Finally, I got the Windows 10 for my laptop… Even if this task is trivial, it was a surprising experience this time. But let me tell you the story of Windows 10 installation on my Samsung RC 710 laptop.
Back in August, I tweeted “That’s all I have within #Windows10 X64 Ent setup on Samsung RC710 with SSD”. By that, I meant that my setup process was stuck in the boot phase using the installation of this Windows brand new version. That was reproduced within Windows 8.1 x64 upgrade tentative or with clean Windows 10 installation.
I tried few Windows 10 .ISOs and a friend’s DVD but no chance. The setup has started and stuck within few seconds.
Because the laptop got some hardware upgrades from the original configuration, I tried to restore to the initial configuration but nothing new. Reading this article where is specifying “For 64-bit installations, a small number of older PCs may be blocked from installation because they do not support CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW, and LAHF/SAHF“, I tried an x86 .ISO but I got the same situation. Also, I tried some BIOS changes without any improvements.
Getting online contact with Microsoft it offered me no new things. I got only typical support trivial answers.
During the time on the same laptop, I was running fine Win XP, Win 7 and Win 8.1 OSs without any such bad experiences. To me it was clear that Windows 10 has some backward compatibilities issues.
So, I took it on my own googling for my situation. Reading different forums I realized this is a common issue for Samsung old laptops and it is generated by the WiFi card.
The solution in my case was buying a brand new Atheros AR5B22 WiFi card and replacing the old WiFi card with that.
If you’re in a similar situation and you’re looking for instructions how to disassemble your laptop here it is a brief presentation.
By the way, you’re doing on your own risk. If you’re not confident, please contact a specialist.
With this new WiFi card plugged-in, the upgrade from Window 8.1 x64 to Windows 10 x64 became a trivial task.
It would be nice if Microsoft would get more in count such behaviors and would improve the Windows 10’s backward compatibility, especially because the old computers are included within their OS target.
Update 02.06.2016: Samsung admits they are lame: “Don’t Install Windows 10 Because We Suck At Making Drivers”. Sad…
You can find additional information here. That’s why, most probably I will never buy a Samsung phone or any other gadget made by them, anymore.