Windows 10 "CMPXCHG16b / CompareExchange128" Issue on IN-PLACE Upgrade?

Hi Patrick,

Thank you for trying Windows 10 Technical Preview.

I would really suggest you to post the question using the feedback app, so that the developer team can give you the correct information:

Refer to the below link about how to use feedback app:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_apps-insider_feedback/how-to-share-feedback-on-windows-10-technical/5e501781-a580-43e3-8926-40ae19343805

Please reply if you still need any assistance.

@vinz will the developer team give direct responses to feedback?

@Patrick If you do find out more, please share in this thread. TIA

Hi Patrick,

Thank you for trying Windows 10 Technical Preview.

I would really suggest you to post the question using the feedback app, so that the developer team can give you the correct information:

Refer to the below link about how to use feedback app:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_apps-insider_feedback/how-to-share-feedback-on-windows-10-technical/5e501781-a580-43e3-8926-40ae19343805

Please reply if you still need any assistance.

Silly question maybe, but having followed the link you sent, I am still unable to find a download for the "Feedback App" (or I am reading it wrong)?

If you meant that this is a feature built into Windows 10, then again, as my original post says, I haven't even got Windows 10 installed, due to the issue I am asking about...?

Just a brief heads up to say I never did get this resolved, as the advice I was give - to use the Feedback Tool in Windows 10 to report this, was not practical advice, given that my problem actually related to not being able to actually first install Windows 10 as an in place upgrade install in the first place (though I already indicated I could do a clean install).

Not useful advice given that I can't use the tool, if I can't upgrade my OS to access the said tool, which is what I reported.

In the end I just had to do a clean install.

So I'm sorry I can't help further for others facing this.  Though I can report that Windows 10 64 bit WILL clean install on those systems not able to upgrade to Windows 8.1 because of the 

CMPXCHG16b issue (but not upgrade install)

"Though I can report that Windows 10 64 bit WILL clean install on those systems not able to upgrade to Windows 8.1 because of the CMPXCHG16b issue (but not upgrade install)"

How did you verify this, Patrick?  I would like to know this for sure, because I have an old 2006 computer with AMD 64 X2 4400+ (Socket 939) CPU and I would like to do clean install of Windows 10 64 bit Technical Preview on it (my computer will NOT install or upgrade to Windows 8.1, because of the CMPXCHG16b issue).

It is running Windows 7 x64 Home Premium just fine, and I would like to take advantage of free Windows 10 x64 license grant from Windows 7 (maybe some way to do it, without "upgrade" procedure), using my valid Windows 7 Product Key)

I found this link helpful, but I was looking for possible problems with a Windows 10 x64 upgrade with the Core 2 Quad CPU i am running. 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2058683/new-windows-8-1-requirements-strand-some-users-on-windows-8.html

Trevayne,

I was able to verify it in the most obvious way... by doing just that... Clean installing Windows 10 as a secondary boot partition.

I've been running it ever since.

So to clarify how I know - Windows 8.1 won't install on my system (clean or upgrade) due to the KNOWN issue around CMPXCHG16b and the problematic processors.

Windows 10 Preview however, WILL install on same system/processor, but ONLY as a CLEAN INSTALL.  When I try an upgrade install, the same error message appears as per trying to install Windows 8.1

--------------------------

This leads on to a very serious problem however....

Windows 10 will be FREE to certain users.  Currently this is stated as being Windows 7, or Windows 8.1 too.  Windows 8 however never gets mentioned in any MS blurb about it.

So if it is the case, then how do Microsoft expect me to install Windows 10 which DOES work on my problem processor based system as a way of getting around the 8.1 limitation, if they first need me to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 anyway, which it won't do?

How do I use the 'fixed/resolved' Win 10 Operating System for my machine which won't otherwise run Windows 8.1, if MS make it a requirement to first upgrade to Windows 8.1 anyway to install Windows 10?

Talk about dumb.

Oh, and added to that... For me, Windows 10 won't UPGRADE install onto my system, possibly for this cpu problem/reason, but will CLEAN install instead.

So again, how will I install the Free upgrade to Windows 10 when released, if the first ever install must be an UPGRADE install (and then clean installs can be done thereafter), as per the latest information on how the free upgrades will work, and for people like me, we CAN'T upgrade install due to the cpu issue, but can CLEAN install?

Microsoft, you've not thought this through, methinks...

I see a call to support when release day comes, then lots of humming and hahhing, with me trying to explain all this to them, before they eventually relent and likely say they'll give me a full Windows 10 licence as the only way around this...

Hi Patrick -

Thanks for your reply.  I was hoping you could provide first-hand verification that Windows 10 x64 will "clean-install" on systems with CPUs that lack the CMPXCHG16b instruction, and you did just that.

I will not be shocked, however, if the ultimate response from Microsoft is that I will have to *buy* Windows 10 x64 (retail "Home" version), which would include a license.

To me it's just very odd that Microsoft chose not to require the CMPXCHG16b CPU instruction for in-place upgrades of Windows 7 & 8.X to the 32-bit variant of Windows 10, but did choose to, in the case of the 64-bit variant.

Thanks again for your help!

-Trev

No problem but just to be clear, some of my findings are fact based, and some are more anecdotal...

Fact based:

1. Systems with a CPU lacking CMPXCHG16b cannot be upgraded/are not compatible with Win 8.1 64 Bit.
2. My CPU (An Intel Q8300 Quad Core) is listed as being one of the cpu's at issue.
3. I cannot upgrade to Win 8.1 64 bit (tried numerous times, both clean and in place).
4. I CAN install Win 10 Tech Preview 64 Bit (but only as a clean install - In-place/Upgrade install fails, but reasons are NOT clear/substantive, but rather guessed at linked to the cpu bug)

Anecdotal:

1. I BELIEVE the reason Win 10 64 bit will not allow me an in-place/upgrade install is linked to the CPU bug, at least in some way, however this is entirely speculative/conjecture on my part.  It does tell me it fails due to an error code known to relate to not meeting system specifications, but that's all it tells me.  Nothing more clear than that.  For sure it doesn't report any CMPXCHG16b incompatibility message

2. I have only tried an in place/upgrade install of Win 10 T.P twice.  It failed both.  However in installing each subsequent update to the Tech Preview, I have had a whole world of pain with failed upgrades, and have had to resort to various drastic measures to circumvent this, including deleting entire windows/old folders, running various Windows Update registry cleaner tools etc etc.  So you never know, my inability to install Windows 10 as an upgrade to Windows 8 may actually just be linked to these issues, and not the cpu flag issue.  Indeed, one of the steps I had to take to allow one of the incremental updates to a later build of Win 10, was completely re-sizing my partition to make more space for it.  So my original inability to upgrade Windows 8 may have been similar.

Repeating what I do know as fact though...

I definitely CAN *Clean* install Windows 10 64 bit edition on a system that has a Q8300 cpu, which is reported to be one of the problem CPU's and certainly doesn't let me upgrade to Win 8.1 (though that fail in itself is not clear enough to say "hey, you have one of the bad cpu's" - it actually fails with a ramdrive error message each time.)