How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 now - for free

Microsoft really doesn't want customers to upgrade older PCs to Windows 11, but there are workarounds for all but the oldest devices. Now that Windows 10 support has officially ended, here's everything you need to know.

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Most PCs from the past 15 years can run Windows 11.
• PCs sold with Windows 10 can usually upgrade after a registry edit.
• On older or unusually configured PCs, a third-party utility can work.

Are you the PC expert in your family? If you're traveling home for the holidays, your relatives will inevitably ask you for help with that computer they're absolutely unwilling to replace, because it still works just fine. Assuming it's less than 10 years old and has sufficient memory and storage, then it probably is worth keeping. 

But ...