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Sense","\u002Fblog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-2-free-up-disk-drive-space-by-enabling-storage-sense","blog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-2-free-up-disk-drive-space-by-enabling-storage-sense",{"title":162,"path":163,"stem":164},"Windows 10 QuickTip #4 Backup Your Windows PC for Free with OneDrive","\u002Fblog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-4-backup-your-windows-pc-for-free-with-onedrive","blog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-4-backup-your-windows-pc-for-free-with-onedrive",{"title":166,"path":167,"stem":168},"Windows 10 QuickTip #5 Zoom in and Zoom out on Your Web Browser","\u002Fblog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-5-zoom-in-and-zoom-out-on-your-web-browser","blog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-5-zoom-in-and-zoom-out-on-your-web-browser",{"title":58,"path":170,"stem":171},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-backup-your-windows-pc-for-free-with-google-backup-and-sync","blog\u002Fwindows-10-quicktip-backup-your-windows-pc-for-free-with-google-backup-and-sync",false,{"id":174,"title":42,"author":175,"body":179,"date":423,"description":424,"extension":425,"image":426,"meta":427,"minRead":433,"navigation":226,"path":43,"seo":434,"stem":44,"__hash__":435},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fcan-ai-be-a-system-administrator-fixing-a-stuck-windows-11-upgrade.md",{"name":176,"avatar":177},"Kevin Stevenson",{"src":178,"alt":176},"\u002Favatar.png",{"type":180,"value":181,"toc":409},"minimark",[182,186,189,212,215,220,227,232,235,242,250,254,260,279,282,286,293,300,304,307,323,326,330,333,349,356,359,363,389,393,402],[183,184,185],"p",{},"If you're not using AI in your system administration work, you might be missing out on a lot. But you can't just trust whatever it spits out, even from the big frontier models.",[183,187,188],{},"To put that to the test, I took a real problem from my home lab: a Windows 11 Pro VM stuck on 21H2, which hit end of life in June 2023 and stopped receiving updates. Windows Update just won't budge. So I put three AIs on the case:",[190,191,192,200,206],"ul",{},[193,194,195,199],"li",{},[196,197,198],"strong",{},"Qwen3 14B"," running locally in LM Studio",[193,201,202,205],{},[196,203,204],{},"Qwen3 27B"," running in VS Code",[193,207,208,211],{},[196,209,210],{},"Google Gemini"," (cloud\u002Ffrontier model)",[183,213,214],{},"I wanted to see how each one approached the problem and whether their answers held up. Here's what happened.",[216,217,219],"h3",{"id":218},"full-video","Full video",[221,222],"iframe",{"style":223,"src":224,"allow":225,"allowFullScreen":226},"width:100%; aspect-ratio:16\u002F9; border:0; border-radius:0.5rem;","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FGm31dN0itCo","accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture",true,[228,229,231],"h2",{"id":230},"setting-up-the-ai-lineup","Setting up the AI lineup",[183,233,234],{},"I gave all three AIs the same starting prompt, a short \"you are an expert system administrator\" setup, so everyone was on the same playing field.",[183,236,237,238,241],{},"One catch right away: ",[196,239,240],{},"the local 14B model doesn't support images."," I could paste screenshots of the Windows Update screen straight into Gemini and VS Code, but for LM Studio I had to describe the screenshot in text instead.",[183,243,244,245,249],{},"Also useful: telling them to ",[246,247,248],"em",{},"stop being verbose",". A quick \"short answer only\" instruction got the 27B and Gemini to cut the chatty diagnostics down to something usable.",[228,251,253],{"id":252},"the-ais-disagree","The AIs disagree",[183,255,256,257],{},"With the problem described, I asked all three: ",[246,258,259],{},"\"I need to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 11. It's stuck on 21H2.\"",[190,261,262,274],{},[193,263,264,266,267,270,271],{},[196,265,204],{}," and ",[196,268,269],{},"Gemini"," both suspected a ",[196,272,273],{},"TPM issue",[193,275,276,278],{},[196,277,198],{}," went off in a completely different direction and suggested Hyper-V checks — which was off base, since this VM isn't even on Hyper-V",[183,280,281],{},"Two out of three agreeing isn't proof, but it's worth a check.",[228,283,285],{"id":284},"verifying-the-tpm-diagnosis","Verifying the TPM diagnosis",[183,287,288,289,292],{},"You verify AI answers the same way you'd verify a coworker's. I opened Computer Management → Device Manager and confirmed the VM ",[196,290,291],{},"does"," have TPM 2.0. Then I fed that result back to all three AIs.",[183,294,295,296,299],{},"The 27B kept pushing update drivers and other fixes, but Gemini's response was the one that landed: the upgrade was blocked because of the ",[196,297,298],{},"CPU",", not the TPM. That matched my own suspicion. The VM's Proxmox CPU type was the problem.",[228,301,303],{"id":302},"the-real-culprit-proxmox-cpu-type","The real culprit: Proxmox CPU type",[183,305,306],{},"In Proxmox, the VM's CPU type was set to an older default, and Windows 11's upgrade checks reject it. The fix:",[308,309,310,313,320],"ol",{},[193,311,312],{},"Shut down the VM",[193,314,315,316,319],{},"In Proxmox, change the ",[196,317,318],{},"CPU Type"," on the VM's hardware settings (I went one version back first, then moved forward when that worked)",[193,321,322],{},"Boot it back up and confirm the new CPU shows up in Windows. Device Manager now reported a virtual CPU 2.5+",[183,324,325],{},"With the CPU fixed, those blockers were gone. But Windows Update still offered nothing, so it was time for the manual route.",[228,327,329],{"id":328},"downloading-and-mounting-the-windows-11-iso","Downloading and mounting the Windows 11 ISO",[183,331,332],{},"The reliable way to force this upgrade:",[308,334,335,338,341],{},[193,336,337],{},"Download the Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft",[193,339,340],{},"Mount it in the VM (on my machine it showed up as the F: drive)",[193,342,343,344,348],{},"Run ",[345,346,347],"code",{},"setup.exe"," from the mounted drive",[183,350,351,352,355],{},"Because I was working in PowerShell, I used the ",[345,353,354],{},".\\setup.exe"," form. PowerShell wants the explicit path qualifier for the current directory.",[183,357,358],{},"The upgrade kicked off. Windows logo, \"Preparing,\" and we're finally off 21H2.",[228,360,362],{"id":361},"takeaways","Takeaways",[190,364,365,371,377,383],{},[193,366,367,370],{},[196,368,369],{},"AI is a good sysadmin copilot, not an autopilot."," The local 14B model was confidently wrong. Even the frontier model needed a nudge toward the real root cause.",[193,372,373,376],{},[196,374,375],{},"Verify everything."," Checking Device Manager for TPM 2.0 took two minutes and ruled out two of the three diagnoses.",[193,378,379,382],{},[196,380,381],{},"Local models have real limits."," No image support on the 14B meant extra work describing screens. It still runs entirely on my own hardware, though.",[193,384,385,388],{},[196,386,387],{},"The classic fixes still apply."," Sometimes the answer is just \"mount the ISO and run setup.\"",[216,390,392],{"id":391},"support-my-work","SUPPORT MY WORK",[183,394,395],{},[396,397,401],"a",{"href":398,"rel":399},"https:\u002F\u002Fphasedlogix.com",[400],"nofollow","Hire US",[183,403,404],{},[396,405,408],{"href":406,"rel":407},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.buymeacoffee.com\u002Fgetmethegeek",[400],"Buy Me a Coffee",{"title":410,"searchDepth":411,"depth":411,"links":412},"",2,[413,415,416,417,418,419,420],{"id":218,"depth":414,"text":219},3,{"id":230,"depth":411,"text":231},{"id":252,"depth":411,"text":253},{"id":284,"depth":411,"text":285},{"id":302,"depth":411,"text":303},{"id":328,"depth":411,"text":329},{"id":361,"depth":411,"text":362,"children":421},[422],{"id":391,"depth":414,"text":392},"2026-08-27","I gave three AIs (Qwen3 14B, Qwen3 27B, and Gemini) a Windows 11 VM stuck on end-of-life 21H2. Two got it wrong. How to use AI as a sysadmin copilot without blindly trusting it.","md","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fcan-ai-be-a-system-administrator-fixing-a-stuck-windows-11-upgrade.webp",{"tags":428},[429,430,431,432],"ai","proxmox","windows-11","homelab",5,{"title":42,"description":424},"Vvsncg5qL0l931UvWth4qMWe_dP1JKZ849EejW_xrfY",[437,439],{"title":38,"path":39,"stem":40,"description":438,"children":-1},"In this video, I go over the best budget #security system of 2019.",{"title":46,"path":47,"stem":48,"description":440,"children":-1},"How to create Windows 10 Virtual Machine on Proxmox",1789484070257]