[DrTony]

A while ago I downloaded the pre-release evaluation version of Windows 10 (32-bit version) to take a look at it. I installed in a virtual pc on my spare desktop and checked out its features (pretty much like Windows 8 with a built-in "Start" button on the desktop). Then I read an account on another forum where somebody said that it seemed to run well on older, low-spec hardware. So...I dug out my Mini 9 and a spare KingSpec 16GB SSD that I had for it. I burned the Win 10 iso onto a CD and installed it on the Mini 9 using an external USB CD/DVD drive.

The installation went surprisingly smoothly and most hardware was recognised and appropriate drivers installed. I had to install the WWAN driver separately (haven't tried using the WWAN function yet). The ony other real hassle was the screen resolution as Win 10's metro interface is like Win 8 and won't work with the Mini 9's 1024x600 screen resolution. However, that was fixed with a hack (all Display1_DownScalingSupported registry entries set to 1 using Regedit). I still have a couple of "base sytem devices" showing as not having drivers in Device Manager but I think these are related to battery switch functions and not of crucial importance.

The Mini 9 boots to the Win 10 login prompt in around 30 secs and to desktop in about 1 min 20 secs. It seems reasonable quick when running applications. LibreOffice Writer loads in 41 secs and then seems to run OK with no lagging of keystrokes. The PaleMoon browser (a lightweight Firefox-derived browser) opens in 21 secs and then seems quite snappy in operation.

It seems to me that Win 10 stands a chance of allowing people to bring their old Mini 9's back into useful Windows OS service (if the cost isn't prohibitive and they don't mess it up prior to release).

One minor gripe - the Windows Defender keeps giving false positives about a "VirusDOS/Dexo". When I first saw it I was alarmed but a quick bit of research showed that this is a quite common false positive on Dell pcs.

Update - the "base system" devices turned out to be JMicron PCIe SD/MMC Host Controllers. The SD slot was working fine on the generic MS driver but I downloaded some Win 7 32-bit JMicron drivers from the Lenovo site anyway and they installed fine.

[holmes4]

Pretty similar to my experience with Windows 8 on the Mini 9. That 800x600 resolution can be a pain, but Windows 10 is much better about it since there is a regular desktop.

[DrTony]

Originally Posted by holmes4

Pretty similar to my experience with Windows 8 on the Mini 9. That 800x600 resolution can be a pain, but Windows 10 is much better about it since there is a regular desktop.

I think Win 10 may be a bit quicker than 8.1. Many of the reviews are suggesting that it's quicker (I haven't tried 8 or 8.1 o the Mini 9 so I can't say for sure). On an old spec slowish machine like a Mini 9, any extra speed is welcome.

[pstrg]

Old thread but I'd like to add that, after bricking my Windows 7 Mini 9 by deleting some registry entries I tried DrTony instructions and succeeded.
After installing, as hinted, the JMicron device with Lenovo drivers (http://support.lenovo.com/br/en/downloads/ds013685), I used DELL_WIRELESS-5530-HSPA-MINI_A07_R220893.exe and successfully installed 5530.
Next was Sony Ericsson wireless manager (https://www.4shared.com/zip/O5U3YFxQ...r52205612.html).
It remained an Unknown Device, though. On http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/driver-sets/ one can find an Alienware Onscreen Display driver; after installing it Device Manager showed no more unknown devices.

[rtrt]

Already had Windows 10 running successfully on my Mini 9 as a previous upgrade from 8, but a recent update and my interaction with the multiple prompts for more disk space meant I had a completely broken install.

So I went straight to 10 this time and had no problems with the installation apart from the drivers as other have.

Initially the intel chipset drivers removed 1 or 2 - sorry wasn't paying enough attention at that point.

Next the JMicron SD driver removed another 2 base system - leaving me with 1.

So a couple of q's from a relatively inexperienced Windows user;

1. I didn't read the post from pstrg above properly re the DELL_WIRELESS-5530-HSPA-MINI_A07_R220893.exe - just saw wireless and thought that would be worth checking - without realising that this was for the optional WWAN card that I don't have - so can I uninstall this?
I reran the install package expecting there to be an uninstall option - no luck there. Any suggestions pls?

2. I still have a single unknown device - is there any methodical approach to identifying and fixing this one?

Be great to have a nice lightweight and stable install again.

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Re the relative speed - I must admit I felt that the new install did feel a little more sluggish to me than it did previously. I'm using latest versions of Pale Moon & VLC mainly. I did wonder if the non Atom version of Pale Moon might be part of the cause...

[holmes4]

Typically one has to be able to see the device in Device Manager to remove the driver, if there is no uninstall option. I would ignore this for now.

As for the unknown device, hard to say. Does Device Manager give you any info on it?

[rtrt]

Sorry just seen your post Steve. Hadn't really thought there might be anything useful there, but your post nudged me to try to google various things including this

unknown device instance path - ACPI\CPL0002\2&DABA3FF&1

and I found a post on here;

Inspiron mini 1012 unknown device on device manager - General Hardware - Laptop - Dell Community

that pointed me to here and the battery exe file

Support for Inspiron Mini 9 910 | Drivers & downloads | Dell UK

and then there were none :-)

thanks again for keeping the Mini 9 alive

[rtrt]

Update - same problem with attempted upgrade breaking the instal. Despite having my 32G SD card installed and selecting to use it. So had to download latest Windows 10 & re-install again.

This time the only drivers needed were the JMicron and the Dell battery.

Some things it'd be good to get some advice on please;

Should I temporarily disable hibernate file and reduce the virtual memory size - just before doing the next big feature upgrade?

Since hibernate doesn't seem to be a menu option - despite trying to enable it - maybe I should just disable the file permanently for the added disk space?

I'd assume that the default of just over 1G for virtual memory is a good thing to have and change it back - post upgrade.

[holmes4]

Do you use hibernation? If not, then disable the feature and delete the file. The primary problem with it is the size - with only a 16G SSD, it eats up a lot of space. I never found it necessary to make any changes before upgrades, but I'll admit that my Mini 9 hasn't been booted in a while so it probably has a much older Win10 on it.

[rtrt]

Thanks again Steve.

Sorry just seen your reply - not sure If I missed a setting - but I dont get email notification of replies.

Anyhow to reply - I dont use hibernate as its not available and even if it was I could do without it tbh.

So that answers the question - disable permanently is the way to go. I think i'll try that and see how I go. I might change the vm size as well - before the next big feature upgrade.

Btw I came here to post this as I recall synaptics trackpad drivers from one of the posts - but will just leave it here and come back at the weekend to have a proper look for it.

https://arstechnica.com/information-...her-notebooks/
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looked for other posts re synaptic drivers - can't see anything - so will just leave this as is