Video card not supported, will not download Win10

My (old) Dell Latitude XT is currently running windows 8.1, and it runs fine. All of the drivers/firmware are up-to-date for 8.1 based on the driver download library at Dell.

I am trying to download and install Windows 10. MS sent me a message that I cannot install and run Windows 10 because the video card ATI/Radeon is not supported by Windows 10. I'm ok with that. I simply want to load windows and use a legacy driver, which I am currently doing in Win 8.1.

The problem is I cannot load windows from ISO or USB without the software key. I have to download windows 10 directly first as an upgrade. But it won't let me because of the flag the video card set. It is a vicious circle. There has to be a workaround. I purchased 8.1 for this machine and I would like my free copy of Win 10. Ideas?



Oh, and hello btw!!

I have the same issue with an HP Compaq dv5750 with an onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 Video adapter. Other than that it's a fine little computer so now I'm trying to decide which low-profile adapter to get, hoping to keep the cost below $50US as I have no money in the computer [given to me].

Berton said:

I have the same issue with an HP Compaq dv5750 with an onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 Video adapter. Other than that it's a fine little computer so now I'm trying to decide which low-profile adapter to get, hoping to keep the cost below $50US as I have no money in the computer [given to me].

Thanks Berton. I will add that this is a Tablet PC I purchased in 2007. The ATI/Radion I think is the 1250 but it is integrated with the motherboard. I will not be able to replace it.

Dell's website does not identify this machine as having been tested for Win 10. My impression of this is it will unlikely be supported for 10 :-/ I have 2 other laptops that now have 10 that run great. This issue for me is a challenge I won't back down from.

I did send Dell an email stating that I was willing to test it for them.

Thanks, Ed

I recalled a particular problem with this ATI/Radeon 1250 in a Dell Inspiron 1521. Tried to run the software but failed in Windows 7 or 8.1 as this was done some time ago. I got around according to my note by doing the following:

1. Disconnect from internet and Disable your anti-virus program and before going to step number 1 (Important)

2. Boot computer in SAFE mode (press F8 during restart)

3. Extract the Driver software .ZIP completely to extract all folders. Extract the .EXE also.

4. Go to Device Manager

5. Select Display adapter (in my case it reads 'Standard VGA Graphics Adapter' that I need to change to 'ATI Radeon X1250')

6. Right click and select Properties, select update driver

7. In the update dialog select 'Browse my computer fro driver software'

8. In the Next dialog window, select 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'.

9. In the Select driver dialog, pick on 'Have Disk'

10. Browse to the folder you extracted the ZIP file earlier (locate the '.inf' file) The .INF file would be located in the Packages>Drivers>Display>XXX_INF.

11. Run the update and you are done!!!

12. Reboot the computer in normal mode and enable antivirus software.

But you have a netbook, so the above comments may not apply!

To allow the upgrade to 10 to work you need to uninstall the driver. Go to Device Manager, Displays and right click on your display adapter and uninstall it. You will get the Microsoft Basic display adapter. Reboot, check you still have Microsoft display adapter, upgrade and then re-install your driver.

I did this upgrading VirtualBox (the VirtualBox Windows 8 display adapter is flagged as incompatible and will crash the upgrade but actually works fine on 10). If you don't uninstall it then the upgrade will fail half way through.

WireEd said:

My (old) Dell Latitude XT is currently running windows 8.1, and it runs fine. All of the drivers/firmware are up-to-date for 8.1 based on the driver download library at Dell.

I am trying to download and install Windows 10. MS sent me a message that I cannot install and run Windows 10 because the video card ATI/Radeon is not supported by Windows 10. I'm ok with that. I simply want to load windows and use a legacy driver, which I am currently doing in Win 8.1.

The problem is I cannot load windows from ISO or USB without the software key. I have to download windows 10 directly first as an upgrade. But it won't let me because of the flag the video card set. It is a vicious circle. There has to be a workaround. I purchased 8.1 for this machine and I would like my free copy of Win 10. Ideas?



Oh, and hello btw!!

Have you tried an upgrade using an ISO from the Media Creation Tool?

I believe that doesn't do the same checks as the online upgrade. It should proceed, even if it means giving you the Microsoft Basic display drivers. (Which work poorly.)

Windows 10 - Upgrade Installation - Windows 10 Forums

If you can run 8.1, you ought to be able to run 10. With the same graphics drivers. (If you were running 7, that might not be the case. 7 can use the XP drivers; 8.1 and 10 cannot.)

WireEd said:

The problem is I cannot load windows from ISO or USB without the software key. I have to download windows 10 directly first as an upgrade. But it won't let me because of the flag the video card set. It is a vicious circle. There has to be a workaround. I purchased 8.1 for this machine and I would like my free copy of Win 10. Ideas?

There is now a clean install workaround:

1. Ensure your current Windows is activated.

2. Generate a genuine ticket of your installation by:

2.1 Copy gatherosstate.exe from your downloaded Windows 10 10240 ISO (it's in the \Sources) folder to your desktop which will be upgraded.

2.2 Run it on your activated and validated Windows. It'll output GenuineTicket.xml. Save this on a USB thumb drive or something.

2.3 Unplug any Ethernet LAN cables, turn off your WiFi router, if your computer has a switch for your WiFi, turn it off.

2.4 Then do a clean install with your Windows 10 DVD or USB, "skip" or "do this later" when it asks you for a product key. Do NOT enter any product key!

2.5 Once it's installed make sure your internet connection is DISABLED/do not enable the internet connection!

3. Activate your new Windows 10 installation by:

3.1 Copy GenuineTicket.xml to C:\programdata\microsoft\windows\clipsvc\genuineticket\ of your W10 installation.

3.2 Reboot W10 and connect now connect it to the internet, it should activate.

Ztruker said:

Outstanding!!!! That's two for you recently. This one and the 4 in 1 flash drive.

The 4 in 1 flash drive was my original idea (using my method, anyway). The above was not mine though. I saw it here on this forum and just cleaned it up a bit.