Solved What prevents Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 from running on a Chrome PC?

[Mike Lynch]

[h=1]HP Chromebase 21.5" All-in-One Desktop, Intel Pentium Gold 6405U Processor, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, Rotating Full HD IPS Touchscreen, Chrome OS, Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse Combo.[/h]
The specs above are the PC I would like to run Windows on.
The specs appear to indicate it should work.
From what I've read, it won't but no reasons are given.
Does the Forum have any insight as to why?

 

[MisterEd]

In theory you might be able to install Windows but the problem is there might not be any Windows drivers for it. Do you want to give it a go and find out? You can be the first and report back what you find.

 

[Mike Lynch]

Brilliant!

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[samuria]

On most there is a jumper on the MB to stop any other o/s loading

 

[Mike Lynch]

Several O/S - Motherboard related Question(s)!



In your experience, is the Jumper soldered or could I just remove it without soldering?

I realize that you cannot know every product like this that's out there.
- - - Updated - - -

So far, I have searched for a diagram of the Mother Board to look for a "potentially" removable jumper with no sucess.
I'm hoping a Forum Member can shed some light on this. Perhaps if it is not removable, it might be "cut" verses unsoldering it to allow W10 to be utilized? I've read that Windows-10 has a vast array of Drivers available so it seems suited for this type of project. FYI - The motherboard is named Bathwick.

I have also read a comment that "perhaps" Windows might be able to be loaded from an "external" drive. I do not have any experience with loading an Operating System from and "external" drive, is it reasonably possible to do? Especially considering this PC has a Chrome O/S. If it were, I would purchase one of these Systems and try and do it. I'm limited in knowledge of PC's, that's why I appreciate the Forum so much, and can use your experience and feedback!

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[Megahertz07]

Even if you're able to unlock it removing the jumper, the 6405U is a Comet Lake (10th gen) so win 7 will be very difficult to install.

In my opinion, leave it as a Chrome PC

 

[Mike Lynch]

Thank you for your feedback!
I would like to use the Hardware as a POS Station.
Windows-10 would be OK.
Best regards,
Mike

 

[LMiller7]

Drivers are going to be a problem. Drivers are OS and hardware specific. Writing device drivers requires a great deal of very detailed information about the device which the manufacturer has no desire to share with outsiders. The drivers that come with Windows are not usually written by Microsoft but by the manufacturer and submitted to Microsoft. Google wants you to run Chrome on a Chrome PC, not Windows or Linux, or any other OS. Thus they only create drivers for the Chrome OS.

 

[samuria]

Details of the screw or switch How to Install Windows on a Chromebook

 

[Mike Lynch]

I will give it a try. I went ahead and ordered one from Office Depot.

I expect to receive it next week. It is the Pentium version. I will post any / all results as I can. Thanks again Samuria for your feedback. I have also read about a software product called Parallels which "may" allow a Windows O/S to run under Chrome. At this point, I'm going to read / research it and potentially contact HP to ask if it in fact runs on this System and if it will give it a try.

 

[Mike Lynch]

It arrived and I will start unpacking it later this afternoon.

Best regards,

Mike Lynch

 

[townsbg]

You only have 4 gb of memory. That might not be enough to run a virtual machine. System requirements say 8 gb.