Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX: can I upgrade to Windows 10?

I have a laptop Presario CQ56-115DX, bought October 2010 (5.5 years) and running Windows 7. Considering the free update of Windows 10, I am concerned about the graphics card (ATI Mobility Radeon HD4250). I can't find an answer consistent and simple as to if it will work with Windows 10. Some sources claim a flat No., while others say No Problem, and still others say it's possible, but I'll have to pass through many creoles, manual installation of upgrades/downgrades of device drivers before, during and after the upgrade of the OS.  Maybe a BIOS update, too.

So, can someone give me the history of right? When all is said and done, I at least will be no worse off as I am today on Windows 7, for graphics and video capabilities? I do more than very light animation and card games - no heavy action or stuff VR Council. This laptop has the power to do this kind of things anyway. If there is clear instructions somewhere for the manual steps that must be done before pulling the trigger on the upgrade of Win10, I can follow them. I don't want to risk in bricks during the upgrade! Supposedly, for 30 days after the upgrade, I can return to Windows 7, but it's no good if I can't get on the machine in the first place.

I realize that this machine is getting quite long in the tooth, so a hardware upgrade (if that's even possible) is out of the question. If I have to stay on Windows 7, I'll run that, until the support is gone and then switch to Linux or something (maybe dual boot) until the material finally die.

Are there any other known folds in a Windows 10 upgrade, in addition to the graphics? I've seen complaints about wireless, keyboards, optical drives and other things does not work properly after the upgrade.

PPerry57

My advice, after these uprades and seen THEM fail miserably on the old PC (like yours) are NOT to do the upgrade.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the problem, that you are facing is that Microsoft provides only pilots with the most basic features and what you really need for these features in laptops is the specialized drivers written for the specific material found in laptops - and unfortunately, there is no HP Win10 laptop driver.  HP only guarantees the compatibility of Win10 for machines manufactured after August 2013. HP is not no matter what timetable indicating when, or IF, they will produce drivers for older machines.

This means that your PC is probably NEVER going to be fully functional under Win10 because the pilots is needs for all features simply do not exist!

Also, there is no upgrade for the BIOS of your PC because it has not been compiled with Win10 in mind.

While Microsoft tells you there is no risk in the upgrade of Win10, because they allow you to believe that you can always return to your BONES and the original installation program within 30 days, the ugly faction of the matter is that the Win10 GoBack feature turned out to be unreliable - and when it fails it can leave machinery in a State corrupted - that does not always happen , but it happens often enough to be a problem and you will get no warning beforehand that he goes to the trash your PC!

Thus, people who tell you that you are no worse off the power if you upgrade to level do not take account of the reality of the situation - you'll be no better off and will be certainly less well off, how much, nobody knows.

However, if you are willing to do some work and are determined to try to upgrade, then read on...

You think about the amount of work that you want to post just to run Win10.  Seriously.  Old machine Win7 tend to come in two flavors when it comes to upgrading Win10 - really easy and really difficult.

The really hard to upgrade computers fall into two categories: (1) those who are expandable to Win10 and works OK, (2) those who are not.

Computers laptops HP, especially old Win7 machines, often came with two different graphics - and Intel chips and then either a processor AMD or Nvidia.  This was known as switchable graphics card or hybrid.  You have run using the Intel chip most of the time, but when you need additional graphics power, as in the game, the PC automatically switched over to the use of the AMD or Nvidia graphics chip.

Problem is, this requires special graphics drivers to work, and while that those that are preinstalled on laptops Win7, these drivers simply do not exist for Win10.  These drivers are not available from Intel, AMD or Nvidia.  One way to tell if your PC has two different graphics chips is to look in under Graphics Device Manager.  If there are two different cards in the list, an Intel and AMD/Nividia, then you have this problem - and if you force an upgrade to Win10, you will have serious graphic problems and your machine will not work.

However, if you do not have this problem, to CAN pass to Win10, but you must be willing to do four things:
(1) do a full image backup of disk external drive or USB stick, capacity
(2) changes to the reserved system partitioning hard disk recommandΘes mΘthodes,
(3) use a different approach and maybe more than one, as Windows Update to do the upgrade,
(4) prepare for a clean install.

---------------------------------
1: backup of images:
This is VITAL, because the machine is doomed to failure of the upgrade, and when that happens, you will learn that GoBack to Win10 function is NOT reliable, and that can leave you with a corrupt machine that will require the factory reset and lose all that on it, to get it working again.

You can avoid this by making an image backup to an external hard drive or a USB drive using Macrium reflect (MR), which provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or drives together.

What I recommend is the following:
(1) download and install Macrium reflect (MR)
(2) run M. and choose the option: "Create an image of the partition (s) required to backup and restore Windows" to write a full backup to an external drive or USB key
(3) use the option to create a CD or a USB startup key

NOW, you have the means to restore a full system that works for the external hard drive or USB key in a few minutes.
---------------------------------
2: System reserved for resizing:
There is a small partition on the HDD with Win7 preinstalled machines known as system reserved.  It is something known as the boot loader code.  There is 100 MB format: all that is necessary for Win7.  But Win10 needs 350 MB and, in some cases, is NOT able to resize it on its own.  IF this happens, you must manually use a partitioning tool to resize it yourself.
---------------------------------
3: use a different approach to upgrade:
Windows Update is the simpler, but less reliable, way to do the upgrade from Win10.  A much better and more reliable way is to use Microsoft Media creation tool: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install?ocid=ms_wol_win10 choose the upgrade this option now PC.

After all this, you know that MS install drivers with only the most basic features.  Given that HP does not have drivers for your PC Win10, this limited functionality is the best you're going to get.  HP does not actively write new drivers from Win10 for the old PC Win7.  To keep all the features of your PC, your best shot is NOT to upgrade to Win10.
---------------------------------
4: be prepared to clean-install:
If you do all this, and after the upgrade, your PC works partially, this means that the upgrade is not well and stuff is still there the previous OS corrupt the functionality of Win10.

You MIGHT be able to solve the problem in fact a clean install of Win10. Problem is that, often, a clean-install does not recognize prior activation, even if it should. So, before doing the upgrade, follow these instructions on the community forums Win10 on creating a genuineticket.xml file: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/23354-clean-install-windows-10-directly-without-having-upgrade-first.html

You need more later to activate your pc Win10 after the installation of clean.

-----------------------------------------------

Good luck

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Tags: Notebooks

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