Windows 10: Switching from W10 Desktop PC to W10 or W11 Laptop for use with Smart TV

I have a W10 desktop pc that is not upgradeable to W11; however, I’m planning to switch to a laptop so I can use it with a smart tv. Should I buy a laptop with W10, transfer my files to it, & then upgrade to W11, or will I be able to transfer my files from my desktop to a W11 laptop w/o problems? There will also be times when I want to use my desktop ...will I be able to use files that have been updated &/or created on the laptop? I'm using MS 365 Personal. Last, bearing any / all of this in mind, will I need any special equipment e.g.: asst. cables, adapters, etc?&

:)

 

How to transfer W10 License to W11

I stupidly thought that if I was going to have a new PC, I might as well put W11 on it and, as I mentioned, having had problems which could not be solved with one PC when I upgraded from W7 to W10, I got afraid of having something similar happen when switching from W10 to W11, silly of me I guess, especially now that I find out that W11 is still half baked with (luckily until now) small problems that are more irritating than crimpling. I actually blew a couple of dollar on an additional 1TB SSD-M2 yesterday to do just what you suggest and I feel like a fool for buying W11.

 

Cannot share/cast W10 Desktop to a later model LG or Samsung Smart TV  

Screen share works on all three of my Samsung TVs. Some things of note are:

• Sometimes I have to try several times to establish the initial connection.
• Sometimes the connection will hang or drop forcing me to restart the connection
• Occasional audio stutter
• I have to be deliberate with the mouse and keyboard because of the lag in response time

I can project using a Acer Swift 3 laptop (2018 model).

The 55" Samsung TV (#4) is too old to support Miracast. To display the laptop's desktop on it I project to the Samsung Blu-Ray player (#1) which is hooked up to the Samsung 55" TV (#4). Note I have to first start the Screen Mirroring app on the Blue-Ray player (#1) for the laptop to see and select it.

The two newer 43-inch Samsung TVs (#3) and (#4) both support Miracast. They automatically appear on the laptops connect list as long as they are turned on. Once I select one of them from the laptop a message appears on the TV requesting permission to connect. I have to use the TVs remote control to accept the connecion. Once I do that the laptops desktop shows on the TV.

#1 [BD]J6300 = Samsung BD-J6300 Blu-ray Player (2015 model with Smart apps)
#2 [TV] Samsung 7 Series (43) = Samsung UN43RU7100 (43" 2019 Smart TV)
#3 [TV] Samsung 7 Series (43) = Samsung UN43RU7100 (43" 2019 Smart TV)

#4 Samsung UN55D6000S 55-inch LED TV (55" 2012 Smart TV)

 

Can a W11 System Backup Image be restored to a laptop running W10?

Sorry the below is a bit long winded but I wanted to include all steps that I actioned…

Laptop purchased with W11 and created W11 updated backup image to internal and external drives.

Downgraded from W11 to W10 and created W10 updated backup image to internal and external drives.

So I have both W10 and W11 updated system backup images on my internal and external drives.

My laptop is presently running on W10 operating system.

I have no problems restoring a W10 system backup image from an internal or external drive to my laptop running on W10 using the Windows Recovery Function or with a Windows Recovery thumb-drive.

I have no problems restoring a W11 system backup image from an internal or external drive to my laptop running on W11 using the Windows Recovery Function or with a Windows Recovery thumb-drive.

I also have no problems restoring a W10 system backup image from an internal or external drive to the laptop running on W11 using the Windows Recovery Function or with a Windows Recovery thumb-drive.

But I cannot restore a W11 system backup image from an internal or external drive to the laptop running on W10 using the Windows Recovery Function or with a Windows Recovery thumb-drive.

I wish to upgrade the laptop operating system from W10 to W11 using the W11 updated system backup image from the internal and external drives but I have problems in doing so. It keeps telling me - To restore this computer, windows needs to format the drive that the windows recovery environment is currently running on. To continue the restore, shut down this computer and boot it from a Windows Installation Disk or a System Repair disk and try the restore again.

As my laptop does not have a CD/DVD-Rom Drive to use a Windows System Repair Disk, I used a W10 & W11 Recovery thumb-drive but the same problem still occurs - To restore this computer, windows……..

Internet research found: While you can use both tools to access the Windows advanced boot options for troubleshooting startup, we recommend using a USB-based recovery drive when possible, since it contains all the same tools as the system repair disc.
How to Create and Use a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 or 10

I also have no problems restoring a W11 system from the W11 factory restore partition on the laptop running W10 using the Windows Recovery Function or with a Windows Recovery thumb-drive.

But I also cannot restore the W11 updated system backup image from the internal and external drives to the laptop after the factory W11 restore. It keeps telling me - To restore this computer, windows needs to format the drive that the windows recovery environment is currently running on. To continue the restore, shut down this computer and boot it from a Windows Installation Disk or a System Repair disk and try the restore again.

One other thing that I did also find very strange is that when running the laptop on W11, I created a backup image in the Windows Image Backup Folder on the E: drive partition.
When running the laptop on W10, I also created a backup image in the Windows Image Backup Folder on the E: drive partition.

BUT post W11 system restore from the W11 factory restore partition, the Windows Image Backup Folder appears on the D: drive?

All other folders on the D: and E: drive partitions remain in their original locations, ONLY the Windows Image Backup Folder changes drive partition locations when changing from running W10 to W11 system?
The laptop Disk 1 contains both C: and D: drive partitions and Disk 2 is the E: drive partition.

I could not quite believe what I was seeing so I do have screenshots of the above…..

Anyway, all I want to achieve is to restore my laptop running W10 with my W11 updated system backup image….


I hope someone out there has a few answers for me.

Thanks in advance
Gary