Install fails my computer "doesn't support NX"

A while back I successfully upgraded my Windows 7 to Windows 10, and then reverted back to Windows 7, with no problems. Today, I created a new partition and attempted to do a clean install of Windows 10, using a flash drive. Install failed, with the message "This PC's processor doesn't support a critical feature (NX)." Has the Windows 10 installation changed in the meantime? What's the problem? I checked the BIOS, and could find no mention of NX.

Use a utility such as CPU-Z to determine the model of your CPU and which features it supports. If it supports NX, then there should be somewhere in BIOS (see CPU features or similar) to enable it. It could be referred as PAE or DEP or other name. Just enable all CPU features to make sure.

EDIT: I just ran it to see about my CPU (Intel Core-i3 3220 3GHz, 3rd generation i3), but these is nowhere clear that is supports NX. Use Aida64 instead. Go to motherboard -> CPUID and you should see all supported functions.

eddiepop said:

A while back I successfully upgraded my Windows 7 to Windows 10, and then reverted back to Windows 7, with no problems. Today, I created a new partition and attempted to do a clean install of Windows 10, using a flash drive. Install failed, with the message "This PC's processor doesn't support a critical feature (NX)." Has the Windows 10 installation changed in the meantime? What's the problem? I checked the BIOS, and could find no mention of NX.

I had the same problem when I tried to use Windows 10 final x86 version. I could only upgrade by using x64 version of Windows 10. I think there are unresolved conflicts within install scripts on x86 version that do not correctly resolve eligible CPU and BIOS combinations.

That is weird. The x86 version has less requirements than the x64 version, so is should be compatible with more CPUs. As said before, look in CPU Features section in BIOS and enable all features to make sure.

spapakons said:

That is weird. The x86 version has less requirements than the x64 version, so is should be compatible with more CPUs. As said before, look in CPU Features section in BIOS and enable all features to make sure.

Yes it is WEIRD!!! This is a multi-boot machine with 5 different OS's installed...only the two x86 Windows versions failed the upgrade to Windows 10.

What about CPU features? Have you enabled them all? Last resort is to update the BIOS to improve compatibility with newer Windows.

It's not my system. I installed a basic Windows 7 in the clean partition, and then Windows 10 installed over it (upgrade) without any trouble. If you want to do a clean install, that is what I would recommend. Incidentally, I originally backed down from 10 to 7 because I was getting no sound. My new clean install does not have this problem, so I will probably upgrade 7 to 10 in the near future, and delete my test install. That will leave only the problem of cleaning up the boot sequence!

I'm outie!

Yes, the Windows 10 update has changed. It now checks not only that your CPU is capable of supporting Data Execution Prevention, but also that it is currently enabled. If it is not enabled then you will get the message that your CPU can't run Windows 10 (NX). Go into Bios and go to Security. Go to Memory Protection and enable Execution Prevention. It is called different things on different computers. Coreinfo only tells you it is supported by your computer; not whether you have it enabled. “No-eXecute (NX) is a processor feature that allows marking of memory pages as non-executable. The feature allows the CPU to help guard the system from attacks by malicious software. When the NX feature is enabled on a system, it prevents malicious software code from being placed in accessible regions of memory to be executed when control reaches that memory location. Windows requires that systems must have processors that support NX, and NX must be turned on”

eddiepop said:

It's not my system. I installed a basic Windows 7 in the clean partition, and then Windows 10 installed over it (upgrade) without any trouble. If you want to do a clean install, that is what I would recommend. Incidentally, I originally backed down from 10 to 7 because I was getting no sound. My new clean install does not have this problem, so I will probably upgrade 7 to 10 in the near future, and delete my test install. That will leave only the problem of cleaning up the boot sequence!I'm outie!

Windows 10 have the bad habit of ignoring any working driver and trying to replace it with generic Microsoft drivers from Windows Update. This explains your audio issue. The solution is to upgrade to Windows 10 and then replace the generic audio driver with the latest Windows 7 or 8 driver from manufacturer (OEM driver). If the OEM driver is older than the generic driver, Windows Update will replace it again at next update. To prevent it, you can use the show/hide tool to hide any driver updates. See tutorials.

PS: If you have an old Realtek AC'97 audio card (not newer HD models), the latest official Realtek drivers cause a BSOD. Search the forum for solutions. There is a solution for both 32-bit (install older Windows XP driver) and 64-bit (install older XP 64-bit driver).