Backup first, before doing the 1809 upgrade

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 05 Oct 2018 06:56:51 -0400, Paul
wrote:



"Windows 10 October Update May Wipe Files"

Good advice snipped.


On a previous windows update, my add-on Freelauchbar was hidden. I
thought it was lost but someone eventually told me how to unhide it.

I.Mackie wrote:

I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.

Here's what I found using Checkdisk

https://imgur.com/gallery/bnfnId6

Windows 10 Update Assistant advises that 8GB is needed but I've found
that impossible to achieve. There's basically nothing on the computer
other than the operating system (It's a small Dell Inspiron P25T 2GB RAM
- about 3 years old - Windows 10 Home).

What action could I/should I take?

"Dell Inspiron 11 Laptop Unable to Update Windows 10"

https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto...0/td-p/5135249

"Yes, my computer has around 28-29 GB on the drive.

With Windows installed along with all of the Dell drivers,
etc. it is at around 4 GB [free]."

*******

"Good news! I just got a notification on the computer to fix
a problem with updates since they could not install, and when
I clicked "Fix Now," the Windows Update window opened and shows
"Windows needs more space." The good part is that I have the
option now to choose another drive or attach an external drive
with 14 GB available. This is for the 1607 update.

Fortunately, I have a 16gb flash drive available and I am
transferring the contents to my other laptop right now in order
to have enough space for the update. I will let you know what
happens. Hopefully I can update everything with no problem.
"

*******

Different install methods have slight differences in behavior.

Windows Update method of doing an OS Upgrade, is capable of
asking for temporary storage space in the form of a USB stick
or an SD card. There have been cases though, where space is
offered, and the installer refuses to use the type of
storage offered.

If you install using a downloaded Win10 DVD 1809, then it
might not prompt for additional storage, and it might just
stop dead.

I would check the hardware junk room and see what USB
drives you have available for the job.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...eatures-update

Paul

? Good Guy ? wrote:

With over 950 million devices now running Windows 10, customer

s/950/700/

satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

s/higher than any previous version of windows/at an all time low/

On 06/10/2018 10:54, Paul wrote:
I.Mackie wrote:

I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.

Here's what I found using Checkdisk

https://imgur.com/gallery/bnfnId6

Windows 10 Update Assistant advises that 8GB is needed but I've found
that impossible to achieve. There's basically nothing on the computer
other than the operating system (It's a small Dell Inspiron P25T 2GB
RAM - about 3 years old - Windows 10 Home).

What action could I/should I take?

"Dell Inspiron 11 Laptop Unable to Update Windows 10"

https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto...0/td-p/5135249


Â*Â* "Yes, my computer has around 28-29 GB on the drive.

Â*Â*Â* With Windows installed along with all of the Dell drivers,
Â*Â*Â* etc. it is at around 4 GB [free]."

Â*Â*Â* *******

Â*Â* "Good news! I just got a notification on the computer to fix
Â*Â*Â* a problem with updates since they could not install, and when
Â*Â*Â* I clicked "Fix Now," the Windows Update window opened and shows
Â*Â*Â* "Windows needs more space." The good part is that I have the
Â*Â*Â* option now to choose another drive or attach an external drive
Â*Â*Â* with 14 GB available. This is for the 1607 update.

Â*Â*Â* Fortunately, I have a 16gb flash drive available and I am
Â*Â*Â* transferring the contents to my other laptop right now in order
Â*Â*Â* to have enough space for the update. I will let you know what
Â*Â*Â* happens. Hopefully I can update everything with no problem.
Â*Â* "

*******

Different install methods have slight differences in behavior.

Windows Update method of doing an OS Upgrade, is capable of
asking for temporary storage space in the form of a USB stick
or an SD card. There have been cases though, where space is
offered, and the installer refuses to use the type of
storage offered.

If you install using a downloaded Win10 DVD 1809, then it
might not prompt for additional storage, and it might just
stop dead.

I would check the hardware junk room and see what USB
drives you have available for the job.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...eatures-update


Â*Â* Paul

Thanks for that, Paul.

I did try adding an external drive in amongst all my other
experimentation yesterday but I made no progress. I've therefore taken a
different approach.

I have successfully installed Linnux Mint onto the machine;-

https://imgur.com/gallery/4znzoP6

I've also downloaded an ISO from Microsoft and I'm now going to see if I
can load Windows10 from that onto the Dell p25T.

On 05/10/2018 19:17, Andy Burns wrote:
I.Mackie wrote:

I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.
It's a small Dell Inspiron P25T

It's only going to have 32GB storage, seems to have 2.4GB free from your
chkdsk, finding enough free space to upgrade windows is going to be
"challenging"

run the cleanup wizard in admin mode, remove page and hibernate files
(that'll be fun with only 2GB RAM), uninstall apps, move data files off
to external or cloud storage, try plugging in some temporary USB storage
during the upgrade ...

Thanks Andy. Please see my response to Paul.

On 05/10/2018 19:23, Ken Blake wrote:
On Fri, 5 Oct 2018 18:38:25 +0100, "I.Mackie"
wrote:

I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.

Here's what I found using Checkdisk

https://imgur.com/gallery/bnfnId6

Windows 10 Update Assistant advises that 8GB is needed but I've found
that impossible to achieve. There's basically nothing on the computer
other than the operating system (It's a small Dell Inspiron P25T 2GB RAM
- about 3 years old - Windows 10 Home).


29.3GB is an absolutely *tiny* hard drive these days. She has under
3GB available--an even tinier number.

The only real solution to such a problem is replacing the drive with a
bigger one. As far as I'm concerned, 500 GB is the absolute minimum,
and for most people 1TB should be considered he minimum.

If you can't replace the drive, I'd recommend replacing the whole
computer.

Thanks for your views.

In general terms, I'm in complete agreement.

On 05/10/2018 21:45, 😉 Good Guy 😉 wrote:
On 05/10/2018 18:38, I.Mackie wrote:


I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.

Here's what I found using Checkdisk

https://imgur.com/gallery/bnfnId6


Yes you have a tiny hard disk. You need to change your HD to get
Windows 10 running smoothly. Windows needs lots of disk space when
installing and also when running.

I advice people to get 1TB HD minimum costing $50. There is no need to
have very expensive SSDs and all that crap.

I understand. My main computer has a 2TB fusion drive.

Windows 10 Update Assistant advises that 8GB is needed but I've found
that impossible to achieve. There's basically nothing on the computer
other than the operating system (It's a small Dell Inspiron P25T 2GB
RAM - about 3 years old - Windows 10 Home).

Correct. You need to do something with your clunker. 2GB Ram is also
not enough no matter what the basic spec says. Of course, people wants
instant start-up and instant savings of data.

Now that I have installed Linux Mint, this little computer is working well.

What action could I/should I take?

Upgrade the machine or better still buy a new machine from DELL orHP
knowing that their machine will meet the minimum Win10 spec to run
comfortably. Anything else is a complete waste of money and time.

Can you tell me how I can obtain a 'free' version of Windows 10 - I have
copied and kept the Windows 'key' which was supplied by Dell.

Now that I have loads of space on the Dell hard drive, my feeling is
that I /should/ now be able to install the newest version of Windows 10
as well - but I'm not sure of the best way I can do that. It would be
great if my daughter were, eventually, able to dual boot into either
Windows OR Linux Mint.

Help/guidance welcomed.

Users should always be doing backups often especially before major
upgrades and changes like this. I need to do mine again before Tuesday.


Paul wrote:

"Windows 10 October Update May Wipe Files"

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/wi...ers,37888.html

"Some users are reporting that the update is causing files in the user directory
to be deleted, including documents, photos and music.

MSPoweruser first reported the news."

From the MSPoweruser link in that article, it says...

"To make things worse, rolling back the install
does not restore the missing files."

Nothing every changes. Safety first.

Only have the target C: installed in the computer.
Don't leave data drives in a computer while doing an upgrade.
(With the power off, unplugging the cables is sufficient.)

No matter how "nominally" safe something is, make a backup.
That backup will have your home directory in it (the home
directory that is about to lose files).

HTH,
Paul

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I.Mackie wrote:
On 06/10/2018 10:54, Paul wrote:
I.Mackie wrote:

I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.

Here's what I found using Checkdisk

https://imgur.com/gallery/bnfnId6

Windows 10 Update Assistant advises that 8GB is needed but I've found
that impossible to achieve. There's basically nothing on the computer
other than the operating system (It's a small Dell Inspiron P25T 2GB
RAM - about 3 years old - Windows 10 Home).

What action could I/should I take?

"Dell Inspiron 11 Laptop Unable to Update Windows 10"

https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto...0/td-p/5135249


"Yes, my computer has around 28-29 GB on the drive.

With Windows installed along with all of the Dell drivers,
etc. it is at around 4 GB [free]."

*******

"Good news! I just got a notification on the computer to fix
a problem with updates since they could not install, and when
I clicked "Fix Now," the Windows Update window opened and shows
"Windows needs more space." The good part is that I have the
option now to choose another drive or attach an external drive
with 14 GB available. This is for the 1607 update.

Fortunately, I have a 16gb flash drive available and I am
transferring the contents to my other laptop right now in order
to have enough space for the update. I will let you know what
happens. Hopefully I can update everything with no problem.
"

*******

Different install methods have slight differences in behavior.

Windows Update method of doing an OS Upgrade, is capable of
asking for temporary storage space in the form of a USB stick
or an SD card. There have been cases though, where space is
offered, and the installer refuses to use the type of
storage offered.

If you install using a downloaded Win10 DVD 1809, then it
might not prompt for additional storage, and it might just
stop dead.

I would check the hardware junk room and see what USB
drives you have available for the job.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...eatures-update


Paul

Thanks for that, Paul.

I did try adding an external drive in amongst all my other
experimentation yesterday but I made no progress. I've therefore taken a
different approach.

I have successfully installed Linnux Mint onto the machine;-

https://imgur.com/gallery/4znzoP6

I've also downloaded an ISO from Microsoft and I'm now going to see if I
can load Windows10 from that onto the Dell p25T.

You could be suggesting a move from Linux_as_only_OS to Windows10_as_only_OS.

But I suspect a more likely picture, is you think you're multi-booting.
And putting two OSes on the same 32GB eMMC drive.

The easiest multiboot order is:

WinXP then Vista then W7 then W8 then W10 then Linux then Linux then Linux

WinXP is a boot.ini OS. It cannot put a later OS in
its menu.

Vista through Win10 are BCD OSes. They are able to
put WinXP in their boot menu, if they detect it.
The BCD OSes also respect other BCD OSes and add
them to the menu.

Windows will not add Linux to the menu. There are
third party tools (I used to use Boot Magic fifteen
years ago), that are OS agnostic and will handle
a whole lot of stuff. But Windows itself is not
helpful. If you install Windows after Linux, it'll
kill GRUB stage 0 so Linux can't boot any more,
Windows will boot, and you'll have to find a tutorial
on "GRUB repair". There's at least one utility for
that, but you might also be able to get there
by booting a Linux LiveCD as the running OS, and
doing a chroot of the damaged on-eMMC OS, and repairing
GRUB that way.

But Linux will add Windows to the GRUB boot manager,
and those calls are called "Chainloading".

If Linux is installed last, then Linux adds everything
to the menu.

If you let the automation install Linux, now there's
no space left on the drive for Windows. You'll need to
shrink the Linux partition. GParted can do that (perhaps,
again, using the LiveCD as the running OS at the time).

A 32GB eMMC leaves you with 10GB for Windows, 10GB for
a Linux, and maybe a pagefile and hiberfile. On a laptop, the
hiberfile is used if the battery runs flat, and the
laptop seeks to preserve your running session.

The end result is, there won't be a lot of space on
the drive.

With a device that small, it's all about the space the space the space.
You'll always be worried about running out of space.

You can see eMMC drives here. These are 4X the size of what
is present in the Dell right now. But, you need a hot air
solder station, to change one of those out. Depending on the
quality of the motherboard PCB, you can change a drive like
that up to about three times, before the surface of the PCB
is too damaged to do it again.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...yte-3-bit-NAND

If you take the bottom off the Inspiron, you'd be looking
to see if there is a 2.5" drive bay. Not all the machines
need use the same motherboard PCB, and they could easily
have an alternate motherboard with no spot on it for a
2.5" drive. Since the machine doesn't use conventional "bays",
the whole bottom has to come off, and the center screw, if
it's stuck, we don't know how to take that off. The available
video isn't actually for that machine, and I wasn't able
to find a Youtube video of the P25T coming apart. There are
multiple Inspiron models using the same plastic chassis design.

Paul

On 06/10/2018 23:21, I.Mackie wrote:

Can you tell me how I can obtain a 'free' version of Windows 10 - I have
copied and kept the Windows 'key' which was supplied by Dell.

Now that I have loads of space on the Dell hard drive, my feeling is
that I /should/ now be able to install the newest version of Windows 10
as well - but I'm not sure of the best way I can do that. It would be
great if my daughter were, eventually, able to dual boot into either
Windows OR Linux Mint.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10

On 06/10/2018 23:44, Paul wrote:
I.Mackie wrote:
On 06/10/2018 10:54, Paul wrote:
I.Mackie wrote:

I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.

Here's what I found using Checkdisk

https://imgur.com/gallery/bnfnId6

Windows 10 Update Assistant advises that 8GB is needed but I've
found that impossible to achieve. There's basically nothing on the
computer other than the operating system (It's a small Dell Inspiron
P25T 2GB RAM - about 3 years old - Windows 10 Home).

What action could I/should I take?

"Dell Inspiron 11 Laptop Unable to Update Windows 10"

https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto...0/td-p/5135249


Â*Â*Â* "Yes, my computer has around 28-29 GB on the drive.

Â*Â*Â*Â* With Windows installed along with all of the Dell drivers,
Â*Â*Â*Â* etc. it is at around 4 GB [free]."

Â*Â*Â*Â* *******

Â*Â*Â* "Good news! I just got a notification on the computer to fix
Â*Â*Â*Â* a problem with updates since they could not install, and when
Â*Â*Â*Â* I clicked "Fix Now," the Windows Update window opened and shows
Â*Â*Â*Â* "Windows needs more space." The good part is that I have the
Â*Â*Â*Â* option now to choose another drive or attach an external drive
Â*Â*Â*Â* with 14 GB available. This is for the 1607 update.

Â*Â*Â*Â* Fortunately, I have a 16gb flash drive available and I am
Â*Â*Â*Â* transferring the contents to my other laptop right now in order
Â*Â*Â*Â* to have enough space for the update. I will let you know what
Â*Â*Â*Â* happens. Hopefully I can update everything with no problem.
Â*Â*Â* "

*******

Different install methods have slight differences in behavior.

Windows Update method of doing an OS Upgrade, is capable of
asking for temporary storage space in the form of a USB stick
or an SD card. There have been cases though, where space is
offered, and the installer refuses to use the type of
storage offered.

If you install using a downloaded Win10 DVD 1809, then it
might not prompt for additional storage, and it might just
stop dead.

I would check the hardware junk room and see what USB
drives you have available for the job.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...eatures-update


Â*Â*Â* Paul

Thanks for that, Paul.

I did try adding an external drive in amongst all my other
experimentation yesterday but I made no progress. I've therefore taken
a different approach.

I have successfully installed Linnux Mint onto the machine;-

https://imgur.com/gallery/4znzoP6

I've also downloaded an ISO from Microsoft and I'm now going to see if
I can load Windows10 from that onto the Dell p25T.

You could be suggesting a move from Linux_as_only_OS to
Windows10_as_only_OS.

But I suspect a more likely picture, is you think you're multi-booting.
And putting two OSes on the same 32GB eMMC drive.

The easiest multiboot order is:

Â*Â* WinXP then Vista then W7 then W8 then W10 then Linux then Linux then
Linux

WinXP is a boot.ini OS. It cannot put a later OS in
its menu.

Vista through Win10 are BCD OSes. They are able to
put WinXP in their boot menu, if they detect it.
The BCD OSes also respect other BCD OSes and add
them to the menu.

Windows will not add Linux to the menu. There are
third party tools (I used to use Boot Magic fifteen
years ago), that are OS agnostic and will handle
a whole lot of stuff. But Windows itself is not
helpful. If you install Windows after Linux, it'll
kill GRUB stage 0 so Linux can't boot any more,
Windows will boot, and you'll have to find a tutorial
on "GRUB repair". There's at least one utility for
that, but you might also be able to get there
by booting a Linux LiveCD as the running OS, and
doing a chroot of the damaged on-eMMC OS, and repairing
GRUB that way.

But Linux will add Windows to the GRUB boot manager,
and those calls are called "Chainloading".

If Linux is installed last, then Linux adds everything
to the menu.

If you let the automation install Linux, now there's
no space left on the drive for Windows. You'll need to
shrink the Linux partition. GParted can do that (perhaps,
again, using the LiveCD as the running OS at the time).

A 32GB eMMC leaves you with 10GB for Windows, 10GB for
a Linux, and maybe a pagefile and hiberfile. On a laptop, the
hiberfile is used if the battery runs flat, and the
laptop seeks to preserve your running session.

The end result is, there won't be a lot of space on
the drive.

With a device that small, it's all about the space the space the space.
You'll always be worried about running out of space.

You can see eMMC drives here. These are 4X the size of what
is present in the Dell right now. But, you need a hot air
solder station, to change one of those out. Depending on the
quality of the motherboard PCB, you can change a drive like
that up to about three times, before the surface of the PCB
is too damaged to do it again.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...yte-3-bit-NAND


If you take the bottom off the Inspiron, you'd be looking
to see if there is a 2.5" drive bay. Not all the machines
need use the same motherboard PCB, and they could easily
have an alternate motherboard with no spot on it for a
2.5" drive. Since the machine doesn't use conventional "bays",
the whole bottom has to come off, and the center screw, if
it's stuck, we don't know how to take that off. The available
video isn't actually for that machine, and I wasn't able
to find a Youtube video of the P25T coming apart. There are
multiple Inspiron models using the same plastic chassis design.

Â*Â* Paul

Thank you, Paul. I'll sleep on what you have said and review in the morning.

I may well remove the bottom cover tomorrow and take a peek inside!

On 07/10/2018 00:07, Patrick wrote:
On 06/10/2018 23:21, I.Mackie wrote:

Can you tell me how I can obtain a 'free' version of Windows 10 - I
have copied and kept the Windows 'key' which was supplied by Dell.

Now that I have loads of space on the Dell hard drive, my feeling is
that I /should/ now be able to install the newest version of Windows
10 as well - but I'm not sure of the best way I can do that. It would
be great if my daughter were, eventually, able to dual boot into
either Windows OR Linux Mint.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10

Thank you. :-)

I downloaded that ISO this afternoon and saved it on my iMac. I've since
burnred it to a DVD - another learning curve because Apple have changed
the procedure in macOS Mojave!!!

Now I'm unsure of what best to do with it - especially in view of the
news that this version has been 'pulled' by Microsoft.

Have you any idea of how to get my daughters laptop running Windows
again armed with this ISO?

In article , I.Mackie
wrote:

Now I'm unsure of what best to do with it - especially in view of the
news that this version has been 'pulled' by Microsoft.

toss it. wait for the fixed version.

I.Mackie wrote:
On 07/10/2018 00:07, Patrick wrote:
On 06/10/2018 23:21, I.Mackie wrote:

Can you tell me how I can obtain a 'free' version of Windows 10 - I
have copied and kept the Windows 'key' which was supplied by Dell.

Now that I have loads of space on the Dell hard drive, my feeling is
that I /should/ now be able to install the newest version of Windows
10 as well - but I'm not sure of the best way I can do that. It would
be great if my daughter were, eventually, able to dual boot into
either Windows OR Linux Mint.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10

Thank you. :-)

I downloaded that ISO this afternoon and saved it on my iMac. I've since
burnred it to a DVD - another learning curve because Apple have changed
the procedure in macOS Mojave!!!

Now I'm unsure of what best to do with it - especially in view of the
news that this version has been 'pulled' by Microsoft.

Have you any idea of how to get my daughters laptop running Windows
again armed with this ISO?


When you're asking boot questions, it helps if you can
clearly communicate where you're headed in terms of a config.
We're not mind readers.

I'll draw one sample picture, and then you can provide your
own picture of what you want, if you want something different.

Current 32GB eMMC config.

Linux doesn't install exactly like this, and this is a simplified view.

+-----+-----------------------+------------+
| MBR | Linux slash partition | Linux swap |
+-----+-----------------------+------------+

New 32GB eMMC config for putting Win10 back on someone elses computer
so they don't notice I've been messing around.

+-----+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| MBR | Windows C: partition | System Reserved 0.5GB 0x27 partition |
+-----+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+

To do that, you take that "bad" DVD you've got in your hand,
boot the device with it right now, and install. You find the Custom
install option that says to "remove other partitions", or you
use the Custom screen to remove the partitions manually
while in there.

I'm assuming right now, since you successfully installed Linux
on this device, the previous users home directory is deleted and
is now "toast". There's nothing to preserve now. So there
is no harm in using the DVD you just made - that DVD is
only dangerous if the home directory is still there and
the home directory could get damaged.

Your "home directory" is toast, because Linux took its place.

How do I know that ?

You're on a 32GB eMMC. A device that was "chock full of Windows".
Now you tell me "I put Linux on it successfully". And that
means you nuked and paved everything on the eMMC in your haste
for success.

So there's really nothing to damage. The former users
Win10 home dir is gone.

Now, if your situation is different, please draw one of those
diagrams like the above, to show me what's on the
computer at the moment. Is Linux on the 32GB eMMC ? Is
Windows 10 on the 32GB eMMC. We can only give reasonable
advice, with reasonable input to work with.

There isn't room to dual boot on a 32GB eMMC. Maybe an
expert can figure out a way, but "just slapping stuff
around", it's not going to happen.

*******

If you ever do some multi-boot installs, where you did the
OSes in the wrong order, this is the kind of article you
need to set things right (so both OSes are boot options).

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Re...tallingWindows

Paul

I.Mackie wrote:
On 06/10/2018 23:44, Paul wrote:
I.Mackie wrote:
On 06/10/2018 10:54, Paul wrote:
I.Mackie wrote:

I've been trying to update my daughter's laptop but am constantly
advised that there is insufficient space on the PC.

Here's what I found using Checkdisk

https://imgur.com/gallery/bnfnId6

Windows 10 Update Assistant advises that 8GB is needed but I've
found that impossible to achieve. There's basically nothing on the
computer other than the operating system (It's a small Dell
Inspiron P25T 2GB RAM - about 3 years old - Windows 10 Home).

What action could I/should I take?

"Dell Inspiron 11 Laptop Unable to Update Windows 10"

https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto...0/td-p/5135249


"Yes, my computer has around 28-29 GB on the drive.

With Windows installed along with all of the Dell drivers,
etc. it is at around 4 GB [free]."

*******

"Good news! I just got a notification on the computer to fix
a problem with updates since they could not install, and when
I clicked "Fix Now," the Windows Update window opened and shows
"Windows needs more space." The good part is that I have the
option now to choose another drive or attach an external drive
with 14 GB available. This is for the 1607 update.

Fortunately, I have a 16gb flash drive available and I am
transferring the contents to my other laptop right now in order
to have enough space for the update. I will let you know what
happens. Hopefully I can update everything with no problem.
"

*******

Different install methods have slight differences in behavior.

Windows Update method of doing an OS Upgrade, is capable of
asking for temporary storage space in the form of a USB stick
or an SD card. There have been cases though, where space is
offered, and the installer refuses to use the type of
storage offered.

If you install using a downloaded Win10 DVD 1809, then it
might not prompt for additional storage, and it might just
stop dead.

I would check the hardware junk room and see what USB
drives you have available for the job.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...eatures-update


Paul

Thanks for that, Paul.

I did try adding an external drive in amongst all my other
experimentation yesterday but I made no progress. I've therefore
taken a different approach.

I have successfully installed Linnux Mint onto the machine;-

https://imgur.com/gallery/4znzoP6

I've also downloaded an ISO from Microsoft and I'm now going to see
if I can load Windows10 from that onto the Dell p25T.

You could be suggesting a move from Linux_as_only_OS to
Windows10_as_only_OS.

But I suspect a more likely picture, is you think you're multi-booting.
And putting two OSes on the same 32GB eMMC drive.

The easiest multiboot order is:

WinXP then Vista then W7 then W8 then W10 then Linux then Linux
then Linux

WinXP is a boot.ini OS. It cannot put a later OS in
its menu.

Vista through Win10 are BCD OSes. They are able to
put WinXP in their boot menu, if they detect it.
The BCD OSes also respect other BCD OSes and add
them to the menu.

Windows will not add Linux to the menu. There are
third party tools (I used to use Boot Magic fifteen
years ago), that are OS agnostic and will handle
a whole lot of stuff. But Windows itself is not
helpful. If you install Windows after Linux, it'll
kill GRUB stage 0 so Linux can't boot any more,
Windows will boot, and you'll have to find a tutorial
on "GRUB repair". There's at least one utility for
that, but you might also be able to get there
by booting a Linux LiveCD as the running OS, and
doing a chroot of the damaged on-eMMC OS, and repairing
GRUB that way.

But Linux will add Windows to the GRUB boot manager,
and those calls are called "Chainloading".

If Linux is installed last, then Linux adds everything
to the menu.

If you let the automation install Linux, now there's
no space left on the drive for Windows. You'll need to
shrink the Linux partition. GParted can do that (perhaps,
again, using the LiveCD as the running OS at the time).

A 32GB eMMC leaves you with 10GB for Windows, 10GB for
a Linux, and maybe a pagefile and hiberfile. On a laptop, the
hiberfile is used if the battery runs flat, and the
laptop seeks to preserve your running session.

The end result is, there won't be a lot of space on
the drive.

With a device that small, it's all about the space the space the space.
You'll always be worried about running out of space.

You can see eMMC drives here. These are 4X the size of what
is present in the Dell right now. But, you need a hot air
solder station, to change one of those out. Depending on the
quality of the motherboard PCB, you can change a drive like
that up to about three times, before the surface of the PCB
is too damaged to do it again.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...yte-3-bit-NAND


If you take the bottom off the Inspiron, you'd be looking
to see if there is a 2.5" drive bay. Not all the machines
need use the same motherboard PCB, and they could easily
have an alternate motherboard with no spot on it for a
2.5" drive. Since the machine doesn't use conventional "bays",
the whole bottom has to come off, and the center screw, if
it's stuck, we don't know how to take that off. The available
video isn't actually for that machine, and I wasn't able
to find a Youtube video of the P25T coming apart. There are
multiple Inspiron models using the same plastic chassis design.

Paul

Thank you, Paul. I'll sleep on what you have said and review in the
morning.

I may well remove the bottom cover tomorrow and take a peek inside!

You'll need a spudger. The two halves of the clamshell "snap together"
with locking tabs. To not leave marks, you need practice. You need to
depress the tab in the seam and pry apart the clamshell. (You do all
this after the screws are removed.)

I had to do this for a computer I gifted to someone. It was
an AIO design, with those locking tabs. What a pain in the ass :-)

You would think a design with eight or nine screws to hold
it together, wouldn't need locking tabs. But that's what it's
got.

If I could possibly have found a [verified] picture of a P25T mobo,
I would have shown it to you by now. All I could find is one
dishonest Youtube video, where the wrong machine was
featured in the video. The video has the same plastic
chassis, but the motherboard is different, and it may or
may not match what is inside your P25T.

For example, there's this manual. The inside of the machine
could look like PDF page 29 here. But since we know the machine
has 32GB eMMC, they don't need to populate the drive bay
area if they don't want to. The PCB could be entirely
different than the picture shown on page 29. A product line
with HDD bay and with eMMC, those could be two different motherboard
PCBs. They could even put the eMMC chip in a dual footprint
location under where the drive bay should be located.

https://content.etilize.com/User-Manual/1035517054.pdf

I wouldn't start taking that apart, unless it was no longer
headed back to the owner. If it's your little lab experiment,
you can practice your spudger skills on it.

The spudger action can be seen here... This is likely not
what your machine looks like inside (this is a P28T not
a P25T like the text shows). And real locking tabs aren't
nearly that easy to take apart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sy5G9RFVig

Paul