I know I soon have to install Win 11 on my MSFS computer. Should I just press the button on the update page or start over with a full clean slate using the Win 11 installation media. What have others experienced?
A clean install. There are many reviewers that showed an FPS loss by using the upgrade path. This was ofc back in the early days of Win 11 release. But from my POV, you loose nothing but a little time. The reward is a system with a little less bloat in it.
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Yes, because this method ensures that your current Windows 10 license will automatically upgrade to Windows 11 without requiring a new key.
After installing and automatically activating Windows 11 you will be able to format C and install Windows 11 as a fresh, new system.
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Mine was a two step processāfirst I had to install a missing Win 10 update (donāt recall what it was, something like HH2H). Once that was installed I was returned to the Win update page, I selected the Update button and Win 11 installed itself. Nothing else to do. Win 11 seems to work properly in all programs including MSFS 2020.
I donāt think it matters you will still be led a merry dance as you chase round the settings to remove candycrush
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Yep, itās a task Iāve been putting off for far too long. Iāll probably do as @TenPatrol suggests about upgrading then clean installing (if necessary). Iāll be honest and say the last clean install I ever did was Vista to 7ā¦ since then, Iāve just done an inplace upgrade, across the various versions of Windows 10. Touch wood, Iāve never had any issues. Even across multiple systems! Puts head in gallows 
On a side, I tried helping a friend with W11 recently. Definitely an acquired taste!
Some AMD CPUs experience issues with core parking after upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. This is one of the reasons why it is recommended to perform a format C and a clean, fresh installation of Windows 11 after successfully upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
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I did the direct upgrade on the laptop Iām on right now, but it no longer has MSFS on it. As for performance, I havenāt noticed anything graphic-wise, but at the moment, the most demanding program I have is the old Win7 Chess game with all the graphic acceleration settings maxed. My biggest issue was reorganizing the Start Menu apps to where I like them.
Iām in the middle of a bare bones install right now, but Iāve always wondered about the reinstallation process. Letās say I have Windows on a C:
drive (partition or separate physical drive) and all my other software on another partition or separate physical drive.
How does the new Windows know where everything is? What about my User Profile, including my Libraries and desktop shortcuts? What about the Registry?
I see a lot of folks here say, āI reinstalled Windows and the sim.ā
I never see them mention any other software.
Some software require additional components such as Visual C++ redistributables, registry entries and other dependencies in order to function properly. Therefore, if this is a clean installation of Windows it is recommended to reinstall these programs to ensure everything works correctly.
Iāve always been told NEVER install Windows while there are more than one drive. You may end up with your OS on a D: or E: drive and end up having to start over. Install with one single drive installed, then add drives or partitions as needed.
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?? I donāt know how thatās possible with a clean install. During the installation process, you are asked which drive to install Windows to.
For example, Iām about to do a bare bones install.
I have two drives:
- 500GB M.2 that I will install Windows on. It will be the C:\ drive, for sure.
- 4TB M.2 that will get everything else. It will be the D:\ drive, for sure.
The Page File will be on C:
There has been some discussion amongst a couple of experts here about whether thatās important, but the argument for having it on the same physical drive as Windows seems to make sense to me.
If I only had one physical drive Iād create a small partition for the Windows install, and another partition (or two or threeā¦) for other āstuffā including the sim.
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I have 4 M.2 drives, 2 SSDs and 1 HDD. During the Windows installation, I choose the custom installation option
to select which drive should be formatted and on which drive or partition the system should be installed.
Yep if you select ācustom installā.
I always temporarily remove all but one drive - either by physically removing them or disconnecting their power supply connection - before installing Windows. This avoids accidentally choosing the wrong drive to install Windows to. 
On the one remaining drive, using the Custom Install option, I remove all existing partitions (so the drive is just one big empty free space) and then install Windows on a small partition (100 GB). Windows will also create an additional 100MB system partition and ~ 1GB recovery partition during the install.
Once Windows is installed, I power down, reconnect the other drive(s), power up, and use Disk Manager to create a new volume in the remaining free space & format it to be used for whatever I want (usually programs & apps), as well as assign drive letters I want to the reconnected drives.
I prefer to do a clean install vs. an upgrade, as an upgrade can leave a lot of unnecessary files & folders (i.e. ābloatā) behind. This does mean reinstalling programs & apps, but virtually all of these on my system can be drag-n-dropped into their folder locations without any need for an installer.
Note that this PC is just used for MSFS, which is installed on a separate physical drive. My Windows partition hosts a 32 GB pagefile & is only 75% full, so Windows itself is only using ~ 45 GB.
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Did the upgrade path, no issues. But do a back up first!
Hmm interesting thought. I had assumed one could simply log in with their MS account (which is associated with the Win10 key), even on a clean Win11 install, and it would transfer? Is this really not the case, are you sure?
Nope.
Whether installing Windows on your custom PC or building a new one, you may need to purchase a license to run Windows 11
Q: How much does it cost to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11?
A: Itās free. But only Windows 10 PCs that are running the most current version of Windows 10 and meet the minimum hardware specifications will be able to upgrade. You can check to see if you have the latest updates for Windows 10 in Settings/Windows Update. Note that in areas where the internet is metered, ISP fees may apply.
Source
How to Get Windows 11 for Your Compatible PC | Microsoft
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Good point.
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Good to know, thanks.
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Keys are mostly linked to either an account log in or HWID. I assume that you can still retain a windows key by not adding an account to it these days, but it is not something I have done in a long time. So unless you have installed without an MS account, then there is nothing that would stop the machine recognising previous set up. With an OEM license it will recognise that the hardware within the machine has changed and revoke licenses when the limitation has passed.