Freeze installing Windows 10 on old, old Gateway
September 9, 2020 11:16 PM   Subscribe

I'm trying to install Windows 10 on an old Gateway SX2800 I forgot I had, in an effort to get a basic secondary PC up and running. I can get Ubuntu installed, but every attempt to get Windows 10 to install fails to start the installation process. Details after the fold, if you think you can help.

I discovered this thing in my closet a few days ago, completely forgot I had it. Specs are here. I slapped an SSD and a GT 1030 in there in an effort to maybe make it play a few games (1030 because it's the most powerful single-slot card I could find). I'd like to hook it up to my TV, maybe play some old games circa 2010 on low settings. It's old (2009), but I really don't think it's too old for Windows 10 if I put in some extra ram, a modern-if-low end video card, and an SSD.

I created Windows 10 installation media using the official tool on my gaming PC, and went into the BIOS to ensure it booted from USB. It found my USB drive as a hard drive, and I prioritized that. I didn't have any other bootable media (the SSD was empty, and I'd removed the DVD and HDD drives).

It shows a blinking cursor at the top left for about 20 seconds, then the Windows logo for 1/2 second, then the blinking cursor again until I turn it off. I've waited hours, it doesn't make a difference.

Here are the other things I've tried that have had the same exact behavior:
- Making a Windows 10 32-bit installer
- Making a Windows 8.1 installer
- Making a Windows 10 installer using Rufus that is set up for Legacy BIOS support
- Disconnecting the video card and using integrated graphics
- Burning a DVD Windows 10 installer and hooking the DVD drive back up
To be clear, all of these do the same thing; blinking cursor, brief windows logo, blinking cursor.

I was about ready to call this thing a brick, but I tried Ubuntu on a lark, and it was fine. I ran through memcheck for a few hours, and there's nothing wrong with the memory. I then installed Ubuntu to the SSD from a USB stick and it was completely fine. So I know booting/installing an OS from the USB stick is fine.

I'd prefer Windows, so this is my last shot, I've exhausted all my ideas and research. Anyone know a neat trick (or just something I didn't try) to get Windows to install?
posted by Pacrand to Technology (11 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
How about some specs?
posted by Stoneshop at 12:38 AM on September 10, 2020


With only the information you have provided, I can offer the following generic advice:

Windows may be blocked by one or more obscure BIOS settings to which Linux is indifferent. Have you reset your BIOS to factory defaults then verified that the BIOS sees your installed SSD correctly?

Here is a Win 10 Clean Install howto doc. Did they cover anything relevant you might have missed?

If all else fails, and if you are technically inclined and you aren't afraid to go in a rather grotesque technical direction to solve your problem, you might be able to install Win10 as a VirtualBox guest machine under Ubuntu:
* Confirm you have enough host RAM for both the host and the Windows guest to use
* Install Ubuntu on the computer
* As superuser: "grep -e svm -e vmx /proc/cpuinfo" ... If you find either 'svm' or 'vmx', proceed.
* Install Virtualbox from the Ubuntu 'multiverse' repository (IIRC) or from the VirtualBox site.
* Launch VirtualBox and create a Win10 guest. Dump the install ISO to a disk (raw) .img file on the host and mount it on the guest's virtual DVD device (it's easier than connecting a whole host USB device to the guest.)
posted by Quesaak at 1:41 AM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I get the feeling something BIOs related.
But another thought is:
I see in the specs it supports 7. Maybe a google or two to find it, but a USB Windows 7 installer might be worth a try. From there you can jump up to 10.
posted by Bodrik at 6:54 AM on September 10, 2020 [4 favorites]


BIOS related: is that SATA port configured as 'legacy SATA/RAID' or AHCI. Win10 insists on AHCI mode where Ubuntu and the Linux operating system kernel is more fluid and forgiving.
posted by k3ninho at 8:25 AM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]


Did you make the USB drive bootable? Rufus is the tool I used for that. Can you boot anything else with it?
posted by theora55 at 10:39 AM on September 10, 2020


Best answer: Not being able to mess around with the PC myself, I think the best attempt to go forward is Bodrik's idea to try to install 7 as a stepping stone to 10. I think that is what I myself would try next in your situation. That said, I've personally run into problems in the last year or so trying to get old Core-2-Duo-era machines such as this to upgrade to 10, wherein the chipset is not supported anymore in 10. But that's not what it sounds like your problem is, yet. Throw 7 at it and see what happens.
posted by glonous keming at 7:03 PM on September 10, 2020


Don't waste your time trying to make stuff work in VirtualBox on that machine; the Q8200 CPU that's in it doesn't have VT-x, which the current version of VirtualBox requires.
posted by flabdablet at 12:25 AM on September 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


How much more RAM did you fit? This article suggests that the Windows 10 installer has an upper limit.

There's also some potentially useful-sounding voodoo in there involving tweaking BIOS settings, pulling and reinserting USB media at critical points, and so forth that I'd certainly be trying.

Getting Windows installers to work properly, especially the super dumbed-down ones that started shipping with Windows 8, has never been a terribly scientific process. So I'd try swearing viciously at it as well, just in case that helps.
posted by flabdablet at 6:10 AM on September 11, 2020


I've also seen boot-time hangs caused by weird-ass BIOS interactions with the USB hubs and card readers built into printers. It's generally a good idea to make sure you have the minimum possible amount of stuff plugged into the mobo during installation - ideally only the CPU, one stick of RAM, one SATA drive (preferably totally blank) that the installation is to go on, one monitor connected via integrated video, and use the back-panel USB sockets soldered directly onto the board for one totally standard wired keyboard, one totally standard wired mouse, and bootable installation media.
posted by flabdablet at 6:23 AM on September 11, 2020


Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I was successful, and I figured I'd document things for posterity in case someone happens by on a Google search. It worked when I tried a Windows 7 installer from a USB drive. I haven't fitted extra RAM yet, as it's still in the mail, but yeah, this board has an upper limit of 8GB, so that's what I'm targeting. But I managed to get Windows 10 installed with only 4GB of RAM.

Windows 7 installed without issue, and I was able to skip activation and download the Media Creation Tool and choose "Upgrade this PC Now". I know you can install Windows 10 without a license key, but when I upgraded to Win10 from 7, it forced me to enter a valid 10 license key. Fortunately, I have one.

Other than that, no issues. Went through several rounds of Windows Update and it boots just fine. So it really just was that the Windows 10 and 8.1 installers depend on something that this BIOS (from 2009, and for which there is no update) doesn't have.
posted by Pacrand at 9:09 AM on September 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Oh, and yes, Rufus was necessary; even the Windows 7 installer USB only worked after I made a bootable USB with MBR.
posted by Pacrand at 9:11 AM on September 11, 2020


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