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Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC

Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC is an error message that Windows 10 may throw during the update to a newer version of the operating system.

Microsoft moved away from the classic service pack / new version of Windows update scheme of the past to Windows as a Service with the company's Windows 10 operating system.

Windows as a Service pushes out feature updates frequently to Windows 10 systems that administrators and users need to install for continued support.

While Microsoft plans to support any feature version of Windows 10 for some time after the release of a feature update, support for those older versions will eventually run out.

Windows 10 machines will continue to work, but they won't receive any new updates anymore, including security updates.

The support for the first release version of Windows 10 for instance ended in May 2017.

What it comes down to is that Windows 10 devices, with the exception of the Enterprise Long Term Servicing Branch, need to be updated regularly to new feature update releases. This is not that much different from how it worked in previous versions of Windows when Microsoft released Service Packs.

The systems without the latest service pack would be released for some time, but would eventually no longer be supported by Microsoft.

Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC

windows 10 no longer supported

If Windows 10 cannot be upgraded to a new feature release, Windows may throw the error Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC.

This started to happen to a subset of users after the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update. Ed Bott confirms the issue on Zdnet stating that it affects systems with Intel Clover Trail processors.

When you try to upgrade a Clover Trail-based PC to the Creators Update, Setup returns the error code 0xC1900209, which means "the system does not pass the compatibility scan to install the update ... Incompatible software is blocking the upgrade process."

Devices with affected processors, Atom Z2760, Atom Z2520, Atom Z2560 and Atom Z2580, were released for Windows 8 initially a couple of years ago. They received the update to Windows 8.1 when it was released, and experienced the year of free update offers when Windows 10 was released.

Users and administrators who upgraded the machine to Windows 10 noticed that this worked just fine, and so did the installation of the November and Anniversary updates that Microsoft released.

The error message is thrown during installation of the Windows 10 Creators Update on these machines.

There does not seem to be a way around this at this point in time which means that these devices are stuck on a build -- the Anniversary Update version -- that will no longer be supported by Microsoft in 2018 according to Microsoft's support plans.

This is problematic; not only because users are stuck on a Windows 10 build that is no longer supported with no option to do anything about that, but also because it will highlight how Microsoft plans to handle hardware incompatibilities in the future.

Note: when I say no option to do anything about it, I mean downgrading to an earlier version of Windows, or upgrading. It may still be possible to install a Linux distribution on these devices, or grab a copy of an old version of Windows to install that.

It is not clear at this point in time if Microsoft plans to do anything about the issue. A support page on the Acer website suggests that Microsoft is working with the company to find a solution and make systems with Intel Clover Trail processors compatible with the Windows 10 Creators Update and future versions of Windows 10.

Microsoft has yet to release a statement though.

Closing Words

Microsoft needs to be very careful when it comes to breaking the supported hardware chain on Windows 10. Systems that were initially supported but are not any longer are not good advertisement for the operating system, and users who had their systems upgraded to Windows 10 more or less forcefully will probably not be too pleased when they realize that they are stuck on a Windows 10 edition that is no longer supported.

Now You: What's your take on this?

 

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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