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Best method to upgrade Boot Camp partition from Windows 7 to Windows 10? Intel HD Graphics 4000 incompatibility?

Late 2012 Mac Mini v. 6.2 (the Server version), 16 GB Ram, 1 TB spinning hard drive.

MacOS Sierra 10.12.6; Bootcamp Assistant version 6.1.0

Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, installed Dec. 2015, and running just fine ever since on a 120 GB partition.

Reluctantly, I have decided to upgrade to Win10 Pro, due to the looming cessation of support from MS. I'd like to retain my current installs of software with their registrations, so if possible, I'd like to avoid removing the partition, creating a new one and having to install and authorize everything from scratch.

I saw that I'd need a larger partition for Win10, so I used Boot Camp Assistant to remove the existing partition, and then used Disk Utility to create a new one of approx. 220 GB, which I was able to re-format as NTFS. I then successfully restored my existing Win7 installation from a Winclone (love that program) backup.

I have downloaded the ISO from MS, for Windows 10 version 1809 (Fall 2018 Creator's update, as it is what is supported by the primary software I use), and while running Windows7, used Rufus to create a USB Flash Drive installer - choosing the EFI and not the MBR partitioning format. I used Boot Camp Assistant on the MacOS to download all the drivers and support software for this machine, to a second USB Flash drive. I feel that I have everything I need to proceed (except maybe the courage).

This morning I attempted to install Win10 by booting from the Win10 installer Thumb Drive. I was informed that I could not retain my existing programs and data if I installed this way, and that I should instead re-boot to my Win7 partition and from there run the installer from the Windows desktop.

I did just that after disconnecting from the internet as I don't want MS to install a more recent version of Win10 or any other troublesome updates until I get the basic system going. The installer got started and I chose my language, etc. but then was informed that the Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 hardware in my machine is not compatible with Windows 10 - even though according to Apple, this computer is supposed to be compatible.

Still with me? At this point I chickened out and stopped the installation, figuring that I'd ask here what is the best way forward. Should I ignore the warning, proceed with the Installation, and hope that the updated drivers supplied by Apple would take care of any problems? Or is proceeding this way going to leave me with no screen display?

Posted on Oct 30, 2019 9:05 AM

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54 replies

FBL1 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 3, 2019 7:50 AM in response to Loner T

Do you mean find with cmd.exe? Whenever I do that I'm told the the find parameter is invalid.

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 6, 2019 1:49 PM in response to FBL1

Paragon (NTFS and HFS+) products have a tendency to corrupt file systems, especially when the OS shutdown unexpectedly.

Nov 12, 2019 4:11 PM in response to FBL1

I think you may be running into the FAT file size issue. If you upgrade the MacOS to Mojave (10.14) then BCA will use exFAT to format the USB drive not FAT

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 17, 2019 9:25 AM in response to FBL1

Nice!

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Dec 31, 2019 6:28 AM in response to FBL1

Excellent!

FBL1 Author

Level 1

14 points

Jan 2, 2020 7:04 AM in response to FBL1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5b76u42ywpmk1mg/regedit%20views.zip?dl=0

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 1, 2019 1:19 PM in response to FBL1

If you did not clean install W10, but upgraded W7, the Bootcamp information can become inconsistent.

See

for reference.

Nov 4, 2019 11:51 AM in response to luchi101

MacOS BCA fails to copy the windows 1903 ISO to the USB because that ISO contains a file named "install.wim"

The size of that file (4.57GB) exceeds the 4GB maximum single file size for the FAT32 formatted USB which the MacOS BCA created!

FBL1 Author

Level 1

14 points

Dec 31, 2019 5:14 AM in response to FBL1

Initially I had to locate precisely where one makes a Restore Point. In the past, I've not had much luck with this process, so I don't use it much, preferring to use my WinClone backups when things get messed up. I located it in the "System" Control Panel, and that proceeded without issue. I then opened Apple Software Update and applied the Boot Camp 6.1.9 update and re-started. After that, nothing much seemed to have changed, although it was clear that the Boot Camp Control Panel looks different now, with larger icons for the available systems/partitions. "About Boot Camp" still shows it's at version 6.0, but I'm guessing that's just an overlooked detail.

Thus far, there have been no problems following the update, and viewing the changes from the System Control Panel, there appear to be only two HID device drivers that have been affected. I ran ASU once again, half expecting to be offered Boot Camp 6.1.10, but I suppose that my 2012 Mini is too old to require the additional upgrade.

Everything seems fine now - thanks very much for the assistance.

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Best method to upgrade Boot Camp partition from Windows 7 to Windows 10? Intel HD Graphics 4000 incompatibility?