Windows 10 on Dell Inspiron 15R N5010

Now that I've gone back to win7, the Win10 update keeps nagging me, but based on your post above, I think I'll pass until someone posts that there are definitively no issues. Thanks Gerntolarsen.

I wonder why DELL has not issued any clarification regarding the issues that one can face with Windows 10 on N5010. On Dell.com website you get one line note - that the N5010 has not been tested for Windows 10.

 As manufacturer of the system DELL should have issued a statement that following issues may arise when one upgrades the system from windows 7 to Windows 10.  May be it is right time to say good bye to DELL and look for any other brand where the manufacturer appears to be a little more supportive.

Although N5010 issued by DELL have different configurations.  Two issues are most common -

Synaptics Mouse looses scroll function -  It is surprising to learn that on my N5010 -mouse has all the functions intact when I open a web page in OPERA but the same page when opened in Edge has no scroll function.   I have to use arrow keys in Edge.  Any document opened on the laptop using any software -  eg. Adobe, Word, Excel etc. do not support scroll function.

Internet connection becomes unstable -  The laptop wastes quite a lot of time in connecting and reconnecting.

H.P.Agrawal

While I haven't experienced any problems with my N5010 since upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I do see quite a few people have had problems. I completely agree that Dell has been less than supportive to it's N5010 customers, they've had plenty of opportunity since the Windows 10 rollout to test any compatibility issues and provide fixes. 

Going forward, as I eventually replace my laptop, I will definitely be considering other brands before Dell.  

Dell didn't put out a 'systematic analysis' of potential problems because they didn't test windows 10 with the N5010.  The N5010 came out over 5 years ago and its more then likely the device manufactures didn't bother to provide driver updates to Dell, that and the time since the model was introduced. 

I fully agree with GFLAN 61.  There was plenty of time for DELL to have come out with a systemic analysis of the problems that the users may face on its various models of N5010.  This is the minimum that was required of DELL.  Providing fixes  may not be possible for technical reasons  best known to them but the problems must be known to DELL because they are the manufacturer and know all the technical details of the system with N5010.

This is good that people are considering some alternatives to DELL!

H.P.Agrawal

Dell is not testing older machines  for Win 10. Absence of Dell Win 10 drivers may be one of the issues, but this is not critical. Win 10 installs it's own drivers for any that are not compatible. You then need to find compatible full featured drivers for any hardware not working properly. Video, touchpad, WiFi and printer drivers may need to be upgraded. These can be found on manufacturer's web sites for each hardware items that doesn't work properly. For some drivers such as for touchpads, check the OEM sites, such as for Synaptic. Many sites list compatible drivers. Many Win 8.1 drivers will work with Win 10. A little experimentation may be necessary. Other OEM sites have drivers which will work. I have successfully upgraded three 8-10 year old Dells, needing only video and printer drivers for all and a touchpad driver for one of the laptops.

Your suggestions are certainly encouraging.  However we were just looking to DELL to have brought a list of drivers that may need to be updated in its older laptops on upgrade to windows 10.  To extend more help DELL could also have provided the link to manufacturers from where they had taken the hardware for which the users are required to search for updates.  

It is also desirable for DELL to have decided a last date viz. Jan 1, 2010 as the date such that laptops issued earlier will not be covered.  

The only other way to get any info for older PCs is to wait for the Microsoft auto upgrade, which tells you if the PC will update,or tell you what incompatibilities will (supposedly) keep it from updating. I received a "too bad" for my 10 year old D9100, indicating the video driver was incompatible. I did the upgrade anyway, and everything was OK except for the video driver - a "generic" driver was installed, which did not allow any modifications of txt or icon sizes. I was able to install the same Nvidia driver that I had been using with Win 8, and it was OK.

I don't know what criteria Dell used to determine the cutoff date. They may have used the compatibility of the latest driver they had for Windows 8; these drivers usually work with Win 10. One of the problems is that Dell DO NOT write drivers themselves; the hardware manufacturer writes the drivers. A computer OEM can accept these drivers, or ask for a modified version for their machines. This is why Dell (and others) recommends usage of their supported drivers instead of those of the hardware manufacturers. I have never had a problem using non-Dell drivers, but have not upgraded many, either Dell or hardware manufacturers, in the last 10 years, upgrading some models from XP to Vista to Win 7, to Win 8 and then to Win 10. This because most upgrades installed compatible drivers where needed. Video and touch-pad drivers are the ones I usually upgrade, especially after an operating system upgrade because the Dell drivers are not as full featured as the equipment manufacturer's. For Windows 8, I could not find a better touch-pad driver for one of my old laptops. I did find a Dell Win 8 driver that was written specifically for Win 8 to use on all laptops. This driver, however, was NOT included in the driver list for the particular model laptop. I actually found it when I did a web search for possible drivers.

This is way too long!!! Trying to answer the question about why they can't tell us where to find drivers. They probably need to restrict their testing to models that would still be in greater use. In order to recommend alternate manufacturer's drivers, they would need to first test the computer completely, and then test a variety of possible drivers that might be compatible. This would involve a huge amount of testing.

Final thought: If Microsoft thinks a computer will not run Win 10 because of a driver or some other issue, the upgrade will not proceed. People who end up with a non-operable machine after the upgrade may actually have had something wrong with the computer before the upgrade.

Sorry for the rambling!!!

Untested means exactly untested. It may work flawlessly or there may be some troubles.

I have systems that are way older such as a Mid 2006 model Latitude D820 working flawlessly with Windows 10 TH2.

I also have a XPS 8300 which is an early 2011 model which was working great with Windows 10 TH1 with exception to the wireless card and Ethernet. Both are Broadcom and Broadcom devices seem to perform less well in Windows 10 TH1 so I swapped the Broadcom card for an Intel card. This system works well with Windows 10 TH2 also but I haven't tried using the Broadcom card with TH2.

Touchpad issues are common in laptops and you should try newer drivers in a trial/error fashion as highlighted here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/dell-touchpad-drivers/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy5sdukBhyo

If you get a newer driver to work let me know so I can add the results of the N5010 to the page.

Jumping in on this conversation.  I am of the opinion to stay with win7 for the time being... I am leary about the upgrade to win10 and the feedback I have been seeing..

I did, and it does not support the touch pad. There will be no support for the drivers of touch pad either. Rest all fine.

Hi,

I was trying to upgrade my N5010 to  Win 10 and in about 15% of the installation the laptop switched of by itself, after cooling for a while, Win 10 recovered old system back with an error message:

0xC1900101 - 0x20004

"The installation faild in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during INSTALL_RECOVERY_ENVIRONMENT operation"

Any idea what is this about ? 

Format your disk and reload your old windows and then upgrade to 10, all errors will be gone or else stick to your old windows version and turn off updates

Windows 10 has been released now. PC with windows 7 can avail the offer of free upgrade to Windows 10. Unfortunately, on the website of Dell it is written that they will not develop drivers for windows 10 for inspiron hardware. What is the reason? was buying Dell a  mistake? Can you please prove support for Dell inspiron 5010 for free upgrade of windows 10.

I have taken microsoft's technical help and they also said it is Dell who can provide the drivers and then only you can get the free upgrade. The time limit is getting over... the limit is 29th July 2016......

will be glad if you give us a positive answer or some good solution of  buy back and give compatible laptop at affordable price( not that what the new one costs)

Thanks