only the 1809 (build 17763.x) & LTSC 2019 version "chokes" on Pentium M and Intel "Yonah" series CPUs as I stated a few years ago - 1809 never boots up with these old cpus and forever hangs on the windows logo boot screen with no animated circling dots
1903 & greater are ok to use with Pentium Ms and Intel Yonah processors as I have confirmed those Win10 versions to work on those
Yes, all old PCs can take Windows 10, if they can also take Windows 8. I have seen some cases that a direct clean installation of v1903 or newer was not possible due to missing drivers and Windows Update failing to install these during setup. But you can either install Windows 7 or 8 and upgrade to 10, or you can install an older Windows 10 build and then upgrade to the newer build (in-place upgrade). Before the upgrade from the older version make sure you have all drivers installed and you disable downloading updates during installation.
I also have seen a weird case that upgrade from Windows 10 v21H1 to v21H2 failed with the Media Creation Tool, but did complete successfully with the Windows 10 Upgrade Advisor. Both can be downloaded from here: Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com) Click the Update Now button to download the Advisor.
There are cases reported in this thread & elsewhere in TenForums of old computers failing Version updates post-v1709. One of mine was in the same boat.
Please don't glibly claim that they can now be updated when that is just speculation.
Recent posts encouraged me to waste hours having another go at updating my old [2005] Dell Inspiron 9300 [Pentium M] without success. Version 21H2 failed just as earlier Versions did.
@rjjones667 @ville9
It continues to run v1709 [x86] quite happily.
Denis
I didn't try to update my old 2004 laptop to Windows 10 until a few years ago. Maybe that is why the update from Windows 7 and later clean install failed. I then was forced to use a backup to restore the computer to Windows 7.
Your post suggests that maybe an early version like v1709 might have succeeded. Would it really be worth upgrading to Windows 10 v1709 or would it be better to stay with a previous version of Windows such as 7 or 8? I am only asking you because you have done it and am curious about your motivation and reasoning for this.
Ed,
"Reasoning"? Oh dear. An explanation is all I can offer.
I had bought a new [Windows 7] computer in 2010. I learnt enough about networking to be able to set up a private network with my 2005 Dell Inspiron 9300 {WinXP} using just an Ethernet cable between them {I had never possessed a router at that time}.
The network connection allowed me to use my 2005 computer for several odd jobs in parallel with doing my main work on my new 2010 computer.
When Windows XP went out of support I thought that was the end of it. I had to limit the odd jobs to ones that did not need the internet & could not really connect it at all if my main computer was online {despite quite a bit of "reasoning" that suggested it would be safely protected by the Windows 7 firewall on their shared internet connection}.
Then the Windows 10 preview period came along and I found that it ran on my old computer. So I signed up for the 'Windows Insider' trials that ultimately left me with a permanently-activated free Windows 10 OS on my old computer. So I was once again able to use it for several odd jobs in parallel with doing my main work on my new 2010 computer.- Purely as an example, I had to work through my thousands of audio files identifying low-volume ones [that my mp3 player could not raise high enough], running them through a volume-increasing facility then copying them back to my main computer. It was not a bother. I just worked on my new computer and let the old one get on with the whole job day & night until it had finished {I think it was about 96 hours work}. I don't think I would ever have done this useful set of changes if I had not had a second computer to devote to the job. And being able to leave it connected despite my main computer being connected to the internet avoided disruption to my routine work.
After I found {and several others also found} that Version 1709 was the last Version that it could update to, I used it until Version 1709 support expired and then had to limit its use to non-internet odd jobs.
I did not know that my old computer could run Windows 10 successfully. It think it passed the compatibility tools tests at that time but I was still unsure.
I just tried it and it worked.
I helped several other people with their Dell Inspiron 9300s in the Dell forum. Not all of them could install it at all & some of those that could found that it was too slow to be of any practicable use.
It had two limitations that I decided to live with
- Task scheduler could not wake it from sleep despite all the appropriate settings being made.
- It could not run PowerCfg -BatteryReport so I had to use PowerCfg -EnergyReport instead.
Somebody suggested that it was because of the lack of a Windows 10 chipset driver but I don't know if there was any reasoning behind that suggestion
I am well aware that part of my motivation was that I liked my old computer.
It was my main computer during an extremely happy period of my life and using it reminds me of those wonderful days.
It has a nice big 1920x1200 17 inch display that really helps with spreadsheet & database layouts.- My "new" computer only had a 1366x768 display and I had not appreciated how cramped that would feel. It was a poor purchasing decision.
- Actually, my "new" computer is now merely my Windows 11 testbed.
- I have a new-new laptop with a nice big 1920x1080 17 inch touchscreen & a new-new desktop with a nice big 1920x1080 22 inch touchscreen.
I do not know whether or not your old computer can install a current Version Windows 10 [even x86].
I do not know whether or not your old computer can install Version 1709 Windows 10 [even x86].
I do not know where you could get a Version 1709 ISO [TechBench only goes as far back as Version 1809 but I don't know about the other routes - Download Windows 10 ISO File - TenForumsTutorials] Perhaps you know somebody locally who never bothers to delete old ISOs.
I do not know whether or not your old computer can run Windows 10 successfully even if it does install.
I do not know whether or not your old computer would have any unexpected limitations that impact your common jobs.
Iff
- You do not mind spending time trying out a Windows 10 installation using an old ISO or a current one [or several], and
- You have a decent book to read [because you'll probably decide to sit at your desk half-watching the installation], and
- You have a kettle, a teapot & plenty of Earl Grey, and
- You do not mind spending time running through your common jobs to see how it performs and if any limitations exist, and
- You do not mind failing,
Then
- You can try upgrading to it / running a clean install,
But
- You'll have to consider the cost of a licence if you decide to keep it. I did not have that concern. It might well have put me off even trying.
So, little reasoning but hopefully sufficient explanation.
Best of luck,
Denis
- - - Updated - - -
A by-product of all this was that I am able to write scripts that work in the common OS that I have established [Windows 10] rather than write them for Windows 10 followed by testing & adjustment for Windows 7, Windows XP.
[I have a Windows 11 testbed to allow me gradually to test my scripts out ready for 2025. I will then upgrade all my remaining computers at the same time to maintain a common OS. My old computer will probably have given up the ghost by then but, if it does survive, I'll have the complication of having to maintain scripts that cope with multiple OSs. It's not a trivial task.]
Last edited by Try3; 02 Feb 2022 at 13:31.
Regarding Windows 7 vs Windows 10 v1709 both are out of support, but it gets gradually harder to make new apps work in 7. For example, if you try to download apps from Ninite - Install or Update Multiple Apps at Once you will get an error message that you need a patch. So I would choose an old build of Windows 10 to be as modern as possible.
TIP: For anyone wanting to use Windows 7 SP1, at first the only browser is Internet Explorer 8 which is very limited and you can do almost nothing. You either download another browser from a newer computer and transfer with a USB Flash drive, or you browse to Google and then search for Google Chrome. Once you install that, you can download anything newer, such as Microsoft Edge for Windows 7 which fails when trying to do from IE8.
I have seen some very old computers that could not get Windows 7 directly (setup failed), but I could deploy the ISO by connecting the hard disk on a newer computer. I used imagex tool to extract the setup files from install.wim file in the hard disk, then I made the disk bootable and put back in the target computer. Booting that is like having already installed Windows and doing the first restart. Setup resumed, completed installation and then showed the OOBE screen (where you create your account etc). The same could be done with Windows 10. I would try that on a spare hard disk. Use ImageX (or Dism) to extract all the setup files from install.wim to the target hard disk formatted as NTFS. If you have install.esd instead you must first convert it to install.wim Then make the disk bootable and use bcdboot command to transfer system startup files. I don't remember exactly the steps, but you can Google them. Booting that Setup resumes and you should have Windows 10 v21H2 on the old computer! I would also copy all drivers to a folder just in case I initially have no internet connection to download them.
I have four old computers that range from 10 to 20 yeas old. I never installed Windows Vista on the two that I bought or built before 2007. The main reason was I found Windows Vista to require more than the 1GB RAM these computers had. However, years later these computers were successfully upgraded to 2GB RAM and Windows 7. I expect that is where they will stay. The two computers that I built between 2009 and 2012 started with Windows 7 32-bit. I have since upgraded the RAM to 8GB and the O/S to Windows 10 64-bit. Since then I have reinstalled Windows 7 on them. They both are dual-boot with Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 10 64-bit.
What all the four computers I have with Windows 7 have in common is the Windows 7 installation went with very little or no problems.
- Install Windows 7 (either Home or Pro)
- Install SP1 if needed
- Install hardware specific drivers as required
- Install the Windows 7 rollup (aka SP2)
After that was done the regular Windows updates worked normally. After a week or so one of the normal updates presented was surprisingly the Edge browser. I found no need to force the install of Edge. I just needed to be patient.
I know some people take it as a challenge to install Windows 10 on old hardware. I respect their initiative and persistence. It seems that computers much before the Windows Vista era (2007) are best left to Windows 7 and no further. Windows 10 for them is an operating system too far.
Agreed, Vista and hardware, definitely the first systems, did not come with IDE Legacy SATA drivers from the manufacturers and only came with AHCI controller, which is very modern for the time with the AMD64 instructions and lack of Intel support, so i always stick to this for installations.
IDE Legacy for 32bit
AHCI Uefi for 64bit
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