Tag: Windows 10 clean install

Clean install of Windows 10 on Turbo-X WinTab: Nailed it!

[NOTE: I hold no responsibility in case you follow the process described below and damage your tablet; it has worked perfectly for me but this does not mean that it will also work for you – try at your own risk!]

Yeap, I am really excited; despite the total lack of support in terms of drivers and all the issues I faced during the last months in terms of trying to clean install Windows 10 on my WinTab, I finally managed to complete it and have everything work properly (including both cameras).

I always want to have a clean install of an operating system and this was the case with my WinTab which currently runs Windows 10 but after upgrading the original Windows 8.1 (so not a clean install); however, I did not have the necessary drivers for the touch screen and the two cameras of the tablet so after a refresh of the OS, I got a misaligned (and non-functional) touch screen and no cameras at all. Plaisio, the distributor and maybe the manufacturer of the tablet does not provide any drivers on their website nor after requests (I was told that they only have an image of the system with Windows 8.1 that they install when needed). I got so frustrated that I kept looking for a solution. And it seems that I found it.

First I created an image of the system using the built-in functionality of Windows 10 – I wanted to make sure that if something went wrong, I could still revert back to a working state. Then I copied the few files I needed (photos, documents etc.) to the SD card that extends the insufficient 32GB storage space of the tablet. After thatñ, I went through the System settings and went for the clean install of the OS (Windows 10) opting to delete everything. Since I had already upgraded to Windows 10 (so I did not need the product key for the upgrade) I could also use a USB flash disk with Windows 10 Home 32bit but I didn’t have to as I could do the same without creating a bootable disk.

The process took quite a while and when I booted into Windows, I noticed that the touch screen was not functional, the cameras were not present/installed at all and there were a couple of devices not properly installed. After the research I made throughout the last months, I ended up with the following solution for these issues (the link to the drivers is at the end of this post):

A. Touch screen

1. Uninstall KMDF HID Minidriver for Touch I2C Device (in the Human Interface Devices) and click on Remove Drivers
2. Uninstall all devices from the Human Interface Devices APART FROM the USB Input Devices
3. Install all .inf files available in the subfolders of the folder [Onda v820w Dual OS Full Touch Drivers JACKBAUER]
4. Copy the file SileadTouch.fw from the Touch screen files folder to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers
5. Restart
Working version of the KMDF HID Minidriver for Touch I2C Device driver: 18.24.23.67, 2/6/2015

 

B. Cameras

1. Update driver of the Intel(R) Imaging Signal Processor 2400 (in Imaging Devices) by manually selecting the camera.inf from the folder Camera_GC310_HM2056_OV2680-5648
2. Restart

Working version of the Intel Imaging Signal Processor 2400 driver: 10.46.22.382, 19/9/2014

The files are available here. Good luck with the process and let me know in the comments of you have managed to successfully apply it in your case 🙂

Attempting a clean install of Windows 10 to WinTab

It seems that there is no rest for the wicked; especially when the wicked use a Turbo-X WinTab! To make a long story short, just before my last business trip, I realized that the cameras of my tablet were not working – so I could not take photos or video call anyone…the former is not that important as the cameras are nothing special but the latter is – especially when I need to Skype call friends, customers or colleagues. So I decided to fix the issue – a few hours before my trip!

I first tried to find drivers for the camera from Intel (the manufacturer) but it was not possible. Then, I searched for generic drivers from other sources, such as fora and other online sources. This led me to a driver package for Lenovo tablets featuring the same camera. I downloaded on of them. I even installed it. And then I started getting Blue Screens Of Death! I tried rolling back the driver but it did not solve the problem; the package had installed other drivers as well. I even tried deleting some of the affected drivers and tried reinstalling them but this did not work either.

I recalled that I had installed a driver backup app for sending my drivers to another poor guy who had issues with his WinTab so I tried to restore the drivers but no luck. In the end, I booted into Safe Mode, did some work and then managed to make the tablet booth without BSOD. So I thought that everything was ok. However, during the flight I noticed an extremely quick battery drain so that I only got less that half of the typical battery runtime. This caused me issues during my business trip, as I was forced to use my 15-inch laptop all the time – which proved to have a battery lifetime of more than 5 hours with WiFi open!

As soon as I got back home, I decided that it was time for refreshing my Windows 10 installation: I created an image of the system using the built-in functionality of Windows 10 and I even got a copy of some of the files so that I could copy them back to the tablet if all went well. I went for refreshing the installation (not formatting) without keeping the files and settings and expected that everything would run normally. Alas; the touch screen was for once more so misaligned that the tablet was not usable. Since I wanted to avoid getting back to the previous situation by restoring the image, I tried a driver back up tool I had for restoring the previous version of the touch screen driver but for some strange reason, this would not work either – it seems that the current drivers were newer than the previous (working) ones, so the app would not restore them!

In the end, I had to go through restoring the previous version of the OS through the image restore and it seems that the battery lifetime issue is not that severe – the BSOD are also a thing of the past. However, the cameras still don’t work and I need to find a way to make a clean install of Windows 10 without such issues. Only time will tell how much patient I will need to be with this nice but still ill-fated transformer…

Lenovo G550 & Windows 10 clean install

I took some time last night to perform a clean install of Windows 10 to my old Lenovo G550 (which was upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 Pro).

It took me quite a while, because I opted for the following steps first:

  • removed all unnecessary software.
  • cleaned up the hard disk using the standard Windows tool and CCleaner.
  • took an image of the system using the standard Windows 10 tool.
  • backed up the product number, just in case
  • created a bootable disk using the Windows Media Creation tool.
  • Installed Windows 10 Pro Greek (from the English version; my mother will appreciate this  – see below).
  • Set up some basic apps that its new owner will need, like Skype, Dropbox, Firefox and Teamviewer, so that I can help her when things go wrong).

This laptop is going to replace my mother’s malfunctioning one, which currently runs Windows XP, does not have a built-in webcam and has some issues with the wireless connectivity. It is an aging machine that she kept as she only uses it for Skype, email and light web browsing. However, using an external webcam and trying to enable WiFi through a keyboard shortcut (Fn+F2) was making her life hard.

What about me though? Well, I am going to use my Acer Aspire ES1-512 as a daily workhorse at home; it was about time that it went out of the closet after several months of inactivity. It has also gone through the same process (upgrade to Windows 10 and then a format & clean install) in order to make sure that it will perform 100% of its limited capabilities.