[Solved] Windows7 32-bit Pro upgrade to Windows10 32-bit Pro

[devsk]

Solution for this issue is to:

1. Right click on cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator. (Basically, get a command prompt with Administrator rights)
2. Type "bcdedit /set {current} nx alwayson" without the quotes of course and press enter.
3. Reboot
4. Retry the upgrade for profit.

-------------------- Original Post Detailing The Issue -------------
I know some of you are tired of this topic and there is a sticky thread for it here.

But I have tried everything I have found on here and on the net but Windows7 refuses to upgrade to Windows 10 for me. I always get the same error: "This PC's processor doesn't support a critical feature (NX)."

I have:

0. Windows7 VM fully updated to latest updates from MS.
1. Using Windows 10 32-bit as the version for the VM.
2. Tried "Media Creation Tool" to "Upgrade this PC now" as well as made an ISO and attached the ISO with the VM and run the setup.exe from Window7 VM in another run.
3. Removed Guest Additions to rule out any interactions with the drivers from Virtualbox.
4. Played with all possible Paravirtualization parameters, PAE/NX, VT-x, Nested Paging etc.
5. About 40GB free on C:\, so the space is not an issue.
6. Reduced the base memory to 2000MB to rule any issues with 4000MB that I was using earlier.
7. 2 vCPUs are being used with 100% execution cap.

Chipset is ICH9 with IOAPIC enabled.

I looked at the output of Windows utility 'coreinfo -f' and it correctly shows both NX and CX16 being seen by the guest. I had to do the "VBoxManage setextradata global VBoxInternal/CPUM/CMPXCH16B 1" trick to get CX16 to show up in the flags.

So, the question is why does it keep saying that I don't have NX when I clearly do have NX? I am running out of ideas guys. Please help.

[loukingjr]

AFAIK
1. You should be running VB 4.3.34 or VB 5.0.10.
2. You need to change the Template from Version: Windows 7 (32-bit) to Windows 10 (32-bit) before you try to update.
3. VT-x has to be enabled.

My Windows 10 guests are using the PIIX3 Chipset.

[devsk]

AFAIK
1. You should be running VB 4.3.34 or VB 5.0.10.
2. You need to change the Template from Version: Windows 7 (32-bit) to Windows 10 (32-bit) before you try to update.
3. VT-x has to be enabled.

My Windows 10 guests are using the PIIX3 Chipset.

1. Running VB 5.0.10.
2. Yes, like I said, version changed to Windows 10 (32-bit).
3. Yes, VT-x is enabled.

[loukingjr]

And the chipset?

btw, you may have to undo the command you ran…"VBoxManage setextradata global VBoxInternal/CPUM/CMPXCH16B 1". That was needed for versions of VB without a Windows 10 template if I remember correctly.

[mpack]

btw, you may have to undo the command you ran…"VBoxManage setextradata global VBoxInternal/CPUM/CMPXCH16B 1". That was needed for versions of VB without a Windows 10 template if I remember correctly.

No, that was a workaround from before we had a Windows 8.1 template. For Win10 you used the Win 8.1 template.

I don't really know why people insist in propagating short term workarounds into the indefinite future. They obviously think it's some kind of magic spell: say this incantation and the hall of VMs will be opened to ye...

[loukingjr]

Ahhh. Well I knew it was something no longer needed. I don't know if it conflicts with the Windows 10 template.

I also don't know if Windows guests with the ICH9 Chipset can be upgraded. My Windows guests are all set to PIIX3 as they were when I upgraded them. I used the "Media Creation Tool" and upgraded them in place. I still have a Windows 7 and 8.1 guest and they are also set to the PIIX3 chipset.

[mpack]

I also don't know if Windows guests with the ICH9 Chipset can be upgraded.

I wouldn't know. Sounds like a support question for Microsoft.

[loukingjr]

Indeed it does.

[devsk]

I also don't know if Windows guests with the ICH9 Chipset can be upgraded.

I wouldn't know. Sounds like a support question for Microsoft.

I changed the chipset to PIIX3 and *exact* same error regarding lack of NX.

I really wish I didn't need the Windows. What a horrible mess of a black box.... I was just hoping that I will grab onto this free upgrade and won't have to worry about Windows till 2024-25.

[mpack]

I think this has already gone as far as it can go with zero supporting evidence. If you want to pursue this then provide a VM log file: with the VM fully shut down, right click it in GUI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (ONLY) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.

It would be good to include the VMs ".vbox" file in the zip as well.

[devsk]

The log and vbox file are in the zip attached.

[loukingjr]

????

The log you posted seems to be from a MacBook Pro running Linux. It's quite possible the info of your hardware will not be passed to the Windows Updater correctly.

[devsk]

????

The log you posted seems to be from a MacBook Pro running Linux. It's quite possible the info of your hardware will not be passed to the Windows Updater correctly.

Why would running Linux on Macbook Pro matter to VB or Windows running inside a virtual machine? Macbook Pro is x86.

[loukingjr]

Because Macs have the SMC (System Management Controller) and NVRAM (Non-volatile Random Access Memory) that have various settings for Apple hardware which Linux distros (or Windows) know nothing about. Canonical tried making Mac specific Ubuntu images for awhile but just recently dropped them because they never could achieve 100% integration with Apple hardware. So if the host OS has issues, anything run on it will have issues.

People have and do run Linux on Apple hardware with varying degrees of success. However this is not a how do I run VirtualBox on a Mac/Linux hybrid forum.

[devsk]

Because Macs have the SMC (System Management Controller) and NVRAM (Non-volatile Random Access Memory) that have various settings for Apple hardware which Linux distros (or Windows) know nothing about. Canonical tried making Mac specific Ubuntu images for awhile but just recently dropped them because they never could achieve 100% integration with Apple hardware. So if the host OS has issues, anything run on it will have issues.

What are these boogeyman host issues that you are talking about? I have been using hand built Gentoo Linux on my Macbook for more than 6 months and I don't face any issues. I don't think this NX error is a host issue because I can see 'nx' flag in the host CPU flags and I can see 'nx' in the guest's 'coreinfo -f' output. So, its something else that's failing and MS is incorrectly translating that into the NX error.