How to install Windows 10 Technical Preview on your PC/Laptop
It’s been a while since Microsoft released the Technical Preview of their upcoming Windows 8 successor, Windows 10. Many of you might not know this but anyone can install Windows 10 Technical Preview.
So are you ready to install Windows 10 Technical Preview? I bet you are, but before that I’ll highlight some of the new features that are introduced in Windows 10.
New features in Windows 10 Technical Preview
Microsoft’s new OS comes with slew of new features, including, but not limited to
First thing you’ll notice is that Windows 10 brings the legendary Start Menu back, but it’s not the Start Menu that you used in Windows 7. It’s actually a mixture of Start Menu and Start Screen, which in my opinion looks great. Windows 10 also brings Cortana, Microsoft’s own Personal Assistant and their answer to Apple’s Siri and Google’s Google Now. Other features are “Continuum” which allows you to switch from tablet mode to PC mode simultaneously. Snap View allows you to Snap your screen into two, so you can get more work done. While Task View replaces Windows 8 task switcher, so user can switch between virtual desktops.
I’m not gonna go into the details of these features, i’ll do that in a separate post. So let’s just jump straight to the topic.
Before you install Windows 10 Technical Preview
What is meant by Technical Preview? Technical Preview is basically the preview version of the Windows 10 OS, so essentially it’s the Beta version of the OS. Which means that running into bugs/errors is highly possible. But Microsoft is working hard to improve their OS and it’s a lot more stable now when compared to it’s first released.
Still I wouldn’t recommend you to install it on your daily driver. You should use a secondary PC or a Virtual Machine. If you do install it on your daily used machine, do it at your own risk. It’s called Preview for a reason.
Furthermore, your PC should meet some hardware requirements in order to install Windows 10.
Windows 10 Hardware Requirements
- Screen Resolution: 1024×768
- Processor: 1GHz or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2
- RAM: 1GB (32-bit) or 2GB (64-bit)
- Hard disk space: 16GB
- Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver
Please keep in mind that these are the minimal requirements, so if you have less than 1 GB RAM or less than 16 GB Hard Disk space, you won’t be able to install Windows 10 Technical Preview. But I doubt these things are going to cause any problems. It’s 2015 after all.
So now when important thing’s are out of the way. Let’s move on to the good stuff. Shall we?
Things you need
That’s really it. Let’s continue with our installation.
Windows 10 Technical Preview installation
I bet this is the part you guys have been waiting for, so without further ado let’s install Windows 10.
1:
First of all you’ll need to quickly sign-up for the Windows Insider Program. To do this, follow this link and sign-in with your Microsoft account, you’ll have to accept the Terms & Conditions including this part;
“The Program Services include experimental and early prerelease software. This means that you may experience occasional crashes and in rare cases data loss. To recover, you may have to reinstall your applications, the operating system, or re-flash your device. Using the Program Services on some devices may impact your warranty (check with your device provider). By participating, you agree to frequently backup your data.”
If you agree with these Terms & Conditions then proceed.
Make sure you click on download ISO, alternatively you can download the setup.
2:
Once you’ve singed up for the Windows Insider Program, you’ll be redirected to a new page where you can download the ISO Image file, select your language and the download will begin . It’s around 4GB in size, so it can take a while if you have slow internet connection.
3:
Once the download is complete you’ll have to burn it to a DVD. If you are installing it on another OS, take Windows 8 for example then all you have to do is put the ISO file in drive where you want to install Windows 10, we’ll take Drive C as an example. After that it’s as easy as right-clicking on the ISO Image file and clicking “Mount”.
4:
Once ready run the “setup.exe” and you’ll be greeted by the Installation Wizard. The Wizard will guide you through the steps and you’ll be installing Windows 10 Technical Preview in no time.
The installation takes around 20-25 minutes, depending on the speed of your PC/Laptop. While the installation your PC might reboot several time, don’t worry it’s normal. So just sit back and relax, while you wait for the installation to complete.
Once done you can enjoy the new OS from Microsoft. This guide is fairly simple, still if you run into any problem don’t hesitate to ask, leave a comment below or just let email me the problem you are facing and i’ll try to get back to you ASAP.
Pro Tips
- Enable Automatic Updates, so that you get the latest fixes/patches from Microsoft.
- Backup you data regularly. Even though it’s much more stable than it’s first release, you should still backup your data. Because it’s still BETA.
- Make a Restore Point before you install anything.
That’s it folks, next i’ll post about the features of the Windows 10. So stay tuned till then
Know something that I missed? Or something that should be added in this guide? Or you just have some tips that you want to share. What ever it is, sound off below and let me know.
Windowsaholic 