DEFINITELY... not happy with Win10!!

I've TWO PCs... a little N450 Atom Netbook and (so-so) AMD (4gb) laptop. Netbook came with Win7 Starter; laptop with Win8.0. I've loaded both up with Win7 Pro, then Ultimate, then Win8.0 Pro and Win8.1 Pro... all clean installs.

The last 3-4 weeks... been fighting with Win10 B10147 on the Netbook... took 10-15 tries (along with some help from guys here) to FINALLY get the Netbook to load to completion. Had nothing but problems with the Laptop... regardless of B10147 or B10162... note that B9926 did load on both. In all cases... all failures got just passed the "Select Router" and then just circled and circled (for HOURS when I let it go)...

Based on advice (from guys here)... when I hard-shut-down the PCs... and restarted... they popped up to a DEFAULT(0) signon screen... Managed to do a little janitorials (like configure COMPUTER NAME and WORKGROUP... BATTERY SETTINGS... etc and, after 10-15 minutes... NOTHING ON BOTTOM would work.

Clicking on FLAG just runs a 1-turn "circle"... NOTHING can be done with the SEARCH box... clicking on STORE displays (beginning of) the STORE and then it closes right out... less than one second. ALL I can do is RIGHT-click on the FLAG and deal with "not useful choices" other than SHUT DOWN.

Oh yeah... when I did manage to get something workable (before it all crapped)... I was able to download a couple of WINDOWS UPDATES... but... as soon as I went into "GET INSIDER BUILDS"... everything went to hell in a hand basket from that point. Plus, when I was FORCED to enter a PIN... it screwed up my NETWORK (local workgroup) access.

About ready to shoot this thing!!! Any ideas?
Steve

I built a small ITX PC a few years ago with the same Atom chip, it's flat out running Linux Mint and Windows 7 with all the updates. It ran 7 okay when it first came out but now it really struggles. It runs Windows 8 better and runs Windows 10 just fine, better than W8, I installed 10 from the first version, it's never had any major dramas running it.

Unfortunately different motherboards are going to have different results, I wouldn't give up on W10 just yet, when it's finished it could give you a much better result, also don't forget, these old Atom chips are getting vey long in the tooth, I just use these old PCs for testing purposes.

One has to have a machine that can handle Windows 10.

You're not forced to enter a pin. That's just patently false.

The batteries are likely pretty worn out and you are running on the mains adaptors during the setup, correct?
This sets a power state flag which causes the hardware to slow down the processors, which in turn causes setup to fail - but without any error message. The WinPE environment has very little in the way of power management control.
One fix suggested is to remove the batteries entirely before starting setup, just running on the adaptor. Alternatively get a new battery and run setup entirely on battery power.
Another suggestion is also to do the installation offline by disabling wifi first.
Another problem is if the laptop, netbook or handheld is running an external monitor - disconnect the external monitor before setup.
These all can be restored if the setup completes. One other thing with netbooks is that the native screen resolution may be below the minimum requirement for Windows 10. I don't know if there is a workaround.

The batteries are likely pretty worn out and you are running on the mains adaptors during the setup, correct?
This sets a power state flag which causes the hardware to slow down the processors, which in turn causes setup to fail -

How running on the mains adapter causes CPU to slow down ?. If i am not mistaken, a laptop will usually slow down it;s CPU and reduce screen brightness to save energy if it's running from battery power. It doesn't make any sense to me why on earth a laptop may enter on maximum power management mode when running on mains power - i mean it has infinite power source then there is no need to save power.

Btw, i have installed Windows on hundreds of laptops and i usually attach mains power when doing so. I never noticed such issues.

Password hint: prevents further setup steps.

Password hint goes to - Microsoft Community

Password hint goes to - Microsoft Community

Password hint goes to - Microsoft Community

Password hint goes to - Microsoft Community

You cannot argue with the number of users this tip has helped. I doubt if you have installed Windows 10 on hundreds of laptops. When you come across this problem, you may be glad of the fix.

The CPU slows down because the chipset tells it to - to save power, and to stop overheating. The adaptor is not only powering the laptop, it is also trying to charge the battery, and the battery keeps reporting low charge levels. This flags some power management feature I don't know the details. It may make no sense - but take out the battery anyway if this problem arises - because it works for a lot of people with this problem

The CPU slows down because the chipset tells it to - to save power, and to stop overheating. The adaptor is not only powering the laptop, it is also trying to charge the battery, and the battery keeps reporting low charge levels. This flags some power management feature I don't know the details. It may make no sense - but take out the battery anyway if this problem arises - because it works for a lot of people with this problem

No, i don't have much experience with "Windows 10". What i meant was i have installed Windows 7/8.1 on hundreds of laptops and never noticed this kind of issues - including battery failed ones. I guess it's a "Windows 10" specific power management related issue.

The dead battery problem is real. My old test laptop has to have the battery removed for win 10 to install.

Wow... A LOT of reading for me and then try out here!! But a little info (to help/hinder) on the above comments:

1. I selected the Netbook and AMD to try Win10 cause they are, basically, 180-degrees, apart.

2. Both came with Win7; Starter and Home Premium... think I said the AMD came with Win8... fat-finger there

3. Can't speak (100%) about batteries but both give me about 1.5-2 hrs

4. Have (clean-booted) both with Win8 and Win8.1... Netbook finally COMPLETED a Win10 install. AMD did come up with Win10 but I had to hard-shutdown (press power) and restart for it to finish Win10.

5. Both ended up with my newest issue... Start, Search, Store starts but closes right out, etc. Google shows lots with same issues but their fixes haven't done anything so far.

Maybe I'll just go back to Win7/SP1 and see if I can figure out how (if one can) to "upgrade" to PREVIEW Win10 from there!?!?! But, FIRST, I'll try the AMD with NO BATTERY... odd if it works but... have to do something!!

But, THANKS to EVERYONE who sent in their comments... didn't expect so much assistance.
Steve