[Teclast X98 Air 3G] YetAnotherForumUser:
X80 Pro: Windows 10 1909 19H2 (18363.476), 10GB free with Android

For those of you still using these tablets with Windows the following might be interesting. On 4PDA (Russian equivalent of XDA, more or less) there is a recent post on how to refresh the Windows installation on the E3E9 and E6E9 versions of these tablets. While I lost my original X80 Pro (by leaving it on a car roof, driving off and only thinking about the stowaway once we were on the motorway) I recently got back the second one I bought for my father (who recently passed away, sadly). While I had customised the Android installation on my own version I had not really touched Windows as a) I don't have much use for it, having used Linux since v0.92 and b) the lack of storage space in the Windows install meant it couldn't even update itself without running out of space. Now that I once more have one of these things taking up space in my laptop bag I thought to give it a workover to see if it could be used in a different way, seeing that the ageing Android version is not likely to get an update and not feeling particularly driven to try to port a more recent version of Android to this dying platform. I have an old Galaxy Tab 3 (which is Intel-based just like the X80 Pro) lying around which runs Android 7.1.2 just fine so it is not entirely impossible to create a port for this platform but... why bother?

Poking around 4PDA I happened upon a recent post describing how to install Windows 10 1909 (19H2) on these tablets and decided to give it a go. The post includes a download link (8.4GB) plus a short description on how to install the thing without the need for external USB hubs or keyboards. The relevant part of the description goes as follows:

Included versions:

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Pro for workstations

Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC (17763.864)

Partition a USB memory stick (minimum capacity 16GB) with a single GPT partition and format it to fat32. For reference, this is what it looks like on my system:

Model: General USB Flash Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 16.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 16.0GB 16.0GB fat32 win10_2019_LTSC_X80 msftdata

Extract the downloaded archive onto this partition. Have a look at the file named install.cmd, this is the script which initiates the install procedure. It is in Russian and uses code page 1251 so it will probably look like gibberish (e.g. Linux does not use Windows code pages). The essential parts of the script you'll want to know are the initial selection of which Windows version to install (1 for Home, 2 for Pro, 3 for Enterprise LTSC), the following question on whether to delete Android ('y' to delete it, 'n' to keep it) and the fact that it expects you to press 'y' after copying the two large DISM install files (sources\install.swm and sources\install2.swm) to the tablet. It will say something along the lines of Windows установлена. ... ерезагруз те устройство... which comes down to 'Windows is installed, press y to continue'. Do so when prompted or you'll be waiting and waiting and waiting...

Put the memory stick in a USB-OTG adapter, connect that to the tablet and boot the thing to Windows.

In Windows go to Settings => Update and Security => Recovery => Restart Now

A blue screen appears with a number of options. Select Troubleshooting => Advanced Options => UEFI Firmware Settings => Restart (the tablet will reboot into UEFI firmware settings).

In the UEFI settings screen go to 'Save & Exit' and select the USB memory in the 'Boot Override' section (somewhere lower down on the screen). The thing will boot to the Windows installer and the above-mentioned 'install.cmd' script will run. Press the keyboard symbol on the bottom of the screen to pop up the on-screen keyboard and select the Windows version to install (1: Home, 2: Pro, 3: Enterprise LTSC), select whether to erase Android ('y') or keep it ('n') and let the thing copy those two large archive files. Once greeted by Windows установлена. ... ерезагруз те устройство... press 'y' and the thing will reboot into the new Windows version... which only speaks Russian for now. If you know any of the Cyrillic-using languages select your favourite and be happy, otherwise select Russian (the top option). It will ask about localisation (I chose объединенное Королевство which stands for 'United Kingdom') and which keyboards to configure. Unless you're used to a Cyrillic keyboard you'll want to add one (select Добавить раскладку which means 'Add Layout') which you're more familiar with, e.g. США ('USA') or one of its derivatives. Once through this hurdle It'll ask for your WiFi settings. The rest depends on how you want to install Windows. For me that comes down to not using a Microsoft account, instead choosing to use a local account and saying нет ('No') to just about everything.

Don't know any Russian? Don't worry, just install one of the photo translator apps on your phone and point it at the screen when it says something you don't understand.

Windows is installed in the Compact mode, after the installation ~10 GB is available in Windows with Android installed.

Once ready you'll want to configure the thing to use your language of choice in the 'Time and Language' section in 'Windows Settings', recognisable by the clock-A-Chinese_ideogram icon, select 'Language' (A-Chinese_ideogram icon). Add the needed localisations to the device in the 'Add a language' section ('+' icon) and (once everything is installed) set the Windows display language to your language of choice. On the same screen select 'Administrative language settings' to set the language for the welcome screen, new accounts and non-Unicode programs to your language of choice. The thing will reboot and with a bit of luck it'll come back to greet you in a language you're comfortable with. This being Windows it sometimes gets stuck in the dreaded "Updating Windows, don't switch off the computer" screen. Should that happen you're probably best off repeating the whole procedure after force-rebooting the thing.

ONLY TRY THIS WHEN YOU'RE CONFIDENT YOU CAN найти выход из трудного угла

MAKE SURE THE TABLET IS FULLY CHARGED BEFORE TRYING THIS - IT CAN TAKE QUITE A WHILE

I used this procedure on a E3E9 version, it is advertised as working on E3E9 and E6E9. I have no idea whether it works on other versions, YMMV.

Once Windows has restarted you can remove the USB-OTG cable and plug in the charger.

Windows will need to be activated. Do what you have to do...