Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 11 - simulation on VMware Workstation

[martinii]

Hi all,

I need to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 11 but I want to simulate the proces in a virtual enviroment. What I've done so far:
- cloned the physical disk,
- created a VM with proper hardware and cloned disk,
- converted system from MBR to UEFI,
- added TPM 2.0

And now I have Windows 7 in UEFI mode on VMware Workstation Pro. I still can't upgrade to Windows 11 due to secure boot option which VMware doesn't let me enable - it's greyed out. If i change guest OS in VMware from Windows 7 to Windows 10 then I can enable secure boot option but system doesn' boot anymore... Can you help me please?

 

[Bree]

I need to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 11....

Welcome to Seven Forum.

You cannot upgrade directly from Windows 7 to Windows 11, if you try to it will tell you that you cannot keep your installed apps, saying that "Your files, apps and settings can't be kept because you're installing an edition of Windows that's different from the one you're currently using."

I have tested that here:


win 11 system update (win 7) | Windows 11 Forum

You must first upgrade to Windows 10, then you can upgrade from W10 to W11 while keeping all your installed apps.

Note that the free upgrade from Windows 7 to Window 10 ended in September 2023. You can still upgrade from W7 to W10, but it will not be activated.

Free Activation from Windows 7/8 key or upgrade to Windows 10/11 Ends | Windows 11 Forum