Windows 10 Upgrade -- Unique X58 Motherboard

[EvilMunky]

To start off, the motherboard I use in my rig is the Gigabyte G1.Sniper (X58 chipset). What makes it somewhat unique is the onboard audio and NIC (Creative CA20k2 & Bigfoot E2100). While researching why my Windows 10 upgrade was delayed, I found evidence that I may have driver issues with those devices after a clean install, since Gigabyte stopped making drivers for that particular board back in 2011 (no Win8 drivers even).

I just got my upgrade notification today. I was wondering if there's anyone out there who also owns this board, and what their experience has been with a clean install of Windows 10. I'm aware I shouldn't have problems with chipset and GPU drivers, but the audio and NIC are crucial and I don't wan't any issues with them.

PS. I've been looking into upgrading to Skylake, but I recently installed a GTX980 GPU and I suddenly have a relevant gaming machine again. I think I can squeeze a few more years out of this thing yet, if everything works in Windows 10.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Looks like the NIC has windows 10 drivers:

http://www.killernetworking.com/support/driver-downloads

Looks like the Creative OEM sound adapter does not, at least on the Gigabyte website, but I'd be surprised if Microsoft didn't have support for that chipset and it's unlikely that your notification would validate if they did not. Some of the more obscure and older hardware drivers don't install immediately in some cases, so if it's not working at first, allow it a day or two to sync up with it's windows update downloads and it probably will.

 

[boju]

I'm hesitant to install Win10 on the Pc in my sig as well, not only because of the printer's photo copy function wont operate properly in Win10 but does for Win7 but I also have another sound chip other than Realtek, by Soundmax. But haven't received a Win10 invite on that machine so I was guessing its not compatible and it will remain Win7 I think.

Installing Win10 on another system with a P8P67 board Sandy Bridge went smoothly without any drivers required though. I was concerned at first, no Win10 drivers, but win10 took care of everything. Its been a week now so everything looks good in device manager and no odd behavior. I did do a clean install just to make sure no drivers were influencing operations in anyway that would bite me if I did a clean install, so made sure of that.

You have a month to trial so if you can be bothered is your call, Windows10 will probably supply the drivers through online over time as mentioned above, so best not to turn of automatic device updates.

 

[EvilMunky]

Well, out of boredom yesterday, I went ahead and did the upgrade (not a clean install yet). Network and sound both "worked" after it finished, but only with basic functionality. For example, I had sound, but none of the Creative software would work, so I was stuck with 2.1 speakers and extremely low volume.

I downloaded the Windows 8.1 x64 version of the Killer E2100 driver ( https://www.visiontek.com/download-drivers.html ) and those installed without issue, so I'm assuming they'll also work when I do a clean install later.

I was also able to get all of the audio functions working by installing a 3rd-Party driver package made by DanielK. My only gripe with them is they have issues saving your settings, so you may have to re-configure every time you re-boot. Not a huge deal for me as my system is up pretty much 24/7. You can get that here: http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=720562

So yeah, I guess I answered my own question, but thanks for the replies.

 

[jimmysmitty]

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?s=604722874ae5113a15fd9c6389dd272d&t=384468

Look at this thread. Seems the chip on your board is the same as the XFI HD card. Might be able to download and use the Windows 8.1 drivers. I had the Windows 8 drivers for my SB-Z working on 10 so you might have luck too.

 

[Darkbreeze]

AND, many of the driver and file system issues that are present on "upgraded" systems, are entirely gone after doing a clean install. So if the system is even remotely tolerable after upgrading, it's likely to be at least as good and almost certainly better after a clean install. I'd recommend doing so in this manner:



The following and has been pulled and compiled from a variety of sources, and tailored for our forum.


1) Check that the software and hardware you mostly use are comptible with Windows 10 and have drivers available


2) Make sure to update all necessary drivers and Windows updates (Does not apply when doing a clean install)


3) Some devices might need a specific driver to operate with Windows 10, it might be a good idea to download these Windows 10 compatible versions prior to upgrading and save them to a flash drive or DVD disk in order to have them ready, just in case.


4) Backup all and any important files from your computer to a cloud service or external harddrive


5) Create recovery media for your current Windows install, if you have a OEM pc/laptop refer to the user manual or check the website of the manufacturer for how to create the recovery media for your device (some people have been unable to use the rollback feature after upgrading to Windows 10)



How to do a clean install


Dowload the ISO here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10


Use this tool to create USB or DVD installation media using the downloaded ISO: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool




Windows 10 clean install tutorial:

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-windows-10-clean-install.html

 

[boju]

If you do a fresh install it will ask you for the serial key twice, it did twice for me, so can skip both times. Entering Win7 license wont work. Win10 will activate once you're connected online as Microsoft's online servers will remember your key as being through the upgrade process.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, that's indicated in the tutorial I linked to above.

 

[boju]

Oh sorry I meant to credit the tutorial you listed, was in a rush.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nah, no worries. I didn't mean anything like that.

 

[boju]

haha ok no worries.

 

[EvilMunky]

Thanks a lot for the replies guys! Not really sure who to pick for best answer, lol.

With the links I listed in my previous post, I'm fairly confident now that when I do the clean install (already have media created and all good to go in that regard) I'll have the drivers I need.

Just an FYI though, you are actually issued a new product key for Windows 10 after upgrading, but you'll need to use a utility like BelArc or ProduKey to retrieve it (I've read this key will work instead of hitting the 'Skip' button).

 

[Darkbreeze]

That product key will be identical to hundreds if not thousands or millions of others with the same version of windows 10. Windows 10 fully utilizes the bios string for verification of activated machines now. We've compared the product key on several Windows 10 home machines and they've all been the same. Pro versions have been different, but the same among Pro versions. Apparently the new method is to use the key to identify the version and use the bios to verify if the version belongs on that particular machine according to it's ID string. Prior OS keys remain legitimate for use on the machine, but not for use on another machine. If you use your windows 8 key on another machine, for example, it will invalidate your install on the other machine if you go through the process of changing the windows 8 activation to another machine.

 

[EvilMunky]

I see. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Of course. If you want to save 15% or more on car insurance, you go to Geico. It's what you do.

If you want to know about tech, you go to Tom's Hardware, it's what you do. Heh.

 

[Mike_26]

That product key will be identical to hundreds if not thousands or millions of others with the same version of windows 10. Windows 10 fully utilizes the bios string for verification of activated machines now. We've compared the product key on several Windows 10 home machines and they've all been the same. Pro versions have been different, but the same among Pro versions. Apparently the new method is to use the key to identify the version and use the bios to verify if the version belongs on that particular machine according to it's ID string. Prior OS keys remain legitimate for use on the machine, but not for use on another machine. If you use your windows 8 key on another machine, for example, it will invalidate your install on the other machine if you go through the process of changing the windows 8 activation to another machine.

supposedly yamisoft released a small version of their systeminfo1.1.0.0 that claims to give a real key, which is indeed different from the generic install keys here and the Microsoft posed list of trial keys.

 

[EvilMunky]

Just thought I'd post an update.

I got my Win10 fresh install done over the weekend using the drivers I linked to above. Everything went smoothly, though remembering how to configure my surround sound was a bit rough, haha.

One thing to note, be sure to turn off automatic hardware installation! Windows will go in and mess everything up with those Creative drivers I posted. Hopefully the creator will continue to keep them updated, I doubt Creative or Gigabyte will.


Darkbreeze: Is it possible for you to mark my post with the links to the Killer & Creative drivers as the Solution to this thread? I feel like that's the best answer but I can't mark it as it's my own post.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sure, seems the most relevant to me.