Friday, July 3, 2015

Installing Windows 10 Build 10162 on a Dell Venue 8 Pro

Today I decided to repave my Dell Venue 8 Pro with the latest Windows 10 Preview build (10162). I've been running Windows 10 on the device for a very long time, starting with an upgrade from Windows 8.1. Unfortunately, along the way, updates began to fail. Such is the risk of a preview OS.

The installation turned out to be pretty easy.

As most projects go, the prep is the most important step. First, make sure that the device is fully charged. I swear the thing doesn't change when it's running. Maybe it's just my device. Maybe I'm imagining it.

While the device is charging, download the 32bit version of the ISO from the Windows Insider site and burn it to a USB drive. I used isotousb. Format the USB drive for FAT32 and make sure that you click the option to create a bootable drive. Oh! Don't forget to grab the activation keys.

You're also going to need some drivers. You can get them from the Dell Venue 8 Pro Product Support page. I ended up using:

There's also an update for the touch screen (Panel Touch Firmware for Dell Venue 8 Pro 5830) but the installer notified me that the touch driver was already up to date after I had installed the Intel Atom A3000 Series Driver. YMMV.

I created a folder on the USB drive and copied all the installers to it.

Then you're going to need a USB hub.Windows 10 didn't come with a driver for the touch screen so you're going to need a mouse. The hub will allow you to have both the USB drive and mouse connected at the same time. You might also need an adapter (like this one) to connect the hub to the micro USB on the Venue 8.

With the device turned off, connect the USB hub to it. Press the Volume Down button and power on the device. It'll seem like the boot stalls until you release the Volume Down button. Then the device will boot into the BIOS setup. Navigate to the BOOT tab. You should see both the internal drive and the USB drive showing as bootable drives. Change the first boot target to the USB drive then save the changes and let the device restart. If all went well, the Windows 10 installer should start.

I chose the Custom Install option and removed all the existing partitions. 

After the installer completed, I installed the drivers in the same order that I listed them above.

One note: the only operating difference that I've noticed is that I have to hold down the power button for a couple of seconds to power on the device. Otherwise, everything else seems to be working as expected. 

12 comments:

  1. If i've double posted this, apologies, just wanted to give some feedback.

    1) the instructions work perfectly
    2) Post install or OS and above drivers my screen was locked in "portrait mode" Under settings, Screen, there is an option to lock rotation, untoggle that
    3) On this release of Win10preview, this device doesn't have a desktop (or if it does, i couldn't find it) this is a GOOD thing, it makes the tablet much more usable. Desktop apps open full screen.
    4) I've got the 3G DVP8 and the 3G works fine after OS and above driver install.

    Thanks a lot.. appreciated.

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  2. David,

    There is a desktop. If you open the Activity Center (Notification Center) you can disable Tablet Mode.

    -Mike

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  3. Wonderfully clear instructions...worked like a charm!

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  4. Great post, I was wondering if anybody took the plunge! Any issues with upgrading to RTM? Anybody to a clean install with RTM, did the Win10 activation find the key automatically (isn't it built into the bios?) or do you have to do an upgrade first and then clean install.

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  5. Digital Nut,

    Thanks! I've not installed the RTM on the Dell Venue yet. I'll update this post after I get it done.

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  6. Running Windows 10 on my Dell Venue 8 Pro and everything works GREAT. I can't believe it run soooo much better than the origional Windows 8.1. Only had a few changes I would like to share. First, installed all downloads to Windows 8.1 and when I rebooted. The little windows upgrade icon appeared. Clicked and let the machine take its time. Fortunately, had the dell USB fob that allowed me to keep charging the tablet and have a USB port that I could hook to a hub. This allowed me to use a ethernet connection vs WiFi. Much faster over a wire. After windows 10 installed it was a little flaky However, I had copied the four Dell files you suggested to my google drive. Once these were moved to the Venue 8 and installed all the problems went away and the tablet runs without a problem. Many thanks for your post!!!!!

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  7. How does activation work when doing this?

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    Replies
    1. There was no activation. The registration carried over with the update.

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  8. Hi Mike. I don't remember having to do anything special to activate Win10 on my Venue 8.

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  9. I have had nothing but good luck running Windows 10 on the Dell tablet. The only thing you have to remember is when you download software make sure that it is the 32 bit version. The 64 bit versions appear to start but never run. I have a friend with ALS and we were pleasantly surprised that the Windows speech recognition software ran with a hitch and allowed him to run windows via voice control. I deleted the backup of Windows on the tablet and regained about 10 Gb of storage. Life is good.

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  10. Did the battery performance degrade after moving up from windows 8 to 10? Tab used to run for around 10 hours earlier, now gets drained in 3 hours.

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  11. MANI - honestly I didn't pay any attention to changes with the battery life of the tablet. Sorry.

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