Windows Question...

OK, not the window pane, but a Windows pain...

I have a small laptop I (wanted to) use for school. I mean, it's a great little machine with Win10. I bought it to use for PowerPoint presentations in the classes I teach in an Okinawan middle school. Has a 10" screen, 256GB drive, slim build, lightweight so I can just stick it in my bag for class, and go.

Worked great for ab out a month until it automatically downloaded an update that completely destroyed the HDMI output. No signal. This seems to be a common problem, and MS has not resolved it for years.

Many folks on many forums have discussed resolutions to the problem, many fixes, and more people complain that none of them seem to work. There are really simple fixes like check the cable, make sure the computer is plugged in properly, plug this unplug that, reboot, and such. Then there are the really complicated programming solutions that require being tech-savvy (which I am not).

There are 24 classrooms in my school, and each has a widescreen TV monitor with HDMI, or a whiteboard projector with HDMI input -- all of which worked with my laptop until the MS update. that means I tried it with all 24 HDMI cables (plus a few of my own cables) and none of them were the problem, so it is not a problem with a worn or loose cable.

OK, so now I use the laptop for just puttering around on the Net, and I get a pop-up offering free Win11. Seems legit, but...

Has anyone here actually downloaded this free Win11 setup?

Is it actually, really, totally free, and it is fully functional?

Is there some limitation, like I have to purchase the program after one year, or it works for only a month on a free trial basis, etc.?

And -- does Win11 resolve the HDMI problem?