Advice Request Installing older Windows 10 versions on unsupported Ryzen CPU?

[Evjl's Rain]

Hello everyone,
I would like to know your thoughts on installing Windows 1607, 1709, 1809 or 1909 on my brand new Ryzen R5-5500u Asus laptop
I installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 21H2, which is the only (and the oldest) Windows 10 version supporting this CPU. It's a nightmare with bugs, errors and noticeably higher RAM consumption (compared to previous versions). These do affect productivity. It's impossible to upgrade RAM because they are soldered

Is it possible to install previous versions on unsupported hardware? I have anyone tried that?
I tried to install windows 8.1 on another Ryzen 4500u laptop and it was unstable. I was forced to install windows 10 v2004 (the earliest version supporting R5-4500u) on this laptop and it was much more stable than the Asus 5500u with 21h2

 

[Brahman]

Hello everyone,
I would like to know your thoughts on installing Windows 1607, 1709, 1809 or 1909 on my brand new Ryzen R5-5500u Asus laptop
I installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 21H2, which is the only (and the oldest) Windows 10 version supporting this CPU. It's a nightmare with bugs, errors and noticeably higher RAM consumption (compared to previous versions). These do affect productivity. It's impossible to upgrade RAM because they are soldered

Is it possible to install previous versions on unsupported hardware? I have anyone tried that?
I tried to install windows 8.1 on another Ryzen 4500u laptop and it was unstable. I was forced to install windows 10 v2004 (the earliest version supporting R5-4500u) on this laptop and it was much more stable than the Asus 5500u with 21h2

You can try your luck, but I suggest installing windows 11 and then strip it down to bare metal. ( You can also try the windows 11 custom iso without bloatware..but it's coming from an unknown 3rd party.you know what I mean)Use cfw with cruel settings..

 

[Thales]

In this case I would use Linux. There are a lots of Distros out there.

 

[Evjl's Rain]

You can try your luck, but I suggest installing windows 11 and then strip it down to bare metal. ( You can also try the windows 11 custom iso without bloatware..but it's coming from an unknown 3rd party.you know what I mean)Use cfw with cruel settings..

w11 is even worse. I tried it and it was not very different from 21H2, just more bugs and difficulties. It's my sister's laptop. I can deal with bugs but not her

Yes, I installed Ghost Spectre's windows 10. It's the fastest and the most stable version I've ever used but the 21h2 itself is buggier than the previous ones that Ghost can't fix (Microsoft's fault)

In this case I would use Linux. There are a lots of Distros out there.

sorry, my sister doesn't want linux. It's incompatible with many softwares

 

[Aleeyen]

For many years I have installed newer OSes on old hardware, but never faced any problem. Only thing here is that you may have to install some of the drivers manually.
Also, you may need to to do some tweaking so that is runs more smoothly.
I have also installed old OS on new hardware. When I upgraded my MB (long time ago) it didn't came with drivers fox XP and I couldn't find anything on the internet. So, tried Win 7 driver and it worked perfectly.

 

[Mystic]

No way! Version 1803 works best on my Acer laptop. I downloaded the Iso from Adguard Techbench and created a bootable USB using Rufus and that did not boot. I suspect Microsoft stopped signing those old ISOs but I'm not sure. Maybe you can do it with secure boot off.

I also prefer older Win 10 version as they tend to be less bloated.

Your best bet is to try Win 10 Enterprise or Education, those stay supported for longer. Win 10 20H2 is still supported and is less buggy that 21H2 and more mature.

 

[pxxb1]

Hello everyone,
I would like to know your thoughts on installing Windows 1607, 1709, 1809 or 1909 on my brand new Ryzen R5-5500u Asus laptop
I installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 21H2, which is the only (and the oldest) Windows 10 version supporting this CPU. It's a nightmare with bugs, errors and noticeably higher RAM consumption (compared to previous versions). These do affect productivity. It's impossible to upgrade RAM because they are soldered

Is it possible to install previous versions on unsupported hardware? I have anyone tried that?
I tried to install windows 8.1 on another Ryzen 4500u laptop and it was unstable. I was forced to install windows 10 v2004 (the earliest version supporting R5-4500u) on this laptop and it was much more stable than the Asus 5500u with 21h2

You can tweak an Ms-ISO, remove what you want, to your own liking with MSMG Toolkit or WinReducer.
The older versions of W10 do not work so well on newer pc:s, but for me when i tested this some year ago version 2003(?) worked ok.

So take a version that is not so old, or a new W11, and remove what you want from the ISO and it will probably be ok.

 

[Evjl's Rain]

For many years I have installed newer OSes on old hardware, but never faced any problem. Only thing here is that you may have to install some of the drivers manually.
Also, you may need to to do some tweaking so that is runs more smoothly.
I have also installed old OS on new hardware. When I upgraded my MB (long time ago) it didn't came with drivers fox XP and I couldn't find anything on the internet. So, tried Win 7 driver and it worked perfectly.

I did a lot of tweaks to make it as fast as possible. However, I still notice much higher RAM usage on boot although there are only 2 startup apps. With the same tweaks, it takes 0.8-1.3GB of ram on older versions but takes 1.5-2.2GB on 21h2 without anything running. Using cleanmem helps a bit. Newer version = less stable

No way! Version 1803 works best on my Acer laptop. I downloaded the Iso from Adguard Techbench and created a bootable USB using Rufus and that did not boot. I suspect Microsoft stopped signing those old ISOs but I'm not sure. Maybe you can do it with secure boot off.

I also prefer older Win 10 version as they tend to be less bloated.

Your best bet is to try Win 10 Enterprise or Education, those stay supported for longer. Win 10 20H2 is still supported and is less buggy that 21H2 and more mature.

very true. 20h2 theoretically does not support r5-5500u so there might be or not be unexpected problems. I experienced ~15 BSODs on 21h2 on day 1 and was not able to continue. I must have reinstalled it and still saw some BSODs but much fewer. I couldn't find any culprit (Critical process died: ntoskrnl.exe)

You can tweak an Ms-ISO, remove what you want, to your own liking with MSMG Toolkit or WinReducer.
The older versions of W10 do not work so well on newer pc:s, but for me when i tested this some year ago version 2003(?) worked ok.

So take a version that is not so old, or a new W11, and remove what you want from the ISO and it will probably be ok.

tks. I'm using a lite/tweaked OS with all unneeded services disabled. However, windows' processes (explorer.exe, dwm?) tend to use more memory than the previous versions. My windows 8.1 lite laptop takes 0.8GB on boot with the exact same tweaks

I may have to take risk to install older version to see if there is any issue

 

[Mystic]

very true. 20h2 theoretically does not support r5-5500u so there might be or not be unexpected problems. I experienced ~15 BSODs on 21h2 on day 1 and was not able to continue. I must have reinstalled it and still saw some BSODs but much fewer. I couldn't find any culprit (Critical process died: ntoskrnl.exe)

I suggest you install W10 Enterprise and delay windows updates for sometime. It is the most stable version of Win I tried. Some would argue that it is basically Pro with some features, but seriously it is faster and more stable at least on my device.

 

[Freki123]

How would your sister handle the security updates for 1607? Afaik they are EOL for security updates (and without patches I wouldn't want to touch the internet).
The hardware is working ok ? I mean windows is often sh... but 15 BSOD is a lot for one day (not that it is something hardware and not software related).

 

[Evjl's Rain]

How would your sister handle the security updates for 1607? Afaik they are EOL for security updates (and without patches I wouldn't want to touch the internet).

basically, we don't care much about security and windows updates. Updates frequently give new bugs and revert my tweaks
I'm using windows 8.1 on my main laptop and I'm super happy with its stability and speed. Any w10 version is nowhere nearly it
IMO, w7, w8.1 and w10 1511 and 1607 are the most stable and the fastest windows versions. Unfortunately, they don't support newer hardwares

I prefer stability, productivity over security

 

[SeriousHoax]

Are you doing any extreme tweaking which is resulting in the bugs you are facing? I'm asking because most people are using Windows 10 latest version without any OS breaking bugs or BSOD.

 

[I Walk MY Way]

I have installed Ghost Spectre's windows 10 On a azus Vivobook 17, Ryzen™ 7 5800H . I put voodoo shield on there And everything is working just perfect..

 

[Mystic]

Are you doing any extreme tweaking which is resulting in the bugs you are facing? I'm asking because most people are using Windows 10 latest version without any OS breaking bugs or BSOD.

In my experience, BSODs can occur due to very old drivers. My Acer laptop (2017) does not work correctly with Win10 21H2 basically because the drivers on Acer website are very old (2018). Those drivers were updated for Win10 redstone 4. Thus, you don't have to heavily tweak win to get BSODs. I don't know who is at fault OEM manufacturers or Microsoft. Manufacturers do not update drivers very often, and Microsoft make newer versions of Win incompatible with those drivers.

 

[eonline]

What do you use that pc for? For surfing? To play games?

 

[Brahman]

Please do a stress test on your system, make sure that the hardware is okay. So many BSOD is not a good sign at all.

 

[Evjl's Rain]

Are you doing any extreme tweaking which is resulting in the bugs you are facing? I'm asking because most people are using Windows 10 latest version without any OS breaking bugs or BSOD.

Yes I did. a lot of tweaks to make it as smooth as possible. I noticed it has a problem with UAC and my typing tool. As soon as the typing app was loaded and it asked for admin permission, windows crashed. Never happened with previous versions, just 2004+
it also happened sometimes on my other ryzen laptop. Same tool and UAC. maybe some incompatibilities

What do you use that pc for? For surfing? To play games?

just surfing and do office stuffs. Sometimes, slight video editing

I have installed Ghost Spectre's windows 10 On a azus Vivobook 17, Ryzen™ 7 5800H . I put voodoo shield on there And everything is working just perfect..

I did a few more tweaks because I saw ghost's default settings were not fast enough. I know if I keep the default, the chance I get BSODs is much less
perhaps it's due to the typing tool that everyone in my country must install

 

[eonline]

Why don't you try ChromeOS Flex on that pc?

 

[Evjl's Rain]

Why don't you try ChromeOS Flex on that pc?

just windows. It's not possible to install other OS if it's not our own devices
I tried in the past but everyone forced me to install windows back

 

[Mystic]

just windows. It's not possible to install other OS if it's not our own devices
I tried in the past but everyone forced me to install windows back

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 is 1809 and I believe that this the oldest build you can install. If you want an even older build, download the iso from Adguard Techbench and turn off secure boot and see if you can install it.

Another thing you can try is to search for the old iso uploaded somewhere and not a newly downloaded one. I suspect that MS stopped signing old Win10 iso so that can cannot be installed.