Tip of the Week: Prepare Yourself for the End of Windows 10

The official end-of-support date for Windows 10—October 14, 2025—will be here before you know it. This means you must prepare to transition to Windows 11 as soon as possible, assuming you haven’t already done so.

Here are a few tips and best practices to keep in mind to help make this transition as smooth and painless as possible.

Why Is It So Important to Prepare to Migrate to Windows 11?

In a word, security.

When any software passes its end-of-support date, it no longer receives any updates… including those intended to eliminate vulnerabilities and similar issues. More or less immediately after the prescribed date passes, software is no longer safe to keep installed, never mind use. Any new threats will encounter no resistance.

In addition, software that isn’t properly maintained will not perform as well as it should. This includes the software that makes up the Windows 10 operating system. As time passes, the user experience worsens as fewer programs work as intended.

Again, this is on top of the security issues that will arise… hence, the importance of keeping all software—especially your operating systems—updated appropriately.

How to Prepare for a Windows 11 Migration

Check Whether Your Hardware Can Support It

While most modern systems are ready for Windows 11 to be installed, some fall short of the hardware requirements. These requirements are as follows:

• The processor must either be a 64-bit processor with at least one gigahertz speed and two cores, or System on a Chip, which condenses components into a simplified configuration.
• Four gigabytes of RAM.
• 64 gigabytes of storage.
• UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which controls the interaction between the operating system and the firmware.
• Secure Boot, which helps prevent malware from loading upon startup.
• A graphics card that is compatible with at least DirectX 12 with WDDM 2.0 driver.
• A display over 9 inches in size when measured diagonally and at least 720p resolution.
• Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0.

If your hardware does not meet these requirements, you must procure some that does or upgrade what you currently have.

Check That Your Software Will Play Nice with It

Similarly, you need to analyze your current software toolset to ensure that it is compatible with Windows 11. If not, you also need to find suitable replacements to keep your operations in motion.

Backup All Your Data

Using reliable and effective tools, you must ensure that your data is safe from any issues or disasters… for instance, a desktop suddenly vulnerable to future threats after losing support.

All your backups need to meet the customary best practices—multiple copies, stored in different areas, with some offsite—in order to ensure your data is safe. This will not only help you keep your data safe throughout the upgrade process, but safeguard it in general, protecting you from circumstances of all kinds.

Work with Us

Our team is here to help you establish a successful strategy to migrate from Windows 10 to 11 and attend to various other business IT needs. We work with assorted businesses to encourage our community’s growth and success, and we’d love to establish this kind of partnership with you!

Give us a call at (703) 743-3056 to learn more about what we can do for you… and don’t wait! October 14th will be here before you know it.