Sandy Bridge and Win 10

[DStei5]

I have an Intel i3-2120 3.3GHz Sandy Bridge that has been running Win 8 (now 8.1) since I built this computer for my wife almost 3 years ago. I've been trying to upgrade to Win 10. The Win 10 icon says that my cpu is not compatible. I went ahead and tried to install it anyway because it seems to meet the requirements from the Win 10 website about a "Processor: 1GHz or faster." Installation got to the point of actually starting, and then stopped because my cpu "doesn't support NX." Had no idea what that was, so I've been searching and found others with the same problem. Some forum answers said that it was a setting in BIOS, but I've been through the settings on my MSI MB, and can't see anything that would remotely turn NX on or off. Microsoft help site said to check for a particular update, then run a command from the admin prompt to rerun the Microsoft Compatibility Tool. No help.

I've been through the support pages about Win10 on the Intel site, but can't find my CPU listed in the CPUs that are known to be compatible with Win 10. Went through the spec sheet for my CPU and can't see anything there that states that Sandy Bridge supports NX---or doesn't. I can't believe that if this processor runs Win 8.1 fine, it can't run Win 10. Does anyone know for certain if this CPU (i3-2120 3.3GHz Sandy Bridge) will run Win 10? And if so, has anyone actually done this, but needed to download an updated driver or made a change somehow? I'm about ready to forget it, but I'd like to have someone confirm that this CPU will not be able to run Win 10. Thanks!

[IUman · Accepted solution]

Hello RealisticDave,

Please see the http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-034343.htm Supported Operating Systems for Intel® processors.

Unfortunately the Sandy Bridge will not support Windows 10 and there are no drivers available.

In this case, what I can recommend is to check if your motherboard supports Windows 10 and check for a processor compatible with your motherboard that supports Windows 10 so you could upgrade your processor in your system.

Best wishes!

[AP16]

NX is supported by your CPU, but need to be enabled in MB BIOS. In case of MSI motherboards BIOS option usually called 'Execute Disable Bit Support'

[DStei5]

Thanks for both of your comments. I had found a different chart on this site that seemed to say that, but it wasn't as clear as this chart that you pointed me to. I'll take a look and see if I can find a CPU that I'd like to replace in the MSI board (LGA 1155).

But I'm a little uncertain about doing this because of the NX bit situation. I finally did find a place in the BIOS where the NX bit is shown, but it's "Read Only" and can't be toggled. I found a number of places on the Microsoft Forum where people were able to load Win 10 by temporarily turning the NX bit to disable, loading Win 10, then re-enabling the NX bit. That sounds kind of 'counter-intuitive' to the CPU supporting NX---by disabling it?---but it worked for a number of people---although none (that I could find) had the same CPU and board. (Further confusing the issue, Win 8 and 8.1 both have this same requirement and I had no problem loading 8 and upgrading to 8.1? Go figure!)

Anyway, thanks for your assistance and comments. Cheers!

[IUman]

Hello RealisticDave,

You can check the list for compatible processor at the MSI website with your motherboard model number.

The NX used in CPUs or other features of the processor usually is controlled by the BIOS or you can enable it or disable it in the BIOS but this is a feature that depends from the motherboard manufacturer if they need to leave that feature to be toggled or not.

Thanks,

[AP16]

First, let`s check current NX state. Download util https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc835722 https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc835722 , unpack it into folder, run a command line with Administrator privilege level , move to folder (dir path) and issue coreinfo. In some of first lines of output about CPU features will be NX, and a symbol: * - means supported, - - means unsupported or disabled.

Second, NX option may be locked in MB BIOS setup, because required or incompatible with other options, like UEFI boot or Secure Boot, or Boot sector protection (antivirus). Try to find information about NX option in description of BIOS settings part of MB manual.

Also, take a look into Microsoft FAQ Wiki

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-troubleshoot-common-setup-and-stop-errors/324d5a5f-d658-456c-bb82-b1201f735683 http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-troubleshoot-common-setup-and-stop-errors/324d5a5f-d658-456c-bb82-b1201f735683 and try recommended actions for exact error code.

[IUman]

Hello JFFulcrum,

Thank you for the information provided and for clearing that up, I will take a look into those links.

I appreciate your kindness.