Upgrade XP/Vista to Windows 10 FREE also

[NHHEMI]

As it turns out, you can upgrade XP and Vista to Windows10 free too( as long as your system can support Windows10 ). It is not just Windows7 and 8/8.1, there is a work around/loop hole. HOWEVER, with that said you have to do it manually and it takes a little effort on your part.

WARNING - have access to another computer that can get online in case you need to download something or look something up OR have the installation files for a browser you can install after the 10130.iso finishes up!!! The 10130.iso file does not include any type of browser. Not IE or Edge. At least the one I downloaded didn't. I had to download the Media Creation Tool on my desktop and transfer it to the laptop using a USB stick to finish.

1. - Download Windows10 build/version 10130( you need the 10130.iso file ). Microsoft no longer has this on their website( it was at one time )but it can be downloaded from "unofficial" sources.

2. - Create a bootable USB stick using the 10130.iso file

3. - Boot to the USB drive

4. - Install Windows10( you have options from leaving some stuff to a total wipe of all info on the drive/partitions ).

5. - Once installed you go to System and under activate you enter a generic code( available online )that is recognized by Microsoft and allows it to be activated as a genuine Microsoft version of Windows.

6. - Once the 10130 version of Windows10 is activated, you then need to download the Windows10 Media Creation Tool from the Microsoft website and do the Windows10 upgrade. It will actually "upgrade" Windows10-10130 just like it does Windows 7 and 8/8.1. When it upgrades, it will install the newest version of Windows10 and then activate it automatically because the 10130 version is recognized as a previous genuine version of Windows and is new enough to be included in the free upgrade.

7. - You can do a clean install after the upgrade procedure if you wish by using the system recovery tools which allows you to reload to the factory image which reinstalls Windows10 as a clean/fresh install. I am not sure this is needed like it is when upgrading from Windows7 and 8/8.1? I didn't do it myself on my Sister's laptop.

It takes a little time with all the OS installations but I can verify it does actually work, on Vista anyway, and that the install is activated as genuine Microsoft so you can get updates and such. I ended up with Windows10 Pro on her laptop when it was all done.

I just did the update tonight on my Sister's laptop and it is running great so far. She got her laptop at the same time as I got mine. Both came with Vista and free Windows 7 upgrades. I found out tonight, when I went to work on it for her, that she never sent the info in for the free Windows 7 disc. Obviously it is too late so I assumed she was out fo luck for the free Windows10 upgrade.

Just for S&G's I did a search about XP/Vista free Windows10 upgrade and discovered how to do it. My Sister is in a nursing home and can't afford to buy Windows10 outright and seeing as 10130 was offered as a free download by Microsoft and they are still accepting the generic code for it I figure no harm no foul.

I am unsure if it would be ok to post a link to the 10130.iso download( safe version )or not so PM me if interested. I will give you a link to a really thorough walk through for it that also has the product key/code as well.

Hope this helps some of you out.

 

[CT8]

Why would you want to?

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Why would you want to?


Because XP is already no longer supported( updates )and Vista will soon come to the end of it's extended support lifecycle( early 2017 I read ). Just doesn't make sense to keep using an OS that is not supported or is soon to lose support when there is a chance to upgrade free.

I was able to upgrade to Windows 10 for her, at no cost, which is supposed to be supported until 2025. I was going to have to buy Windows 7 or 8 for her within a year or so anyway but I was able to jump up to 10 at no cost. No brainer to me.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Why would you want to?



Because XP is end-of-life and hilariously old. Security holes have been going unpatched for over a year now. Same goes for apps you use on XP -- most mainstream apps (browsers, iTunes, etc) have stopped supporting XP meaning you're using outdated versions that might have gaping security holes or bugs.

Even Windows 7 is six years old now. There have been numerous improvements for performance, security, usability, etc.

 

[oilboy123]

I went to 10 on my built desktop computer from 8.1 I like it so far. I was going to do my other back up desktop with 7, but the built in graphics, or some such is not compatible with 10.

I have a laptop with Win 8.1 I'll be switching over soon. I gave away an old laptop that had XP on it. It was in perfect shape. If I had known about this upgrade maybe working on it. I would have kept it. But I gave it to my bro who I'm sure will switch it to Unbuto, or whatever it is........

I like the idea of future proofing as much as possible. Thanks for a freebie for once Microsoft! I've bought a fair amount of their Operating systems over the years.

 

[daves87rs]

I've been thinking about this myself, as I have an old gateway labtop that I bought back in Jan of 2008 that is still running Vista.....was considering 7 (tired of Vista issues), and wondered if I would benefit for 10 more.

So to my tech guys-would this handle 10?


http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-mt6...0-gb-hdd/specs/

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
I've been thinking about this myself, as I have an old gateway labtop that I bought back in Jan of 2008 that is still running Vista.....was considering 7 (tired of Vista issues), and wondered if I would benefit for 10 more.

So to my tech guys-would this handle 10?


http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-mt6...0-gb-hdd/specs/


This is what Microsoft says are the minimum system requirements in their FAQ...

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display: 800x600

You look ok from the info in your link all except for the graphics card. Don't see much info on it there. I did a quick search on it but didn't find enough info in the limited time I have right now. It could be an issue? I did find update driver search results on it for Windows 7 & 8 but none for Windows 10. So??? I THINK it will be ok is my best guess but can't guarantee it.

Usually Microsoft has a "Compatibility Test" you can run through their website. It searches your system and then tells you where any problems are/may be. I have been unable to find that for Windows 10 via a search or on the Microsoft website. All I have been able to find is the above minimum requirements.

Anytime you try and upgrade an old computer to a new OS you run the risk of driver/incompatibility issues. As long as you have the Vista OS on a bootable device( CD/DVD or USB )so you can reload it if the upgrade here fails it is worth a shot. I had my doubts doing my Sister's laptop but I figured if it was Windows 7 compatible it should be ok for this and it turns out it was. In the walk through/product code/key link there are lots of people who claim to have done this successfully in the comments which is why I took a shot.

Hope this helps you out.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
I've been thinking about this myself, as I have an old gateway labtop that I bought back in Jan of 2008 that is still running Vista.....was considering 7 (tired of Vista issues), and wondered if I would benefit for 10 more.

So to my tech guys-would this handle 10?


http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-mt6...0-gb-hdd/specs/


This is what Microsoft says are the minimum system requirements in their FAQ...

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS
Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display: 800x600

You look ok from the info in your link all except for the graphics card. Don't see much info on it there. I did a quick search on it but didn't find enough info in the limited time I have right now. It could be an issue? I did find update driver search results on it for Windows 7 & 8 but none for Windows 10. So??? I THINK it will be ok is my best guess but can't guarantee it.

Usually Microsoft has a "Compatibility Test" you can run through their website. It searches your system and then tells you where any problems are/may be. I have been unable to find that for Windows 10 via a search or on the Microsoft website. All I have been able to find is the above minimum requirements.

Anytime you try and upgrade an old computer to a new OS you run the risk of driver/incompatibility issues. As long as you have the Vista OS on a bootable device( CD/DVD or USB )so you can reload it if the upgrade here fails it is worth a shot. I had my doubts doing my Sister's laptop but I figured if it was Windows 7 compatible it should be ok for this and it turns out it was. In the walk through/product code/key link there are lots of people who claim to have done this successfully in the comments which is why I took a shot.

Hope this helps you out.

Yeah, It does help!

Graphics was my concern as well. Have to remember to try to look up to see what graphics card it has. (at the time it was out, it was a mid range computer)

May just give it a shot.....

 

[daves87rs]

Found it!---here it is....

ntel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100 is an integrated (onboard) graphic chip on a Mobile Intel 965GM chipset. It is the successor of GMA 950 and features a fully programmable pipeline (supports Aero Glass fully and DirectX 10 with newest drivers). The peformance of the X3100 is clearly better than the GMA 950, still demanding modern games won't run fluently.

These graphics cards are not suited for Windows 3D games. Office and Internet surfing however is possible.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

 

[sleddriver]

I thought I've give this a try after your instructions. Here's a previous post from another thread about this machine:

Quote:
I now have W10 build 10041 up and running on a very old Dell Inspiron B130 LT! Intel Pentium M 1.7Ghz, with 1.5GB of 533Mhz DDR RAM. W10 is currently only using 672MB of that. Install size is 7.2G out of 74.5G available. I'm guessing this is an 80G HD.

This is a new install after HD reformat. Previously XPSP3 was on it. Total install took between 30-45min. and ran without a hitch. No errors.

First, I'm surprised it would even run on this old machine (2004 or 2005 maybe? I'm not the original owner. It was a freebie from a neighbor). Performance is very good. No waiting for a long spinning wheel/hourglass/etc.

I'm limited to a max of 1024 x 768 on the screen due to the internal Intel silicon (915GM/910ML/915MS). Max graphics mem is 763MB. (I said it was old.....)

Windows key (start) is semi-translucent to background. Lots of aps on right. Very new to me as an XP user. A rt-clk allows you to unpin/resize anything.

Task view is also new to me and I like it. File Explorer is a very different ballgame from XP..hopefully it'll remember how each of my folders is set up. I'll have to add some items to play around with it.

I looked for My computer > properties, device manager, control panel and the HD. All in new places, but find-able. The only icon on the desktop is the recycle bin, so no joy there. Not sure what this looks like in W7 or W8, but very different from XP. No worries though!

Resource Monitor is excellent! So is Task Manager. I regularly use the SysInternals programs instead with XP as they show so much more information. Definite step up here.

No joy though trying to play a DVD! Ha! What is it with MS when it comes to something as simple as playing a movie? This is 2015, not 2000. Perhaps "this feature" hasn't been added yet. I didn't get an option to play the movie, only examine the disc's TOC. According to WMP, the "disc is empty." Does W8 do this out-of-the-box or does it too need an "ap" to play a DVD? I remember XP doing the exact same thing upon a new install more than a decade ago now. Geesh.....it DID know what to do with a CD though....play it.

Well that's my two-cents review from a still-XP user. MS gets a FAIL on the DVD auto-play, but everything else seems to work and on some ancient Dell HW too boot.


I fired up this machine, and dwnld'd the 10130.iso. Took about an hr and 15min. Thought I would make a DVD-Rom from it. That's where the problems began. First, this old LT won't write a disk. So I managed to get it connected to my existing private network and transfer the nearly 3G file to the DT which DOES have an optical disk writer.

I use an old version of Nero. Stick the disc into the LT, reboot, select F12 to boot-from-disk and....nothing. Blank screen with a blinking curser. Nothing......

So the disk goes into the DT confuser, There is a 2K txt file saying
Quote:
"This disc contains a "UDF" file system and requires an operating system that supports the ISO-13346 "UDF" file system specification."


Well...that's odd. I check the disc with Nero's disk info tool and it says it's an UDF file. I remember a year or so back I had a problem creating a Ubuntu disk, when the Mint disc worked fine.

So I fired up InfraRecorder to burn disc #2, let her rip, and wound up with the same thing: No Joy! Spent an hour or so researching and still No Joy! Something's FUBAR...

(One interesting side note: While having the LT on for awhile, I noticed that W10 Pro Tech Preview #10041 has authenticated itself! Imagine that! I'd tried before, left it on a few days, never updated nor activated. However, now it has....odd that.)

So I dwnld Rufus to create a bootable USB stick. I click on the ISO image file and it chirps "UNSUPPORTED IMAGE: This image is either non-bootable, or it uses a boot or compression method that is not supported by Rufus...." WTH? Sounds like an MS curve-ball...tight and inside.

Geeesh...talk about stumped.

Now something else has changed. I looked at the dwnld files folder on the LT and noticed that there is another one called "Media Creation Tool" I click on it, it says it's going to change some things...then does nothing. I don't get it.

However, next time I click on the iso file in the dwnld fldr, it suddenly shows it's contents!!! (Boot, efi, sources, support, autorun, etc.) When did that happen?

Now that W10_10041 is "authorized" AND the file now opens, PERHAPS it will update itself?

Stay Tuned.....

 

[sleddriver]

Update: So I ditched the idea of creating a DVD and a USB boot stick. It appears I didn't need to with an earlier version of a pre-release installed that's now authenticated.

So I enabled the startup file and it's now run & restarted and I see a blank screen that says "Installing Windows: 11%". Geesh I'd like that time back....

I posted all of this here for my fellow BITOG'ers to hopefully save YOU some time should you decide to update your old system.

 

[sleddriver]

Update II:
I've finally cleared all necessary hurdles to get W10 Pro Build 10130 running and activated. Finally.....

The neXT step is to elevate to build 10240.

 

[sleddriver]

Update III:
Dwnld'd W10_Pro last night. This morning, I used Rufus to make a bootable USB. No problems at all this time. Discovered an interesting quirk on the Dell B130 LT: You're unable to select the option to boot from a USB, even when enabled in the BIOS, without inserting it first. I was planning on select then insert. However, it's the other way around.

It took a bit over an hour after restarting 3 or 4 times, retrieving all the updates, then installing them. So far, so good. Lots of privacy boxes to enable as they're disabled by default if you chose the 'easy setup' route. Then you'll be wide open.

I'm going to leave it on for the rest of the day. Quite a change from old XP. Looking forward to not having to CONSTANTLY reset my folder options for one thing.

BTW, there is a deadline before this free upgrade option expires. It's near the beginning of October.

 

[NHHEMI]

Yes, that is a good point made ^^^ I should have thought to mention. The 10130 version of Windows10 and the generic product code/key for it expire on October 2, 2015 so there is less than a month left for this to be done. After Oct 2nd this will not work.

However, once you successfully install and activate the 10130 build you can then use the media creation tool to "upgrade" to the newest version of Windows10. Once you do that, and it is activated, you will receive updates for it just like you would if you bought it or had upgraded a previous version of Windows 7 or 8/8.1.

The 10130 build is just a step to bypass needing a previous version of Windows( 7 or 8/8.1 ). It is not intended to be permanent. IT is the version installed by the media creation tool that will be your real Windows10 version.

So if you want to try this on an XP or Vista machine you best get to it. Sorry, I should have thought to mention time is running out. My bad.

 

[asand1]

Thank you for this thread. I swapped XP for Linux when MS implanted a bug in the last update and then dropped support. My CPU would run at 100% from boot and would never drop back down.

I successfully installed Win 10 with the help of this post and another after Googling.

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/windows-xpvista-%e2%86%92-windows-10-free-upgrade/

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: asand1
Thank you for this thread. I swapped XP for Linux when MS implanted a bug in the last update and then dropped support. My CPU would run at 100% from boot and would never drop back down.

I successfully installed Win 10 with the help of this post and another after Googling.

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/windows-xpvista-%e2%86%92-windows-10-free-upgrade/



That is the link I have been giving to people in PM's. IT is what I used too.

Thanks for posting you were able to do it on an XP machine. I did it on Vista. Now we know it does work on both. I actually have a Dell with XP and a Dell with Vista here now I have to do. Got to get to it before it expires in Oct.

 

[demarpaint]

I have an old Vista machine laying around that I put Linux in. I wonder if the Win 10 ISO file I burnt would work. Or would it be a case that since I wiped the HDD of Vista I'll be SOL?

 

[Subdued]

This process is OS independent. You're installing and activating a beta build.

Once the beta build is activated you gain the ability to activate the production build.

 

[asand1]

To be clear I upgraded the XP machine with a quad core 3.8g CPU and 4g ddr3 system while running Linux. This upgrade does not take you current OS into consideration at all.

The case, PSU, and HDD is all that's left of the original XP machine.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: asand1
To be clear I upgraded the XP machine with a quad core 3.8g CPU and 4g ddr3 system while running Linux. This upgrade does not take you current OS into consideration at all.

The case, PSU, and HDD is all that's left of the original XP machine.


Is the product key valid, or activated? I forgot the term they use. Thanks.