A new hack to install Windows 10 for Phones on any Lumia device

windows-10-for-phones-technical-preview-hack

Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones was just released a couple of days ago, but officially for only a select range of Lumia devices. Luckily for users with other Lumia devices; a new way to install Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones on your Lumia device is here – thanks to a hack from XDA-Developers.

You can follow the following steps to perform the Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones upgrade.

  1. For the Lumia 1520 (and other phones?) reset your phone using the Windows Phone recovery tool. I recommend not logging in and setting everything up yet and just waiting til the end and doing a reset and letting it restore after you’re on Windows 10. This may not be required for your device but most likely is due to the space issue cited by Microsoft. You can see your available space in the About menu of the Windows Insiders app. Before resetting mine was ~200mb and after it was ~600mb. You can try without resetting but may get an error after it tries to download and install the update.
  2. Install the Windows Insider app on your phone (you will need to have a store account configured)
  3. Open the insiders app and go to the about options in the app bar and screenshot/make notes/email the settings to yourself. You may need this later.
  4. Download and extract the WPInsidersHacks app (link available in original thread) to your computer.
  5. Start the WPInsiderHacks app on pc, approve any firewall requests
  6. Connect to the same WiFi that your PC is on. Edit the settings for the WiFi connection to turn on the Proxy and set it to use the PC’s IP address and enter 8877 for the port
  7. Open Internet Explorer on your phone and navigate to http://[pc.ip.add.ress]:8877 where [pc.ip.add.ress] is the IP address of the PC running the WPInsidersHacks app
  8. Tap on the link at the bottom to the fiddler root certificate
  9. When prompted click open and then install to trust the cert and ok at the confirmation
  10. Run the Windows Insider app and tap get preview builds.
  11. Tap on which custom action you’d like to perform. e.g. Set to “ATT Lumia 635” and click the arrow at the bottom.
  12. Accept the agreement and click the check mark at the bottom. the app will close.
  13. Now clear your proxy settings and run the insider app again.
  14. Tap get preview builds and login with your Microsoft account.
  15. Select the fast branch (if you’re reading this of course you want the fast branch) and click the arrow at the bottom.
  16. Go into the phone settings and check for updates. With any luck you should have Windows 10 there for you to install. On myAT&T 1520 it had to do 8.1 first but it kept going to 10 after 8.1 installed (had to check for updates again).
  17. You’ll probably want to go into the settings and do another reset and then log into the phone and let it restore your previous data.

You will need apps and tools which are available in the original thread at XDA-Developers.

Considering the term “hack” – it’s important to be informed that if anything goes wrong, you can end up with having a bricked/unusable device, however there are reports from various people having successfully installed the software on their devices.

You are advised to read the thread at XDA-dev in full with other users’ posts to have more information about their experience before you try.

Warning: You are warned about the risk of bricking your device by installing unauthorized software builds. You will be solely responsible of anything you do with your phone. Please note that Windows 10 is not yet fully polished and you better wait for an improved build of Windows 10 later.