An automotive workshop had two jobs for us. Its PCs needed to move to Windows 11, because Microsoft had ended support for Windows 10. And its printer needed attention: a waste toner container to replace and print quality that had been slipping.
We did the work across three visits in late October and early November 2025, logging 8 hours in total.
Why the upgrade couldn’t wait
Microsoft’s support page is plain about it: “After October 14, 2025, computers running Windows 10 will no longer receive security updates.” Microsoft’s Windows 10 end of support page sets out what that means.
A PC at a workshop reception handles customer details, invoices and email every day. Running it without security updates is a risk that grows every month.
Checking before upgrading
Our first visit was a check: were the PCs able to run Windows 11, and what state was the printer in? It’s worth doing separately. Finding out mid-upgrade that a PC can’t take Windows 11 wastes a morning.
A slow upgrade
On the upgrade day, Windows 11 wouldn’t install through the normal Windows Update route. We used Microsoft’s own assistant tool to start it instead.
It worked, but it was painfully slow. The PC’s storage drive was a type with very slow sustained read and write speeds, and a Windows upgrade reads and writes a lot. It took far longer than planned, which is worth knowing if you’re scheduling upgrades on older machines.
The printer drum
While the upgrade ran, we replaced the waste toner and tested the printer’s drum, the part that transfers the image to the page. We fitted a second-hand drum, cleaned it and printed tests. Quality improved, which told us the original drum was the problem.
We put the original back and recommended replacing it before it reaches the end of its life. A drum doesn’t fail all at once. It gets worse until the pages are unusable.
The problem the upgrade caused
Once reception was on Windows 11, we checked that everything worked. It didn’t quite. Printing from the workshop’s main business software wasn’t working as it should.
We changed the printer settings to fix it and documented them for next time. Then the office PC turned out to have the same problem. We reinstalled the correct printer drivers there and set it up to match reception, and both printed properly.
The workshop PC came back to our base to finish its upgrade, and we completed it the next day.
Where they landed
The reception and workshop PCs run Windows 11, printing works from the business’s main software on both office PCs, and the worn drum is flagged for replacement.
After your next Windows upgrade, print a real document from every piece of software your business relies on before calling it done. A test page proves the printer works. It doesn’t prove your software can reach it.
If you’ve still got a PC on Windows 10, get in touch and we’ll check what it needs.