Windows 10 Upgrade on old 2008 HP Desktop with Vista. Impossible?

cj11 · 11 Jan 2020

Hello, everyone. I have a desktop PC I bought back in 2008 that came with Windows Vista. It's an HP Pavilion a6720f. I didn't have access to the computer until after the free Windows 10 upgrade offer had ended. When I had it back in my possession, I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate and it's been working with no problems.

Given the age of the machine, will it be possible to upgrade to Windows 10? I called both HP and Microsoft and they both don't think so, although they couldn't give me a definitive answer. HP had no info on that model and could not provide any drivers or additional support and I can't get the HP site to load any driver updates.

I guess I could just try upgrading, but I'd like to know if anyone has had any success installing Windows 10 on such an old machine.

It meets all the basic hardware requirements listed, from what I can tell. The main issue I've been told could be the BIOS (sorry, I'm not a techie).

The BIOS version and date: American Megatrends Inc. 5.01, 10/17/2008

zbook · 12 Jan 2020

These links may be useful if considering upgrades from Windows 7 to 10:

Hewlett Packard (HP) /Compaq: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05195282
Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Help Forums
Windows 10 - Test & Try with No Risk, No Install - Windows 7 Help Forums
Upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 for Free
Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First

cj11 · 12 Jan 2020

Thanks for the links! Especially the compatibility test. I'll let you all know how it goes.

dalchina · 12 Jan 2020

You can of course simply put in a new disk and try it with '10 and see.

If your machine had a 32 bit O/S, then best to try Win 10 32 bits - you have a better chance of driver compatibility.

If Win 10 hasn't been offered via Windows Update, MS presumably deems it not compatible.

Close model:
https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c01612549

Comments on that for Win 10:
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Deskto...0/td-p/6145604

Drivers: You can try entering your serial no. here:
https://support.hp.com/sg-en/drivers/desktops

Possible drivers: (but this is not a HP site!!)
HP Pavilion a6720f Desktop PC Drivers for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP

Try3 · 12 Jan 2020

In addition to that earlier HP user forum link, try searching the HP user forums and try asking the others for help by asking a question of your own there.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/

But do consider what you want the computer to do for you.
- It might run so slowly that you end up not using it for as much as you expect.
- Solving any hardware-related problems might cost you considerable time, effort & grey hairs. Will the investment pay off?

I kept a 2005 Dell laptop going with Windows 10 until version 1709. It is slow but handy for odd jobs that my newer computers regard as beneath their dignity.
- This computer fails to update beyond ver 1709. Another user of the same model had the same problem and went to a lot of effort failing to solve it [and had some of the best minds in this forum guiding him].
- Ver 1709 is out of support so I cannot use it for internet-related odd jobs.
- The hardware limitations preventing further updates are not documented. You might also suffer from undocumented limitations.

Denis

Steve C · 12 Jan 2020

I have the latest version of Windows 10 working on two 2006 vintage AMD based PCs. I had to install 32 bit Windows on one PC since the CPU was missing a key instruction needed for 64 bit Windows. I recommend using a cheap SSD.

Backup you Windows 7 installation then do a free upgrade using the Media Creation Tool.

cj11 · 12 Jan 2020

Thanks for all your help, guys. So it sounds like the 32 bit version has a best chance of working. It's currently running the 64 bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate, though. Sorry for my lack of knowledge but is it easy/possible to use the Media Creation Tool to upgrade to the 32 bit version of Windows 10 from the 64 bit version of Windows 7? Or do I need to downgrade to the 32 bit version of Windows 7 first?

On top of that, the situation is a little trickier than I initially described. When I upgraded it from Vista to Window 7, I bought a product key online that ended up being blocked by Microsoft a few months later, so the system is currently in a deactivated state. This is not a big deal as only my wife uses this computer and doesn't care about the limitations this is causing. She also doesn't do much on it other than some basic web browsing, listening to music and watching YouTube videos.

So here's what I want to do. Take an old PC with limited or nonexistent driver support and switch from an deactivated 64 bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate to a 32 bit version of Windows 10. If there's some way that Windows 10 could be activated for free, that would be great. Otherwise, I think it will be fine for her to just use it with activating as I understand that the limitations are basically the same as with an deactivated Windows 7. Any further advice?

Steve C · 12 Jan 2020

Try the 64 bit upgrade first - worst case is it will just fail

dalchina · 12 Jan 2020

64 bit -> 32 bit would be a clean install.

It seems at present you have no legitimate license you can use to activate Win 10.

zbook · 12 Jan 2020

There was a thread in TF in which 32x > 64x was done without clean install.
It may have been an upgrade too.

Macrium was used to make a backup image.
32x was changed to 64x.
The image was restored.

Maybe a trial and error step?

Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Help Forums
MACRIUM REFLECT - Create Bootable Rescue USB Drive - Windows 7 Help Forums