6 Months, 5 Motherboards and 1 Video Card: My Experience Upgrading From Windows 10 to Windows 11

To be honest, I didn't just upgrade from one operating system to another. I rebuilt my computer from a system whose motherboad had died after running, just fine, for about 6 years.

As such, I needed to replace the motherboard only. However, finding a motherboard that's compatible with the older Xenix processor, that I could consider, from a reliable source, was virtually impossible. But I didn't know this.

The 1st Two Months

Trying to save some money, I looked around for a compatible motherboard; so that I didn't have to buy a processor and RAM; a futile attempt to save almost a $1,000.00. It was my first big mistake.

My second big mistake was choosing a Chinese company to buy the REFURBISHED motherboard from. If the 1st board is bad, getting a replacement might take a very long time; if it's shipping from China. And it did.

The 1st board was dead and it's replacement took 2 months to acquire. And the replacement would cause the system to reboot on a daily basis; sometimes as many as 5 or 6 times in a single day.

At the end of the REFURBISHED motherboard (acquisition) attempt, my wife begs me to buy whatever parts that I want, brand new; regardless of the cost. I start thinking about the whole issue and decide that she's correct; that I should abandon the notion of getting a used/refurbished motherboard; and that I should just replace all of the necessary parts with new ones. I realized that she was correct; and went to do just that.

The Next Four Months

1) I purchase my 1st ASUS Prime H670-PLUS D4 LGA 1700(Intel 12th Gen) ATX Motherboard. My mistake, with this 1st motherboard, like the one that I made with the refurbished motherboards, was an attempt to save money. Sometimes, many times, attempting to save money is the wrong path.

I bought new RAM, a processor and the motherboard. And I ran this with my old video card.

In legacy mode this setup works great.

2) As a prelude to the operating system upgrade, I turn on UEFI mode in the BIOS. And this causes the motherboard to go into an eternal boot loop. I call the manufacturer, ASUS, and they have me remove the battery from the motherboard. And I also jump the CMOS clearing jumpers on the motherboard.

The troubleshooting lights, on the edge of the motherboard each come on, one at a time, from left to right, stopping at the 3rd, or 4th one; the bright white one that points at the problem being the video card.

ASUS is unfamiliar with the issue that I have brought them. Like me, they know that it's the video card. But what exactly the issue is, and how to fix it, eludes them; just like it does me.

3) Amazon.com sends me a 2nd motherboard and I ship them back the 1st motherboard in that same packaging; since I had thrown away the packaging from the 1st motherboard the day before it started going into the endless boot loop.

4) I made sure to convert all of my Master Boot Record hard drives to GPT mode; because Windows 11 requires it; and because rumor was floating around that if this wasn't done a boot loop could ensue.

5) Then I turned on UEFI mode in the BIOS; and the endless boot loop occured just like with the 1st motherboard. And I called Amazon.com and attempt to get another replacement motherboard. They said that I was only allowed one replacement with this product; but that I could get my money back. So I send them back the 2nd motherboard and get my money back.

6) Then, wanting to purchase a 3rd copy of this board, from Amazon.com, I look on their site to see if I can buy a 3rd board. And the only one that they have listed is a used copy; probably the two that I sent back to them. Shopping around for another copy of this same board, I see one listed, for the same price, at Micro Center; a local (and national) computer store; not completely unlike Fry's; but with a more limited stock; focusing mostly on computers.

7) While, at Micro Center, and purchasing the 3rd copy of this motherboard, I'm explaining my problem to the salesman. And I realize, as I'm talking to him, that I probably should get a Windows 11 compatible video card; because maybe the problem is that the video card is too dated for it to run in UEFI mode; though ASUS told me that there was no such thing as a video card that was not UEFI compatible.

8) The salesman sells me a video that is actually older than the one that I already have. So, getting home, I realize, after investigating the card online, and calling the manufacturer, that the card is very outdated and isn't Windows 11 compatible.

9) So I find a GIGABYTE GeForce GT 730 2GB 64-bit DDR3, GV-N730D3-2GI REV3.0 Graphic Cards video card at Amazon.com. And I take the outdated video card back to Micro Center, to get my my money back. This video card is definitely Windows 11 compatible and was $85.99 plus tax when I bought it.

10) After getting a Windows 11 compatible video card to add to the new motherboard, RAM and processor, turning on UEFI, in the BIOS, no longer causes a problem.

Windows 11

This new operating system is very slick. It has numerous features that Windows 10 doesn't have. But it's still an unstable operating system.

I have opened an additional tab, in the FireFox browser, and had that action cause what use to be called a blue screen of death. And, as a result, the system rebooted. This has happened twice in the short time that I've had Windows 11.

If you don't mind having some (minor) instability, and don't mind spending decent money on a completely new computer, maybe Windows 11 is what you want to upgrade to.

It might be more of a hassle than it's worth though; if you're building your own system.

Whatever you do, don't try to keep your old video card when you buy a new motherboard, processor and RAM. Learn from my mistakes; and don't make the same ones.