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General discussion

Is there any hope for me to move on to Windows 10?

Mar 17, 2017 4:06PM PDT

I have a Lenovo G555 laptop with Windows 7. Wanted to upgrade to Windows 10, but after 2, almost 3 days on and off with Microsoft support, it has finally been determined the computer is incompatible with Windows 10! While I was able to get 10 to load, the MS folks said I might have difficulties and that Windows 10 would not work smoothly. As I write this, I am rolling back to Windows 7 without even trying the Windows 10 1607 build. After trying to get an answer from Lenovo about this, their reply is in essence, "too bad." Any of your followers who have any suggestions on how to possibly get 10 on this laptop would be appreciated. A friend of mine said, "thank your blessings and move on!" Thanks for your help.

--Submitted by Larry A.

Discussion is locked

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I don't believe in "junk" that works
Mar 27, 2017 11:33AM PDT

There are many (and I mean MANY) people who would love to have those "junk" computers-- not just in other countries, but right here in the U.S. In fact, I guarantee that there is at least one who lives close to you, no matter who you are.

I agree. As long as the computer is meeting your needs it does not need to be scrapped. If anyone does decide to upgrade their computer, I certainly hope they have enough sense to give it to someone who needs it.

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Totally Up to You
Mar 24, 2017 6:19PM PDT

Hi Larry it is totally up to you Windows 7 is fine and I have no problems with Windows 10. So it's either keep the old or buy the new. For me the worst Operating System was Windows Vista.

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You said it all, Lee Koo.
Mar 24, 2017 6:56PM PDT

Lee, your cover letter summarizing members' answers to this question of Larry A.'s couldn't have put the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis in a smaller nutshell.

Wolfgang

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How much frustration can you handle?
Mar 24, 2017 7:02PM PDT

If it works, leave it alone. An upgrade offers a benefit. Window 10 does not.

This is the first time I've been angry enough to bother posting my experiences. I too have a Lenovo laptop. This G50, based on the recommendation of a friend who owns a computer repair business, is by far the worst pile I have ever used, including over nine years as a community college instructor. I've typed hundreds of documents in MS Word,, and I have two generic 'puters I built in 2000. Those old tanks still work great. This is also my first Windows 10 machine. I have used a few Windows 7 and 8 computers, and found I hated them. This being my first Windows 10, and it came preloaded with tons of junkware from Lenovo, I didn't know what I could safely remove. It is so plugged up with crap, but I don't know what to blame on the laptop and what to blame on Microsoft. I have since learned that very few people are happy with Windows 10, . . . except Bill Gates and his banker.

I have "good computer days" and "bad computer days" like women have bad hair days. It is not uncommon to have to use the power button to repeatedly turn the computer off and restart it when it locks up. If it is ever left sitting for more than ten minutes with no activity, it starts doing something that can't be recovered from without restarting it. Can't scroll pages I'm reading. Can't open Task Manager. Browser and MS Word say "Not Responding". Eventually the mouse pointer freezes too. Using MS Word when not in range of wireless internet is a major frustration. Auto-save every ten minutes locks this thing up for up to two minutes. Believe me, Window 10 is not an upgrade.

As for Microsoft's tech support, do you really think they can't afford to test on the computers on the market? The simple fact that everything works perfectly at times tells me there are software issues related to the variable combination of drivers and Windows 10 software. I never had this many problems with Windows XP. In fact, once I have a new hard drive installed, I'm going back to XP on a ten-year-old Sony laptop.

As a side note, this G50 has the worst keyboard one could ever imagine. I've never had so many mistakes to correct. Double "aa"s, double commas, gotta use a hammer to get "n"s, "o", and "c"s. About once per day the touch pad goes insane. Simply holding my finger an inch over it causes the mouse to go wild. It may resize pages and click on over a hundred ads and images. I finally figured out that if I hold the laptop over the edge of the table, and push down to flex it, the problem will clear up. It's faster to restart the browser than it is to try to turn off over a hundred new tabs. (That is not an exaggeration).

There's over 50 computers in my local library. Every one was rolled back from Windows 10 due to constant problems and complaints. As evidenced by the huge number of negative comments here, it is apparent Windows 10 is not a good value. An upgrade is supposed to offer some improvement or benefit. My first computer, from 1995, is faster than this laptop, and never locks up. The old, clunky keyboards are so easy to use compared to this one. I have never found a web site that doesn't work just fine with XP, so if there's no improvement in speed, or some other benefit, what's the value in switching to Windows 10? I have never had a computer before that made me so angry I wanted to spit nails!

And what moron thought it would be funny to make the scroll bars fade away so you don't know they're there? As far as I can tell, the purpose for shoving Windows 10 on us, especially for free, was to get each user angry enough to be a willing sucker to buy the next version. Microsoft's reputation is going to be one of those companies with customer-unfriendly business practices that put short-term profits ahead of customer satisfaction. RCA used to do the same thing, and look where they are now. We need a competitor for Microsoft. When there is a monopoly, look what we get.

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Memories may be beautiful and then...
Mar 24, 2017 10:01PM PDT

How much memory is in the G555? It was often sold with a paltry 3GB of memory (sometimes as little as 2GB!), following the trend in selling laptops without enough memory to consumers. Unfortunately, the most memory it can take is 4GB in the form of 2x2GB DDR2 SODIMMs.

Unfortunately, Microsoft seems to have some sort of Windows 10 readiness software tool only for corporate and enterprise clients. They want all consumers to race helter-skelter to Windows 10 without giving it a thought.

If it is not practical to upgrade the system to 4GB, I would simply stick to Windows 7, then consider replacing the elderly G555 when you can afford it.

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stay away from windows 10
Mar 24, 2017 10:33PM PDT

Stay away from Windows 10 until maybe 10-1/2 or windows 11. I bought a new laptop with it and had nothing but problems, brought it back where store technicians commented many others were unhappy with new windows as well
(1) user Interface was strange, different, and confusing ... not user friendly
(2) did NOT work with Canon MX series printers, installation failed on 2 models. Web sites proposed workarounds, none of which worked. I cannot use a computer which does not talk to my printers.
I never got around to installing other software, some of which may not work as well. Microsoft has a terrible practice of removing compatibility with older hardware and software. The best OS they ever had was XP which I still run on non-internet machines. Ditto for Office 2003, the best one but also obsolete due to Microsoft changing file format, a big pain with compatibility problems between versions.
I will set up at least one machine with Linux, could be a better fix than chasing windows changes.

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Magic that worked for me
Mar 24, 2017 10:41PM PDT

I had similar problems. Windows 10 automatically downloaded and attempted to install more times than I could count. I called Microsoft support and after several suggestions that took a lot of time but were no help, they suggested that I do a clean install. This was a bad solution for me because I didn't want to lose the installed applications.

One day I read a forum note that someone said a Windows repair program available at Tweaking.com helped. I downloaded it, followed the simple instructions, and Windows 10 installed without any more problems. I was incredibly happy (and it still brings a smile to my face that this program solved a problem that MS support couldn't fix). I'd suggest that before you give up, give this program a try.

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What about new install?
Mar 24, 2017 11:16PM PDT

My problem is somewhat similar (albeit worse!) than yours. My Alienware blue-screened about 1 1/2 yrs ago (Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit; Intel® Core™ i7-4770 Quad Core, 8MB Cache; 16 MB DDR3 RAM; 2TB Hard Drive; DVD Drive; NVidia GeForce GTX 670 w/ 2 GB B GDDR5; 802.11 b/g/n wireless; no bluetooth). It took several months before I understood that the Dell Tech Support under my Warranty was incapable of diagnosing the problem. So, I took the system up to the corner shop, and within 3 hrs, I was told my hard drive had crashed. So I a Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB Sata III Internal SSD installed (& have a regular 2 TB Seagate on-hand provided by Dell.) The local computer shop did a clean install of Windows 7 & added a few other very basic programs (e.g., browser, word processor, etc. - most of which are outdated.) NONE of the drivers or other components have been updated, and the computer still sits idle, waiting for me to update everything. And here is where our problems converge.
I had initially thought I was going to update Windows 7, going back a couple of years - until I started reading about all the multiple problems which could be connected with that. Then I talked to Microsoft about upgrading to Win 10 (available for free at that time), but Win 10 had just come out & there were all kinds of horror stories associated with it. So, my latest "solution" is to possibly buy a new full version of Windows 10, and thereby hopefully avoid ANY upgrade hassles. Failing that, I am also considering throwing the system in my closet & buying a new one. You would understand this if you knew ALL of the hassle I have had with this system.
So, if anyone out there has any advice as to which route I should go, it would be greatly appreciated.
As for your current situation, it is SO typical of all the major manufacturers to be utterly UNhelpful - although hearing Microsoft actually offer an opinion about this would cause me to pay attention. All in all, unless you are having problems with your current OS, I would stick with Win 7. It's a great OS, and will last you until you are ready for a new laptop. At which point you can get one with Microsoft's latest OS installed with it. Best of luck.

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Might be down to slow internet.
Mar 25, 2017 2:19AM PDT

I had a similar problem with a 2006 Panasonic toughbook. Windows upgrade tool said it was compatible but when I tried the first time nothing much happened for well over 24 hours, so I gave up. I then used windows media creation tool to make a flash stick copy of Win.10 this took around 3 days on my desk top but when I then used that to put win.10 onto the laptop it did it in around 40 minuets. I have used the flash stick since then to put windows 10 onto five separate computers. Not sure if the problem is my internet speed which is around 2mbs download but only 0.35mbs upload and windows 10 sends a lot of data home until you have jumped on it and battened down all the hatches. Since then I have made another flash stick and that took around 20 hours for a fresh download, I tested the internet speed during this and there speed was what is usual for my line and you tube played OK so it would appear to be something to do with Microsoft servers either they are just plain slow, require a lot of information back during the media creation or they deliberately throttle the download, you guess will be as good as mine.

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What's the big problem with 8.1 ?
Mar 25, 2017 4:17AM PDT

I use Windows 8.1 since it was launched and haven't had any major problem whatsoever, actually I like it! Can somebody please tell me why some people here consider it bad, the worst, etc?

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This May Be a Bit Philosophical But
Mar 27, 2017 12:27PM PDT

Some of here grew up with an operating system called MS-DOS. Others, jumped into desktop computing with Windows 3.0, 3.1, 95,ME, 98, 98SE. The World Wide Web (not "the Internet") really started around '94 so most people really started with Win 95+. The basic user interface changed little through Win XP, VISTA, and some consider Win 7 to be close to that. However, Windows 8 and 8.1 seemed to have a radical change from Win 7 and previous in terms of the user interface. Tiles: Some people just hate them. It had to do with MS trying to make Windows look like Windows Mobile (which I don't think really took off).
When it comes to 8.1, some people like it but others are trying to make it look like Win XP or 7. I only recently bought a new computer with Win 10 on it because some of the critical software I use won't run on XP anymore and my computer that was bought with XP on it 2 GB RAM and old Pentium D probably would not run well on Win 10. Besides, even being on a "fixed income", I guess I could afford $499 for a Dell PC with 12 GB RM and I5 processor and 1 TB HDD.
I've had Win 10 for a few months now and still can't find stuff that they buried in "settings" then others in Control Panel and find myself using the Cortana search to find things I should be able to go directly to things. Why 8.1 is "bad" or the "worst"? It's opinion. It marked a change that few liked all to have this seamless view of the Windows product line, even though Win Mobile really didn't take off (but some still liked). Win 10 isn't liked by many because MS did a "google" on us in terms of their privacy polices and began collecting too much information.
So the answer is "opinion".

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fixed income
Mar 27, 2017 2:45PM PDT

and old computer. You are a prime candidate to use a Linux distro. Check out Ubuntu MATE, Linux Mint MATE or Cinnamon and Zorin. Right now while running Firefox and Thunderbird at same time, I'm only using 1.2GB of my 4GB of RAM.

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Thanks
Mar 27, 2017 4:54PM PDT

But I've applied for another government position (hoping to get it) and I'd be required to have Windows fully patched and Symantec (or McAfee) (none other) fully up-to-date. Of course, if I'm still at home, for a while, I can do other things including setting up dual boot. "The Enterprise" (business or government) can put a lot of restrictions on you (like no GOOGLE anything if dealing with Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) data and rules (feds). Fully encrypted HDDs if portable.

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Windows 10 upgrade !
Mar 25, 2017 4:37AM PDT

I say after 2 attempts you might be better off getting another computer but if really want to keep the one you have there maybe several things you can do. You did not say how much ram you have ! So recommend and upgrade to at least 8 GB next how big is your HD ? if you do not have a enough space it may cause you more problems when you start to add programs or other data. I have a 10 year old Lenovo desktop & it has 10. But again it is still 10 years old and there comes a time when you just bite the bullet and go with a new one . $$$$ A person can put to much time & money into a old system like mine and not really see any great performance. Hope this helps best of success to you

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Windows 7 needs all updates
Mar 25, 2017 5:40AM PDT

Larry,
I have found that sometimes even though Microsoft says it is not compatible they are not always correct as others have pointed out.

First thing I would make sure is that all of your updates for Windows 7 are done. I updated quite a few computers from 7 to 10 and it was one of the biggest issues I had until I figured out that if the updates were not complete Win7 would not update to Win10. There are sometimes specific resets from Microsoft to get your updates going if they are stuck. That saved me on a couple machines too.

Windows 7 is still a great OS and I have a couple machines that we never updated. So do not worry if you can't upgrade from Win7.

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RE: Specific resets for updating Win 7
Mar 25, 2017 8:58PM PDT

I have to do about 2 years of updates to Win 7 & have been reluctant to because of all the problems rumored to be connected with it, like getting "stuck." Can you point me somewhere I can access or read about the "specific resets" you referred to? Given the lengthy amount of updating required (including drivers, etc. after my hard drive crashed), would it be easier to install the full version of Win 10 instead of upgrading to it - and therefore be able to ignore Win 7 altogether? The 'long version' of my predicament is under "What about new install" above, but if u don't have time to wade thru that, your answers here would be really appreciated!

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Windows 7 updates
Mar 26, 2017 4:29AM PDT

Someone else mentioned that you have to be current on all the updates. I think that's true. The upgrade uses your product key from windows 7 also. If you have a paid retail of windows 10, then that's the route I'd take. Clean install of 10. Downloading and installing 2 years of updates might make it gag and also you'd have to babysit it and that might take a day or so.

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W10 for New machines and W7 for Older ones
Mar 25, 2017 6:57AM PDT

This is the philosophy that I have used. My New HP Desktop is a W10 machine and my old Lenovo Desktop is W7. My HP computer is from 2016, and my Lenovo Computer is from 2010. With W7 on it, it will likely expire in 2020, and by then it will be 10 years old. Right now that is a millennium in computer terms. The hardware design in the newer HP is probably superior to the design in the Lenovo, besides the HP came with a 128 Gig SSD (Too Small), and 24gig of ram, an 8 core i7, and a 2 terabyte HD. 4 External USB 3 ports and 6 USB 2 ports. My Lenovo did not have any USB 3 ports until I installed a new board in it. My HP has not disappointed me in the least, and after installing a replacement Samsung 500 Gig SSD later this year, it should last me as long as any other computer that I have had. In 3 years, the Lenovo will be recycled. It also has a i7 processor as all of my computers have, and 8 gig of ram. With it's new 500 Gig SSD, it is still enjoyable to use, but the HP is better with W10. Conventional HDs should be considered a relic of the past by most power users and SSDs are the new standard.

On my HP, my programs are on the SSD and my data is on the HD. On my Lenovo, the only drive in the computer is the SSD, so both programs and data are on one SSD. Both of them are fast, so can use either one with ease. I was looking at a new HP Desktop that is at Costco, and for about $1500, it comes with a 256 Gig SSD, a 3 terabyte HD an i7 Processor and 32 Gig of ram. This is my dream machine and it is tempting to get it just for video editing. If I really get going on that, it should be very easy to do on a machine with that much power.

With either a Desktop or Laptop, get a computer with W10 and at least a 256 Gig SSD to complement it. Seem to be lots of new W10 computers with those devices on them. Also get at least an i5 preferably an i7 processor and 16 to 32 Gig of DD4 Ram. With that computer, you will have a barn-burner and you will be happy to still be using it years into the future. My 6 year old Lenovo was still working pretty good, but putting an SSD in it was the crowning touch. Now after it boots pretty quickly, it is very fast and easy to use. It works better now than when it was brand new.

My Mantra would be do not buy a new W10 computer without an SSD. Whatever brand that you buy, that is the part that you do not want to do without. An i7 and 16 to 32 Gig of ram are also desirable. Everything with the computer happens quickly when you have all of these things.

This is from a guy who had his first home computer in 1984 that cost about $2700. It was a Sperry which was the company that I worked for at the time, and it had only a few meg or so, maybe 256 kilo of ram, not gig, a single core processor and a 20 meg not gig HD. You couldn't buy anything that Puny today.
If you opt for a new one, get the most power you can get and you will enjoy it for many years into the future.

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Incorrect dirvers. Don't belame Microsoft.
Mar 25, 2017 7:44AM PDT

At Lenovo your laptop shows three versions. Any of then has drivers for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. Blame Lenovo not Microsoft. I had a similar problem with my 1911 Toshiba Satellite. Did you try a clean install? not an upgrade? First do a system image of your PC.

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Glad You Mentioned Drivers
Mar 27, 2017 12:38PM PDT

The first thing I recommended to the guys at work upgrading from XP to Win 7 was to get the proper drivers. Instead, they just had newer drivers but those were not for the specific hardware components like the "sound card" or the display. We actually had crashes because they didn't have the right printer drivers. Everything was fine until you discovered that the duplexer needed to be turned on and then the system crashed. When you get a "blue screen", it is usually a driver issue (thank you for "Last Known Good..." on the F8 menu).
Microsoft only delivers drivers that are enrolled in their testing and certification program. As for the rest, the consumer is on their own and need to deal with drivers themselves regardless of their skill level. (I once had to train a manager at work in how to use a mouse).

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Is there any hope for me to move on to Windows 10?
Mar 25, 2017 8:03AM PDT

Well Larry as so many people said on this forum, I would stick with Win7. It's reasonably good,although I still think WinXP was the best they ever produced.
I have 3 PC's, an old Desktop and an old Laptop (10 years old) both running Win 7 without any problems.
My newer laptop came with Win 8.1 preinstalled. I divided the disk (1TB) between win and a Linux(I always do that) and once in a while I looked at the Win 8.1 and got the message I could upgrade to Win10. So I finally did (just to get rid of that annoying message). It went uneventful,about 40 minutes with a few restarts but is was OK. I must say I like Win 10 better than Win8.1, it's more friendly,but my main OS still remains Linux. As for the older PC's I stuck with Win7 because I thought I was going to have problems there and apparently I was right. Remember the old saying: when the system is running alright,don't try to fix it. Win7 will do for another 3 years or so,just stick with it.

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Upgrade not that big a deal, but;
Mar 25, 2017 8:18AM PDT

I upgraded my 10 year old self built computer while the free upgrade was available, and I had some problems, but these where my own fault. It is working fine on my computer, but I would agree with those that say Windows 7 is fine. Part of your problem might be that it is Lenovo. They apparently have a lot of proprietary hardware, and thus probably proprietary drivers as well.

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Type of Computer
Mar 27, 2017 12:42PM PDT

It isn't just Lenovo. Many would find that laptops/notebooks/tablets have a LOT of proprietary hardware such as track pads, motherboard chips, built-in cameras, etc. So it may be important to scout out drivers from the manufacturers. The non-IT professional might have issues trying to do these things.

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Windows 10 upgrade
Mar 25, 2017 10:28AM PDT

I upgraded to 10 from 8.1, in the end my xps became a brick so I bought the windows 10 thumb drive & did a clean install. Not because windows is so great. But I have software I purchased.
Is 10 better than 7, not enough in use, but I am sure bugs have been fixed in 10 that are not being addressed in 7.
If you aren't totally married to windows try Linux as an option. I have a Linux machine as well as windows & it's totally reasonable as an alternative. There is a learning curve, but to keep your laptop functioning it's an option.

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Maybe the problems people have are their computers!
Mar 25, 2017 12:31PM PDT

Our company has evolved through every Windows version ever put out and though we chafed at the need to upgrade software, Windows 10 has been a perfect fit. We have 3 computers, one old rebuilt for simple work, one high powered Dell and one our techie built specially for our video needs. Windows 8 seemed to be a problem for some, but we immediately switched to 8.1 which eliminated any conflicts. When the opportunity came, we immediately went to Windows 10 and it was a smooth transaction. With all 3 computers, there have been no problems with Windows 10. We wouldn't go back for any reason. We know how resistant some of our clients our to technological change, but not moving ahead with technology can be counter productive. My personal opinion is that the problems many complain about are directly related to their hardware, not the operating system.

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True
Mar 27, 2017 12:47PM PDT

Very much a hardware issue. If anyone has ever gone to a store and bought some piece of hardware (mouse, Wiccom tablet, camera, etc.) and had to follow the instructions and install software should realize that just upgrading the OS can be dicey because there is no guarantee that the old software that came with the device they bought will work on the new OS. They may need to go to the website for the device manufacturer and find updated "drivers" (and, maybe, firmware) to use during the OS install. May not be something the average non-technical user can do easily.

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Windows 10 upgrade
Mar 25, 2017 5:33PM PDT

Are you trying to use 64bit or 32bit?
I'm running 32bit Win 10 quite happily on a very old Gateway T-series (probably from around 2009~2010?)
It originally had VISTA, then Win7 before 'upgrade' to Win 10. Been running it for about 18months without issue (except second wireless card switches itself off sometimes?)
Anything designed for Win 7 should have no problem running Win 10 (after you turn off all the gimmicks and unnecessary crap)

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WiFi Switches Off
Mar 27, 2017 12:49PM PDT

Take a look at the power settings as Win 10 allows for all sorts of devices, including network hardware, to switch off to save power. Hope that this helps.

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one possible way
Mar 26, 2017 10:11AM PDT

but it could be dangerous for your computer. Find a windows 10 Lenovo computer at the manufacturers site that is a copy of yours, other than it having windows 10. Reflash your BIOS with it's BIOS. However, even that might not let you load windows 10 because Lenovo (Signature Edition) has a new BIOS embedded RAID system for the drives which is interferring with those who bought such with W10 from being able to reload their own systems and have to send back to Lenovo to accomplish.

See this recent thread and especially read the reddit link.
https://www.cnet.com/forums/post/58d6e481-5117-4e11-81ac-9ff2a7a7fa22/

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Not Good for your pc
Mar 27, 2017 2:51AM PDT

You Computer are not compatible for win 10 if you install Win 10 on your computer your computer not work fine and also your computer graphics not support win 10 .
Win 10 are developed for the high graphics so its not good for your computer