/Hʋʢɚ Kʝɦ Wɛ
Run Windows 10
on a Raspberry Pi
1 Get Windows
Even if you have a spare copy of Windows 10 laying around,
you need to generate a special ARM-based image to run it on the
Raspberry Pi. The code you’re sitting on is unlikely to be
compatible unless you’re hoarding random ISOs for platforms you
don’t use – but if you do happen to have an up-to-date arm64
build of Windows 10, by all means skip this next couple of steps.
Your first task is to head to AdGuard’s online tool at http://uup.
rg-adguard.net [Image A], which sniffs out official Windows
builds from Microsoft’s servers, and gives you a useful interface
to get hold of them. Using the drop-down boxes, select a final
version (unless you want to go all bleeding edge with an Insider
build), choose the latest arm64 edition (don’t select amd64), the
appropriate language, opt for Windows 10 Professional, and in
the final box, select ‘Download ISO Compiler in OneClick!’. Click
the top link on the right-hand side, download it wherever you
like, and then run the CMD file. Windows SmartScreen will likely
stepinatthispoint;click‘Moreinfo’,andopttorunit anyway.
2 Create the image
A command line window pops up, detailing the process of
downloading the required files [Image B] and squashing them
into a deployable Windows image. This takes a while, and might
look as though it’s stalled, but when you’ve waited patiently as it
integrates all the relevant Windows updates, you’re left with an
ISO file. Double-click this to mount it, head to the /sources folder
T
here could come a day when Windows 10 is on more ARM devices than it is on x86
devices. Perhaps that sounds a little mad, but Qualcomm (for one) is now pushing out
mobile chipsets with more than enough grunt to manage it, and proper laptop
manufacturers are jumping aboard the Windows 10 on ARM train – it means better battery life,
enhanced mobile connectivity, instant return from standby, and many other quality-of-life
improvements that may or may not outweigh the comparatively slashed computing power of
running Windows on a RISC-based platform.
Fancy trying it yourself, but without any of those benefits? Don’t expect the best results, as
the Raspberry Pi is just about the most neutered platform capable of running Windows 10 on
ARM, and an SD card is a terrible choice to boot from. Boot times could run to around 15
minutes, and your Pi is likely to get very hot. This ain’t practical. But as an experiment as to
what’s possible, it’s a fun diversion, and we can certainly offer some pointers as to how to make
your Windows 10 experience a bit more tolerable on the tiny single-board computer. Alex CoxYou’ll need this
Raspberry Pi 3 B or
B+, along with a
32GB microSD cardwithin, and drag the file installer.wim out of the ISO to a
folder on your main PC. This is the install file we’ll use to
put Windows 10 on to our spare SD card; you can now
unmounttheISO.3 Write the SD card
Go to http://pi64.win, click the link to find the
deployment tool, scroll down to ‘Latest version’, then
download the ZIP file linked on the page that follows.
Extract it to a folder, head on in, and (once you’ve
inserted your microSD card into your reader) run the
executable within the folder to see the pretty interface.
Again, SmartScreen sniffed at us – ignore its warnings;
you already know you’re doing something a bit stupid.
Everything here is quite straightforward. Under ‘Drive
Selection’, use the drop-down box to select your SD card
reader; make sure you don’t choose one of your main
drives, lest it be wiped from existence. In the Windows
Image box, point WOA Deployer at the install.wim file we
pulled out earlier. It should show the build of Windows
you’re going to install – it’s possible to create install.wim
files containing multiple Windows builds, which you can
select using the drop-down, but that’s a tutorial for
anotherday.Whenhappy,clickDeploy.4 Complete the install
There are various things you need to agree to overBAImage credit : AdGuard, Microsoft40 |^ |^ June 2019