Let's run Win10 on really really old hardware

I had Win 10 Pro x86 running on a eMachines W3503 like this one: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16883114035 I was Amazed it could Boot on 512MB of DDR 400 RAM !! Upping the RAM to a set of 2x1GB of 400 cut the cold boot time down to around 3 Minutes :) It was great for watching Cam Girls, but that was about it. Couldn't even watch YouTube Vids at low resolution, and pretty much everything I did with it Maxed the CPU at 100% and took Forever.

stois said:

Hello,

I am trying also to install Windows 10 on a PC with the following specs:
CPU: Intel Core 2 DUO E8400 @ 3 GHz
Memory: 4GB
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Deluxe

as described my issue here: Problem formating pc with Windows 10 OEM DVD, stuck at windows logo - - Windows 10 Forums

I read in this thread that it is possible to install Windows 10 on a PC with a P5Q Deluxe Motherboard, is this correct? Or might this actually be the problem I am facing?

To maximize compatibility I would go into BIOS and make sure the storage is set to IDE, not AHCI. Also it is a good idea to upgrade to latest BIOS, if any, before installing. Then I would delete all partitions from target disk and let Windows Setup automatically create any necessary partitions. Yes, Windows cannot find automatically all drivers, so you may end with Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, for example, but installing manually latest Vista or Windows 7 drivers should be OK. Even if CPU might be compatible with 64-bit, I would install 32-bit to maximize compatibility. Of course you are free to try 64-bit, but I'm telling you that to save you time.

Good! And remember that if no Windows 10 drivers are available you can use drivers for Windows 8 or 7 or Vista (the newer Windows version the better). In some cases even XP drivers work (in Windows 10 32-bit) but they should be your last resort if you cannot find any drivers and Windows Update cannot find either. They are not fully compatible and therefore there is no guarantee they will work in Windows 10 32-bit (depend on device type. I have successfully installed audio, LAN, Wi-Fi and TV tuner drivers, but I also had many failures).

Surprisingly Windows had all of the drivers.

anonjwm said:

Surprisingly Windows had all of the drivers.

Not really a surprise. From Windows 95 onwards there are build-in drivers for most older hardware. This of course doesn't mean they are perfect, but they do make the device work. I prefer installing official manufacturer's drivers for enable all features, as Windows generic drivers some times provide only basic functionality. Advanced features are missing.

There are two hardware I found to have non-working drivers:

SiS Mirage 3 videocard (in fact, a sad excuse for a built-in videocard). Latest driver is for Win7. It doesn't work at all neiter under AU nor CU (and neither x86/x64 work).

Conexant smart audio 221. This one requires x86 version to work even if x64 drivers are available (but don't work).

Other than that I have been able to succesfully run w10 on 10 year old+ PCs. Your mileage may vary of course.

SiS has drivers for XP, if I remember well, so you can use those in Windows Vista 32-bit and Windows 7 32-bit (XPDM mode) but not in Windows 8 and Windows 10 32-bit that demand WDDM only drivers. Conexant's XP drivers should work in 10 32-bit but you must install them manually from Device Manager, running the setup won't work. You open the audio device in Device Manager, Update drivers, second option (not auto), again second option and you should se a "Have disk" button. Click on that and browse to the folder where you extracted the driver files. You may see a warning about compatibility, just proceed, restart and audio should work. For graphics there is nothing you can do in Windows 10, you are stuck with Microsoft Basic Display Adapter (you would have very little acceleration anyway).

spapakons said:

Not really a surprise. From Windows 95 onwards there are build-in drivers for most older hardware. This of course doesn't mean they are perfect, but they do make the device work. I prefer installing official manufacturer's drivers for enable all features, as Windows generic drivers some times provide only basic functionality. Advanced features are missing.

Yeah, I did have to download one of the drivers from Dell, the Windows one worked but it was missing a feature for something, can't remember now. But the old driver worked fine.

I wanted to inform you that I have upgraded Windows 10 Anniversary Edition (v1607, July 2016) 32-bit to Windows 10 Creator's Update (v1706, March 2017) 32-bit without any issues in the old AMD-based notebook (see my earlier posts in this thread). At first I got an error and a BSOD because I forgot to disable the modem and the driver failed. I hold the power button to completely turn off the notebook and when powered again I saw several choices in the Boot Manager. One of them was to run Windows Setup, so I tried that and Windows Setup resumed where it had left and completed without any issue.

To avoid problems, make sure you run MSCONFIG and disable any non-Microsoft services and all running applications from startup. Also, don't make the same mistake with me, disable any non-important device from Device Manager before upgrading to Creator's Update, to avoid a faulty driver giving you a BSOD. Generally, if your old PC can run Windows 10 RTM (first edition), it can also be upgraded to any newer Windows 10 version (as long as it has at least 1GB RAM or you won't be allowed to upgrade). Also you can use the same drivers (Vista etc) as in earlier Windows 10 versions.