Microsoft will officially end support for Windows 10 on 14 October 2025. After this date, Windows 10 will no longer receive free updates, technical support, or security patches.
As a result, many users will upgrade their existing machines to Windows 11 or purchase new computers running Windows 11 to host Front Desk.
There are two things you need to know before upgrading:
1) SQL Version Compatibility
If you are running SQL Server 2014 or below, and you intend to upgrade your database host computer to Windows 11, please open a support case at www.smartsoft.com.au/support for assistance installing an appropriate SQL version.
Not sure what SQL version you are running?
You can see this information within Front Desk by going to
Help > About Front Desk.
2) Disk Compatibility for Windows 11 and SQL Server
While the latest version of Front Desk is compatible with Windows 11, there is a known compatibility issue involving Microsoft SQL Server and specific hard disk types.
This issue does not affect Front Desk client machines upgrading to Windows 11, however it may affect upgrading your database host machine if you have a certain disk type.
What is the issue?
Microsoft SQL Server may not run on Windows 11 if your system drive has a sector size greater than 4 KB, a configuration found in some newer hard drives. If affected, this will prevent SQL Server—and therefore Front Desk—from running until the issue is resolved.
You can find more technical information from Microsoft here:
Microsoft SQL Server: Troubleshooting errors related to system disk sector size greater than 4 KB
Recommendation
As per the Microsoft article above, please follow these steps to confirm if your disk is affected:
1) Open CMD as an Administrator
2) Enter the following command, repeating for each disk on your computer (C:, D:, E:, etc)
fsutil fsinfo sectorinfo C:
3) Look for the values PhysicalBytesPerSectorForAtomicity and PhysicalBytesPerSectorForPerformance, and confirm if either if these values are above 4096, which indicates that your disk will be affected by this issue.
If either of these values are above 4096, any installation of Microsoft SQL Server on this disk will likely fail.
Please consult with your preferred IT provider, referencing the Microsoft article above for further details.
If these values are equal to or below 4096, you should not be affected by this issue.
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