Upgrading to Windoows 10

[Gaeilge1]

Hello:

 I know this computer is out of warranty but I need some expertise in upgrading my operating system which is either Windows XP 64 bit or Windows Vista 64 bit. I have indication of both. I realize that buying a new computer may be the easiest way to do this but I am not in a position to do this at this time.    

I have spoken with Microsoft I have been told that Windows 10 can be installed on this computer but they can not guarantee that all of the special features will work or work properly because they do not have sufficient information on updates to critical hardware and drivers to confirm that Windows 10 will work the way it is designed. 

The question is what problems may I run into on this computer if I do upgrade and what, if any, steps can be taken to resolve those problems by upgrading the critical drivers and hardware on this machine to accomplish this? 

Thank You,

Patrick Herron

[WAWood]

@Gaeilge1

Hello;

Allow me to welcome you to the HP forums!

I wish I had good news for you, but I don't -- because your options are VERY limited at this point.

When Win7 was new, MS offered the Anytime Upgrade, and with this, you had an "Upgrade Path" to Win7, meaning, you could do the upgrade in-place and retain your settings, personal data, and applications.

MS discontinued that years ago, and while you might be able to purchase Win7 from online sources (e.g., NewEgg), they only offer the full Win7 DVD, and that is not the same as the Anytime Upgrade option, and costs a lot more.

In addition, there is the problem of newer HP drivers for the hardware that came with your PC. HP does not carry drivers for anything newer than Vista for your PC. This means that if you install a newer OS version, you will be stuck with the generic drivers that Microsoft installs, and while that MIGHT work, if any hardware doesn't work properly after that, you will then be stuck permanently, as there will be no HP drivers coming along to remedy that problem.

Driver-related problems could be practically anything -- including loss of display, no sound, no networking, no ability to sleep or hibernate, and on, and on ...

And, if the Upgrade does go badly, you will be left with a trashed PC that will not work.

My suggestion, before you attempt this, is to use a third-party product to make an image backup of your PC so that, if the Upgrade goes poorly, at least you will have something to restore FROM to get your working PC back.

I personally prefer to use third-party Recovery solutions as they tend to be both more flexible and more reliable than any built-in solutions.

Macrium Reflect (MR) provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or entire drives: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

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

My experience is that MR, when using the High Compression option, typically can compress the saved image file to about 50% of the USED space in the OS partition. This means if you have an 80GB OS partition, and 40GB is used, MR only needs about 20GB to store the image file.

I use this all the time and it typically takes less than 15 minutes to do the image backup and about the same time or less to do a restore.

Plus, MR has the option to Add a Recovery Boot Menu entry. This allows you then to boot into WinRE, and you can then use that to do a restore -- when you can't boot into Windows!

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

Good Luck

[mdklassen]

Download the "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor": https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=20

and run it under Windows Vista, to get a report about the compatibility of your current hardware and programs with Windows 7.

> cannot afford

If you are in the USA, see: www.bestbuy.com and do a search for "refurbished desktop computer".

There are several affordable computers, as low as $89.99 US, that run Windows 7.

Or, buy a new disk-drive, remove your current disk-drive, connect the new disk-drive, and download Windows 10,  for free, via:  https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

You can try to install it, without entering a Microsoft product-key, to see if it will install on the new disk-drive.

Then, run Windows Update, to let it find/download/install any "missing" device-drivers.

If it works, it works, and you can purchase a license to run Windows 10.

If not, reconnect the old disk-drive, and reboot into your current operating system.

[BatteryBoss]

Windows 10 will run on most platforms, but what you need to consider is whether there is Win10 drivers available for your PC. Check the mobo manufactures site for drivers and confirm they are there. Once you have confirmed this all should be okay.

[mdklassen]

> Check the motherboard manufacturer's site for drivers, and confirm they are there.

Note that the manufacturer may have created device-drivers, and supplied them ONLY to Microsoft.

Microsoft then either incorporated the device-drivers into Windows 10, or may have made them available only via Windows Update.

So, the lack of device-drivers on a manufacturer's web-site is inconclusive.

That's why a "test" install of Windows 10, onto a new/spare disk-drive, is the best way to proceed.

[iomare]

Hi,

I do not believe that manufacturers create drivers and supply them exclusively to Microsoft. Most older computers are not officially supported by HP with Windows 10. Now it is possible that Windows recognizes the devices on PC and will provide the drivers for them. This is not because HP provided the drivers for that model, it is because Windows is able to recognize the device and provide drivers for it. In fact if HP officially supports a certain model for Windows 10, the drivers will always be available on the HP support site.

Now a lot of drivers can also be found online because some older models of computers might have the same device which is on your PC and have drivers for Windows 10. I have rarely seen a computer which didn't work after installing Windows 10.

Reading online it seems that one of the problems could be with touch smart software. Do you use the touch screen a lot? You could create a small partition on your drive and install windows 10 and see how it works out.

Hope it helps,

David

[mdklassen]

> I do not believe that manufacturers create drivers and supply them exclusively to Microsoft.

Do you believe in the Easter Bunny? Santa Claus?

> Most older computers are not officially supported by HP with Windows 10.

From: https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c05195282

HP Products Tested with Windows 10

The information below lists HP products that have been tested with Windows 10 Creators Update.

Any PC product that is not listed in the Windows 10 Creators Update table was not tested by HP for this update and may not be supported by HP for Windows 10.

It's a matter of "economics" -- HP simply does not test all of its computers, manufactured in the last 10 years, for compatibility with Windows 10.  HP "retires" all products (computers, printers, etc.) older than 10 years.

> Now it is possible that Windows recognizes the devices on PC and will provide the drivers for them.

Yes, because HP has supplied the device-drivers to Microsoft.

> You could create a small partition on your drive and install windows 10 and see how it works out.

The "risk" here is that Windows 10 might mess-up the boot process, making it impossible to boot your current operating system, and/or difficult to delete the "test" install from the Windows boot-process.

It is much better to "test" install to a "spare" disk-drive.  If it does not work out, then your original disk-drive has not been "touched", and can immediately be put back into production.

[iomare]

@mdklassen

We do not really celebrate Santa Claus here, more Father Christmas and I hope that the Easter Bunny brings you an egg of knowledge.

HP does not provide the device drivers for all the older models to Microsoft. It is Microsoft which can recognize devices in your PC and provide the right driver for them (if the manufacturer of PC hasn't provided the list of drivers for that model) You seem to have a lot of confusion.

I'll give you an example as you are present in this forum. Many times someone will install windows 10  and notice that the network card is not working. Windows 10 has installed all the drivers for the other devices (because they were recognized) except for network card (because the device is not recognized). So with your theory HP provided all drivers to Microsoft for this model except for the wifi card. NO, HP didn't provide the drivers to Microsoft for this model, it is Microsoft which is able to recognize the devices and install the drivers.

Another example, take a bare motherboard and install all different devices on it. Now install windows 10 and you will see that also the device drivers will be installed. How do you think this is possible?? Does the manufacturer of the motherboard provide all the drivers for all the devices that excist??

Hope you get that egg,

David

[mdklassen]

> We do not really celebrate Santa Claus here, more Father Christmas

Did he bring you a lump of coal?

> HP does not provide the device drivers for all the older models to Microsoft.

Really?  Do you know this for a fact? 

I did not realize that you are authorized to speak on behalf of HP.

> It is Microsoft which can recognize devices in your PC

You seem to have a good grasp of the obvious.

Of course, when you install Microsoft software, it is Microsoft software that detects the hardware devices.

> Many times someone will install windows 10  and notice that the network card is not working.

If Windows 10 is pre-installed by the manufacturer of the computer, then the required device-driver is pre-installed.

If the computer-owner uses the utility to create a "Recovery Set" (either onto USB or DVD-recordable media), then re-installing from that media will install the required device-driver.

If Windows 10 was not pre-installed, then installing Windows 10 from "generic" (not "manufacturer-customized") media is an "adventure".

> Windows 10 has installed all the drivers for the other devices (because they were recognized) except for network card (because the device is not recognized).

Again, you have a firm grasp of the obvious.

The Windows installer has identified that those other device-drivers supplied by the manufacturer to Microsoft have been included onto the Windows installation media, and has installed them.

> HP didn't provide the drivers to Microsoft for this model, it is Microsoft which is able to recognize the devices and install the drivers.

Now, you're just being redundant with your incorrect assumptions.

> Another example, take a bare motherboard and install all different devices on it.

Now, it's you that is confused. 

If you install software (specific to some other Windows operating system) on to the disk-drive, and then do a "clean" install of Windows 10, all the contents of the disk-drive, including all the installed device-drivers, will be deleted.

The "clean" install starts with a "clean" disk-drive -- 100% empty. 

All your "work" of installing device-drivers for a different operating system is WASTED EFFORT.

> Now install windows 10 and you will see that also the device drivers will be installed.

Correct, because the Windows 10 installation media (not the "pre-wipe" disk-drive) contains the device-drivers, whether the device-drivers were written by HP and supplied to Microsoft for inclusion on the installation media, or written by Microsoft.

> Does the manufacturer of the motherboard provide all the drivers for all the devices that exist?

Yes.  The device-drivers either were created by Microsoft, or created by the manufacturer of the motherboard and supplied to Microsoft for inclusion on the Windows 10 installation media.

[iomare]

Thank you ,

However you seem not to have a firm grasp of the obvious and remaining with the easter bunny, you seem to being laying different color eggs all over the place.

David