Upgrading a CF-31 to Run Windows 10

I searched and didn't see another thread on this topic so I thought I'd start one. If for no other reason than to remind me when I come back on here and search in a year or two!

I have a CF-31J (MK2 model) and wanted to upgrade to Windows 10. I was initially surprised, and still don't know why, within the last two weeks I have reloaded W7 on a CF-52 and a CF-c1 and at the end of the updates it gave me a screen offer to upgrade. You have several options including, "Do not remind me again"... I chose that option on the CF-52. On the CF-C1 I opted for, "Remind Me Later."

When I loaded W7 from Recovery Disks for my CF-31 and then ran updates... I was not given any option to upgrade. After doing some reading I found out that the general "Free Upgrade" promotion time had elapsed and that now... There was only a free option for those who use the "Ease of Access" functions on their laptops... (Blind, deaf, otherwise handicapped functionality) So... Pretty much... It's still open for everyone with no set end date yet!

I tried a few different links to upgrade but ended up here after Shawn sent me the link...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

It prompts you to download their upgrade tool and then gives you several options...
- Install now
- Create a bootable USB
- Download ISO to burn to DVD later

I downloaded the ISO for use later and then tried the Install Now button... After waiting for 40 minutes or so... W10 told me that I needed to manually remove the Realtek PCIE Card Reader and the Intel Dynamic Power Performance Management programs. On my first try, I reduced the window and went into Program Mgt and uninstalled the Realtek driver... No sweat. However, uninstalling the Intel driver requires a reboot! This started me back to square one and when I redid the whole thing... It was still reading the Intel driver! Then I noticed an Option Link in the upper left hand corner. My options were;
1. Upgrade and save files and settings
2. Upgrade and save files only
3. Do a clean install.

I opted for #2 and it installed with no further issue. This left me with two issues (above) in the Device Manager that I will deal with later.

I used the Tweaker program that Shawn mentioned in another thread and also Classic Shell to give me a more W7 appearance. Very cool!

All Fn buttons worked except Sleep, Hibernate and the Battery check. The brightness control doesn't give you the big blinding flash change to full brightness but seems to go to full brightness more gradually.

I looked under Installed Programs. Nothing was there for Panasonic as it was before. (Brecal, PCInfo, etc) So I ran all drivers again from the Util folder to reinstall them. All installed and work except the two mentioned above.

Touchscreen calibration works well, almost better, than the stock calibration utility. If you want to find it... Just enter what you are looking for and it will pop up.

I did all this on a CF-31 I am building for my Brother-In-Law... I plan on doing a custom rig for me next and have a Sierra 4G card on the way. (Thank you Shawn!) When I get that I will set up W10 on my personal laptop and activate it with Verizon instead of using my cell phone as a hotspot, which I have been doing.

I haven't tried the clean install method yet as I wasn't sure if it would ask for a COA... Also, I didn't want to manually load every driver... But I think I will try this next at some point.

I will be back to update my trials and tribulations as they come...

 

Nice write up.

 

Well... After poking around the web I see that I am running into a common issue... Display brightness. I get a message when I use it that my display driver failed to load. I looked on Panny's site and they don't have a separate driver for either the video or the hotkey...

I tried reloading the original W7 video driver as we did to fix this when upgrading from XP to W7... That didn't work at all.

This is a key feature that I MUST unlock somehow. Brightness and volume are my most used Fn keys!

 

Try official Toughbook driver site
download the Enterprise CAB file for CF31 mk5 for Win10 64 bit.
use 7zip to extract the files
Drill through the folders and you should find another CAB file
Use 7zip to extract the contents
Search for the Drivers folder
Find video driver

Don't know how much hardware difference there is.
I am pretty sure it would work on a mk3 Don't know about mk2

 

Worth a shot...I'll try it when I can...

 

Okay... The newest Win10 drivers on Panasonic will not install on this laptop I suppose because I have a 32 bit machine and not 64 bit.

So I did this... I removed the Hotkey Driver, Settings and Appendix. I then tried installing the older Video driver for W7. It gave a warning that it can only install correctly when .NET Framework is installed. I went into Programs and Features and clicked on Turn Windows Features On/Off... I clicked on .NET Framework 3.5 and it installed. I then installed the old Video driver for W7. Then I installed the Hotkey driver, appendix and Settings. I rebooted...

It didn't work! When I rebooted it came up with the message that the display driver couldn't load... So it automatically loaded Windows Basic Display Driver. I then went into Device Manager and uninstalled the the Display Driver and rebooted. (So it rolls back to the old one) VOILA! It all works!

Now I will test just installing .NET Framework with the regular driver to see if it is just as simply as that... Or do I need to do the full procedure that I just described.

The other cool thing is that I now have my Fn+F2... When it runs all the way up to full brightness... That last tick before full on results in the POW - IT'S BRIGHT!

More info as I play around...

 

Soo you are brighter, (SMARTER) now?

 

As you know well... It's always a fun learning experience!

 

I guess that's the difference with my install of win 10 on the CF 19mk6
I chose 64 bit because Panasonic had those drivers posted.
I wanted to avoid the driver hassle. Otherwise I would have used 32 bit.

 

The upgrade reads what you have installed and automatically installs the same version of Win10... Home = Home... Pro=Pro... 32=32, etc.

 

So you are now the W10 expert for Toughbook. (applause from the crowd)

 

LOL... Far from it! Just puttering now.

I came home and tried to apply my new fix to my other CF-31 I had already loaded. When I went to uninstall the hotkey driver... It wasn't there. No uninstalled drivers (Except Gobi and the 2 original I mentioned)... So I think I am going to reinstall W7 and do the upgrade again... Then try my fix again.

It is holding steady on my other one so far.

 

Okay... New issue. I bought a media bay 2nd battery for my new CF-31 MK2. I have 4 of these machines all the same. I have two running Win10. The 2nd battery is NOT read for some reason. Could this be because the Panny Power Mgt isn't installed?

 

Try using the external charger first.
The second batteries seem to do odd things.
I have not completely figured them out.

 

Sheesh... I need to go look into 10 different boxes downstairs... lol

Cool... Thanks!

EDIT: It was in the 3rd box by the way! lol

 

Shawn,

Great (and correct) call... Thanks! All these little things are starting to come back to me again. I've been out of the Toughbook loop...

Works like a charm now!

 

Aaannnnndddd... Now my display driver issue is back. Crap! You move the level... It dims or brightens and then pops back to wherever it was before you started... And I thought I was so smart! ****!

 

There a fix in a cf19 mk6 thread.
Posted by BarrMaley.

 

Yup... That was kind of the fix for CF-29s and 30s when we went to W7... I remember doing that. I guess I need to play around with a few drivers.

 

So here I sit in the Royal Farms parking lot on my 4G card... Downloading drivers from Panasonic. Man I miss the days of Broadband at my house. I really took it for granted!

 

Okay... Problem solved... For now!

To get the Hotkeys to work I originally installed the old W7 driver for the video. It installed but would give an error message upon reboot saying that Windows installed the Basic Video Driver. The hotkeys didn't work. So... I uninstalled the video driver and rebooted. It worked fine for a while but then somehow reverted to the driver I loaded and the brightness controls didn't work again shown the driver was an Intel 3000 driver.

So this time I deleted the driver and checked the box to delete the software also. Upon reboot... My hotkeys are working properly nd I am using the Windows Basic Video Driver.

I also tried to install the video drivers I downloaded yesterday but they are for 64bit machines and wouldn't install properly.

So it looks like I am good for now!

On a side note... I fabbed up a base mount for my Havis laptop stand in my truck. It works but the tube is a little too tall. Also, even though I welded it out of 1/4" thick flatbar... It is a little too springy to use just one mounting point. This Havis assembly weights A LOT! So I made an offer of $50 for a Havis base mount for my truck and I'll fab a quick release for it somehow when the part comes in.

 

How has it run with Windows 10 on it?

 

I have to say... After making fun of Win8 for so long and hating it... I really like Win 10... I used Classic Shell to make it look more like W7... I am just used to being able to be only a click or two away from what I want...

With an SSD... I boot up in about 12 seconds... Shutdown in about 4 seconds.

I love it so far!

 

Right-click on Windows "Start" button in lower left corner for very convenient access to device manager, power options, disk management, computer management, task manager, admin command prompt (or power shell), apps and features ("programs & features"), and "run" command.

These were the things I used control panel for mostly. After getting used to this, I actually find that when customers bring an "old" Windows 7 computer, I wish Win 7 had this feature.