Please advise me on Windows upgrade, recovery burning, dual booting

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the_servicer

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I recently bought a refurbished Latitude 7310 from Dell Financial Services. It came to me with Windows 10 on an SSD. A green sticker on the bottom implies it was actually refurbished by FedEx.

What is the best order in which to carry out basic setup tasks, as described below?

I plan to check for Windows 11 eligibility. Is there any important reason to wait before doing the upgrade? Since Windows 10 won't be supported forever, I prefer upgrading to Windows 11 right away (even though I will probably hate the OS).

Should I attempt to burn a recovery disc before or after the upgrade to Windows 11? One of my concerns is having a recovery disc that will be useless once Windows 10 reaches end of support.

When is the best time to make partition changes in order to dual boot with Linux: before or after an upgrade to Windows 11? (I will probably let Pop!_OS adjust the partitions automatically, since Vanilla OS explicitly discourages dual booting. I've never done this before specifically with Pop!_OS.)

The only thing I did so far was turn it on and create a user account. (It forced me neither to connect to a network nor to use a Microsoft Account.) I did not yet check to see if any Dell utilities are installed.
 
the_servicer said:
I recently bought a refurbished Latitude 7310 from Dell Financial Services. It came to me with Windows 10 on an SSD. A green sticker on the bottom implies it was actually refurbished by FedEx.

What is the best order in which to carry out basic setup tasks, as described below?

I plan to check for Windows 11 eligibility. Is there any important reason to wait before doing the upgrade? Since Windows 10 won't be supported forever, I prefer upgrading to Windows 11 right away (even though I will probably hate the OS).

Should I attempt to burn a recovery disc before or after the upgrade to Windows 11? One of my concerns is having a recovery disc that will be useless once Windows 10 reaches end of support.

When is the best time to make partition changes in order to dual boot with Linux: before or after an upgrade to Windows 11? (I will probably let Pop!_OS adjust the partitions automatically, since Vanilla OS explicitly discourages dual booting. I've never done this before specifically with Pop!_OS.)

The only thing I did so far was turn it on and create a user account. (It forced me neither to connect to a network nor to use a Microsoft Account.) I did not yet check to see if any Dell utilities are installed.
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id just make a 11 usb stick and do a clean install. it will pull the key from the bios.
i wouldnt bother.
at setup. depending on what boot loader you want to use determines which to load first, ie: linux first then windows and it will use windows boot loader.
good, and you dont need the dell utilities. windows update will pull 99% of the drivers and bios updates for it.
 
Thank you for your reply. I might ask for a couple of clarifications.
pendragon1 said:
id just make a 11 usb stick and do a clean install. it will pull the key from the bios.
Click to expand...
So I need to look for an ISO file on the web?
pendragon1 said:
i wouldnt bother.
Click to expand...
You mean you wouldn't bother with a recovery disc?
pendragon1 said:
at setup. depending on what boot loader you want to use determines which to load first, ie: linux first then windows and it will use windows boot loader.
Click to expand...
Since you're suggesting a complete Windows reinstallation, I guess the question is which OS to install first.
pendragon1 said:
good, and you dont need the dell utilities. windows update will pull 99% of the drivers and bios updates for it.
Click to expand...
I might want the Dell program that prolongs battery lifespan, if it is available. But that can come later.
 
the_servicer said:
Thank you for your reply. I might ask for a couple of clarifications.

So I need to look for an ISO file on the web?

You mean you wouldn't bother with a recovery disc?

Since you're suggesting a complete Windows reinstallation, I guess the question is which OS to install first.

I might want the Dell program that prolongs battery lifespan, if it is available. But that can come later.
Click to expand...
no. the win 11 setup file will allow you to make a usb stick.
no.
i explained it, you decide.
windows eco mode is all you need.
 
At some point I will look into that Dell program I read about because it isn't about battery life. It's about partial charging to make the battery go for more years.
Apparently it's possible to burn an ISO file, but you need a dual-layer DVD. So I'm deciding between buying a USB stick I don't need or a stack of discs I don't need.
pendragon1 said:
no prob. use the media creation tool, i was using the wrong wording...
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows11
Click to expand...
 
the_servicer said:
At some point I will look into that Dell program I read about because it isn't about battery life. It's about partial charging to make the battery go for more years.
Apparently it's possible to burn an ISO file, but you need a dual-layer DVD. So I'm deciding between buying a USB stick I don't need or a stack of discs I don't need.
Click to expand...
the bios handles the battery. we use dells at work, you do not need all their crap doing whats already built in.
you dont have a single 16gb+ usb stick kicking around? go buy one at the dollar store for a couple bucks. you could probably get one at the gas station even...
if you cant scrounge up a usb, just do the upgrade. using the install assistant at the same link.
 
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