How I was able to install Windows 10 on HP Stream 13 (32GB SSD)

[leahho]

How do I get Windows to go to my usb? When I download and run wizard it doesn't give me that option. Very confused

[ndguy]

Thank you - your post helped greatly. I used a slightly different method so I will post it for others: How I installed Windows 10 on an HP Stream (model 13-c002dx)

Note: There isn’t enough disk space to perform a Windows 10 upgrade as is, as my model has a 32GB Disk and 2GB RAM. Backup any data you may have as you will be erasing everything.

1.) With your existing factory system installed with Windows 8.1, Create a recovery image onto a 16GB USB stick. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-usb-recovery-drive (Don’t worry about the question of deleting the recovery partition as this won’t work for various reasons). Complete this and set aside. You should never need this again but keep it just in case you need to get back to original factory settings)

2.) Create a bootable USB Windows 8.1 ISO (obtain from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8)  (You need to do this so you can remove the Recovery Partition) (Your Windows Key is stored in System BIOS (meaning it is burned into the machine internally) so don’t worry about needing that. (In my case I borrowed a Windows 8.1 full version DVD and used a portable USB DVD drive and again, don’t worry about the Windows product key with the DVD method – explained later)

3.) Download all of the HP drivers onto a USB drive as you will need them http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-stream-13-c000-notebook-pc/7372147/model/7539085#... (Make sure Windows 8.1 is selected) (Make sure you select your actual model of laptop) (An SD Card will not work as the driver for the card reader won’t work with my method)

4.) Insert your newly created Windows 8.1 USB stick created in Step 2 and reinstall Windows 8.1

5.) Why reinstall Windows 8.1? You need to do it this way to retain your valid Windows Key and software license. Boot your machine with the USB and perform a custom install. Why are we doing this step? To regain the space from the “recovery partition” which is needed to complete the Win10 upgrade. You will need to delete the “Recovery Partition (something 7.2 GB) when prompted and delete the Windows C: partition. Then select the free space created (something like 28.x GB) to install Windows 8.1. When installing select “custom/advanced settings” and set the automatic updates to “Off”.

6.) After you install Windows 8.1, install the drivers from the USB drive you created in step 3

7.) Connect to a wifi network and go to control panel, system and make sure to “activate” Windows.

8.) Using your Internet Explorer, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-upgrade

9.) Start the upgrade from this Window.

10.) Windows 10 should now install very nicely and with enough space.

11.) Go back to the HP site in step 3, select Windows 10 as your operating system, and apply all updates.

12.) Run Windows Update from your new HP Stream Windows 10 system. (This takes about another hour or so to complete all the necessary updates with Windows 10 and HP devices)

13.) I hope I didn’t miss a step but the core steps are here. Good luck! By the way, I am impressed how well Windows 10 runs on this laptop….

[windermeresimon]

Hi there, I've been reading this thread today with interest and wonder if you could help me.

My son purchased a Stream 13 in Oct 2015 which we then upgraded to Win 10 successfully soon after purchase.

We are now having a problem whereby nearly all space on the 32gb SDD is used up and I can see no other way to free-up space other than to re-install Win 10 and delete the recovery partition which is taking up  a whopping 7gb.

Your thread talks about upgrading a machine from Win8 that shipped with the machine whereas we already have Win10 installed and want to create some space but I'm wondering if this is the solution I'm looking for.

What do you think, would this work for me too?

Any help would be massively appreciated.

Cheers Simon

[albertealy1]

Hp stream laptop not one look say sub flash drive 

[dubsdj]

I would like to warn anybody who is thinking about putting Windows 10 on this. We did this and found video performance is shockingly bad. We installed all the latest drivers and there were no warnings in device manager.

we reverted back to 8.1 and all is well again.

So I would strongly advise you avoid windows 10 on this particular laptop (unless they fix something with the video / graphics performance)

[jduff87]

That's good to be aware of - this is strictly a school laptop for me so I'm only ever on YouTube occasionally and the majority of the time I use Chrome and MS Word - Windows 10 has been fine for those uses on this device. Thanks for the tip.

[Sirumem]

My experience when upgrading from Windows 7 or 8 to 10 has been differente according to the computer. I did not have any problem with an Asus with a similar configuration to the HP Stream, the microSD was all I needed. With the HP Stream the experience was so frustrating. In the end, I succeeded after reading several forums and trying by myself, this is what I did:

First of all, I am talking about an upgrade, not a clean install. I did not want either to remove the recovery partition, and in the end it wasn't  necessary.

You will need two empty USB, one with at least 4GB, and another one with at least 16GB.

Procedure:

1) Remove microSSD and introduce both USB memories, format them.

2) Uninstall Antivirus

3) Turn off hibernation and page file (this is to gain some free space in disk C):

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/is-it-safe-to-delete-hiberfilsys-and-pagefilesys/

4) Download Windows 10 ISO and burn it to the small USB with the software Rufus

Use media creation tool to download the ISO, but don't use it to burn the ISO in the USB. Instead, use Rufus

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2376-usb-flash-drive-create-install-windows-10-a.html#option2

5) Run setup.exe from the small USB, and leave updateds for later ("not right now") as it can be done later, once the OS is installed. At a certain point the process will demand additional space needed for the installation, point it to the bigger USB.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/clean-install-or-upgrade-to-windows-10-using-windows-10-iso

6) The process should continue during a rather long time (almost two hourse if I remember well).

Once Windows 10 is already installed:

7) Reverse procedures of removing hibernation and page file

😎 Download and install antivirus software

I hope it helps!!

[maarrkk]

You are able to use a key down from windows 7 (So you can use a windows 7,8,8.1 and (obviously) a windows 10 key) to activate windows. BUT Make sure you are activating the right one, otherwise you will NOT be able to activate it on the license key you have. (You cant activate windows 10 pro from a windows 7/8 home key, and you cant activate windows 10 HOME from a windows 7/8 pro/ultimate key.)

- Mark