AttilaMagyar
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2014
Hi there,
Here's a link to an article that shows the minimal W10 folder configuration on a W10 bootable usb stick:
How To Create Bootable Windows 10 ISO From Files/Folders
That being said, we could use a little more information about the computer you are using here on W10. Is this a desktop PC or a laptop? Is it an OEM computer (Dell, HP, Acer, Toshiba, etc.)? Or is it a self-built PC or custom-built PC you built yourself from parts or paid a professional Tech to build for you? If it's an OEM computer, please provide us with Make/Model. If it's a self-built or custom-built PC, please provide Make/Model of your Motherboard, RAM memory sticks, GPU card, CPU chip, and PSU Make/Model/Wattage.
If you don't have this information handy, get as much as you can and you can download the free SPECCY diagnostic program from piriform.com. Download SPECCY and run it and post the result output text file back here for our further analysis.
Additionally, it's very important to know the exact date of manufacture of that XP computer you have. There are date limitations on how old the computer hardware can be in order so that it can run W10. Experimentally, several of us here on Windows Forum have determined that the oldest computer that can run W10 was made in 2006. That's 10 years ago. I personally have been testing W10 as an Insider Tester for Microsoft for over 2 years. During that time, I've tested XP-era machines that were built going back to 2002. None of these work. We do have 1 or 2 guys here that claim to have gotten an XP-era computer built in 2004 to work on W10; but it's unsubstantiated since he was not able to provide full specs on the machine nor it's BIOS build date. I've personally never seen one running W10 built prior to 2006, period. There are several ways to determine the build date; the BIOS is a good one, but is not always applicable as if you bought your computer used, a repair Tech may have updated it to several years newer, thus that build date in invalid. On OEM computers as I asked about above, they often have a Factory Sticker on the top, rear, or bottom of the tower case if a desktop PC, on the bottom of the laptop if a laptop and very rarely inside the battery compartment on the bottom of the laptop. This is much more reliable and the major computer makers such as Dell, HP, Acer, Gateway, Toshiba all use this; but if you got this computer used, or it was gifted to you, those stickers are often missing or torn off, or the numbers worn off from age and use. Again, that's why we asked for full specs on your computer.
I'm betting that if you did your own XP upgrade, you neglected to run the Microsoft W10 COMPATIBILITY TEST, which tests for outdated hardware, apps, and drivers that do not work correctly in the W10 environment.If you skipped this step, then you're not doing it right. Not checking this is like trying to get a computer like a 386 machine built back in the 80s to run W10; will never happen as those computers didn't meet the minimum specs required by W10 posted on the Microsoft website as well as the W10 install program.
Here's the link for the instructions on how to use the W10 COMPATIBILITY TEST:
Get Windows 10 app - Check Compatibility Report for Windows 10
The fact that you got the AU update to install means that the hardware is probably pretty close to the cutoff date, otherwise it's highly unlikely that the AU would install at all.
Post back your information, and we can advise you further. But, this is my best guess at this point.
Best of luck to you,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
Windows really wants most everything on the C drive that is there when you first install Windows. Programs and data can be installed on any drive. you can do some tricks with mklink where you have all the data in a different drive and yet Windows will think it is still on the C drive. as an example if you wanted to move your Documents,Picutres,Music and VIdeo folder to the J drive and have Windows still think its C:\Users\<username>\Folder you can do the following
Create a folder on the J drive I'll call it myData for the example. Now move (do not copy) over say your C:\Users\<username>\Videos folder into J:\myData\Videos
Now you can create a directory junction from an elevated command prompt mklink /J C:\Users\<username>\Videos J:\myData\Videos
Now if you go to C:\Users\<username>\Videos it will still appear to be on the C drive but really it points to J:\myData\Videos
more files from speccy.
AttilaMagyar
Hi there,
Here's a link to an article that shows the minimal W10 folder configuration on a W10 bootable usb stick:
How To Create Bootable Windows 10 ISO From Files/Folders
That being said, we could use a little more information about the computer you are using here on W10. Is this a desktop PC or a laptop? Is it an OEM computer (Dell, HP, Acer, Toshiba, etc.)? Or is it a self-built PC or custom-built PC you built yourself from parts or paid a professional Tech to build for you? If it's an OEM computer, please provide us with Make/Model. If it's a self-built or custom-built PC, please provide Make/Model of your Motherboard, RAM memory sticks, GPU card, CPU chip, and PSU Make/Model/Wattage.
If you don't have this information handy, get as much as you can and you can download the free SPECCY diagnostic program from piriform.com. Download SPECCY and run it and post the result output text file back here for our further analysis.
Additionally, it's very important to know the exact date of manufacture of that XP computer you have. There are date limitations on how old the computer hardware can be in order so that it can run W10. Experimentally, several of us here on Windows Forum have determined that the oldest computer that can run W10 was made in 2006. That's 10 years ago. I personally have been testing W10 as an Insider Tester for Microsoft for over 2 years. During that time, I've tested XP-era machines that were built going back to 2002. None of these work. We do have 1 or 2 guys here that claim to have gotten an XP-era computer built in 2004 to work on W10; but it's unsubstantiated since he was not able to provide full specs on the machine nor it's BIOS build date. I've personally never seen one running W10 built prior to 2006, period. There are several ways to determine the build date; the BIOS is a good one, but is not always applicable as if you bought your computer used, a repair Tech may have updated it to several years newer, thus that build date in invalid. On OEM computers as I asked about above, they often have a Factory Sticker on the top, rear, or bottom of the tower case if a desktop PC, on the bottom of the laptop if a laptop and very rarely inside the battery compartment on the bottom of the laptop. This is much more reliable and the major computer makers such as Dell, HP, Acer, Gateway, Toshiba all use this; but if you got this computer used, or it was gifted to you, those stickers are often missing or torn off, or the numbers worn off from age and use. Again, that's why we asked for full specs on your computer.
I'm betting that if you did your own XP upgrade, you neglected to run the Microsoft W10 COMPATIBILITY TEST, which tests for outdated hardware, apps, and drivers that do not work correctly in the W10 environment.If you skipped this step, then you're not doing it right. Not checking this is like trying to get a computer like a 386 machine built back in the 80s to run W10; will never happen as those computers didn't meet the minimum specs required by W10 posted on the Microsoft website as well as the W10 install program.
Here's the link for the instructions on how to use the W10 COMPATIBILITY TEST:
Get Windows 10 app - Check Compatibility Report for Windows 10
The fact that you got the AU update to install means that the hardware is probably pretty close to the cutoff date, otherwise it's highly unlikely that the AU would install at all.
Post back your information, and we can advise you further. But, this is my best guess at this point.
Best of luck to you,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
Hi there,
Here's a link to an article that shows the minimal W10 folder configuration on a W10 bootable usb stick:
How To Create Bootable Windows 10 ISO From Files/Folders
That being said, we could use a little more information about the computer you are using here on W10. Is this a desktop PC or a laptop? Is it an OEM computer (Dell, HP, Acer, Toshiba, etc.)? Or is it a self-built PC or custom-built PC you built yourself from parts or paid a professional Tech to build for you? If it's an OEM computer, please provide us with Make/Model. If it's a self-built or custom-built PC, please provide Make/Model of your Motherboard, RAM memory sticks, GPU card, CPU chip, and PSU Make/Model/Wattage.
If you don't have this information handy, get as much as you can and you can download the free SPECCY diagnostic program from piriform.com. Download SPECCY and run it and post the result output text file back here for our further analysis.
Additionally, it's very important to know the exact date of manufacture of that XP computer you have. There are date limitations on how old the computer hardware can be in order so that it can run W10. Experimentally, several of us here on Windows Forum have determined that the oldest computer that can run W10 was made in 2006. That's 10 years ago. I personally have been testing W10 as an Insider Tester for Microsoft for over 2 years. During that time, I've tested XP-era machines that were built going back to 2002. None of these work. We do have 1 or 2 guys here that claim to have gotten an XP-era computer built in 2004 to work on W10; but it's unsubstantiated since he was not able to provide full specs on the machine nor it's BIOS build date. I've personally never seen one running W10 built prior to 2006, period. There are several ways to determine the build date; the BIOS is a good one, but is not always applicable as if you bought your computer used, a repair Tech may have updated it to several years newer, thus that build date in invalid. On OEM computers as I asked about above, they often have a Factory Sticker on the top, rear, or bottom of the tower case if a desktop PC, on the bottom of the laptop if a laptop and very rarely inside the battery compartment on the bottom of the laptop. This is much more reliable and the major computer makers such as Dell, HP, Acer, Gateway, Toshiba all use this; but if you got this computer used, or it was gifted to you, those stickers are often missing or torn off, or the numbers worn off from age and use. Again, that's why we asked for full specs on your computer.
I'm betting that if you did your own XP upgrade, you neglected to run the Microsoft W10 COMPATIBILITY TEST, which tests for outdated hardware, apps, and drivers that do not work correctly in the W10 environment.If you skipped this step, then you're not doing it right. Not checking this is like trying to get a computer like a 386 machine built back in the 80s to run W10; will never happen as those computers didn't meet the minimum specs required by W10 posted on the Microsoft website as well as the W10 install program.
Here's the link for the instructions on how to use the W10 COMPATIBILITY TEST:
Get Windows 10 app - Check Compatibility Report for Windows 10
The fact that you got the AU update to install means that the hardware is probably pretty close to the cutoff date, otherwise it's highly unlikely that the AU would install at all.
Post back your information, and we can advise you further. But, this is my best guess at this point.
Best of luck to you,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
>>>No, you weren't supposed to run any app on that link; I gave it to you in order to directly answer you question on what files/folders are created on a normal W10 installation on the C: bootdrive. That's what you were asking. The link shows the smallest possible configuration of files/folders on a USB drive; which I now understand will now fit on a 4GB USB stick. This configuration has fewer files than a hard drive used as the C: bootdrive. If you deleted all files from your C: drive root directory other than these files it may or may not still boot your computer.When I went to run The Win10 Compatibility App the instructions say, "Click/tap on the Get Windows 10 app icon on the taskbar notification area".
Once I installed Win 10 that icon is gone. Any ideas?
Attilamagyar
>>>Hi; Great job getting this information on your System specs back to me. The bad news I have for you is that I believe your PC is too old to run W10.BIGBEARJED, Here is the rest of the information you requested I provide.The PC is a tower Lenovo ThinkCentre A51 Model 8122 55U. It was purchased new in December of 2005. I remember it was built and shipped at the beginning of December, 2005 as they had trouble procuring the Graphics card I had ordered and substituted a more expensive card(ATI Radeon X600 Pro 128MB). I found out that card does not have Windows 10 driver support so I gave up trying to make it work and removed the graphics card and am using the graphics adapter on the motherboard. I added RAM, replaced the HDD with the SSD a year ago and also have a 250Gb Maxtor HDD USB connected that I want to use for backup once I get this PC cleaned up. The PS is 310 watts. I remember updating the BIOS many years ago. It has been a good PC with all of the physical options I need, like 6 USB ports, 2 optical drives and a diskette drive. Connected to the internet using an Actiontech DSL Modem and Router. I have been very remiss in doing timely backups and once I get everything resolved I want to avail myself of this forums expertise in setting up a good backup and recovery plan.
I will now follow the 2 links you provided to see what the minimum Windows 10 folder configuration should be as well as running the W10 Compatibility test. I remember doing that when I went from XP to Windows 7 but did not do it for Windows 10.
AttilaMagyar
The random named folders are probably windows updates and you should be able to delete them. You can move pretty much anything except the root of your user folder and Windows if you use the mklink command.
Based on how you are planning on using this system, I would backup all your library folders to external media, wipe that drive clean, and start over. Using the partitioning is a good idea, but yes, it takes more work to troubleshoot it than 1 single large partition. It does eliminate the single point of failure issue, and the performance issue is negligible in my opinion. Best practice in IT for years has been to remove the data partition off to a 2nd physical drive, either internal or external usb. You may not be aware of this.Several of us here do that and have been doing it for years. Using the partitioning scheme on a bootdrive (C: drive) is just asking for trouble. Using a program such as mklink which neemo suggests is like handing a loaded .45 pistol to a 3 year-old and telling him to have at it!! We tried doing stuff like this with various windows config rollouts to our national sales force and it exploded in our faces; the maintenance on a system like that is horrendous. And when, not if your new hard drive fails in a few years, will you remember the 30 directories you re-mapped on that setup 5 years from now? I doubt it.
It's your computer, but I too am recently retired, but you have to draw a line at making your system overly complicated to maintain. If you are going to pay someone to fix your computer for you, who cares right?That's the Tech's problem you are paying to deal with not yours. However, if you are maintaining it yourself for hobby or just to save money (welcome to Fixed-income!); this is seriously the wrong direction to go in as you suspected in your above post. You need to make your computer EASIER to maintain and keep running, not HARDER.
That's my 2 cents.
Cheers!
BBJ