Cheap Thinkpad Win 10 Troubleshooting [updated]

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
06/19/2019 at 00:25 • Filed to: computerlopnik

As a follow up to my morning post about trying to get Windows 10 on my cheap Windows 7 laptop, I figured I’d post my troubleshooting techniques.

[UPDATE] Well everything was... bad. Good call on the USB install, it was indeed faster. Also hat tip to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for the windows activation tip. Ultimately the problem ended up being with the video card of all things. Turns out telling the the BIOS to force use of the NVIDIA graphics card over the integrated graphics is the trick for the W520. FML.

That said, now running a fully legit install of Win 10 with all drivers present and accounted for. :squee:

Now I’ve discovered the search term “UMPC” I’m having a problem.

[Original Post Continues]

Step 0

Try installing with the DVD drive set as the #1 boot option.

That didn’t work.

Nor did booting from the install media and asking it to repair Windows. Actually made it SUPER cranky.

Step 1

Message received: Installing from DVD is for the birds.

Luckily they’re letting me download from my main desktop onto a USB drive without making a fuss about it. Once that is done I’ll give it a try.

Step 2

It has been suggested adding the registry key AllowOSUpgrade to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade

Worth a shot and I’ve got that running in parallel with Step 1.

Step 3

Install a fresh copy of Win 10 and buy a licence.

Because fuck this shit.

DISCUSSION (12)

404 - User No Longer Available > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
06/18/2019 at 20:52

Ehh... there is an easier way. In the Windows 7 fully activated setup, just find the file “GatherOSState.exe” from the Windows 10 Setup disk, run it, save the GenuineTicket.XML. Install Win 10 from scratch, then just dropped the XML back into C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSVC\GenuineTicket...

Source: I work on cheap ThinkPads, activating them with Win 10 all the time.

Svend > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
06/18/2019 at 22:02

Dawwwwww. So cute and cuddly.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > 404 - User No Longer Available
06/18/2019 at 22:05

Oh hello! This is good oppo. Did that but now a clean install isn’t working either because of... reasons. Still, good tip.

facw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
06/18/2019 at 22:16

What sort of errors are you getting? Maybe run memtest86? Was the non-cleaned install working?

JMKarstetter > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
06/19/2019 at 00:11

I need a couple of those dog beds, where did you get it?

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > JMKarstetter
06/19/2019 at 00:18

Searching for “elevated pet bed” on Amazon should get you where you need to be.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > JMKarstetter
06/19/2019 at 00:32

I should say I’ve bought the ones shown below and been happy with all three. The K&H has the benefit of being very easy to assemble and have an optional canopy (though my dogs don’t like the canopy. Also I only bought a replacement in 2017 because a tree fell on the old one. Actually ended up using it for another two years with the replacement still in the box.

Kinja'd!!!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > 404 - User No Longer Available
06/19/2019 at 05:36

I do computer repair on the side but have never heard of this trick, so excuse my stupid question...how is this different than just doing an upgrade install from Win7 to Win10? Am I missing something? You need Win7 installed first to get the activation ticket xml, anyway, then you’d need to wipe and put a completely fresh Win10 install on. I just install Win7, activate it, then just use the LiveUSB of Win10 to run the Setup on the USB and upgrade it to Win10 and it activates automatically...?

404 - User No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
06/19/2019 at 07:17

The whole idea is to avoid the in-place upgrade and start clean. In my experience in-place upgrades are sources of troubles, in particular residual drivers causing issues, especially more embedded devices like laptops and tablets.

There’s a little more reason to mine though, since I use this trick for imaging: I have a bare minimum Win 7 install with just some drivers for grabbing the XML, and another sysprep’ed Win 10 image. So I just plug the 7 drive, get the XML, swap back a blank drive, du mp the 10 image and drop the XML. These are off-lease laptops of all the same model and usually I do them in batches of 20-30.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > 404 - User No Longer Available
06/19/2019 at 07:43

Ah makes sense! I am usually only doing one or two at a time that I picked up from somewhere and am fixing up to sell. :)

404 - User No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
06/19/2019 at 08:17

I’m stalking my wholesaler’s list daily, salivating over an X230 or X250 to convert to a Hackintosh, lol.

But I have no use for one, I already have too many laptops.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > 404 - User No Longer Available
06/19/2019 at 11:15

I have 3 machines at m...my higher power Core i7 Win10 desktop, an older Win8-era HP laptop running Linux Mint 19.1 MATE 64-bit, my spare older Core 2 Duo desktop running Mint as well.