Troubleshooting Upgrade Issues
Although upgrading to Windows 10 is a great deal more reliable than any other previous Windows upgrade that you may have encountered, there are still potential issues, workarounds, and best practices that you should be aware of.
You should be wary of systems that may be very old and have previously undergone other upgrades. On most PCs you can often find the original certificate of authenticity (COA) sticker on the chassis of the PC, which will advise you of the OEM-installed version of Windows. If the sticker relates to Windows XP or Vista, you should investigate to see if the internal hardware will support Windows 10. If you have the Get Windows 10 (GWX) app installed, you can check the compatibility report there to make sure your Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 PC can run Windows 10 as follows:
- Click the Get Windows 10 app icon on the taskbar notification area.
- Click on the "hamburger" menu button at the top left corner of the app.
- Click on Check Your PC under the Getting the Upgrade section.
- Click the "View report" link.
- Review the compatibility report to see if Windows 10 will work on your system.
You could also check whether the device hardware supports Windows 10 by reviewing the system requirements at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ windows-10-specifications?OCID=win10_null_vanity_win10specs .
Operating System Stability
If the system you are intending to upgrade is unstable, then it is not a good candidate to upgrade, as you may carry forward any current problems to your new operating system. You should check the reliability of the system by launching the Reliability Monitor. This is done by typing reliability into the Start screen and clicking View Reliability History in the Control Panel. The tool will display a summary of the reliability history for your system.
The Reliability Monitor screen shows a line graph with a scale from 1 to 10 and a date timeline along the bottom axis. The graph rises and falls based on how the system performs. If the system exhibits regular software or driver errors, the system stability may encounter apps crashing or a service stopping. With every system issue that degrades system stability, the graph value will fall, while on a stable system the line graph will rise and be consistently near the maximum level of 10.
The Reliability Monitor is a powerful tool, and you should take a look at your system, using the monitor to drill down into any stability issues that are present.
Troubleshooting Windows 10 Upgrade Error Codes
During the upgrade process, Windows 10 will create an installation log file, which you can inspect to diagnose and troubleshoot what went wrong. The installation log file is located at C:\windows\Panther\UnattendGC\SetupAct.log .
As an example, if Windows detects that you are trying to use the wrong installation media, you should find an entry such as "Info [windeploy.exe] OEM license detected, will not run SetupComplete.cmd" within the log file.
Other clues may be found within the setuperr.log , which is found at C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\Panther\setuperr.log .
If the problem relates to a compatibility issue, you should review the error code presented. Some of the most common error codes relating to upgrading are shown.
Table: Common setuperr.log Upgrade Error Codes
Error Code Description 0xC1900200 PC does not meet Windows 10 system requirements. 0xC190020E Insufficient free hard drive space 0xC1900204 Wrong Windows 10 SKU or architecture
Block Upgrading to Windows 10
If you do not want your current system that is running either Windows 7SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update to be upgraded to Windows 10, you can block it by configuring Group Policy settings on your PC as follows:
- Open Local Group Policy editor by typing gpedit.msc.
- Expand Computer Configuration.
- Expand Administrative Templates and then click Windows Components.
- Expand Windows Update.
- Double-click "Turn Off the Upgrade to the Latest Version of Windows through Windows Update."
- Click Enable.
- Close Local Group Policy editor and reboot your system.
Note: There are several third-party apps that you can install that will prevent your PC from updating to Windows 10, such as Never10, found at https://www.grc.com/never10. htm , or GWX Control Panel, found at http://blog.ultimateoutsider.com/2015/08/ using-gwx-stopper-to-permanently-remove.html .
Once configured, the system will not automatically detect, download, or install the Windows 10 upgrade. You can still upgrade to Windows 10, but you will need to initiate this manually.
Upgrading a System with BitLocker Drive Encryption
If your current system is encrypted using Device Encryption or BitLocker Drive Encryption technology , the Windows 10 upgrade process will automatically process the upgrade, and you won't need to manually disable or suspend the BitLocker. You do not need to decrypt your hard drive prior to upgrading to Windows 10. The upgrade process will recognize that BitLocker is enabled and will suspend the encryption and then resume it after the final configuration reboot. If you don't use a TPM, you will be asked to enter your password or PIN during startup.
If you find that the upgrade process does not recognize the drive as being BitLocker encrypted, you should start the update process using the Setup.exe from within Windows 7SP1 or Windows 8.1 rather than booting directly from the installation media.
It is also a best practice to ensure that you know how to access the BitLocker recovery key in case you forget your password.