Winows 10

[georgegig]

Initial Question/Comment: I am using Model # h8-1360t with Windows 7 installed.I intend to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro.Arethere Windows 10 drivers for my system?And can you provide me with any other information critical to the upgrade?

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@georgegig

Hello;

Allow me to welcome you to the HP forums!

I've upgraded several Win7 PCs to Win10 -- and they all had problems of one kind or another. Two of them failed the upgrade so badly that I had to restore them to their factory settings to get them back to working condition. ... so I wrote this to provide advice to folks considering such an upgrade ...

You need to think about how much work you want to commit to just to run Win10. Seriously.

Some of the older Win7 machines came with two different graphics chips -- and Intel and then, either an AMD or Nvidia. This was known as Switchable Graphics or Hybrid Graphics. You ran using the Intel chip most of the time, but when you needed extra graphics power, like in Gaming, the PC automatically switched over to using the AMD or Nvidia graphics chip.

Problem is, this requires special graphics drivers to work, and while those came preinstalled on the Win7 PCs, those drivers simply do not exist for Win10. Those drivers are not available from Intel, AMD, or Nvidia. A way to tell if your PC has two different graphics chips is to look in Device Manager under Display Adapters.

IMPORTANT: If there are two graphics different adapters listed, one Intel and one AMD/Nividia, then you have this problem -- and if you force an upgrade to Win10, you will have serious graphics problems and your machine will not work.

However, if you do not have this problem, to CAN upgrade to Win10, but you must be prepared to do four things:

If you are determined to upgrade to Win10, you must be prepared to do four things:
1) Make a complete image backup to external drive or large capacity USB stick,
2) Make changes to the reserved system partitioning scheme on your hard drive,
3) Use a different approach, and maybe more than one, than Windows Update to do the Upgrade,
4) Prepare for a clean-install.

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1: Image Backup:
This is VITAL because the machine is likely to fail the upgrade, and when it does, you will learn that the Win10 GoBack function is NOT reliable, and that can leave you with a corrupted machine that will require factory reset, and losing everything on it, to get it working again.

You avoid this by making an image backup to an external drive or USB stick using Macrium Reflect (MR) which provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or entire drives.

What I recommend is the following:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR)
2) Run MR and choose the option: "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows" to write a full backup to an external drive or USB stick
3) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

NOW, you have the means to restore a full working system from the external drive or USB stick in only a few minutes.

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2: System Reserved Resizing:
There is a small partition on the hard drive of Win7 preinstalled machines known as System Reserved. This holds something known as the boot loader code. It is 100MB in size -- all that is needed for Win7. But Win10 needs 350MB, and, in some cases, is NOT able to resize this on its own. You will only discover this problem when the upgrade FAILS and generates a message about being unable to resize System Reserved. IF that happens, you have to restore your PC back to Win7 (which is why you need the backup), and then have to manually use a partitioning tool to resize the System Reserved partition to 350MB yourself.

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3: Use a different Upgrade approach:
Windows Update is the easiest, but least reliable, way to do the Win10 Upgrade. A much better, and more reliable way, is to use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install?ocid=ms_wol_win10 Choose the Upgrade this PC now option.

After all that, you need to know that MS installs drivers with only the most basic functionality. Since HP does not have Win10 drivers for your PC, this limited functionality is the best you're going to get. HP is not actively writing new Win10 drivers for the old Win7 PCs. To retain full functionality of your PC, your best move is NOT to upgrade to Win10.

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4: Prepare for clean-install:
If you do all this, and after the upgrade, your PC is only partially functioning, that means that the Upgrade did not go well and stuff is still there from the prior OS corrupting the functionality of Win10.

You MIGHT be able to fix this by doing a clean-install of Win10. Problem is that a clean-install often does not recognize the prior activation, even though it should. So, BEFORE you do the upgrade, follow these instructions from the community Win10 forums about creating a genuineticket.xml file: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/23354-clean-install-windows-10-directly-without-having-upgrade-fi...

You will need this later to activate your Win10 pc after the clean-install.

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Good Luck

[mdklassen]

See: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/h8-1360t-windows10/td-p/5319546

where one person had problems updating the same model computer as your vintage-2011 system from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

How old is your disk-drive?  After 5 or 6 years, it is more suspectible to "dying" than a brand-new disk-drive.

I hope that you are keeping good "backup" images.

I would stick with Windows 7 until January 2020, when Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7, and then purchase a new computer at that time.

If you want to upgrade to Windows 10, I advise that you purchase a new disk-drive, temporarily remove your current disk-drive, and try to install Windows 10 onto the new disk-drive.  If all goes well, reconnect your current disk-drive as a "slave" disk-drive, and copy all your files from "old" to "new".  If the installation attempt "blows up real good" (John Candy from Second City TV), then remove the new disk-drive, reconnect the current disk-drive, and resume normal operations.

[georgegig]

Thank you for all. I did purchase the machine in 2013 but now realize that it was in existence for two prior years. I have decided to purchase a similar computer with windows 10 installed and keeping Windows 7 on the old one. Possibly linking the two, if at all possible.

[mdklassen]

>  Possibly linking the two, if at all possible.

Windows computers are designed to be linked onto a "network".

Just connect both of them (wired or wireless) to your own router.

Sometimes, your Internet Service Provider has given you a "combination" device,

e.g., DSL-modem or cable-modem combined with "router" software to control the 4 'LAN' ports and wireless capability.

[georgegig]

Once upon a time I connected via cable to serial ports. The modem/router does have two slots. Not sure how it will react with two cabled devices connected.

[georgegig]

Thank you for the information/recommendations. I intend to save select files from the WIN 7 computer to a new Win 10 one. The image and boot information will certainly be used for the new system.

[mdklassen]

> Not sure how it will react with two cabled devices connected.

As long as both ports are labelled 'LAN' ports, not one 'LAN' and one 'WAN', you will be OK.

The router will assign unique IP-addresses to each of the connected computers, and Windows will be able to "see" each of your computers on the *network* , and you will be able to choose what to "share" (pictures, documents, printers, et cetera) between your two computers.

[georgegig]

Exactly what i was hoping. Thanks for the information. Win 10 on it's way.