Putting it all together.

Out with the old and in with the new is not quite the right thing to say as it should be "out with the old and in with the not so old", basically my lifelong habit of recycling everything from a previous computer and creating a machine with more capability, plus the support of the latest variant of a familiar operating system.

I wrote this to my buddy this morning :

"It is definitely a security and performance improvement to switch from our current (not supported) motherboards and CPUs to the quite vast array of supported units, changing the ancient master boot record (MBR) to the expanded GUID Partition table (GPT) is required, but relatively straightforward and allows for bigger storage space. The trusted platform module (TPM) built into the supported CPUs and configured with the BIOS of supported motherboards, enhances security, along with a thing they call Secure Boot which again creates a sort of fortress against malware and unsecure programs at the boot stage. All of this is an improvement, in addition to the general hardware improvements the public can enjoy from the new generations of motherboards and processors, USB-C connectivity and the faster USB4 transfer rates, multiple NVME drive support and perhaps even WiFi 7 on the motherboard"

The new motherboard has USB-C and USB 3.2 and supports two NVME drives, but I'm only using one and it also has an M.2 slot for WiFi but I'm using the previous PCIe WiFi card, which coincidently, uses the same type of slot and WiFi card, I like the integrated aspect of the antenna on the old kit and would have to run antenna wires across my motherboard if I used the integrated slot. 

So there we are, the younger motherboard is introduced to all the older bits, and it is time for the post mortem of how much this upgrade cost, which will be shocking. Motherboard was $100 from marketplace, the I/O Shield was $15.40 from eBay and came from the Netherlands (but China actually) and I bought two more 4GB sticks of DDR4 which was another $10 on marketplace. A total of $125.40 for the "new" bits and all the previous kit was reused. Windows 11 Home was installed free with a digital license linked to my Microsoft account, GPT, TPM and Secure boot will keep me safe at night while this backup machine sits in the garage waiting for something to break on my gaming machine.

This upgrade cost is not quite true as it will be offset by selling the replaced motherboard on marketplace, which I estimate will bring in about $50 or thereabouts, although I am optimistic and am swinging for the stars with my initial pricing, we will see I suppose, perhaps the market for sixth and seventh generation kit is over and I will reuse that one and experiment with a gaming machine variant of Linux in the near future. That will be interesting for sure, however, selling the old kit, while I can, is the way forward.

All done! - What's next?

And suddenly, the lid fell off...

 The waiting is over and the end result is, of course, uninspiring.

The new motherboard has been accepted into the microsoft family, the digital license that was on the previous, so called obsolete, motherboard has been transferred on my account and after setting up TPM and secure boot in the BIOS, and a few days wait, the system cache on their end updated and they allowed me to download the new version.

There will be more waiting however, I had to order an i/o shield and I won't be able to install this motherboard into my old backup case until it arrives, but it will arrive and I will update the blog with the installation and completion of this particular project.

Preparing for October

The countdown to the end of support for Windows 10 continues (although as expected it has been extended to 2026) and although I have converted three of our daily machines (my laptop and two streaming boxes) to Linux mint we are retaining two gaming machines (and their respective backup machines) and converting all four to run a legal, supported, Windows 11. 

The CPU and motherboard on the converted machines have to be supported, so anything not on the Microsoft list can only run an unsupported (rufus) type win11 installation or an alternative OS such as Linux. There are complexities involved in both directions, linux in particular if you have had a lifetime running Microsoft, but I should add, there are certain irritants with the "new and improved" version of windows, the main one being we were very happy ticking along using the almost obsolete version. 

This is an Asus Prime H470-Plus with an Intel i3-10100 CPU which used, cost me $100 on marketplace. It replaces the previous Asus Z170-Pro with Intel i5-6600K in the backup machine. Online the "obsolete" i5-6600k scores Multithread 6307 with single thread 2316 and the i3-10100 Multithread 8551 and single thread 2596 which are just numbers that indicate that the old one is capable of running my game and the replacement will also be fine. The only critical difference is that the old one is not supported.

In the last five years, since Windows 7 (a perfectly fine operating system) was switched for 8.0 and 8.1 and then 10, my life has been a constant game of musical chairs and at times, even though I owned licenses, I had to buy keys to purchase new versions, that is the way the industry wants to do it, sell the same thing to the consumer, over and over.

This is number four and I admit, having been "in the business" now for over thirty years, the hurdles required to transfer license ownership have become taller and frustrating, and of course, the technical hurdles have also increased in size since both Intel and Microsoft decided that they would phase out old hardware if you wanted to use the latest and greatest version of the OS. That is the aspect of all of this that annoys me most, mainly as the phased out hardware is extremely capable of performing the mundane tasks of a daily driver and the business want to send good electronics to the landfill.

Out with the old, in with the new.

No more MBR, in with GPT, now TPM 2.0 and embedded, now secure boot and "keys" that will somehow keep us all safe (which they will not) and then of course, two more final hurdles involving convincing your Microsoft account that you deserve the so called "upgrade" and then of course, waiting for your system to take it's sweet time to give you the Windows 11 update.

That's where I am today. 

Waiting.