Question Re-installing Windows 10 on a Sandy Bridge system: Windows Account or no network connection?

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm de-commissioning two systems in the household. We originally had three users and a workstation for everyone. Now, my brother is deceased since January, and Moms has dementia and couldn't use a PC if she wanted to.

This is a Sandy Bridge 2600K system I built 11 years ago. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

A local friend down the hill wants it for a reasonable price. He of course wants it with Windows 10, not the Win 7 that's been running on it for about 5 years.

When Windows 10 came along, I installed the "free" upgrade on this system in dual-boot mode. Because Moms and Bro (RIP) weren't eager to move up to Windows 10, when I gave this box to Moms (a time when she was still capable), I just removed the Win 10 from the system. I had made the install USB stick when I first installed Win 10, and still have it.

I'm pretty sure that it will re-install from that USB stick, and -- with a network connection -- it should download a cumulative update compatible with this hardware.

My friend has his own Microsoft Account and password. I don't want to use my own to reinstall the OS.

I'd swapped out hardware on another system which also had the "free upgrade" to Win 10, and there was no problem with the license.

What can I expect here? The system has a wireless networking card. If I can't make connection with our LAN through that card, I could be in a pickle. I don't think the entire Win 10 OS is included on that USB stick. Or is it? I think it has to have an internet connection to fully download the OS and then upgrade it.

I would also think that it wouldn't matter if it's set up with a different MS account id and password (my friend's).

Before I get started on this, what should I expect? I can, if I wish, connect it temporarily with a twisted-pair ethernet wire. But since the hardware has not been changed since I originally installed Win 10, there shouldn't be any problem with the license.

Comments? Corrections to my assumptions? Any response will be greatly appreciated.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You could have installed Win10 from USB In the time it took to type that all out.

Disconnect the ethernet cable, tell it "I don't have internet", follow the prompts and create a local Admin account. When it has finished installing, and you're at the desktop, plug in the ethernet and go to Windows Update.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Yeah, you're right, Larry. I feel more natural on the keyboard than I do taking a dump on a comfortable terlit.

I had come back to say, "This ticket is closed!" As I said to the recipient of the old 2600K box, "If I installed Win 10 20 times a year or more, like this guy at my forums named VirtualLarry, I wouldn't have any anticipations about it."

This was the "free" win-10 upgrade to Win 7, and I"m glad I'd installed it (way back when) and made the USB stick for it. It's "activated" with no issues. And it allowed me to create a logon for my friend, without setting up an MS account. He can use his own account, and no problem.

After the updates, I noticed that it wouldn't go out and grab any other feature upgrades after v. 1511. Would that be because of the dated hardware? Or is it just "waiting" for a better time?

That leaves the driver issue. Win 10 apparently doesn't need anything, because the Device Manager all checks out. But I suspect that if the mobo drivers could be installed, it would be better. And this is what I remember from the first time I experimented with Win 10 on these old boxes: there are no Win 10 drivers for a Z68 chipset.

The wisdom back then was to "try the Win 7 drivers" -- which I have. I suppose one could pick them one at a time, starting with the chipset and Intel storage and network.

The recipient of the system can do that -- I've put them on a USB stick for him.

By the way. This guy was an "electronics expert" who serviced PCs for a local junior college before his full retirement. I don't think he's ever built a PC from scratch, and his hardware experiences are limited to the cheap cases and low-end hardware you find in practical models from Dell or HP.

I must instruct him as to what he's getting. Even the Seasonic PSU has about five years'-worth of warranty left. He could probably just buy last year's hexa/octo Intel whatever, get a mid-range motherboard and RAM, with nothing else to do for superior cooling, dust mitigation, front-panel USB and eSATA, and all the other wonderful s*** in that box. I just don't have the space for it, and I don't have the household users that would make it worthwhile to keep it.

Not enough time for me to put it up piecemeal here or at EBay. I'm awash in spare parts -- got all I need.

 

[VirtualLarry]

After the updates, I noticed that it wouldn't go out and grab any other feature upgrades after v. 1511. Would that be because of the dated hardware? Or is it just "waiting" for a better time?

No, older versions of Win10 earlier than 2004 are "dead in the water" - they won't upgrade past their current version.

You need to download the Win10 upgrade assistant manually, OR make your own, free, updated Win10 install USB stick, with the current version, 21H2.

 

[Zoozuu]

You can just click install local/offline account you don't need to leave the net unplugged or whatever. Leaving net off will only make your updates and drivers install later. Do offline account and you can just add his account later it will sync after logging in.

*How to set up local account during
Windows 10 Pro setup
Source: Windows Central.
Select your region.
Click the Yes button.
Select your keyboard layout. ...
Click the Yes button.
Click the Skip button. ...
Select the Set up for personal use option. ...
Click the Next button.
Click the Offline account option at the bottom left corner.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

You can just click install local/offline account you don't need to leave the net unplugged or whatever. Leaving net off will only make your updates and drivers install later. Do offline account and you can just add his account later it will sync after logging in.

*How to set up local account during
Windows 10 Pro setup
Source: Windows Central.
Select your region.
Click the Yes button.
Select your keyboard layout. ...
Click the Yes button.
Click the Skip button. ...
Select the Set up for personal use option. ...
Click the Next button.
Click the Offline account option at the bottom left corner.

Well, it's done, and the system delivered to its recipient.

Generally, I've always had expectations set too high for friends and family. The new owner of the 2600K system is supposedly an electronics tech who has half a dozen PCs. I'm not even completely sure that he has every one of them connected with twisted-pair to his internet router-gateway-switch. He doesn't even seem to know about setting up a LAN for all his boxes.

He was also whining that I"d disabled the Intel graphics and set it up with a dGPU with DVI outputs, because he wants to connect a 15-pin VGA monitor. I GAVE HIM an HD flat-screen monitor with DVI input plugs!

I don't even know if I should advise him about trying to use the Windows 7 motherboard drives for Win 10 and the chipset, Intel LAN and Intel storage drivers. Win 10 seems to cover everything because there are no yellow-bang nodes in Device Manager. But the Intel software and drivers have features accessible from "Properties" which would give me personally more confidence,