LogoLogo
LearnDocumentationSupportCommunity
Version 6.30
Version 6.30
  • Welcome
  • Nexthink V6
  • Overview
    • Software components
    • Collector
    • Finder
    • Engine
    • Portal
    • Nexthink Library
    • Digital Experience Score
  • Installation and configuration
    • Planning your installation
      • Overview of the installation process
      • Hardware requirements
      • Connectivity requirements
      • Software requirements
      • Reference architectures
    • Installing Portal and Engine Appliances
      • Installing the Appliance
      • Installing the Appliance on Azure
      • Installing the Appliance on AWS
      • Installing the Appliance on OTC
      • Managing Appliance accounts
      • Setting the names of the Portal
      • Setting the names of the Engines
      • Specifying your internal networks and domains
      • Federating your Appliances
      • STIG compliance in Web Console
      • Connecting the Portal to the Engines
      • Configuring session performance storage
      • Configuring device performance storage
      • Setting up a software license
      • Sending email notifications from the Appliance
      • Allocating resources for the Portal
    • Installing the Collector
      • Installing the Collector on Windows
      • Installing the Collector on macOS
      • Installing the Collector for a Proof of Value
      • Assigning Collectors to Engines
      • Assignment of roaming Collectors
      • Collector MSI parameters reference table
      • Nxtcfg - Collector configuration tool
      • Inspecting the connection status of the Collector
      • Querying the status of the TCP connection of the Collector
      • Reporting the URL of HTTP web requests
      • Auditing logon events
      • Viewing user interactions in virtualized and embedded environments
      • Engage notifications on macOS
      • Configuring Collector level anonymization
    • Collector remote connectivity
      • Redirecting and anonymizing Collector traffic
      • Redirecting the Collector TCP channel
      • Support for DirectAccess
      • Windows Collector proxy support
      • Mac Collector proxy support
    • Installing the Event Connector
      • Installing the Event Connector on Linux
    • Installing the Finder
      • Installing the Finder on Windows
      • Enabling Cross-Engine Finder features
      • Expanding the time frame of investigations in the Finder
      • Enabling Finder access to the Library
      • Finder proxy support
    • Updating from V6.x
      • Updating the Appliance
      • Content centralization when updating the Appliance
      • Updating the Collector
      • Viewing Collector deprecated fields
      • Updating the Finder
    • Security and user account management
      • Importing and replacing certificates
      • Hierarchizing your infrastructure
      • Adding users
      • Enabling SAML authentication of users
      • Just-In-Time provisioning of user accounts
      • Enabling Windows authentication of users
      • Multi-factor authentication for local accounts overview
      • Provisioning user accounts from Active Directory
      • Establishing a privacy policy
      • Disabling local accounts for interactive users
      • Setting the complexity and minimum length of passwords for local accounts
      • Protecting local accounts against brute force attacks
      • Preventing password saving in the Finder
      • Controlling session timeouts in the Portal
      • Security settings in the Appliance
      • Setting the Do Not Disturb periods between campaigns
    • Data retrieval and storage
      • Data retention
      • Increasing the maximum number of metrics
      • Establishing a data retention policy in the Engine
      • Storing Engine data in a secondary disk drive
      • Importing data from Microsoft Active Directory
      • Setting the locale in the Portal
      • Changing the Time Zone of the Portal
      • Time Zones and data collection
      • Changing the data collection time of the Portal
      • Nightly task schedules timetable
      • Changing the thresholds of High CPU warnings
      • Automatic restart of unresponsive Engine
    • Maintenance operations
      • Logging in to the CLI
      • Special operation modes for the Engine and the Portal
      • Changing the default ports in the Appliance
      • Centralized Management of Appliances and Engines
      • Monitoring the performance of the Appliance
      • Resizing partitions in Appliance
      • Configuring the system log
      • Examining the logs in the Portal
      • GDPR - Retrieving or anonymizing personal data
      • Finding out unlicensed devices
      • Removing devices
      • Installing third-party software in the Appliance
      • Installing VMware Tools in the Appliance
      • Operational data sent to Nexthink
      • Sending additional data to Support
    • Disaster recovery
      • Planning for disaster recovery
      • Web Console backup and restore
      • Engine backup and restore
      • Portal backup and restore
      • Rule-based assignment backup and restore
      • License backup and restore
      • PKI backup and restore
    • Branding
      • Branding the Portal
      • Branding of campaigns
  • User manual
    • Getting started
      • Logging in to the Finder
      • Logging in to the Portal
      • Enabling STIG in Webconsole
    • Querying the system
      • Searching the subject of interest
      • Executing an investigation
      • Creating an investigation
      • Editing the options of an investigation
      • Combining logical conditions in investigations
      • Navigating through the results of an investigation
      • Properties of users and devices
    • Visualizing system activity in the Finder
      • Getting a quick overview
      • Graphically observing the activity of users and devices
      • Observing service performance
      • Viewing network connections
      • Viewing web requests
      • Viewing executions
    • Monitoring IT custom metrics
      • Creating a metric
      • Examples of metrics
      • Session performance
      • Device performance
      • Following the evolution of a metric
      • Finding the visuals of a metric
    • Monitoring IT services
      • Analyzing service quality
      • Creating a service
      • Following the evolution of a service
      • Specifying URL paths of web-based services
    • Engaging with the end user
      • Getting feedback from the end users
      • Types of campaigns
      • Creating a campaign
      • Editing a campaign
      • Types of questions
      • Controlling the flow of questions
      • Translating a campaign
      • Triggering a campaign manually
      • Limiting the reception rate of campaigns
      • Scrutinizing the results of a campaign
      • Continuously measuring the satisfaction of employees
    • Rating devices and users with scores
      • Computing scores
      • Creating a score
      • Checking and comparing ratings
      • Computing potential savings
      • Score XML Reference
      • Documenting scores
    • Remotely acting on devices
      • Scenarios for remote actions
      • Creating a remote action
      • Executing remote actions
      • Triggering a remote action manually
      • Writing scripts for remote actions on Windows
      • Writing scripts for remote actions on Mac
      • Example of self-healing scenario
      • Example of self-help scenario
      • Application control and remote actions
    • Organizing objects with categories
      • Classifying objects of the same type
      • Creating categories and keywords
      • Tagging objects manually
      • Tagging objects automatically
      • Importing tags from text files
    • Getting notified by the system
      • Receiving Engage campaigns
      • Receiving email digests
      • Receiving alerts
      • Creating a service-based alert
      • Creating an investigation-based alert
    • Building web-based dashboards
      • Introducing dashboards in the Portal
      • Creating a dashboard
      • Examining metrics in depth
      • Documenting dashboards
      • Assessing license use
      • Computing dashboard data
      • Reusing dashboard content
    • Importing and exporting authored content
      • Methods for reusing authored content
      • Manually sharing Finder content
      • Importing a content pack
      • Conflict resolution
      • Exporting a content pack
  • Library packs
    • Compliance
      • Device Compliance
    • Configuration Manuals
      • Overview (Configuration Manuals)
      • Installing A New Version Of A Library Pack
    • Digital Employee Score (DEX score)
      • DEX Score Installation And Configuration
      • Detailed Library Pack Changelog
    • Device management
      • Reduce logon duration
      • Group Policy Management
      • Hardware Asset Renewal
      • Hardware Asset Renewal Advanced
      • Application Auto-Start Impact
    • Remote Employee Experience
      • Remote Worker Experience
      • Home Networking
      • Change Log And Upgrade Process
      • Remote Worker Vs Office Worker Device Category
      • Remote Worker Insights
      • DEX V2 Upgrade Of Remote Worker
    • Persona Insight
      • Persona Insight - Overview
      • Persona Insight - Library Pack
      • Persona Insight - Score Only Pack
      • Persona Insight - Without Campaign pack
      • Persona Insight - Getting Started and Upgrade Procedure
      • Persona Insight - Configuration Guide
      • Persona Insight - Troubleshooting - Multiple devices on multiple engines
      • Persona Insight - Reference Guide
      • Persona Insight - Example Pack
      • Persona Insight - Device Sizing
        • Persona Insight - Device Sizing Overview
        • Persona Insight - Device Sizing Configuration
      • Persona Insight - Application Sizing
        • Persona Insight - Application Sizing Overview
        • Persona Insight - Application Sizing Configuration
      • Legacy Persona documentation
        • Persona Insight - Library Pack (V.1.0.0.0)
        • Persona Insight - Base Pack
        • Persona Insight - Base Pack Advanced
        • Persona Insight - Customization Guide (V1.0.0.0)
        • Persona Insight - Configuration Guide (V1.0.0.0)
        • Persona Insight - Reference Guide (V1.0.0.0)
    • GSuite
      • GSuite: Health
      • GSuite: Services
      • GSuite: Sentiment
      • GSuite: Advanced Health
    • Support
      • Support: Level 1
    • Shadow IT
      • Shadow IT
    • Malware Protection
      • Malware Protection
    • Office 365 Health
      • Office 365 Health: Overview
      • Office 365 Health: Services
    • Office 365 OneDrive
      • OneDrive Summary
      • OneDrive Operations
      • OneDrive Advanced Health
      • OneDrive Migration
      • OneDrive Sentiment
      • OneDrive Management
      • OneDrive Advanced Operations
    • Office 365 Teams
      • Teams Overall Configuration
      • Teams - Migration
      • Teams - Health
      • Teams - Advanced Health
      • Teams - Adoption
    • Microsoft 365 Apps
      • Microsoft 365 Apps - Operate
    • Employee Self Service
      • Overview
      • Configuration
      • Usage
    • Onboarding Experience Management
      • OEM - Overview
      • OEM - Configuration
    • Office 365 Outlook
      • Outlook Troubleshooting
    • Virtualization
      • Virtualization: Operate
      • Virtualization: AVD - Advanced
      • Virtualization: Citrix Advanced
      • Virtualization: Project
      • Virtualization: Troubleshooting
        • Virtualization: Troubleshooting: Configuration
    • Windows
      • Win10: Configuration
      • Win10: Migration
      • Win10: Feature Update
      • Win10: Quality Update
      • Windows Defender Management
      • Administrators Management
    • Windows 11
      • Windows 11 - Readiness
      • Windows 11 - Migration Pilot
      • Windows 11 - Migration
      • Windows 11 - Operate
    • Webex
      • Webex Operate
    • Zoom
      • Zoom Operate
    • Remote Actions
      • Get Performance Monitor Data
      • Skype For Business
      • Restart Device
      • Upload Logs to S3 using PreSigned URLs
    • Software Asset Optimization
    • Collaboration Optimization
      • Collaboration Optimization - Solution Overview
      • Collaboration Optimization - Configuration
      • Collaboration Optimization - Usage / Troubleshooting
    • Systems Management
      • Manage Configuration Drift
      • MS ConfigMgr - Client Health
        • MS ConfigMgr - Client Health - Summary
        • MS ConfigMgr - Client Health - Configuration Guide
      • Intune
        • Intune - Health
          • Intune - Health - Summary
          • Intune - Health - Configuration Guide
    • Return to the office
      • Return to the office - Planning
      • Return to the office - Readiness
    • Green IT
      • Green IT - Overview
      • Green IT - Configuration Guide
    • Hybrid Working
      • Hybrid Working Experience
      • Hybrid Working Experience - Installation and upgrade procedure
  • Integrations
    • Nexthink ServiceNow Service Graph Connector
      • Overview
        • Roles and Permissions
        • Modules
      • Installation and Configuration Guide
        • Pre-requisites
          • Configure Identification Rules
          • Import and setup the CMDB categories in Finder
        • Setup
          • Configure the connection
          • Configure import properties
          • Configure additional engines
          • Set up scheduled import jobs
      • Data transformation and mapping by default
      • How to customize the behaviour of the Connector
      • FAQ
        • Why ServiceNow Service Graph Connector?
        • What about Nexthink CMDB Connector?
        • Why is the name the primary key for the devices?
      • Troubleshooting
        • IRE identification issues
          • [No Choice found in the sys_choice table for the target table](integrations/nexthink-servicenow-service-graph-connector/troubleshooting/ire-identification-issues/ no-choice-found-in-the-sys_choice-table-for-the-target-table.md)
          • Identification rules not created
          • Discovery_source choice not created
        • Timeout Errors
          • ECCResponseTimeoutException
          • HTTP 0 error
        • MID server issues
          • java.lang.NullPointerException
          • MID Server memory issues
          • Not trusted certificates in Quebec release
        • Configure credentials issues
          • [Not allowing update of property authentication_choice](integrations/nexthink-servicenow-service-graph-connector/troubleshooting/configure-credentials-issues/ not-allowing-update-of-property-authentication_choice.md)
          • Invalid username/password combo (HTTP 401/403)
        • Configure Engines Issues
          • [The client secret supplied for a confidential client is invalid](integrations/nexthink-servicenow-service-graph-connector/troubleshooting/configure-engines-issues/ the-client-secret-supplied-for-a-confidential-client-is-invalid.md)
        • No Cis imported and no errors found in the log
    • Nexthink ServiceNow Incident Management Connector (IMC)
      • Installation and configuration guide (IMC)
      • Troubleshooting Guide (IMC)
      • Domain separation installation (IMC)
    • Nexthink ServiceNow CMDB Connectors
      • Installation and Configuration Guide
      • Troubleshooting Guide
      • Field transformation and normalisation examples
    • Nexthink Event Connector
      • High level overview
      • Installation and Configuration Guide
      • Troubleshooting guide
      • RPM installation
      • Splunk specific documentation
        • Upgrading from Splunk Connector to Event Connector
        • Splunk add-on installation and usage
    • Nexthink Chatbot SDK
      • Introduction and concepts
      • Installation, configuration and update guide
        • Installation and configuration
        • Update to newer version
        • Uninstallation
        • Authentication
        • Topics configuration
        • Remote action configuration
        • Advanced configuration
        • Additional resources and references
      • Dimensioning guide
      • Troubleshooting
      • Technical solution description
      • Downloads and release notes
  • Glossary and references
    • Search and information display
      • Search in Finder
      • Keyboard shortcuts for column display selection
      • Campaign display compatibility
      • Real-time and consolidated service data
      • Service errors and warnings
      • Errors and warnings for devices and executions
      • Types of widgets
      • Widget compute state in charts
      • Errors in the execution of remote actions
      • Top results of Cross-Engine investigations
      • Engine data history
    • Tooltips in the user and device views
      • Alerts tooltips
      • Warnings tooltips
      • Errors tooltips
      • Activity tooltips
      • Services tooltips
    • Database information and organization
      • Maximum supported values
      • Local and shared content
      • Device Identification
      • Local IP address of devices
      • Timestamping of events
      • Boot and logon duration
      • Application startup duration
      • Application not responding events
      • Memory and CPU usage
      • Status of TCP connections
      • Status of UDP connections
      • Network and port scan conditions
      • Binary paths
      • Maximum number of Binaries
      • Package Executable Mapping
      • Metro apps
      • Investigation with packages
      • Portal aggregation and grouping
      • Focus time metric
    • Security
      • Access rights and permissions
      • Active Directory authentication
      • Canonical domain names for Windows authentication
      • System alerts
      • Audit trail
      • Appliance hardening
      • STIG hardening
      • FIPS 140-2 compliance
      • Security bulletins
        • Is Nexthink affected by Okta breach
        • Is Nexthink affected by SolarWinds breach
        • Nexthink and Log4j - Security bulletin
        • CVE-2022-22965 - Security Vulnerability Spring4shell - Spring Framework
        • Version 6.22.2.10: Security Vulnerability Maintenance Release
        • The Collector V6.27.X Release – Security Bulletin
    • References
      • Components of the Collector
      • Server support
      • Compatibility mode
    • Glossary
      • Activity
      • Alert
      • Application
      • Binary
      • Campaign
      • Category
      • Connection
      • Dashboard
      • Destination
      • Device
      • Domain
      • Entity
      • Event
      • Executable
      • Execution
      • Focus time
      • Hierarchy
      • Installation
      • Investigation
      • Keyword
      • Metric
      • Module
      • Object
      • Package
      • Platform
      • Port
      • Printer
      • Score
      • Service
      • Session
      • System boot
      • User
      • User logon
      • Web request
      • Widget
  • API and integrations
    • Integrating with Nexthink
      • Event Connector
      • Getting data through the NXQL API
      • Bidirectional integration with the Finder
      • Count metrics API
      • Software metering API
      • Services API
      • List Engines API
      • GetSID API
      • Triggering campaigns via their API
      • Triggering remote actions via their API
      • Audit trail API
      • Integrating investigation-based alerts
      • Downloads
    • NXQL API
      • Introducing the NXQL API
      • NXQL Tutorial
      • NXQL language definition
      • NXQL Data Model
    • Integrations
      • Excel integration with NXQL
      • Power BI
      • Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
      • Splunk Event Connector
    • ServiceNow
      • CMDB Connector
      • Incident Management Connector
      • Event Management

© Nexthink

  • Privacy policy
  • Responsible Disclosure Policy
On this page
  • Overview and Use Case
  • Pre-Requisites
  • Changelog
  • How the pack works
  • Pack Structure
  • Remote Actions
  • Scores
  • Categories
  • Dashboards
  • Device readiness summary
  • Hardware and OS readiness
  • Packages, applications and stability
  • Pilot candidates

Was this helpful?

  1. Library packs
  2. Windows 11

Windows 11 - Readiness

Last updated 9 months ago

Was this helpful?

Overview and Use Case

The Windows 11: Readiness Pack enables IT teams to uniquely understand their device landscape readiness for a Windows 11 migration at the device, application, and employee experience level by combining both Microsoft and Nexthink Digital Experience Score intelligence to look beyond simple hardware requirements. Transformation teams can also leverage employees' Digital Experience Score scores and their use of business-critical applications to determine the most appropriate candidates for their pilot group.

Pre-Requisites

Version 6.27 and above

Nexthink Experience

Changelog

V2.0.0.1 - Edited CPU category to better recognize 11th generation Intel CPU’s

V2.0.0.0 - DirectX and WDDM version detection, upgrade costs functionality and potential software OS upgrade blocker added

V1.0.0.1 - Minor enhancement to Score labels and added thresholds to hardware and software metrics

Please note that when importing this version of the pack into a system that already has the Windows 11 Readiness pack installed, you will receive the message “Some import tasks have conflicts”. It is important to select ‘Replace all’ to update all the metrics and change the score action from ‘Skip’ to ‘Replace' to update the score as shown below in the before and after screenshots:

V1.0.0.0 - Initial Release

How the pack works

The pack uses Remote Actions and Nexthink Analytics to run a set of tests against your landscape of devices which helps determine whether the hardware or the software installed allows them to be migrated to Windows 11, whether they will need an upgrade or whether they are blocked and will need replacing.

Pack Structure

The pack comprises two Remote Actions, seven categories, two scores, and metrics related to the dashboards.

The remote actions are data gathering and can be scheduled to run at a time decided by the IT department. They are required to determine the status and version of the TPM and the Secure Boot status.

The categories are required to be able to determine whether the CPU of the device is within the list of supported CPU's, to list critical and non-critical software that is to be tested for compatibility, and for testing the current OS version.

A score has been created to determine the overall readiness of the devices. Checks are carried out on the components that are part of Microsoft's compatibility criteria and the status of your software based on your entries within the categories. This is called the Device readiness score. A score of 0 for any item will deem the device not ready to migrate, but if all checks pass, a score of 10 is issued, meaning you can upgrade the device to Windows 11.

The above elements are all considered, and an overall device score is calculated to determine whether the device is ready to migrate to Windows 11.

Part of our pack helps also helps you identify pilot users who will be your best candidates to test on Windows 11 because they are the most active. With this in mind, we have included a category for you to list the applications you deem as critical, non-critical, as core productivity and core collaboration. From here, you can now measure the usage of these applications and find the most active users of them. This is an optional step should you wish to identify optimal pilot employees.

Remote Actions

The Windows 11: Readiness Pack library pack is underpinned by three Remote Actions reported within the dashboards.

The remote actions are:

  • Get BitLocker Information

  • Get Secure Boot Status

  • Get DirectX Information

*Please note that if you have previously installed the Disk Encryption remote action pack, you will need to select 'Replace' when prompted to receive the latest TPM check feature.

The remote action, Get Secure Boot Status, determines whether secure boot is enabled on the device.

The remote action Get DirectX Information determines the version of DirectX and WDDM driver. DirectX must be at version 12 or above and the WDDM driver at version 2.0 or above to be compatible.

Scores

The pack contains two score files. The first is used to determine whether a device requires upgrading or replacing and the second is to allow for upgrade or replacement costs to be calculated.

The score files are:

  • Windows 11 Readiness Score

  • Windows 11 asset renewal costs

To do this:

  • Open Finder and go to the Scores section

Right-click the Windows 11 asset renewal costs score and select Export → Score to file… and save to a location where you can easily find the saved file

Select the Windows 11 asset renewal costs score file that was saved earlier and click Open

A confirmation will be displayed saying the score has been loaded. Click OK

The score file is now loaded

There are four leaf score items that will require that you enter a monetary value for, they are:

  • Replacement desktop costs

  • Replacement laptops costs

  • Memory upgrade costs

  • Disk upgrade costs

Taking Replacement desktop costs as an example, if the cost of a new desktop costs $1000, you will need to enter this figure into the Replacement desktop costs leaf score item. To do this, click on Replacement desktop costs which will display the values. Enter 1000 in the field ‘From (Score)’ next to the field ‘From (Value)’ that has the value 0 as shown below:

Do the same for each other leaf score making sure to enter the correct monetary value for each one.

Once complete, click on ‘Save score…' to save the new score file. The file will be saved to your default save folder (normally Downloads).

Return to the Scores section within the Finder and right-click the Windows 11 Readiness folder and select Import-->Scores from file…

Browse to where your newly created score file was saved to, select and click Open

A conflict message will be displayed, click on the drop-down menu and select ‘Replace’

Click Apply

The new score file is now loaded with the new values.

Categories

Categories are used to determine device compatibility and capture the relevant information for the migration, such as excluding servers and VDI devices from the overall view.

The categories are:

  • Windows 11 Readiness - Compatible CPU's

    • This category contains the list of the currently supported CPU's as determined by Microsoft. The list is correct as of 01/10/2021.

    • Should Microsoft amend the list of compatible CPU's (as recently was the case when Microsoft added three more CPU’s to the compatibility list), you will need to add these CPU's to the list. To do this:

      • Find the Windows 11 Readiness - Compatible CPU's category and double click to edit it

      <figure><img src="../../.gitbook/assets/image-20211008-144921.png" alt="" width="612"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
      From the list of keywords that opens, find the CPU's family the CPU is going into and highlight. In this example, we will use Intel i9 CPU

      *

      <figure><img src="../../.gitbook/assets/image-20211008-145558.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
      
      Click on 'Click here to add a new condition

      *

      <figure><img src="../../.gitbook/assets/image-20211008-145634.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
      
      Enter the new CPU name in the last field
      
      <figure><img src="../../.gitbook/assets/image-20211008-145829.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
      • if you wish to remove any CPU's from the list, click on the bin next to the area you want to remove:

  • Windows 11 Readiness - Excluded devices

    • This category contains the devices that you wish to exclude from the readiness check. Servers have already been added, but if a business-critical device, for example, a workstation running a critical application, needs to be excluded from the readiness check, it should be added to this list.

  • Virtualization type

    • As virtual devices are not part of the scope for the migration pack due to the vastly different configurations on customer premises, the category Virtualization type which is part of the Digital Experience Score pack is utilized. Within the category, there is the ‘Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)’ keyword where the Auto-tagging conditions must be edited to match your environment.

  • Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness*

    • This optional category contains your list of critical packages that have been tested on a test Windows 11 device. Within the category, you have Critical application compatible; Critical application requires upgrade and Critical application incompatible keywords with associated lists. As you test your critical packages, you will add their name to this list should they prove to be compatible, incompatible, or requires an upgrade. Any package tested and not added to one of these lists is deemed as compatible and working ok. It is acceptable to leave this category empty if required as, by default, all packages are considered compatible.

  • Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness*

    • This optional category contains your list of non-critical packages that have been tested on a test Windows 11 device. Within the category, you have Application incompatible, and Application requires upgrade keywords with associated lists. As you test your packages, you will add their name to this list should it prove to be either incompatible or needs an upgrade. Any package tested and not added to one of these lists is deemed as compatible and working ok. It is acceptable to leave this category empty if required as, by default, all packages are considered compatible.

  • Windows 11 Readiness - Operating systems

    • This category is used to determine the version of Windows that is currently installed on the device. No alterations should be necessary to this category.

  • Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates

    • This category is used to list the applications to be monitored to determine the most appropriate pilot users. The keywords that have been determined are Critical applications, Non-critical applications, Productivity applications, and Collaboration applications. The applications entered within this list will be reported upon listing the most focus time users and should be considered possible pilot candidates.

*Before proceeding with the software status testing, you need to add the software you wish to test within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories. To do this (using the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness category as an example:

  • Find the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness category and double click to edit it

  • The list of keywords will be displayed

  • Select the keyword you wish to populate. The keywords available are 'Critical application compatible,' 'Critical location requires upgrade', and 'Critical application incompatible’ For this documentation, 'Critical application compatible' will be selected.

  • Make sure that 'Name' is selected in the first field and 'is' is selected in the second field. In the field 'TYPE SOFTWARE NAME HERE', start to type the name of the compatible software, and the system will begin to auto-populate the field.

  • Select the application from the drop-down list

  • You can now click on ‘Save and close' or click on 'Click here to add a new condition’ if further entries are required.

  • Enter the details of the new software as described above.

  • keep adding software and click on 'Save and close' when complete

  • The remaining keywords are completed in the same manner.

Dashboards

Device readiness summary

This dashboard gives you an overview of how ready your devices are to migrate to Windows 11.

Device readiness summary

These widgets give you an overview of how ready your devices are to migrate to Windows 11. Several factors are taken into consideration when determining the device's readiness. They are the Microsoft compatibility criteria, the Device readiness score, the current Digital Experience Score of the device, and whether critical or non-critical software has been defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories.

  • Total devices The total devices within your estate seen within the last day

  • Devices not ready to migrate The devices within your estate that have software that requires upgrading or is incompatible or the hardware has failed part or all of Microsoft's criteria and has therefore received a device readiness score of 0.

  • Devices ready but with low Digital Experience Score Devices that have passed all criteria checks and have received a Device readiness score of 10 but have a low Digital Experience Score. Investigations should be carried out to discover why.

  • Devices ready but no-account activity Devices that have been identified as ready for migration but have not been used recently could help with the upgrade as there is no need to schedule an outage with the user while the upgrade takes place.

  • Total packages As well as the packages defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories, all other packages are also counted within your estate. This can help give an overall inventory so that there is an easy way to understand how many applications exist in a particular part of the hierarchy so that Windows 11 compatibility testing if required, can be arranged.

  • History of device readiness The line chart shows you a historical trend of how well you are moving your devices from non-migration ready to migration ready.

  • Readiness by region The total count of devices per region that are ready for migration will help you to plan and track the readiness for each country or region to give local support teams a view of their readiness.

  • Readiness by department The count of devices by the department that is ready for migration will help you plan and track each department's readiness to give local support teams a view of their readiness.

Hardware and OS readiness

This dashboard gives you a breakdown of how ready your hardware and the current operating system (Windows) are to move to Windows 11.

Hardware readiness

Total Devices

  • The total devices within your estate seen within the last day

Hardware ready

Hardware needs upgrading

Hardware not upgradable

History of device readiness

  • The line chart shows you a historical trend of how well you are moving your devices from non-migration ready to migration ready.

Hardware readiness by region

  • A breakdown of the status of your hardware readiness per region will help you pinpoint areas where more attention is required due to hardware requiring upgrades or is incompatible.

Hardware readiness by model

  • A breakdown of the status of your hardware readiness per model will help you pinpoint areas where more attention is required due to a particular hardware model either requiring an upgrade or is incompatible.

Hardware that requires an upgrade

  • Hard drive

    • The count of devices that require an upgrade of the hard drive to meet the Microsoft Compatibility Criteria

  • Memory

    • The count of devices that require an upgrade of the internal memory to meet the Microsoft Compatibility Criteria

  • Enable secure boot

    • The count of devices that require that secure boot is enabled to meet the Microsoft Compatibility Criteria.

Cost to upgrade devices

  • Hard drives

    • The cost of replacing the hard drive in devices that can be upgraded

  • Memory

    • The cost of replacing the memory in devices that can be upgraded

Cost per location to upgrade

  • A breakdown of the costs to upgrade all devices that can be upgraded

Hardware to be replaced

  • To replace

  • Desktops to replace

  • Laptops to replace

  • CPU incompatible

  • TPM incompatible

Cost to replace devices

  • Desktops

    • The cost of replacing all desktops that have been determined to have an incompatible CPU or TPM

  • Laptops

    • The cost of replacing all laptops that have been determined to have an incompatible CPU or TPM

Cost per location to replace

  • A breakdown of the costs to replace all desktops and laptops that have been determined to have an incompatible CPU or TPM on a regional basis

Operating systems ready to migrate

  • These devices have a compatible Windows 10 operating system that will allow for an in situ upgrade of the device to Windows 11

Operating systems requiring upgrade

  • These devices have an incompatible Windows operating system and therefore cannot be upgraded in situ to Windows 11. These devices will either have to be upgraded to a compatible version of Windows 10 first or a complete wipe and fresh install of Windows 11 will be required.

Packages, applications and stability

This dashboard gives you an overview of how ready your devices are to migrate to Windows regarding the installed packages, applications, and the overall stability of the devices.

Packages

Device package status

  • To upgrade The device(s) being tested have been found to have software installed defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories as needing to be upgraded. The software will therefore need to be upgraded to make it Windows 11 compatible.

  • Not upgradable The devices(s) being tested have been found to have software installed defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories as being incompatible with Windows 11. The package vendor would need to be contacted to determine whether a new compatible version will be released or whether the software should be discarded.

  • History of package readiness The line chart shows you a historical trend of how well you are moving your packages from non-migration ready to migration ready.

Devices ready

A hierarchical view is displayed, which will help determine which areas are more ready for migration and which areas require further work on the estate.

Ready with critical package

Total devices

  • The total devices within your estate seen within the last day

Ready to migrate

  • The devices that have passed the hardware check and have critical software installed that are deemed as compatible.

Ready without critical package

  • The devices that have passed the hardware check and do not have any critical software installed.

Device not ready

A breakdown per region of the devices that are not ready to migrate with the software installed as defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories.

Total devices

  • The total devices within your estate seen within the last day

Not ready to migrate

  • The devices that have failed the hardware check and are not ready to migrate. Investigations will be required to find out why the device(s) failed the check.

Not ready with critical package

  • The devices that have failed the hardware check and have critical software installed that are deemed as compatible. Investigations will be required to find out why the device(s) failed the check. Care should also be taken as the device(s) in question have critical software installed as defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories.

Not ready without critical package

  • The devices that have failed the hardware check and do not have any critical software installed.

Application performance

It's important to maintain an accurate view of your application estate and the resources they require to run successfully. This dashboard gives you an overview of your most resource-intensive applications, which will help you decide whether to carry out any upgrades to devices to accommodate these applications better.

Applications that have experienced issues with crashes or freezes are shown and should be investigated. An application crashing on the current device with Windows 10 is likely to continue to crash on Windows 11. This will provide a poor user experience and a poor impression of the new operating system and migration process.

Most deployed applications

  • A list of the most used applications within your estate will help you identify highly used applications that may be required if not defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories.

Most deployed applications average CPU usage ratio

  • Applications that consume a high average CPU ratio should be investigated before the migration is carried out. An application using a high usage CPU ratio on the current device with Windows 10 is likely to continue on Windows 11. This will provide a poor user experience and a poor impression of the new operating system and migration process.

Biggest memory footprint

  • A list of applications and the average memory they consume will help you determine whether a device should receive a memory upgrade as part of the migration to accommodate applications that consume a large amount of memory.

Application stability and deployment

Most deployed application crashes

  • Applications that have suffered crashes should be investigated before the migration is carried out. An application crashing on the current device with Windows 10 is likely to continue to crash on Windows 11. This will provide a poor user experience and a poor impression of the new operating system and migration process.

Most deployed application freezes

  • Applications that have suffered freezes should be investigated before the migration is carried out. An application freezing on the current device with Windows 10 is likely to continue to freeze on Windows 11. This will provide a poor user experience and a poor impression of the new operating system and migration process.

Potential software OS upgrade blockers

This section allows you to target specific software that has been identified from initial internal testing as potentially preventing the device from upgrading to Windows 11.

Two examples are shown. The first shows devices where the version of ConfigMgr is below a certain exe file version, which can prevent the upgrade.

The second shows devices with the VMWare Workstation or VMWare Player application installed which again, depending on the version, can also prevent the upgrade.

The metrics related to these examples are:

  • Windows 11 Readiness - ConfigMgr

  • Windows 11 Readiness - VMWare

These metrics can either be edited to point to the application or exe file that has been discovered as incompatible during internal testing or copied and added to the Packages, applications and stability dashboard as additional widgets.

Pilot candidates

This dashboard gives you a breakdown of the employees and their use of critical, non-critical, productivity, and collaboration applications to determine the most appropriate candidates to be used as pilots for the migration to Windows 11.

This is a critical step in your analysis as migrating an unsuitable pilot set of users with a key set of applications runs the risk of receiving no feedback, so assume all is ok.

You run the risk that you impact production once migrated because they may simply not have been using the applications beyond a simple cursory task.

By using focus time, you understand who your most significant users are of your critical applications, non-critical applications, productivity, and collaboration users. These users can be targeted as potential pilot candidates to move to Windows 11. You will be safe in the knowledge that the chosen candidates are heavy users of these applications and will provide you with a high level of confidence that they will provide feedback that will be relevant and comprehensive.

This dashboard uses the Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates category, which needs to have the applications to be monitored added to this list.

To add applications to this list:

  • Find the Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates category and double click to edit it

  • The list of keywords will be displayed

  • Select the keyword you wish to populate. The keywords are 'Critical applications', 'Non-critical applications', 'Productivity applications' and 'Collaboration applications’. For this documentation, 'Critical applications' will be selected.

  • Ensure that 'Executable name' is selected in the first field and 'is' is selected in the second field. In the field 'EXECUTABLE NAME HERE', start to type the name of the .exe that is considered a critical application, and the system will begin to auto-populate the field.

  • Select the application from the drop-down list

  • You can now either click on ‘Save and close' or click on 'Click here to add a new condition’ if further entries are required.

  • Enter the details of the new software as described above.

  • keep adding software and click on 'Save and close' when complete

  • The remaining keywords are completed in the same manner.

Focus time top users critical applications

  • A breakdown of the users with focus time greater than four hours of your critical applications as defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates category.

Focus time top users non-critical applications

  • A breakdown of the users with focus time greater than four hours of your non-critical applications as defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates category.

Focus time top users productivity applications

  • A breakdown of the users with focus time greater than four hours of your productivity applications as defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates category.

Focus time top users collaborations

  • A breakdown of the users with focus time greater than four hours of your collaboration applications as defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates category.

Focus time by region

  • A breakdown of the users with focus time greater than four hours on a regional basis using the applications defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Applications pilot candidates category. By understanding your regional breakdown, a particular team could handle a particular application in a region where it is heavily used.

There are stringent requirements for Windows 11 from Microsoft (), and we test for these in the remote actions as described below.

The remote action, Get BitLocker Information, determines whether a TPM is present on the device and its version. Version 2.0 is required for the device to pass the hardware check. More information is available here: .

The Windows 11 asset renewal costs score requires some minor modification before it can be used. The score should be exported to a file, the costs per item for Desktops, Laptops, Memory, and Hard Drives should be entered into the score file by editing it within the and it should then be re-imported into the pack.

Browse to and click on ‘Load score…’

Devices ready to migrate The devices within your estate do not have any software that requires upgrading or is incompatible. The hardware has been tested by Nexthink and has passed all the required hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard (). The digital experience score of the device also has to be greater than seven.

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to pass all the required hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard ().

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to require an upgrade to the hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard (), such as the memory or the available hard drive size.

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to fail the hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard (), such as the TPM version not being version 2.0, or the CPU is not supported.

Thes total count of devices that have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to fail the hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard ()

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to fail the hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard (), such as the TPM version not being version 2.0, or the CPU is not supported.

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to fail the hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard (), such as the TPM version not being version 2.0, or the CPU is not supported.

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to fail the hardware component test for the CPU that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard ()

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to fail the hardware component test for the TPM version that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard ()

Devices ready These devices do not have any software that is incompatible requires upgrading and have been tested by Nexthink and have passed all the required hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard ().

These devices have been tested by Nexthink and have been shown to pass all the required hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard () and are ready to migrate with the installed software as defined within the Windows 11 Readiness - Critical package readiness and Windows 11 Readiness - Non-critical package readiness categories.

These devices do not have any software that is incompatible requires upgrading and have been tested by Nexthink and have passed all the required hardware component levels that Microsoft has defined in their Windows 11 standard ().

Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Disk Encryption | Nexthink
Scores Creator (nexthink.com)
Scores Creator (nexthink.com)
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Windows 11 Specs and System Requirements | Microsoft
Nexthink | Assessing Windows 11 Readiness | Product Demo
Before: “Some import tasks have conflicts” message
After: Replace buttons highlighted