Windows 10 on Pentium 4 HT

[VoraciousGorak]

(CPUs didn't seem like the right forum for this question and I couldn't find the "Antique Curiosities page, so here goes)

For purely academic reasons I have been benchmarking several very old CPUs under Windows 10, ranging from a Celeron D 356 to a few Core 2 Quads. Got started when I asked myself "what's the crappiest processor I can find that can run Win10 x64?" (Celeron D) and "can that processor run it acceptably?" (No)

The Celeron D at least boots Windows and can run tests, though, as can two Pentium Ds, a Celeron 450, a Core 2 Duo, and two Core 2 Quads in the same motherboard (a P5KPL-CM). What I CANNOT get to run, however, are the Pentium 4 HT models, namely a Pentium 4 630 and Pentium 4 660 I have here. They booted into Win7, but after the upgrade they're dead in the water, hanging on the "blue window" splash screen with no progress indicator twirling. Here's the thing: if I "shut down" Win10 and drop the P4 HT in it will boot up (but still recognize it as the previous CPU, e.g. Celeron D 356) and upon restart will hang.

I've ruled out Hyperthreading as being the issue (these chips are the only ones I'm testing with HT enabled as the motherboard doesn't support the P4EE CPUs, but disabling HT in BIOS doesn't improve matters.) I know it's a long shot, but... any ideas?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Probably a limitation of instruction set support in the 64-bit version. Have you tried the 32-bit version?

Windows 8.1 x64 had new CPU requirements, so some early K8 CPUs wouldn't run it either.

 

[lakedude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF-RZ6AdF48

Which P4?

From Wiki:

"In 2004, the initial 32-bit x86 instruction set of the Pentium 4 microprocessors was extended by the 64-bit x86-64 set."

 

[redzo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF-RZ6AdF48
Which P4?
From Wiki:
"In 2004, the initial 32-bit x86 instruction set of the Pentium 4 microprocessors was extended by the 64-bit x86-64 set."

http://www.eightforums.com/installa...ays-wont-work-pentium-4-prescott-630-a-5.html
The P4 seems to be missing the PREFETCHW instruction which is mandatory starting with windows 8.1
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc835722.aspx
OP should just fire up coreinfo and check for the following instructions:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dn140267.aspx

 

[Ketchup]

It looks like those older Pentium 4s did not have support for VT-d or VT-x, one of which is required for Windows 10.

http://ark.intel.com/products/27478...g-HT-Technology-2M-Cache-3_00-GHz-800-MHz-FSB

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-will-your-pc-run-it/

 

[redzo]

It looks like those older Pentium 4s did not have support for VT-d or VT-x, one of which is required for Windows 10.

http://ark.intel.com/products/27478...g-HT-Technology-2M-Cache-3_00-GHz-800-MHz-FSB

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-will-your-pc-run-it/

nowdays vt-x relates with basic acceleration regarding the ability to run vm's. vt-x is mandatory only when enabling the hyper-v role on a 64-bit greater or equal windows 8.0. It is not mandatory for running windows 8.1 64-bit or greater.
"CompareExchange16b, PrefetchW and LAHF/SAHF" it's what is keeping you from running 8.1 64-bit or greater on a intel P4. But there may be other intel core era cpu's missing at least one of those and incompatible with windows starting 8.1 64-bit builds.

 

[zir_blazer]

It could be related to Intel EM64T implementation. Prescott/Prescott 2M was Intel first x864-64 Processor and it wasn't 100% AMD64 compatible, it was missing some instructions and others behaved slighty different if I recall correctly.
The Celeron D 356 you tested is a Cedar Mill (Pretty much a shrinked Prescott, but still not a Prescott), Intel EM64T may have been more compatible at that point.

 

[VoraciousGorak]

You know, you're absolutely right. I thought they were Cedar Mill chips and the 5xx chips were Prescotts, but apparently that's the xx1 models (really Intel? Die shrink and updated instruction set = ModelNumber++? Those were the days.)

My curiosity is sated, and I will allow this poor motherboard to drive the gently overclocked Core 2 Quad Q9450 it's been missing for a couple days. Thanks guys.

 

[redzo]

It could be related to Intel EM64T implementation. Prescott/Prescott 2M was Intel first x864-64 Processor and it wasn't 100% AMD64 compatible, it was missing some instructions and others behaved slighty different if I recall correctly.
The Celeron D 356 you tested is a Cedar Mill (Pretty much a shrinked Prescott, but still not a Prescott), Intel EM64T may have been more compatible at that point.

... Anyways pretty much nobody was using 64bit in those days: windows xp 32bit was all over the place and vista's 64bit adoption a train-wreck.

 

[lakedude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB6jujcUVLs

This stupid video is too long and the guy never does finish the install but it does look like he has figured out a way around the pre-check the installer does. Perhaps if you install his way and then turn off the feature(s) that are not supported?

 

[JMANABAT]

My desktop computer uses a Pentium 4 Model 630 Prescott.

I was able to install Windows 10 Pro 32 bit.

I was also successful in installing Windows 10 Home 32 bit.

On the downside, this CPU cannot support the 64-bit equivalent both for Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home because it lacks 2 features required for the 64-bit installation. (Sorry, I forgot the features, but I think one feature has something to do with Prefetch).