Thanks. Tried booting from DVD and it won't launch either. I could go the w7 route (although w7 will expire on 2020).
If I go the Linux route, which distro do you recommend. The problem with Linux is that there are so many distros out there.
Ubuntu maybe? I need a lightweight distro but similar to Windows.
I had problems booting an old 2006 PC from a USB stick. My workaround was to boot to a Windows 8 installation DVD, enter the recovery command prompt then run the Windows 10 setup.exe installtion file on the USB stick. You could use any bootable DVD having a command prompt e.g. Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk
Check your PC supports the instructions required by 64 bit Windows 10 else you will need to install the 32 bit version.
Thanks for the tip Steve C. I will try booting w8/w8.x to see if I can launch w10 setup.exe from there.
I am installing x86 version because PC has got only 2GB RAM minus VRAM (64-128MB).
I am having some troubles with this damned laptop. Installed w7 and made a backup copy with Macrium because w8.1 seems to be snappier. Now I am having trouble finding a workable gpu driver, so I might want to return to w7. It seems it's impossible to get w10 installed for this chipset (i915GMS/i910GML).
As have been mentioned before, if you install Windows 10 to a laptop with Intel 910/915/925 chipset you are stuck with Microsoft Basic Display Adapter and performance is very very slow. To avoid that, install Windows 7 32-bit instead and then the latest official Intel driver for Windows XP 32-bit in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode (or force it manually from Device Manager). This will enable whatever hardware acceleration the graphics card can provide and have almost the same performance as if you run Windows XP SP3.
Yes. After several tries and reinstalls, w7 is the preferred choice. Now I have to patch it up (127+ updates...) and then I will do some speed tests.
Being able to use Windows 10 [Pro, x86] on my October 2005 Dell Inspiron 9300 [17" screen] has been an unexpected bonus. I had previously retired this computer when XP support ended.
I have now found that Ver 1803 cannot be installed so I'll have to stick with Ver 1709 and semi-retire it again in April when that version goes out of support. I have already more or less replaced its work by adding a 21" external monitor to my Jan 2010 Dell Inspiron 1545 [15" screen].
My early update attempts failed at the first reboot stage with the error logs pointing to the MS Print to PDF & XPS facilities. When I uninstalled them and tried again, the update failed with a BSOD IRQ error [it did not even get as far as creating any Panther error logs].
Added later - I used the Repair install procedure & the ISO / USB-made-from-the-ISO for these update attempts just as I have been doing since Build 10041. After the initial failures, I disabled everything possible in the BIOS & in Device manager but to no avail.
Denis
Last edited by Try3; 19 Nov 2018 at 15:48.
That's a little weird. It can install an older build of Windows 10 but not a newer? Meanwhile the latest version v1809 has at last become available for download again. To avoid any issues, I suggest to do a full backup of your hard disk with Acronis or Macrium Reflect or whatever and then try to upgrade it. As I always recommend at my earlier posts in this thread, go at Device Manager (you can search for it) and disable any non-important device, such as audio, network, Bluetooth etc. This will prevent Windows Setup looking for drivers and messing with the installation before it is complete. Once the installation is complete and you can see the desktop, enable them again in Device Manager. Also disable any antivirus and other startup programs that could interrupt the upgrade process.
PS: If your audio card is good old Realtek AC'97 (not the newer HD), there were some incompatibility issues with the official Realtek driver for Windows Vista (see respective threads) in older builds. Build v1803 and newer do not have this problem. For these older builds disable the audio card before the upgrade and then install a special version of the Windows XP driver (see my posts in the respective threads).
I remind you that the older the computer the harder it is to install 64-bit. Go for 32-bit version which is easier to install and to find drivers later. Also to upgrade you must match all the Windows parameters (Home/Pro, 32/64) and the language. Obviously you cannot upgrade English US to English UK or other version, it has to be the same (base) language. Not the same language pack, the same base language. For example if the base language is English US and you add the Greek language pack (frequently done in Greece), you have to upgrade using the English US version and then install the Greek language pack again. Running the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool should set these parameters automatically and upgrade 7 to 10.
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