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Upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10

D

DoctorXX42

n00b
Joined
Nov 22, 2024
Messages
29
Someone on here, Azrak I believe, talked about how he installed Windows 10 on an XPS M170. I have an XPS M170 that I currently have Windows 7 Ultimate that I can't seem to do anything with so I would like to upgrade it to Windows 10. Currently I have no idea how I can do that. Azrak if you see this post can you let me know step by step how I can upgrade to Windows 10.
 
try creating a tiny10 usb using rufus and then launch setup from it. see if it will let you do an in-place upgrade to it.
ps: the 7 to 10 key upgrade no longer works so you might run into it refusing to activate.
 
I'm not sure what I need to do in order to boot to my usb. plus the usb has an older windows 10 bootup thing on it and I don't know if it would work
 
pendragon1 said:
yeah, you mentioned that...
while youre waiting, try it.
Click to expand...
1732403765200.png
Somehow the Windows 10 Upgrade thing started but then I got this.
 
DoctorXX42 said:
I'm not sure what I need to do
Click to expand...
you sure you should be doing this then? you need rufus and a fresh copy of tiny10 that you download. then use rufus to put it onto the usb...

DoctorXX42 said:
View attachment 693470 Somehow the Windows 10 Upgrade thing started but then I got this.
Click to expand...
i didnt say to use the update assistant...



ooooh... hence "step by step". this is something you should have the basic knowledge of before trying...
 
Probably need to use older Win10 install media. Then once installed patch it up.
 
Have you considered backing up your things and doing a clean install after wiping the drive?
 
if I could find a Windows 10 install that I could do that with I would. I have backup drives that I could put any necessary files on. do you know where I can find a Windows 10 install?
 
pendragon1 said:
they wont work on his old ass machine, which is why i suggested tiny10 and rufus, but he cant seem to handle that and probably should not be attempting this...
Click to expand...
Yep... He should probably bring his pc into a shop or a trusted friend if he can't even use Google/Bing for a cursory search.

Not sure why he wants to upgrade from one obsolete OS to one that's about to lose updates, either, but that's a separate issue.
 
all I know is Azrak, a member on here said he was able to install Windows 10 on the same laptop that I have. I just need a Windows 10 installation that I can put on a bootable usb drive
 
DoctorXX42 said:
all I know is Azrak, a member on here said he was able to install Windows 10 on the same laptop that I have. I just need a Windows 10 installation that I can put on a bootable usb drive
Click to expand...
For starters, it's time to move on and let Azrak go. They've been logged in and aren't responding to the thread.

Now, it's been said more than once that installing Win 10 is a fool's errand on 20 year old equipment, and I stand by that assertion. It is technically compatible with your hardware, and I hope you've upgraded the memory (to the 2GB limit) and hard drive (to SSD) in those years. If you really need to use this ancient stuff, you will find more usability by installing a lightweight Linux distro like Debian or AntiX. Software that will run on 10 but not 7 is not going to run very well on your system. But if you're dead-set on doing this, well, let's carry on, MacDuff!

Okay, you've accepted the caveats and moved on to this paragraph. Did you look up that media creation tool error? Did you follow the simple solution instructions? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...-0x20000/4f8bbe1c-b5af-4cc9-958e-c6c8f3f0b524 It's literally because your system is so old it can't use the protocols required to talk to the servers. You can also run the MCT and create USB install media on another computer. Just pay attention to the prompts and it won't try any upgrades on the host system.
 
I'm not that familiar with Pentium M, but some/most? of them don't support Execute Disable Bit. On Intel's spec page it's listed as not supported. This is required for Windows 10, without it you can't install any version including Tiny10. I'm not familiar if there are hacks to work around this requirement.

It's seriously not worth the effort. Time to start using a newer computer or switch to a lightweight Linux distro.
 
DoctorXX42 said:
Someone on here, Azrak I believe, talked about how he installed Windows 10 on an XPS M170. I have an XPS M170 that I currently have Windows 7 Ultimate that I can't seem to do anything with so I would like to upgrade it to Windows 10. Currently I have no idea how I can do that. Azrak if you see this post can you let me know step by step how I can upgrade to Windows 10.
Click to expand...
Is that really a Pentium M laptop that takes a max of 2GB ram? Yikes.

Are you in the USA? Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are going right now and there are way better laptops, brand new for $200 if you look.

You could probably use Rufus and make a Windows 11 install USB that bypasses the Hardware checks: CPU, TPM, SecureBoot, and 4GB ram checks:
1733090255603.png


I did install WIndows 11 on an OLD Dell that had an i5 cpu and came with Windows 7, and it is now faster than it was with Windows 10. I did a fresh install, recommended.

HOW TO for Rufus:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5mDUU9GCNo


Edit: SSE 4.2 instruction set is required for Windows 11, and Pentium M does not support that.
1733091218280.png


I seriously doubt anyone has Windows 11 running on the laptop you mentioned if it only has a Pentium M cpu. If they are, they need to provide proof plus how they accomplished that.


tl,dr: You need a new laptop
 
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GoodBoy said:
SSE 4.2 instruction set is required for Windows 11, and Pentium M does not support that.
Click to expand...

Probably the bigger issue is that the Pentium M is a 32-bit CPU. There is no 32-bit version of Windows 11. But the OP mentioned Windows 10. Windows 10 does have a 32-bit version, and doesn't require SSE4.2 (requirement introduced with Windows 11 24H2 update).

But I still don't think that it would work, because Windows 10 32-bit, and even Windows 8 and 8.1 requires NX-bit support. I had a 2Ghz Dothan-core Pentium M Laptop, it does not support NX-bit and I never could upgrade it past Windows 7. But did they eventually make a version of the Pentium M with NX-bit support? Unlikely but not impossible?
 
Oh duh, Windows 10.

Rufus does work with Windows 10 too, so still worth a try.
 
GotNoRice said:
Probably the bigger issue is that the Pentium M is a 32-bit CPU. There is no 32-bit version of Windows 11. But the OP mentioned Windows 10. Windows 10 does have a 32-bit version, and doesn't require SSE4.2 (requirement introduced with Windows 11 24H2 update).

But I still don't think that it would work, because Windows 10 32-bit, and even Windows 8 and 8.1 requires NX-bit support. I had a 2Ghz Dothan-core Pentium M Laptop, it does not support NX-bit and I never could upgrade it past Windows 7. But did they eventually make a version of the Pentium M with NX-bit support? Unlikely but not impossible?
Click to expand...
They made a few Ms with XD (Intel's NX) support in the final round. There is a decent chance OP's laptop has one of the CPUs that could support it (if only they would tell us the specs), the model was renamed the M170 as part of a hardware refresh with the option of the last stepping of Ms.
 
DoctorXX42 said:
anyone know of a 32 bit version of Rufus? I'm only finding 64 bit versions
Click to expand...
You're better off buying a new computer than paying for a Win10 license costing almost as much. Your computer is hopelessly obsolete.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Yes, DoctorXX42 sure does.




So you want to be stuck with another old OS. Why exactly?
Click to expand...
I'm unemployed so I can't currently afford a new laptop. I'll be up and running on my regular pc within a week hopefully, So, hopefully I'll find a new job soon and will be able to afford it someday.
 
DoctorXX42 said:
I'm unemployed so I can't currently afford a new laptop. I'll be up and running on my regular pc within a week hopefully, So, hopefully I'll find a new job soon and will be able to afford it someday.
Click to expand...
I'd just stick with 7 on your current setup until you can swing a hundred or two for a new laptop... Why are you wanting 10 suddenly? Go Linux if you need a modern OS for this one, I'd say.
 
so, I was able to find a 32bit version of Rufus, now I just need the Windows 10 installation file to put on the USB
 
DoctorXX42 said:
If I'm able to get a 32 bit version of Rufus, where could I find a version of Windows 10 that I can put on the USB?
Click to expand...
I gave you a link to the instructions to fix your error and get the official Windows 10 download in Post #20 (as well as an alternative method). It even installs to your USB stick.

Get Rufus 32bit here, if you still want to go that route, but you will still need to either apply the Win 7 TLS patch to your laptop or use another computer in order to run the Media Creation Tool and get the ISO.
 
GoldenTiger said:
You're better off buying a new computer than paying for a Win10 license costing almost as much. Your computer is hopelessly obsolete.
Click to expand...
Win 10 and 11 can officially be run unactivated. You basically only lose cosmetic features and it gently nags you.
 
what is the patch for? where would I get the patch?
Grebuloner said:
I gave you a link to the instructions to fix your error and get the official Windows 10 download in Post #20 (as well as an alternative method). It even installs to your USB stick.

Get Rufus 32bit here, if you still want to go that route, but you will still need to either apply the Win 7 TLS patch to your laptop or use another computer in order to run the Media Creation Tool and get the ISO.
Click to expand...
 
DoctorXX42 said:
what is the patch for? where would I get the patch?
Click to expand...
The reason you can't use the official creation tool (the error you posted), is because by default, Windows 7 is only able to use TLS 1.0 to securely access the web. TLS 1.0 isn't supported by Microsoft's servers anymore, and the world has moved on to the current TLS 1.2 (your web browser is actually using the even newer post-Win 7 1.3). Win 7 SP1 does have support for this standard, but it isn't activated. The patch you download and install changes a couple registry entries to activate the feature and allows your system to contact Microsoft and use the tool.

In the link I gave you, the first post has a link to download the patch. Alternatively, let me do it for you.
 
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