Windows 10 Was NOT My Idea, But It Was Free

So, I decided to make use of the complimentary upgrade from my current Windows 7 running on VirtualBox to Windows 10. Not exactly the smoothest process, but I got it working after 5 days.

I’m listing all the problems I encountered and the solutions I applied to get my free toy that I rarely use.

PROBLEM: “Get Windows 10” icon not showing on taskbar

To fix this, run all Windows updates first. In my case, I had to upgrade my Windows 7 to SP1 for that icon to show up.

PROBLEM: “CPU isn’t supported” error

When clicking on “Get Windows 10”, you may get “CPU isn’t supported” error.

To fix this, shut down guest VM. Then, check “Enable PAE/NX” setting in VirtualBox.

PROBLEM: “Get Windows 10” error report doesn’t refresh

It appears Microsoft configures Windows 10 Compatibility Appraiser to run every once awhile.

To fix this, force it immediately because my time is money.

schtasks.exe /Run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser"

Wait for a few minutes before checking the error report.

PROBLEM: “Virtualbox Graphics Adapter was not compatible with Windows 10” error

Okay, this is pure bull.

To fix this, download Media Creation Tool and use that to perform the upgrade instead.

PROBLEM: Progress stuck at 0% for hours

When running media creation tool, the progress may be stuck at 0% or whatever percentage for hours. Well, the Microsoft servers are overloaded.

To fix this, rerun Media Creation Tool, say 5AM in the morning… works for me.

PROBLEM: “Setup has failed to initialize the working directory” error

Basically, the guest VM doesn’t have enough space for Windows 10 upgrade.

To fix this, shut down guest VM.

Then, increase the virtual space by running the following command on the host. In my case, I increased my virtual size to 100GB.

VBoxManage modifyhd "/Users/Shitty Author/VirtualBox VMs\Windows 7\Windows 7.vdi” --resize 102400

Now, increase the actual space by first downloading GParted Live ISO.

In VirtualBox, add this ISO to “IDE Controller”. Make sure CD is booted before hard drive.

Run guest VM.

When GParted Live gets loaded, use the default values by hitting Enter keys several times.

Expand the existing NTFS drive space accordingly.

Restart guest VM.

Rerun Media Creation Tool… and hopefully it works this time.

What Now?

Well, now I have Windows 10 Pro running in VirtualBox, together with Ubuntu, Centos, Fedora and Android OS.

In reality, I will only use Windows 10 to test my software and spend 99.9% of my time on Mac.