USB DACs, WIndows 11, and newer Intel chipsets

@devinplombier 

I am so glad that you understand what I was trying to get to. Here is OP's post:

After wrestling with this for days, I give up.  I don’t need MQA and the Explorer’s history of compatibility issues convinces me to move on (anyone want an Explorer2 cheap?)

And based on that, I would think that others would have benefited from the Rufus upgrade. He claims to have 

40 years experience debugging PC hardware -- personally and professionally

And yet could not figure out how to get the Meridian explorer working. If you notice, the fonts on his reply, it looks like he is doing some cut-paste job - based on 2 different fonts in the same reply.

We’ll have to agree to disagree re: whether Audiogon is a credible forum for discussions of "digital" gear.

In his above quote he indicates that I am doubting the credibility of Audiogon. This tells me that he has issues comprehending sentences - because I never doubted the credibility of the forum. My take was that the other site is more technically oriented on the digital side of playback. 

Then he claims to have $50k worth of gear. I am starting to doubt that. But then hey, I can claim to have a secondary system with Tidal Akiras in them. But I won't post my system here 🙂

BTW @devinplombier I did the Windows 10-> 11 upgrade in November 2024. The dates in that article are updated. Point is - even if Microsoft decides to not support systems that were upgraded via Rufus, your desktop is not gong to stop working immediately. All that will happen is that they will not provide any updates to your system. I bring this up because I had read that "deleted" post above and was thinking if people really know how PCs work, in the first place and are unnecessarily resorting to fear-mongering.

@milpai running Windows 11 on a computer that does not have TPM 2.0 is simply an additional risk many are not going to do. Yes, you can hopefully get a few more years life from your investment in a PC or laptop, but you are taking on that slight additional risk. I mean, the improved security is the whole rationale Microsoft is giving for pushing this hardware-based security on people if they want to run Windows 11 after support for Windows 10 goes away. 

I've just enrolled my three machines into the extended Windows 10 update support for free, so I'm OK until October 13, 2026. By then, all my machines will be pretty old (10 years or more) and I'll buy a new one that does run Windows 11 without having to resort to tricks. On my best old PC I'll put LinuxMint and keep using it until the wheels fall off. It'll give me an excuse to try out some of the music software available as an iTunes replacement and see if any are decent. I worry most about losing all the album cover art I've spent a considerable time putting into iTunes. 

My daily driver is a Lenovo workstation laptop. It’s about 12 years old (I think) but it still has more than enough processing power and a very nice 4K display. It was a high-end machine back then.

It runs win 10 now, and TPS 1.1 so it’s ineligible for the win 11, uh, "upgrade", such as it is.

I am currently debating whether to install win 11 anyway, keep running win 10, or move it to Linux like my other boxes, which all run Lubuntu.

@moonwatcher I didn’t know there was an extended Windows 10 update support, thanks for the tip. I may just do that and punt another year 😃 You mentioned you can get it for free?

@devinplombier yes, the key is having your Microsoft account and be using their stupid OneDrive to backup your Windows settings. I do NOT use it to backup my data or of course they'd want money for storage.  Then you should be able to go into Settings->Windows Update and scroll about a bit and see the enrollment program to get the extended security updates till October 13th, 2026 for FREE. No $30 required. 

More power to those who want to use Rufus to put Windows 11 on old unsupported hardware, but I just don't want any more Microsoft induced headaches. 

Good luck! And yeah, Linux of whatever flavor you like is a way to keep on keeping on. 

Buy a quality  streamer and a dac upgrade , quality Ethernet hum and cables 

digital has evolved 1000% since you bought your last dac ,and streamer 

night and day less noise look at innuos as a good example you want linear power supplies