Can't upgrade from XP to Windows 10

ThemeOne

Yes I agree - backup everything first, as your XP partition will most likely be wiped, unless you have enough disk space to install Windows 10 in a separate partition.

AndyPix

ThemeOne wrote: »

you'd probably need the setup.exe file in the x86 folder.

^^ this ..

regional

Wow thanks all for your help on this, it is sooooo complicated but we will give it a try i.e back up etc but as stated not for the faint hearted !

paddyrg

regional wrote: »

Wow thanks all for your help on this, it is sooooo complicated but we will give it a try i.e back up etc but as stated not for the faint hearted !

The reason it's a bit scary is that XP (and the machines is on) is so old now that there's no direct/simple/single button upgrade for all the various old hardware and software configurations out there. It may, in fairness, get scarier yet, which is why people are urging you to backup everything before doing anything else. You may well need to remove partitions and take the computer back to ground level (metaphorically speaking) to be able to rebuild in a modern way.

There is good news that once you're up and running, Windows 10 is pretty decent, and adds so much extra security and robustness and you won't need to touch the lower workings again.

I just feel it fair to abuse, though, that whilst technically your computer might support Windows 10, it's old hardware and that comes with limitations. Components age, thermal compound gets sticky, memory contacts oxidise. You may find it's coming up time to replace the whole machine instead so you can have another few trouble free years

Heedtheadvice

I was in a similar position, XP on reasonable machine but decided to 'upgrade' to win 10.

Most of the issues and problems posted here or alluded to I agree with especially the inability to upgrade from xp to 10. It requires a clean install i.e. removing xp etc from the disc so:
1. Backup(s) essential -to either recover data files after 10 installed or revert to xp when problems become apparent. I say 'when' because it is quite likely that a device or peripheral may not function with 10. For me it was my scanner. However reverting back is not good owing to well publicised security issues with XP.
2. You need a new install version of 10 not an upgrade version -that might just be a slip of the pen in your post- but you need to be sure you can install 10 from scratch (can anyone confirm my suspicion here regarding upgrade versions?). If you don't know check with Curry's what you have been sold!
3. I decided the easiest route (given the age of my machine and limited updating facilities (such as memory expansion and motherboard limitations -about 10 years old) it was easier and economical to get a new machine with 10 already installed (it was a Dell return and I am very pleased with it.)
4 Be prepared (once you have a working 10 machine for considerable software updates to be performed. This will take quite a while and you may, if you have download limits, find you do not have enough broadband capacity without buying a bit more. Exacerbated if you need to download new installs of your apps or if you use third party security software.
4. if you have very old apps these may not work at all
5. You probably ought to tweak some of the setting in 10 once installed -but I cannot go into that here!

If you decide to continue to try an upgrade your machine then one route might be to make a boot recovery disc and disc image with macrium reflect (backup one), remove your hard drive (keep as backup two) and install a brand new hard drive for win 10. That will keep things simple, reduce backup time/storage needs obviate the need to reformat current hard drive, make for a very fast reinstatement to XP (if you really need/want to) and provide a convenient way to copy over data files (piggy back old drive later to copy once win 10 is happy.)

I am content with the new machine route I took and would suggest you seriously consider if that is appropriate for you!

Good luck.

Heedtheadvice

p.s. if you do go down the new machine route Curry's would not be my first choice of outlets!! Have bought simple items from them (such a a cooker) but better deals and advice in my opinion available elsewhere for computers! Many advisory posts on this site already!

WAYT

What a terrible waste of money.
It's a shame they didn't come here to ask about it before they wasted up to £99.99.
You could have purchased a half decent machine for that, either with Windows 10 or one that allowed a free upgrade to Windows 10.
Then no need to even back up, as you could then retrieve anything that you wanted from the old hard drive at your leisure.
Too late now.

Does the machine have any identifying traits, such as a model number?

macman

OP, did you check that your XP PC can support W10 in terms of hardware? It's a big jump in OS, and as above not a very economic one, given that a new or refurbed machine would have come with W10 included.
And yes it does require a clean install, not an upgrade. But with either route, you must backup first.
Vista was launched in Jan '07, so your PC is at least 10 years old now-which means it's on borrowed hard drive time anyway, unless replaced.
Too late now, but W7 would probably have been a better OS to upgrade to.

emptybox

Unless I've missed it, I don't think the OP has posted the specs of this computer?
Not all older XP hardware is compatible with Windows 10.

As a rough rule of thumb, if the computer was made in 2004 or earlier then it won't run Windows 10 (or 8).
But more specifically it depends on the CPU. Only the very late series Pentium 4s will work (not sure about AMD CPUs?).

50Twuncle

Anyone who needs to upgrade their PC to Win 10 - can still do it for free
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows10upgrade being the source
Don't be put off by the ACCESSIBILITY name - the downloads are standard
But this needs Win 7 as a minimum to upgrade from - EXCEPT for a fresh bootable build - so boot on the media (downloaded elsewhere and burnt to DVD) and away you go for free - assuming that your Win XP PC is compatible with Win 10
I really wish that the OP had asked for advice prior to spending £100 unnecessarily