Windows 10 installation on a laptop

Tuvoc · 10 May 2020 at 17:14

Hi guys,

I've done lots of Windows installs over the years on desktops, incl. W10, no problems there. I'm about to buy a new laptop though from a well-known manufacturer, and if I choose no operating system (well, it says Free-DOS) then I can save £80. I have proper licensed Windows 10 installation media that I can use for it instead, so I figured I may as well save the £80 and apply that to upgrade a couple of the specs.

I guess even mentioning the manufacturer's name could break competitor rules, but anyway are there any flaws and pitfalls in that plan ? Anything special about installing W10 on a laptop ? I understand I may need to download some drivers for specific hardware but is it any more tricky than that ?

andy_mk3 · 10 May 2020 at 17:30

Yeah there's going to be nothing to stop you installing W10 straight onto it. W10 usually picks up all the drivers pretty nicely now.

Mcnumpty2323 · 10 May 2020 at 17:33

no idea what said:
Yeah there's going to be nothing to stop you installing W10 straight onto it. W10 usually picks up all the drivers pretty nicely now.

It's no difference to installing on a desktop
Main thing is get the required drivers for Internet access just to be on the safe side with net access everything else
Can be obtained if required
Edit quoted wrong post lol

andy_mk3 · 10 May 2020 at 17:40

Mcnumpty2323 said:
It's no difference to installing on a desktop
Main thing is get the required drivers for Internet access just to be on the safe side with net access everything else
Can be obtained if required
Edit quoted wrong post lol

I don't think I've ever installed W10 on anything where it's not picked up Wifi or ethernet drivers, the only exceptions being really old hardware or under a KVM hypervisor.

Tuvoc · 10 May 2020 at 17:41

Brilliant, thanks guys.

Mcnumpty2323 · 10 May 2020 at 21:14

no idea what said:
I don't think I've ever installed W10 on anything where it's not picked up Wifi or ethernet drivers, the only exceptions being really old hardware or under a KVM hypervisor.

Have had it not pick them up with z270-e board
Was probably new brand new ethernet and WiFi hardware at the time so took windows couple of updates/new versions
To have it in the isos

Tuvoc · 1 Aug 2020 at 14:48

Finally some feedback. Everything is fine now, but it did not go smoothly at all.

I created the Windows 10 installation media on a Corsair USB drive on my desktop, and then proceeded to get the laptop to boot from it. No go, wouldn't boot despite several tries, playing around in the BIOS etc to see if anything was amiss. Created the media again, still no joy. Was about to give up and return the laptop as faulty, when I thought, why not try another USB drive. Created the media on a no-name cheap drive I had, and bingo, the laptop booted right up and the installation proceeded. Through the Corsair into the rubbish. It seemed to be fine on my two desktops, but the laptop was having none of it.

Got Windows 10 installed, and the sound from the internal speaker was stuttering and distorted. Much more frustration, and the answer was on the manufacture forums, later realtek drivers - and the ones W10 installed - somehow didn't work properly. Deleted the installed drivers etc, installed an older one from link, and bingo problem solved.

Next problem, the Ryzen was not boosting, was fixed at its nominal speed. Installed the AMD drivers which gave me an "AMD Ryzen Balanced" plan, and bingo the CPU was boosting as it should.

Next problem, the laptop was taking about 2 minutes to shut down. Again the answer was on the manufacturer forum, installed some Radeon software that auto-detected what was needed, now it shuts down in about 5-7 seconds I think.

The manufacture update software has now identified a later realtek driver, I think I'm going to leave that well alone !! The machine is operating perfectly now. It just prompted me to install a BIOS update which I did, no issues there.

So - had I bought this with Windows 10 pre-installed, I'm sure everything would have been fine. Doing it myself, an entire day wasted. Never had so much trouble installing an operating system in my life. (Well, except for early Linux experiences a decade or so ago). Was it worth the £90 saved by buying without Windows installed and using the license I already had ? I guess so but I never anticipated so much hassle.

andy_mk3 · 1 Aug 2020 at 14:58

That seems strange. I have installed W10 countless times on all sorts of hardware with nowhere near the issues like that. Glad you got there in the end though.

Mcnumpty2323 · 1 Aug 2020 at 21:01

The realtek driver is a pretty common issue to be honest

Tuvoc · 2 Aug 2020 at 07:49

Mcnumpty2323 said:
The realtek driver is a pretty common issue to be honest

Yes so I discovered when I had to troubleshoot the problem ! The manufacturer's update software is now identifying a realtek update available. Either it is still broken or the issue has been fixed. I think I'll stick with what I have which works!

Mcnumpty2323 · 2 Aug 2020 at 15:38

Tuvoc said:
Yes so I discovered when I had to troubleshoot the problem ! The manufacturer's update software is now identifying a realtek update available. Either it is still broken or the issue has been fixed. I think I'll stick with what I have which works!

Stick where you are is probably a good
Choice
I rarely bother with the updates for it

Tuvoc · 5 Aug 2020 at 20:22

Well, Windows update just automatically installed the new realtek driver and asked for a reboot, thank goodness all is still well !

Mcnumpty2323 · 5 Aug 2020 at 20:24

Good to hear
Should it update and cause issues
First thing to try is roll back driver in device manager
It's been a pita to me before
Multiple uninstall and reinstalls to get the
Sound working again