home devices) and LTSC meaning long term service channel. So, therefore, these versions of Windows will receive extra support so you can delay maintenance, keep private things secure, and keep the little digital sign running for as long as it can.

Generally, if you can get away with it, I’d say just to use regular Windows 11 LTSC since it makes more sense due to it being stable like how Debian is, which is great for older computers. The reason I went with IOT was because it has more of the recent updates available by default. As long as IOT is installed, you can get real Windows 11 feature updates and security responses without the need of the security requirements. Since the computer is used as a Hyper-V host and normal web browsing machine, it only made sense to update to the latest version possible as it actually interacted with and not just an appliance. IOT versions are made to be an appliance OS but it’s just not that different from regular Windows 11.

I’d say there is no real significant difference between these special versions either. It does remove lots of stuff in the backend but you can’t literally see a difference in day-to-day activities. Widgets (the weather info in the bottom right) still appear and all the normal Microsoft stuff works. It’s just like, sort of different. You should try for yourself to be more precise since the whole process is not hard and you may have to do it anyway for some old computer you have lying around.