Can we install Windows 10 on HP Compaq dc7600 PC Small Form Factor PC?

[H0rsePower]

February 10, 2019

Hello,

I have an "old" HP Compaq dc7600 PC Small Form Factor PC. On this machine there is to install Windows 7.

I erased everything because I thought I could easily install Windows 10. But there is nothing to do. Even if the CD / DVD drive is correct, the dc7600 will not boot to the CD / DVD. And yet the BIOS has the right configuration.

What happens is that we see the "HP Compaq page" and then the "Windows 10 page" and then the computer restarts and returns to the "HP Compaq" and we review the "Windows 10 page" and again a restart. It's an endless loop.

I also removed the hard drive and put it on it to be able to install Windows 10 from the hard drive. On a newer computer it works.

If I redo the process and I put the hard disk in the dc7600 we still have the loop "HP Compaq Page, Windows 10". An endless loop.

I am surprised to be not able to install Windows 10 on the ds7600 because it works well with Windows 7. Moreover, it respects the minimum for the configuration to be able to install Windows 10.

Has anyone managed to install Windows on the HP Compaq dc7600 PC Small Form Factor PC and if so, how did you do it? Give details please.

Only answer if you really try and it works.

I do not like boasters who claim to have done things and, in the end, they did nothing but brag about it.

Thank you.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I think you should try to install an older release of W10 and see if it works.

Because I agree with you, on paper it should work.

I have a dc7800 CMT, and it runs the latest build of W10 v1809 just fine.

Let me explain why I suggest this approach...

I have a HP nc6400 business notebook.  It has the mobile version of the Intel 945 chipset the dc7600 has.

It ran W10 just fine.  But when I tried to upgrade it to the latest version (1809), it would not work.

W10 would install to a point, tells me it will restart, and then nothing happened.  The PC just locked up.

I tried it two or three times just to see if it was a fluke.

So, I had to roll back to v1803.

If you do not know where to get an older W10 ISO file to try, you can generate one from this site at the link below...

This utility accesses the Microsoft Techbench site and you can download any release of W10.

https://www.heidoc.net/php/Windows-ISO-Downloader.exe

Let me know if any of the older versions of W10 work for you.

I gave my dc7600 away years ago, or I would have tested it out for you.

[H0rsePower]

February 21, 2019

Thank you very much for answering me I appreciate it a lot. Thanks too for your link. Again, really appreciate it.

The problem I had was a "29 inch" (distance between my screen and my face).

😊

I used the 64-bit version of Windows when it was necessary to use the 32-bit version. It had been an eternity since I had not installed a Windows version of 32.

That does not excuse my mistake. In any case I would not let myself be taken by that.

PS

I find the site of HP good because we can still find the drivers of "old" computers. That's what I always expect from software / hardware companies.

Unfortunately, too often software and / or drivers are removed from the servers to sell more new machines. I find it really a shame because there are many "old" machines that are still useful for many people.

It would be necessary to stop consuming to consume. If a machine does the trick again why throw it away.

I hope HP will continue to let all the drivers / software on these servers. Especially since it does not take much space and today's hard drives have a phenomenal capacity.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, I still enjoy my trusty old HP business desktop and notebook PC's.

They are built solid, and last for ages.

I hope that HP keeps supporting them too, but some of the very old models it seems from the d510 and older, they have removed the support pages.

So, I think in a couple of years, support for the d530, dc7100 and dc7600 will be retired.

[DiscoVmax]

I also have the same HP DC7600 with 64bit 3 Ghz Pentium4 with hyper threading, so called compatible with Windows 10.

Had the same problem, Windows 10 64bit refused to install, even the first and oldest official version of Windows 10 64bit refused to boot.

To optimize speed I used a brandnew (cheap) SATA SSD of 60 Gb to reduce loading time ...

I had 7 Gb DDR2 Ram installed because somehow it refused to boot with 8 Gb DDR2 Ram ...

So finally, after reading this post, I decided to run an install disc of Windows 10 32bit and it did the trick !!! Unfortunately it could only "see" 3,25 Gb Ram so I reduced the modules until I had 3,5 Gb DDR2 Ram.

Conclusion : Windows 10 32 bit runs perfectly on this machine, even with the latest updates !! To be honest, together with the SSD and the 3,25 Gb Ram and some fine tuning it really runs nice, not at the level of an i5 but not much slower 🙂