Let's run Win10 on really really old hardware

spapakons · 04 Dec 2019

The Vista drivers should also work in Windows 10 (same architecture 32/64), assuming you can install Windows 10 at least 32-bit. I have seen some old AMD 64 machines that can handle up to Windows 7 64-bit but not Windows 10 64-bit because they lack the required instructions (CMPXCHG8B and CMPXCHG16B). In that case you either let them with Windows 7 64-bit or install Windows 10 32-bit instead. I also have seen some weird cases with AMD 64 machines that cannot install Windows 10 64-bit directly (they never pass through the OOBE, they get stuck at some point). The workaround is to install Windows 7 64-bit first and then upgrade to 10 64-bit. This way the user is already created and OOBE only goes through the Windows 10 final configuration without getting stuck. I do not know why this happens.

Silverhand92 · 05 Dec 2019

A lot of the trouble I have seen with upgrading from an older OS to either 8 / 8.1, or to 10, stems from the system not having the SLAT or Second-Level Address Translation capability. This, in turn means that any hardware that doesn't support it, won't be able to support the appropriate OS. Some BIOS interfaces also refer to this as "Secure Virtual Machine" or SVM support, and most (not all) versions of Windows 8 and newer, require this instruction to run the OS.

Which, shortly, explains why some systems cannot run Windows 8 and newer OS's.

muchomurka · 05 Dec 2019

SLAT/EPT is required for some hypervisors or for nested virtualization; it has nothing to do with regular client OS installation.

spapakons · 05 Dec 2019

Requirements for Windows 8/10 32-bit is 1GHz CPU with PAE/NX support and 1GB RAM. This means any CPU newer than Intel Pentium 4 s478 socket. Any CPU Intel s775 or newer or equivalent AMD. For Windows 8/10 64-bit the CPU must be 64-bit, of course, plus it must support the instructions CMPXCHG8B and CMPXCHG16B, while RAM must be at least 2GB. Recommended is to have at least double the minimum RAM in either 32-bit or 64-bit Windows. Also the graphics card must have at least Vista or newer driver (WDDM 1.0 or newer, nVidia FX 5 series or Intel 945G or newer or equivalent AMD) otherwise you are stuck with Microsoft Basic Display Adapter and very slow performance.

Spalman · 21 Dec 2019

spapakons said:

This means any CPU newer than Intel Pentium 4 s478 socket. Any CPU Intel s775 or newer or equivalent AMD.

The wonder would be Windows 10 32bit running on this kind of socket478, some YT videos show that it can be done, but it's a really rough path and WU doesn't work anyway

spapakons · 23 Dec 2019

It cannot be done without patching winload.exe and ntoskrnl.dll and this doesn't count.

cldriver · 14 Jan 2020

I have a Dell E1405 laptop with a T2400 (Yonah) cpu. It recently updated the Win 10 1903, then 1909 without issue.

I just did an upgrade to T7600 (Merom) cpu and Win 10 runs fine, I do notice some improvement given the age.
CPU-Z shows T7600 installed, however the ghz reading I notice never goes above 1.83Ghz which was the T2400 rated ghz, I don't see it going to 2.33ghz which is what the T7600 is capable of.

I have the A10 bios, looked thru the bios settings to see if there was some config to change, but couldn't find anything.
Is there anything else to check/update?
Win10 was still reporting the old cpu when I check 'about system/windows', I read that is suppose to clear itself up eventually. But is the issue related?

Berton · 14 Jan 2020

Back some years ago one could change the CPU but it usually had a combination of jumper settings on the motherboard plus checking the BIOS to see if there was a change. Many times a speed gain of 0.50GHz probably wouldn't be too noticeable. I suppose if nothing else help one could go the over-clocking process to gain the extra space but there may be limitations with the motherboard, would be helpful to know if the faster CPU is supported by the board.

spapakons · 15 Jan 2020

cldriver said:

I have a Dell E1405 laptop with a T2400 (Yonah) cpu. It recently updated the Win 10 1903, then 1909 without issue.I just did an upgrade to T7600 (Merom) cpu and Win 10 runs fine, I do notice some improvement given the age. CPU-Z shows T7600 installed, however the ghz reading I notice never goes above 1.83Ghz which was the T2400 rated ghz, I don't see it going to 2.33ghz which is what the T7600 is capable of.I have the A10 bios, looked thru the bios settings to see if there was some config to change, but couldn't find anything.Is there anything else to check/update? Win10 was still reporting the old cpu when I check 'about system/windows', I read that is suppose to clear itself up eventually. But is the issue related?

Performance in laptops depends on Power Options amopng others. If you want maximum performance you must configure that in Power Settings (advanced section), otherwise the CPU speed drops to maximize the battery duration. You must also configure maximum performance for Intel Graphics instead of balanced. Go to Control Panel, Power Options, Change plan setings, Change Advanced Power Settings. Find Procesor Power Management and make sure Minimum is se to 100%. Also expand Intel Graphics Settings, Intel Graphics Power Plan and set it to Maximum.

cldriver · 15 Jan 2020

I was able to get it to run at 2.33ghz using 'method 4' here (power settings related):

FIX: CPU Not Running at Full Speed in Windows 10. - wintips.org - Windows Tips & How-tos