Win 11 Upgrade Requires New Rescue Media
I recently upgraded my "wintel" computer from Windows 10 to Windows 11. I created and tested a USB rescue stick when I was running Windows 10. Do I need to create a new USB rescue stick now that I am running Windows 11 or will the Windows 10 stick still work?
I have successfully used recovery media created on a PC running Windows 10 on two different PCs running Windows 11 (one of which crashed badly when upgrading from Windows 10).
Ian
Thank you for the quick responses.
Just keep in mind that if your hardware devices, especially storage controllers and network adapters get updated drivers an old recovery media may no longer work. MS recommends that your ADK version match that of the installed system OS version. Right now that stands as follows:
Windows 11 version 22000 = ADK version 10.1.22000.1
Windows 10 version 21H1 = ADK version 10.1.19041.1 (suitable for servicing previous versions to 1903/10.1.18362
I have tested the Windows 11 ADK version with the Acronis Bootable Media Builder found in Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office and found that it works perfectly in creating media.
Just keep in mind that if your hardware devices, especially storage controllers and network adapters get updated drivers an old recovery media may no longer work. MS recommends that your ADK version match that of the installed system OS version. Right now that stands as follows:
Windows 11 version 22000 = ADK version 10.1.22000.1
Windows 10 version 21H1 = ADK version 10.1.19041.1 (suitable for servicing previous versions to 1903/10.1.18362
I have tested the Windows 11 ADK version with the Acronis Bootable Media Builder found in Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office and found that it works perfectly in creating media.
Thank you Enchantech for this information. Unfortunately, it does not help me. Instead, now I am confused again. So I am left with my original question: do I need to create a new USB rescue stick now that I am running Windows 11 or not?
Simple answer, probably not. Will your current rescue media continue to work? It likely will yes. If it proves out that it will not work however, new media should be created. New media would need to use the Windows 11 ADK and WinPE installation files for compatibility and the current version of ADK and WinPE must be uninstalled prior to installing a new version. A PC restart between the uninstall and install new processes should be done to clear any leftover registry values.
Simple answer, probably not. Will your current rescue media continue to work? It likely will yes. If it proves out that it will not work however, new media should be created. New media would need to use the Windows 11 ADK and WinPE installation files for compatibility and the current version of ADK and WinPE must be uninstalled prior to installing a new version. A PC restart between the uninstall and install new processes should be done to clear any leftover registry values.
So it sounds like I had better test my rescue media to determine if it still works. If it does work, I can rest easy. If it does not work, I will have to investigate what Windows 11 ADK and WinPE are and how to install and uninstall them so I can create new rescue media. I currently know nothing about any of that. This seems like a lot of specialized knowledge to expect from an ordinary, low-tech end user like myself. Is there a knowledgebase article that covers this? Am I over complicating this?
Bill, if you haven't previously installed or used the ADK & PE kits on your PC, then you also don't need them for Windows 11.
If you need to recreate your rescue media, then choose the 'Simple' method in the media builder tool. This will take the PE files needed from the Windows Recovery Environment of Win 11, and include device driver support for your installed hardware.