CF-31 Poll... Without the Poll...

Okay guys... I am loading up a CF-31 MK2 unit with Win10 and the classic shell and other tweaks for use with a nice Samsung SSD for a past customer that needs to upgrade from the CF-29 he bought from me almost 10 years ago. I have loaded Windows 10 on it and this is where I'd like to see what you guys think.

Install drivers or not?

Not everything works and plays well with Win10 on these as you all know. Specifically the brightness settings. My personal one has gone back to intermittently working so I have been using the Windows controller for screen brightness. However, after loading Win10 on this laptop... The screen brightness settings and the volume up/down, mute and keyboard lights all work. About the only thing that doesn't is the Fn+F9 battery indicator. I rarely use that as I can look in the system tray anyway.

The guy buying this isn't going to be using all the control as law enforcement or military might. Can you guys think of a good reason why I really need to install all the Panny drivers?

Thoughts?

 

If you could keep your comments to the question asked I'd appreciate it greatly. The customer stated he must have Win10 installed for the software he is to run. All the tracking has been disabled. Relax.

 

I don't particularly care what you believe. If one of my customer says he needs/wants a laptop with Win10.... That's what he gets.

You obviously don't have a CF-31 MK2.

How did you get in this forum? Can I see some ID please?

 

Rick if everything is working to your liking then I would skip the drivers. With W10 and the Panny drivers you could get yourself into a big headache..... don't fix what aren't broken.

 

That's the thing... The last time I loaded Win10 on a CF-31 MK2 I posted here about it. It takes T I M E to figure everything out. I don't think I even tried functionality last time without the drivers.

Device Manager is clean with the exception of things Win10 doesn't like/support anyway.

Sans Panny drivers it is!

 

The last Windows 10 install I did was on a CF-19 Mk5. X64 10 Pro version.

I went to the download links for the 19 Mk8 and used some of the windows 10 drivers for it with a mix of windows 7 drivers. I got everything working , including the front buttons, until a month later when Windows 10 updated and it didn't like the old driver for intel power management. So it wouldn't update until you uninstalled that update. No issue with it, but it refused to update until you manually uninstalled it. Just a Fyi on what I did and a possible future issue for you depending on how techy your customer is.

 

Like he said, ain't broke, don't fix it. I'd run it and see how it goes.

 

Yeep... I have always built mine with the drivers installed as other programs that Panasonic likes to have installed are dependent upon the drivers.... Hotkey, Misc, etc. But other than the battery recalibration tool... I don't think he needs/wants anything like that. Win10 actually does a pretty good job. The guy runs diagnostic software for anything from well pumps to diesel engines and is tough as hell on his Toughbooks. He sent me one a few years back asking for repairs as he had worn a hole all the way through the touchpad... It still worked, but he was worried about something spilling on it and getting inside. I made him a free one as it was one of the last CF-29s I had.

He is considering some brand new software and it suggests that it works best on Win10. Hence the want for a new Toughbook. I just wanted to check with you guys as I have never built one before without installing all the drivers.

Thanks!

 

Maybe he will need Wireless switch utility. Sometimes Win10 turns off WiFi without this utility running. But other than that...

for example?

 

Well... His Gobi for one... He has no need or use as he likes to use his hotspots as he has other things that connect. The next two are the "PCI Serial Port" and the "PCI Data Acquisition and Signal Process Controller."

IIRC... Those wouldn't install on my last one. I'll have to check to make sure. I think it was tied to the power mgt feature where Wn10 won't recognize the drivers.

 

I don't have a CF-31, so I can't speak to that model specifically, but with my CF-30 MK3, I had no issues with Windows 10. Whatever it didn't install, I took care of after. The few things it did have issues with just took some googling to find the latest driver versions to replace it, (or in one case, an older one with legacy support because the newer one was for the wrong hardware version). Unfortunately, doing the same on my boss' CF-30 MK1 was a bit more difficult, as it didn't play nice the first time around, and a later Windows 10 build update broke it completely. I still to this day don't know why. He ended up going back to Windows 7.

It may be hit and miss depending on your luck, given my personal experience, (although I'm sure you know more about this than I do). Personally I hate to have things not working, but usually the average person doesn't care about most of the extra features that would be non-functional on these systems if you don't install the drivers.

Worst case, you could always ask him how he feels about it, and see how he wants to proceed.

 

The CF-30's can be a rat's nest in regards to upgrading to an OS it wasn't designed for. Once you figure out the process it's not all that bad. My MK-2 wasn't all that hard going to W7 but my MK3 was a *****.

Rick can attest to the headaches we endured years back.

 

I am surprised I still have hair!

But I do so I am growing back out to hippie length! I need to catch up to InterestingFellow! He's a hoot!

 

It is so odd that these systems are hit and miss! I still find it strange that the 64-bit versions were nicer to me than the 32-bit ones. Last I checked, 32-bit carried more driver support due to its age and prevalence!

 

Here is a little update for all you W10 users. I copied this from here just in case you don't follow that thread like I do...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/windows-10.762434/page-507#post-10728730

I'm sure you like this one.....
Windows 10 won’t let users shutdown PCs without installing updates

The Windows 10 April 2018 Update began rolling out to the public all over the world as a free update for all compatible laptops, desktops, and tablets as well. The latest version of the OS is the fifth major update that Microsoft is releasing, and it brought a wide set of features and changes for enhancing performance, productivity and stability as well.

Microsoft removes Shut Down option if there are pending updates
A Reddit user announced that Microsoft removed the Shut Down option from Windows in case you have pending updates. In other words, if some updates are waiting to be installed, you won’t have the ability to shut down your computer without installing them.


Before this happened, Microsoft offered users an option to Update and Shut Down and Update and Restart. You were able to choose the option that best suited you. There were also the traditional Shut Down, Restart and Sleep options available.

What this change means
Well, Microsoft’s latest revision to its OS is nothing more and nothing less than another try to force its users to install updates whether they want to or not. The Reddit user who noticed the latest update in the OS posted a screenshot where you can clearly see the new options that are available