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General discussion

Help! My laptop will not upgrade to Windows 10

Jun 17, 2016 4:43PM PDT

I have a Lenovo G555 laptop, circa 2010. It has Windows 7 home premium, 4GB RAM, 160GB HDD (not much on it), etc. Received one of those "Upgrade to Windows 10" reminders and went for it. It wouldn't go! Froze at 99% finished. Called MS Answer Desk and a tech helped me redo it. Still did not go. Next day, another MS tech, same thing. The latest tech guy said it was because my BIOS would not allow me to change my operating system...fancy that. He said I'd have to contact Lenovo. So, I did. What a disaster! They wanted me to pay a premium fee to find out how or if my computer would accept Windows 10. I declined their ridiculous offer! Bottom line from them and from research I attempted on the Net, Win10 is "no can do" on this laptop. So, even though MS says if you have Windows 7, you can upgrade to Windows 10, someone is not telling the whole story. By the way, I also used MS tool to check "is your computer capable of running Windows 10" and it said yes. Maybe some of your followers can help me get to Windows 10. As you know, the freebie for W10 expires July 29. If I can't get it for free, I "ain't" getting it. I'm not about to spend $119 for it, ever! Thanks for your time.

--Submitted by Larry A.

Discussion is locked

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Lenovo Upgrade to Windows 10
Jun 25, 2016 1:09AM PDT

I have a Lenovo T430. I had the same issue of just sitting at 99%. I travel for work so I just left it at 99% when I left home. When I had my wife check it on Wednesday night, it had upgraded to Windows 10. When I got home Friday evening, all I had to do was configure the settings to my comfort level. It pulled down Windows 10 updates just fine after that.

I don't know why it took so long to pull down the upgrade but it took a couple days. It's worth the wait to me and I am one that thinks 10 is not junk.

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Use the Microsoft media tool.
Jun 25, 2016 1:17AM PDT

I had the same problem when trying the upgrade link, it would hang at 9% installed. In the end I used the Microsoft media tool and created a usb stick with the update, that worked and it was faster than the update link which I had already used on my desktop. The laptop is a 2006 Panasonic toughbook CF19 which originally had Vista on it but I put Win.7 on it. The only problem that i have not fixed yet is the internal SD card reader wont work.

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Successful laptop install of Windows 10
Jun 25, 2016 3:43AM PDT

Larry,
I was reluctant to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to 10 in case some of the applications I used would no longer be available.

The process I used was successful at the first attempt.

1/ I wrote a DVD with the Windows 10 installation on it following Micrsoft's instructions "Need to create a USB, DVD or ISO?"
The instructions for this are at https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10

2/ I followed the "HowToGeek" instructions "How to dual boot Windows 10 and Windows 7 or 8".
The instructions for this are at http://www.howtogeek.com/197647/how-to-dual-boot-windows-10-with-windows-7-or-8/

That was it. Happy

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Allow Switching Between Win 10 and Your Old OS After 29/07
Jun 25, 2016 4:12AM PDT

Take a a disk image of your nice working Win 7 or ANO PC before upgrading, using acronis or similar. Then you can upgrade to Win 10 with the ability to save that Image as well. Now you can swop between OS having met the deadlined to update and register you can revert to the old OS, and still have a working licensed Win 10 image you can reload- when MS make it work in reasonably civilised way and your useful app tools have been updated to work with Win 10.X. Whatever. Seems a very simple no Brainer to me. Except figuring out the dire UI of Acronis. Looks intuive, 100% counter intuitive in use, like a jigsaw puzzle or some Indian Jones search riddle. Hope that is useful to those prepared for a small investment in adecent sized USB3 ext ernal and a Disk Imaging and restore App. PS Given this is SO important, suggest you validate backups after successfully making them. Can't be too careful. DON"T RUSH THIS. THINK. Etc. Can't have enough backups.

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I had the same problem with a Dell
Jun 25, 2016 4:30AM PDT

I had the same problem with a Dell Laptop - Inspiron 5520 15R (circa 2012). Got up to 99% on the initial attempted upgrade to Windows 10 and then it reverted to Windows 7 (a very lengthy process). Every subsequent attempt would result in the same thing - reverting back to Windows 7 with no specific reason as to why (the error code given, which I don't remember, didn't reveal anything specific). Each attempt was very time consuming. I did all the suggested tricks regarding removing anti-viruses, etc. What was odd is that my other Dell of the same era (an Inspiron 2020 All-in-one) had no trouble at all.

I had given up. Then for an unrelated reason I ended up performing a factory restoration of the computer to its original state. After installing all Windows 7 updates the Windows 10 update worked flawlessly. So, I don't know what was wrong, but starting from scratch did the trick. This was a pain and I wouldn't have done this for Windows 10 alone. Restoring all the software & finding my Microsoft Office Product Keys, etc. wasn't fun.

Windows 10 works very well and is similar enough to Windows 7 that the learning curve was not too steep for me. I will say that Dell hasn't done anything to support their 'older' computers with drivers that are tailored to Windows 10. My only (but significant) frustration is my Wireless Network Adapter driver. Since the update to Windows 10 I frequently loose all connection to my WiFi Network. I'm often having to run the troubleshooter, which invariably solves my network connection by resetting the Wireless Network Adapter driver - this was not a problem before Windows 10.

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Upgrade to Win 10
Jun 25, 2016 4:47AM PDT

I have also discovered that certain AMD Processors will not allow the install to continue in Win 10 even though the system meets the requirements to install Win 10

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Help! My laptop will not upgrade to Windows 10
Jun 25, 2016 5:49AM PDT

I had the same problem upgrading an older Acer Netbook to Win 10.
Microsoft pushes the 64 bit version, that would load to 99% then quit.
I downloaded the 32 bit ISO version to a 128 Gig jump drive.
I installed it on the first try with no problems.

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What worked for me . . .
Jun 25, 2016 7:01AM PDT

. . . was to do the download portion (and by the way, why did I have to do the download every time i started over). When the question came up whether to continue with the upgrade or schedule it for later, I left that screen open while going to the Network and Sharing Center and turning off internet access (in my case, I had to disable both wired and wireless access).

Then I went back to the installation screen and told it to continue with the upgrade. Went off without a hitch this time.

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Updating 2010 Lenovo Laptop to Windows 10
Jun 25, 2016 7:12AM PDT

I have a 2010 Lenovo Laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium installed. The O/S will be good until 2020, so that is 10 years on a computer which is more than I want to use one for. I also have a Lenovo Desktop with an i7 Processor and 8 gig of ram. After a whole lot of tries, I finally got an SSD installed on it. It is a 500 gig device.  I had to download a copy of AOMEI to be able to get the SSD installed properly since the included Samsung Migration Software and Macrium had failed to do it. Now I am getting it cleaned up and am amazed at how fast it boots. Right now it is my second computer since I purchased an HP Desktop with Windows 10. It has a 128 Gig SSD, and 2 terabyte HDD, and 24 gig of ram. Those are the resources I have always wanted. It cost about $1000 on sale at Costco. My advice unless you simply cannot afford it is to get a new comparable W10 computer. I know that you have probably hears negative stories about W10, but I have found it to be friendly than I had imagined. When my Lenovo 10 finally is unusable due to lack of support for W7, then I will just clean it up and send it to a recycle facility.
I understand wanting to keep a computer for ever, but looking back on my own history, I usually got rid of a computer in about 4 years, and my Lenovo Desktop is 5 1/2 years old and enjoyed using it over that period. Unfortunately it did have USB3 connectors so I installed a board to provide that. With this board and the SSD, it should easily serve as my back up computer until 2020. I think that it is more difficult to update a Lenovo computer rather than other brands. It was nightmare trying to get an SSD installed, but the AOMEI backerup program worked flawlessly and now the SSD works great. After 10 years the Lenovo Desktop will have served it's purposed. The longest that I have ever had any computer in the past, but with the i7 processor it always worked pretty good.

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Laptop upgrade fails.
Jun 25, 2016 7:13AM PDT

First off the laptop I'm using I did upgrade with a lot of troubles to Win 10. I gave up and rolled back another desktop to Win 7 after a complete disaster. That being said my neighbor asked me to check out his HP dv7-6c93dx that was on Win 10 but it took the windows tech support 3 days to get it to go. It has a Core I-7 processor so you would figure it has no troubles. The video had now messed up. Here is the hard part. You need to look up the specs on the computer you are upgrading including the BIOS , CPU , Video and Sound. Not the sales specs but the actual specs on processor and on board cards, Buried in the HP support web site I found that the Sandy Bridge processer on his laptop has video that is not supporting Win 10 at all but will work on "up to Win 8.1". In fact if the computer is on Win 10 HP says "let Windows find updates" but in fact for the earlier versions of Windows there is multiple updates that are much newer than the updates Win 10 left in. End result is I rolled it back to Win 7 and it runs great. The trouble is the Win 10 lovers will tell you to "just buy a new computer."
In fact the HP website says "If your computer is 3 years old then it will not be compatable with Win 10." I have computers that have run great for years but will die an ugly death on Win 10 so I avoid it like the plague. I have put the win 10 upgrade blocker on all my computers. In fact I have tested on Linux Mint as a replacement for Windows because computers that choke on Win 10 run great on Linux Mint and it does have the look and feel of a functioning Windows computer and unlike Win 10 my SCSI cards work fine along with my SCSI photo scanners and SCSI printers.

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Is this a sign?
Jun 25, 2016 7:34AM PDT

I have no interest whatsoever in Windows 10, and for me, the only benefit will be that after the deadline, those annoying GWX alerts will finally disappear as they continually sneak their way onto my pc during upgrades, and I continually remove and even hide them, but MS is persistent, and I have to give them that. Larry, I would take the problem you're experiencing as a sign to stay the hell away from Windows 10. If you're having problems even installing it (and many users have experienced problems after installing W10), then what problems might you experience if you finally do get it installed. Whatever happens and whatever you decide, I hope it works out the best for you.

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Typo
Jun 25, 2016 1:54PM PDT

Sorry, I meant updates, not upgrades. I'm staying with Win7.

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This may help
Jun 25, 2016 8:06AM PDT

I had the same issue on one machine. I read to clean out the older contents of the Windows Update folder prior to upgrading and it solved my issue and the update continued.

C:\Windows\Software distribution\Download

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Same Problem
Jun 25, 2016 8:38AM PDT

I too jumped on the Win 10 upgrade bandwagon before it expires late July 2016. Had a nice install of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit on a decent spec machine (4 Gig RAM, plenty of reserve HDD space, etc.) and no touch screen monitor. So I did a full backup then took the plunge.

The process was easy to start up and I let it rip for a good hour +, but then it hung at the 99% complete phase as with so many others. (I had no Antivirus running or even installed). I read some posts elsewhere that said to unplug external USB devices and try again. I let it run overnight so not sure how long it took, but sure enough that did it - upgraded to Windows 10 and pretty much everything was where I expected and didn't lose any files.

Note I was also upgrading a 5 year old HP (very well equipped) laptop and had the exact same hang at 99%; I tried rebooting and starting all over twice including waiting overnight, to no avail so I gave up on that one.

But back to the desktop upgrade.... we did not care for the new Win 10 interface with all that social networking junk on tiles in the start menu (I did however love the Weather tile with all sorts of cool stats). Now the machine appeared to take longer to boot, and worst of all two of my most important (admittedly older) music programs that ran fine on Win 7 would not run at all on Win 10 (even after fooling with compatibility settings of the .exe files). That was a deal killer, so we reverted back to Win 7 and that went without a hitch. I'm not likely to go through all that again; and as others have suggested I'll wait for a new machine that comes with it pre-loaded.

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Mfg Drivers are an indication
Jun 25, 2016 9:16AM PDT

Hey Larry,
I'll apologize for the ruckus of all the others who complain about whether they do or don't like W10 or if you should or shouldn't keep W7. Not helpful to your need.
I agree with AJTREK concerning the amount of the System Reserve Space. It could possibly be the problem. But keep in mind, the Join the Windows 10 Club sent out to all computers running Windows is a blanket invitation and isn't a guaranty that your computer is compatible.
Always be careful when using Free software (in your need, partitioning software). Do your research before download and install. Some Free software doesn't work as it should and often is many many versions old.
I went to Lenovo's website and looked at the list of Drivers available to your G555 laptop for Windows 10 64bit. Many important Drivers are missing, Network drivers (both LAN and Wireless), Audio, Graphics, Web Cam, and many more as compared to Windows 7 64 bit.
In my experience, if the drivers from the Mfg are not available for the newer O.S., then I often have problems both in hardware (Drivers) and Operating System. I know that the 'Drivers' are pre-installed in the new O.S., but they are at best generic and do not provide full functionality of the hardware.
If the System Reserve doesn't steps don't work, then I would say that Window 10 isn't going to work on your system.
Now for my 2 cents. I like Windows 7 and Windows 10. I'm not a 'tile' guy but I'm getting used to it. I don't like Windows 8 or 8.1 (tho slightly better than 8.0).
So don't feel bad in staying with Windows 7. It's good and stable. It's NOT Vista, 8 or 8.1 so that is a plus.
Paul
Fix My Computer A+ (10 years) Net+ Tech.
Business Owner

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Why Upgrade at all
Jun 25, 2016 9:27AM PDT

Why Upgrade at all and skip these hassles listed below
PROS: Can't think of many when it works I hear it works well I have tried it and don't like the interface
CONS:
1. Some of your older printers, video cards sound cards, MAY NOT HAVE DRIVERS that work
2. Some hardware that MS-compatibility tool says is compatible isn't especially older than 3 years old
3. Some of your software you paid good money for may not work and you will be forced to upgrade that software as well
4. Constant updates that MS deems needed - Imagine you want to turn off your computer you do so only to see a warning "DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR MACHINE 1 of 30 UNPRADES BEING INSTALLED"
5. Built in spyware from Microsoft giving them complete access to ALL of your personal files read the EUL agreement you give them and the government access to ALL your personal stuff on that computer and has built in key-loggers to record you keystrokes and get your passwords and credentials It also probably has built in software to turn on your camera and microphone as well any time Microsoft wants to do so without you knowledge of them doing so.

I have ditched MS and switched to Linux Mint it does what I need it to do and doesn't spy on me

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So you're telling folks
Jun 25, 2016 10:06AM PDT

not to upgrade and as far as I can tell, you're telling folks to not even use Windows ?
Come on ! We don't want to hear your Linux nonsense.
Stay on topic

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Win 10 Upgrade
Jun 25, 2016 11:23AM PDT

One of the best things you can do for yourselves ahead of time is go to your PC/Laptop manufacturers website and see if they have compatible drivers. If not, I'd treat it like a buying a used car, buyer beware. Don't go by just the MS tool, it may save you a headache later.

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How about a clean install of Win 10?
Jun 25, 2016 11:46AM PDT

Did anyone suggest doing a clean install? Make a full System Image backup of your existing Windows 7 setup using either Windows' own backup program or a free program such as Macrium Reflect free version or Easeus ToDo free version. There are many tutorials online for doing a clean install of Win 10 so just google it. Also, check the Lenovo community User Forum (free, of course) to see if other Lenovo users encountered Win 10 upgrade problems and how they overcame it. I've had a couple of friends who were using a different brand of laptop and they found they needed to download a certain driver onto a USB flashdrive and incorporate that driver into the Win 10 upgrade process. I wasn't there at the time so don't know when they inserted/installed the driver, but it helped them complete the upgrade.

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Attach an external hard drive
Jun 25, 2016 3:58PM PDT

Connect an external hard drive which is half-empty, and Windows will use it during the upgrade as a temporary workspace. It may prompt you for permission to use it. It won't overwrite what is already there. If you don't already have an external hard drive for backing up your PC, you probably need one anyway.

But I do agree with a lot of people that it is not necessary to upgrade. Your PC was tailored for Windows 7 - personally I would leave it alone. Doesn't matter if Windows 7 "expires" - some folk are still doing fine on Windows XP. And you're going to need a new PC one of these days anyway, which will be configured for Windows 10 or a later version.

Anyway Windows 10 is not the be-all and end-all. What I especially dislike are the forced updates, and the inability to personalize windows with pastel colors any more, to name but two of many such annoyances. Why take away features we've always had? Of course there are ways around all the faults, using 3rd party utilities, but I resent the extra time it took to research and try out various utilities till I found what I wanted.

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No upgrade of Windows 10 on Lenovo G555
Jun 25, 2016 4:56PM PDT

Thanks to everyone who responded.

In the Lenovo website for looking up their computers upgrade capability, my computer, G555, is not listed! In further discussions with MS, they say that the "drivers" for windows 10 should be available on the Lenovo website. Lenovo will not help unless I pay them a $100 fee! And then, after paying the fee, I will not be sure that an upgrade will work. I can't find the drivers that MS is talking about, anywhere. Frankly, most of your technical suggestions are way over my head and not worth the effort. My impressions from MS b.s. was that it was going to be relatively simple to upgrade. Until Lenovo comes through with a solution that can be accomplished easily, I'll just pass. As one of the respondents suggested, (paraphrasing), if it ain't broken, don't fix it. Thanks again.

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Top post and I'll tell more what I did to get this done.
Jun 25, 2016 5:24PM PDT

Buried here, too hard to keep a conversation going.

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No problem
Jun 25, 2016 7:11PM PDT

If you do not want Windows 10 badly enough to do what it takes to get it, then you are fine with the OS you already have. It was still good to have the discussion because there are others with the same problem, as you probably read.

As for Lenovo, don't pay them a penny. This can be done without them in any event. Enjoy your machine as it is.

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Possible driver issue
Jun 25, 2016 6:00PM PDT

i do not pretend to be an expert, but I was informed that my Sony Vaio would be unable to upgrade from 7 to 10 because Sony sold the line to a company that will only sell in Japan and neither one was going to make drivers available for 10. So I was going to be on 7 with that laptop, My point is maybe you are having a driver issue, because I have two Lenovo's and 10 works OK with them. Side note: i knew my hard drive was wearing out and sure enough 2 months ago I turned it on only to see the dreaded "blue screen of death". Thank goodness I was backing up on a regular basis so did not lose any data.

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99% was just fine for me
Jun 25, 2016 6:55PM PDT

Windows 10 has been installed on 3 computers in my house. My fiance installed it on her HP i7 desktop with no issues. I installed it on my Lenovo i7 desktop and it froze at 99%. I finally gave up and rebooted it and Windows 10 came up fine. I had exactly the same thing happen on my Acer laptop; 99% and a reboot. My laptop is a bit underpowered for it, I think, but my desktop runs great with it. I can right mouse click on the Start button and I get menu options similar to Windows 7 or I can left mouse click and use the new interface. The only thing I don't care for is EDGE but IE is still available, and of course, there's always chrome which is what I use 99.9% of the time anyway.

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Go To Lenovo's support site...
Jun 25, 2016 8:13PM PDT

I just looked. There're lots of diagnostic tools there and also a BIOS upgrade for your model. Interestingly, your model number defaults to having Windows 10 on it. Check out this link: <br>
Happy trails!

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Painless Win 10 Upgrade
Jun 25, 2016 10:47PM PDT

Hi,

I have performed many painless Win 10 upgrades for a number of desktop & laptop computers.

The url below walks you through down loading Win 10 64bit or 32 bit putting it onto a USB drive and then doing the instillation from it rather than off the net. There is also a tool to get you the Win 10 Product Key for reinstalls after the free period. This is where you will find the information.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/antonyleather/2015/07/30/windows-10-updating-reinstalling-and-activation-guide-essential-advice-to-avoid-problems/#636ce3821454

I recommend a clean install as it means you don't carry over any problems from your old OS

Win 7 Disk images can be done by typing "back" in the search area which brings up the backup & restore feature then choose make disc image either on DVD's or a usb HD also make a Repair Disk (DVD) so if you don't like Win 10 you can easily reinstall the Win 7 System Image and everything is back the way it was.

Clean install of Win 10 is available by in putting your Win 7 COA while the upgrade is still free.

I have even got an Acer Aspire One. Atom processor with 2 gig of Ram running Win 10 32bit faster than it ran Win 7.

This way you can try Win 10, get the Win 10 COA and restore back to Win 7 or Win 8 if you want to.

By the way Lenovo G555 Win 10 drivers are a free down load from their web page.

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Lenovo G555 Win 10 driver upgrade page
Jun 26, 2016 6:31AM PDT

Thanks for your input. I could not find the actual G555 Win10 drivers. Would appreciate the link for that page. Thanks.

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Same with my Lenovo but it went through after....
Jun 25, 2016 10:56PM PDT

My Lenovo Thinkpad T520 would not upgrade from W7 Pro to W10 using automatic Windows Update. First of all I'm not too crazy about Windows 10 anyway but just wanted to upgrade and 'permanently' reserve a copy to ensure continued support when MS decides to completely kill off W7, at least by then maybe I'll be forced to use it. With that said, here's what I did...

I completely reformatted the drive and reinstalled everything back to factory state - like when it was originally unboxed. Then updating Windows to SP1 and all of its required updates until the Windows 10 option become available. From thereon, update was smooth sailing. While I did get a chance to use it I had to rollback to Windows 7 because many features and shortcuts are missing which makes it harder to use, overall it requires me more time to get to a specific function compared with W7. I guess I am one of the many that also hated Windows 10. Actually, I rolled back both my computers back to Windows 7 and couldn't happier.

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I so feel your pain.
Jun 26, 2016 2:14AM PDT

I have a Sony Vaio, 3 years old. According to the Sony Site, my make and model passed all windows 10 upgrade criteria with flying colors. So, since I had issues with Windows 8.1, I decided to go for it. It failed to upgrade the first time, and I would have been better off if it had failed the 2nd time. Turns out that not all the models I have came equipped with the AMD HD Radeon 7700, which is Win 10 compatible. Mine was released a few weeks earlier, and had the AMD HD Radeon 7650, which isn't compatible, and AMD didn't and isn't planning on making a Win 10 compatible driver. It took 3 hours of a flickering on and off login screen, to be able to login and roll it back to Win 8.1... and now, even that isn't working quite right.