Some PC users have discovered something alarming with their Windows 10 operating system. It appears those who received a free upgrade to Windows 10 less than two years ago are now barred from receiving any future updates.
Unfortunately, 2-in-1 PCs announced in 2012 and sold between 2013 and 2014 that were eligible for a free Windows 10 upgrade are affected. These systems, for the record, still received the Summer 2016 Anniversary Update sans any issues.
But now, when users try installing Windows 10 version 1703, otherwise known as the Windows 10 Creators Update, the installation fails and brings up a message that harbors alarming news: "Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC."
Your Intel Atom-Powered PC Might Not Support The Windows 10 Creators Update
ZDNet says the message appears because of an underlying error with compatibility between the PC hardware and the latest version of Windows 10. Several people have reported the same problem occurring in their system. It seems the hard-blocking mostly affects systems equipped with a Intel's Atom Clover Trail CPUs. An HP Envy X2, for instance, renders the same message upon installing the Windows 10 Creators Update.
Users have posted about the problem in Microsoft's forums section. According to one user who replied to the main thread, the Creators Update doesn't support the following CPUs: Intel Atom Z2760, Atom Z2520, Atom Z2560, and Atom Z2580. Moderators marked the thread as an official answer, for the record.
"Microsoft is working with our partners to provide compatible drivers for these processors. Until then, Windows Update will prevent devices containing one of the processors listed above from installing the Creators Update."
No Workaround Yet For Intel Atom Clover Trail PCs
There appears to be no easy workaround to the hard-blocking, or developers haven't found one yet, at least. If they do end up finding a way to install the Creators Update on unsupported devices, it might not function properly at all because of the underlying compatibility issues at the core.
Suppose Microsoft follows its deadlines, any device running version 1607 of Windows 10 will officially be barred from receiving updates starting early 2018. That essentially means that some of those devices will have only lasted up to three years before losing support for Windows 10 updates.
It's not certain how many devices with Clover Trail chips were sold, although ZDNet guesses the number is in the millions. Owners of such devices who received a free Windows 10 upgrade now have to come to terms with losing support for future software updates.
