Had an old ATI X1550 video card start to fail on me today in a Windows 10 Pro desktop box here at the shop.  I know it is old but it still worked fine.  Didn't really want to stick a new card in this system so looked around at our spare video cards.  Still had an old Nvidia 6200LE card.   I like a challenge, so we'll give that a go.   I know Microsoft will complain about it and say it is not compatible and probably even Nvidia's own site will say the same.

Here we go, removed the ATI card, do not see any physical damage but it has had a few caps replaced in the past, so maybe they are bad again or perhaps another issue... that is for later post.   Installed the Nvidia card.  Powered on and Microsoft did the normal default video driver and poor resolution.  Went over to the Nvidia driver download site and put in my video card information and sure enough there is a Windows 8 x64 driver.  Slightly surprised, I was guessing it would be Vista driver.  Downloaded and Installed the Nvidia driver. Working perfectly.  Windows is also working perfectly with all the normal video related pretty whistles and bells turned on.  I am a happy camper.

This Nvidia card has....wait for it.... wait for it.... 64mb of video memory.  I remember having discussions with my techs here at the shop where they would all say they needed mega memory for their video cards and they could see the performance difference using desktop apps.  I always said they were mistaken but nobody would ever listen.  This once again proves that I was right....  just sayin'.    Of course if you need 1000 fps rate on your first person shooter then old video cards are not for you.  Desktop applications do not need that.

Windows 10 Update1511,10586

Microsoft gave all of us an annoying update awhile back called Upgrade to Windows 10 (Pro/Home) 1511, 15086.  Like most Microsoft updates, it brings in fixes, security updates, etc. but one major annoying side effect is removal of software Microsoft does not want you to have installed.   One such application is CPU-Z.  Completely harmless application that shows you specs of various hardware items.  Current CPU, amount and speed of memory, mainboard BIOS version, all tech stuff that must users do not understand nor need to.  I enjoy running this program, due to upgrading processors and memory constantly.  It provides you with quick one stop shop of all the data I need to know if that current system can handle a faster processor and which processor along with if more memory can be added and what kind.   Sure you can figure out this info from other built-in sources and some internet searches, but I don't want to.  Every single time this Microsoft update has been installed it has removed CPU-Z because it doesn't work on this version of Windows.   Hmmmmm... it works very well thank you.  So far that is the only program we usually install that has been removed.  (If have read reports of CCleaner, Cisco VPN client and certain SATA drivers being removed as well).  I understand why Microsoft is doing this, everybody wants a stable system but the programs they are removing do not make the system un-stable.  At install time the end-user should have control over what gets removed.  Okay, I know some end-users wouldn't have a clue but some do :)

Pentium 4's and Windows 10

Just wanted to do an Windows 10 upgrade on a Intel D915GUX system.  System was Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.  Failed because the PreFetchW instruction is missing from the Pentium 4 660  processor.  In fact that instruction is missing from all the Pentium 4's that are not the series 9xx dual core.   Of course the Intel 915 and 925 chipsets do not support dual core processors.    Only option for Windows 10 support would be 32 bit, which isn't all that bad just not the best choice.

For a power user, 32 bit mode would be a downgrade for sure.   I can understand why some people are saying 32 bit mode is fine if you have 4gb or less of system memory.  Didn't say I agree with them, just that I understand their reasoning.    For the record, stick with 64bit.

If you are using older hardware (talking 10 year old hardware or even older) time to upgrade that mainboard and processor!  Seriously, you'll save more buying new than you would trying to upgrade the hardware.  New hardware is cheap, course some of the systems are cheaply made as well.  Use caution.   You would be amazed at the performance increases you will see with modern hardware.

Replaced the mainboard and processor with Intel D945GTP mainboard and Intel Pentium D 945 processor we had lying around.  Used the same case, disk drive, DVD drive and system memory.  However did add more memory, I know Intel says mainboard only supports 4gb of DDR2 memory but I think that is wrong since the chipset supports 8gb.  Memory is setup as one 2gb, two 1gb's and a single 512mb.  (I know 512mb but we still have a bunch lying around and even more useless 256mb's!)   Figured every little bit of memory is good and might as well test a theory at the same time...  It worked :)

Saving a little space

After my Windows 10 desktop system has been up and running for a few weeks, I decided to remove the old Windows 8.1 install that the Windows 10 upgrade created.  Found out it will save (gain) me about 20gb in storage space... big deal if you you want to port over to a smaller sized SSD drive.   I have 112gb's in use and wanted to use a 120gb SSD.  Makes sense to remove the old install.  I used the built-in Windows Disk Cleanup tool  (right click on drive and click properties)

I usually use CCleander for nice clean up but decided on using the built in to see how well it works.

Another utility from the Piriform folks is Defraggler.  It will move files that normal Windows Defrag will not.   Just had an issue yesterday where Windows Defrag was complaining about unmoveable files that Defraggler moved for me :)  This product works well and is fast.   IOBit's Smart Defrag is also a good choice but I think Defraggler out performs.  (personal opinion)

Windows 10 on netbox

Did a Windows 10 upgrade thru Windows Update on an FoxConn NT-535 Netbox a few days ago.  Slow.  Disk drive was only a 5400 rpm Western Digital 160gb SATA-1. Yes, SATA one! Do not recommend this setup for any sort of disk I/O speed!  Processor is an Intel Atom D525 dual core 1.8GHz.  System has 4gb DDR3 so-dimm memory and was already running Windows 8.1.  Video is VGA or HDMI running on Intel HD 3150 controller. This was the longest install I have done, almost an hour and a half.  Yes, 5400 RPM SATA-1 drive needs replaced badly!   Performance of the CPU and memory are fine, actually pretty impressed with that Atom processor, bottleneck is disk I/O for sure.  Disk Cache software helps but still feels slow.  I installed an Intel 802.11N miniPCI wireless board, only one antenna connector in case but signal strength is still very good. 

This netbox case is pretty cool, very small and love how it snaps on to the back of any VESA mount monitor or TV.  Case bracket screws to the VESA mounting holes and case just snaps into the bracket.  Supports both the VESA mount standards too.   With USB on top and bottom of the case, access is not an issue when adding flash drive or replacing any USB device.  Slick setup, not a fan of the piano black but once behind a monitor you don't see it.  I think it shows finger prints too easy.

Had no install issues other than slloooowwwwww disk I/O.  All necessary drivers were found and installed by the update.  Highly recommend this case setup, add SSD drive and this thing would fly and be perfect for HTPC or ultraSFF.

More Windows 10

Upgraded my D945GCL system to Windows 10 Pro tonight.  It has an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 processor (2.4) and only 3GB DDR2 memory.  No SSD, traditional Seagate 7200 RPM 120GB SATA.  Installation was thru Windows Update and worked without any issues.  AVG Internet Security 2014 was installed before the upgrade started and it stayed 2014 afterwards (figured it would but was hoping since Microsoft re-installs AV products they might have updated for me). I downloaded and installed AVG Internet Security 2015.  No issues.  The graphics driver is same version as in Windows 7 just a few builds newer.  System runs same if not slightly faster than when it was Windows 7 Pro.  Needs more memory, will replace the 1GB stick with a 2GB stick soon and see if there is a slight boost.  Main bottleneck seems to be disk drive related but since it is for my daughter, and she isn't a power user yet it will be fine.

My Acer Aspire 5732 notebook installed Windows 10 last night.  It was smooth, about an hour.  It needs an SSD drive.  It is a Intel Pentium T4300,   It has 4GB of DDR3 memory.  Over all system speed is great for the age of the hardware.  Had no installation issues.  Windows 10 upgrade was thru Windows Update.  No driver issues with touchpad, audio or network.    This system had Microsoft Office 2007 on it and it runs fine as well still.  This system is for one of my sons, so no need for mega speed yet.


Adding an SSD drive in the near future will bring major life into these systems.  Installed Classic Shell 4.2.4 on both systems and changed start buton icon to look like Windows 7.

Windows Start Menu

For those of you who don't like the 'hybrid' start menu in Windows 10, install Classic Shell.  Change the start button and you can have the traditional looking Windows 7 Start Menu back or go retro and get a XP style menu or even Windows classic start menu.

Some people like StartMenu8 from IOBit.  Basically the same as classic shell.  Both utilities are free and have been around for awhile so they are very stable.  

I personally prefer Classic Shell when I was working with Windows 8 and 8.1.   So I decided to install it on Windows 10.  Downloaded the latest beta which talks about Windows 10 features.  Worked fine from the start.  Did my normal tweaks inside the settings and looks slick. I turned it off after a few hours.  I am using the Windows 10 start menu just to get used to it, might switch back to Classic Shell later.

Classic Shell Home Page
IOBit StartMenu8