Failed win 7 install, didn't know about UEIF in BIOS. No Drivers for USB or Net card

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by Jon_Snow, May 17, 2016.

  1. Jon_Snow

    Jon_Snow MDL Novice

    May 17, 2016
    18
    3
    0
    Hi Folks,

    Well I done it again...LOL (I always get the strangest crap happen to me)

    If you have ever heard of a rookie in the Fire Dept being called a Black cloud, well that would be me. Just so you know a rookie in the Fire Dept who is a black cloud is a person that when that start at a new fire house they suddenly get a lot of emergency calls, hence the rookie getting blamed for it.
    I tend to get the strangest things happen to me, so I tend to think I have a black cloud following me around.

    Anywho....I know a bit about PC's and networks but not up to date, as it's been a while since I really worked on a PC. I used to be on the IT group with EDS, Lockheed Martin and Gateway. Have several MS certs but like I said I kind of stopped working and just did the download thing getting Movies and adult clips, etc.

    So a neighbor gave me his daughter's PC to work on saying that he thought it have a virus or something else wrong it it. The PC had Windows 8 installed and I hate Windows 8 and windows 10. I love Win 7 and very comfortable using that.
    Booting up into Win 8 I could ONLY get into the Guest login and not her account. (She had forgotten her PW).
    Everything seemed ok but not able to install anything or even run anything from the CD rom drive (strange not a DVD or blu-ray).
    So I found a utility that lets you reset the PW for any accounts on any version of windows from a USB thumb drive. I could not access it though and didn't find out until later it was because of the UEIF in the bios. (I'll come back to that in a minute).
    I then thought (screw it, I'll just install win7 and be done with it) So I found a what looked to be a cool version of win 7 called Windows 7 Glorious Edition with pre activation. And then I also found something called Yumi which extracts the win 7 ISO onto the thumb drive so it can be installed directly from there using a temporary Multiboot)

    After messing with the PC for a number of hours I was finally able to install Windows 7 Glorious Edition onto the PC but had somehow created a dual boot system win7 and win8 ....:confused:

    The install did not go smoothly as it showed pop up messages saying that the C driver was corrupted and to run good old scandisk and/or checkdisk. So that's what I did but it found nothing wrong.

    I finally got into windows only to find in the Device Mgr that the drivers for the USB ports and the Network port were bad. The device mgr listed them in other devices which we all know is not a good thing.

    I then looked for a fix and found this on the windows 7 forums,

    I tried it but nothing changed. I tried removing the listed items in other devices and then did find new hardware or check for updated hardware, windows tries to install them but they fail.

    So that's where I am, stuck with a PC that doesn't have the drivers for the network card/port and bad drivers for the USB ports. It does see the DVD drive. (I installed a new DVD drive) But it doesn't seem to be able to read off the Win 7 disk I made of Windows glorious Edition. I also put that on the USB stick. I was able to ONE time read off the USB stick and reset the PW for the main user and also did the Win 7 install from it but since was not able to read off the USB stick or the DVD.

    I have gone into the BIOS and managed to turn off or bypass the UEIF by disable secure boot and enable Legacy support and also in system security disable Virtualization Technology. (I think that's right in order to boot from USB or DVD)
    But it doesn't. I made sure to set the boot options to select USB and DVD read first.

    BIOS info: says it's Hewlett-Packard Setup utility
    then at the bottom reads:
    Version 2.15.1234. Copyright 2013 American Megatrends Inc.

    I looked up the PC and it is HP - ENVY 700-056 Desktop PC

    Here's what I'd like to do. Which ever is best and easiest thing to do.

    Format the entire C drive so that ONLY windows 7 is on it. This would mean reinstalling win 7 from either the USB stick or the DVD.

    Fix the current install of Windows 7 and then use something like partition magic to get rid of Win 8 and the small partitions that are there to reinstall win 8.

    Fix the damn BIOS and get rid of the UEIF crap and just have the normal simple Bios.

    I know this is a lot to read but I figure it's best to give out all the info I can on the situation rather than not to. :bookread:
     
  2. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
    5,711
    1,606
    180
  3. Mr.X

    Mr.X MDL Guru

    Jul 14, 2013
    8,575
    15,645
    270
    GLORIOUS EDITION... :haha: :rofl6: :druff:



    Well I've got Smartypants Edition, would that be ok?
     
  4. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
    4,071
    4,651
    150
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  5. Jon_Snow

    Jon_Snow MDL Novice

    May 17, 2016
    18
    3
    0
    #6 Jon_Snow, May 17, 2016
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
    (OP)
    Thanks for the help folks !!

    Yes it has a 2TB drive in it as well as having 12Gb of RAM.

    As for the Windows Glorious Edition I found it on Warez-BB (I hope I can say that much)
    From ***********. They had some listings but many dead links, since they were made many moons ago (Like 2012 or so)

    Although it had a dual boot option for both Win 7 and win8 now it only shows Win7 to select from and that pre- windows (DOS) selection comes up every time.....:eek:

    I have a cool new camera and have taken some pictures of the PC and the BIOS and such if you want me to post them here I can (That's if it's allowed) :confused: (I promise no P0rn) :p
    *Just found out I need to make 20+ posts to be able to put in a picture. :(
     
  6. Nimbus2000

    Nimbus2000 MDL Senior Member

    May 5, 2010
    257
    179
    10
    I second the motion to ditch this disk and get an un-touched .iso (and check the hash) from Microsoft.
     
  7. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
    4,071
    4,651
    150
    You might be able to get away with not using GPT for that 2TB drive. That's the absolute limit for drive access under windows 7.
    Also, you must use UEFI if you leave the drive formatted GPT, or Windows will not boot.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  8. Tito

    Tito Super Mod / Adviser
    Staff Member

    Nov 30, 2009
    18,682
    18,581
    340
    Little correction - the actual limitation comes from MBR partitioning. Windows 7 can fully support over 2.2 TB HDDs if its formatted in GPT style. If its the boot drive, then Windows 7 needs to be installed in UEFI mode.
     
  9. Bat.1

    Bat.1 MDL Expert

    Oct 18, 2014
    1,202
    1,388
    60
    #10 Bat.1, May 17, 2016
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
    The PC came with Win 8 so it has a embedded Legit Key in the BIOS so unless a Customer Demands Win 7, I'd be doing a fresh install of Win 8.1. The disk is already initialized in GPT so just delete all the partitions and let Windows create new ones.

    If You want to install Win 7, burn a Genuine ISO to USB using Rufus (Insert in USB2 MOBO Only Port) and You can use diskpart on boot to remove the partitions and initialize in MBR. After install, Daz Load to activate then upgrade using the Simplix Pack. Use Ethernet to connect and search for updates to install the Wi-Fi. Most likely You'll need to install the USB3 drivers manually.


    More I could post but I had a Bad night's sleep :(

    EDIT: Forgot I have one MSI APU MOBO that won't find the Ethernet drivers as well as Wi-Fi when installing Win 7. So I use a USB Dongle and install the drivers from a USB or DVD. Then WU finds the drivers for Internet
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  10. pisthai

    pisthai Imperfect Human

    Jul 29, 2009
    7,222
    2,272
    240
    Just about the loss of the Password: there some nice utilities available for to delete forgotten Passwords, like Active Password Changer and others.

    Using some of that Apps, would give you the power to boot into those parts the Passwords are forgotten to.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  11. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
    4,071
    4,651
    150
    @Tito: Thanks for the correction. I should have posted my source. That way, the OP could have misinterpreted it just like I did :D
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  12. Jon_Snow

    Jon_Snow MDL Novice

    May 17, 2016
    18
    3
    0
    #14 Jon_Snow, May 17, 2016
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
    (OP)
    Man I've never encountered so much heartache installing a new OS onto a system! :mad:

    I can't seem to boot up from a USB or Disk from DVD. I found yet another copy of Win 7 and that failed to show up as well.
    Now I have a genuine Win7 DVD. But it's very old and I got it froma friend that was a Beta Tester with Windows Before it was released, they send him (Microsoft) a few disks of Windows 7 to give out if he threw a party and sent them or posts the pics of everyone. I got a bag with the Windows and Microsoft logo and the disk. So it's good I installed it on this machine I use all the time. The problem with it is that the code is no longer good because I used it and he used the other code for it so the license codes are used up. I can and vaguely remember how to use the Windows Loader because I've done it before (although a very long time ago)

    Okay back to the damn PC from hell:
    It seems that I can sometimes get it to load off a USB stick because I installed a Password reset utility on it that had some sort of Boot files on it as well so that it could be booted from the USB stick then to their program before windows that access the users and then allows to reset any pw that was in use for that user. But otherr than that one USB stick I can't get it to see any other USB sticks I put in.

    I did put on just the drivers that LatinMcG said to get but there's no way to access that USB stick to get them on the system.
    After some trial and errors I was finally able to get to the DVD drive and I'm now installing Win7 on the main C drive. It did give me a warning about installing it there but I had no choice. I really wanted to format the drive and then install a clean copy of windows but could never get to it by any means to format and then install. I hope this install from a good Win 7 disk will work but not sure.

    I did make sure to follow the instructions of disabling Secure Boot and such.

    Man this is a nightmare.

    Is it possible to just pull out the drive and hook it up to this PC and then say format the whole thing and then do the install from the Good win 7 disk? :eek:

    Thinking of other ways to install Win 7 .

    I seem to recall a long time ago I used to have problems getting windows installed. (like windows Vista) We wiped the drive then put on the setup and install folders for windows then hooked the drive up to the new pc and booted then went to CMD prompt and from there ran the setup exe file.
    Is that no longer possible? :confused:
     
  13. 100

    100 MDL Expert

    May 17, 2011
    1,347
    1,575
    60
    Do yourself a favor and get yourself an ISO that already comes with SP1.

    Sure. Plus, doing it that way you could deploy the image right from another machine without having to burn it to disc and run the installer at all. It would be a command line based process, and it's different for UEFI and BIOS emulation. You'll probably have better luck disabling UEFI mode and running in compatibility mode.
     
  14. Jon_Snow

    Jon_Snow MDL Novice

    May 17, 2016
    18
    3
    0
    Okay, the second install of Win7 from a Official Win 7 disk did the same damn thing!! :mad: Most of the drivers are bad. I get the feeling like it doesn't know the chipset and thus installs a generic one that FUBARS the connected componets like the USB and Ethernet port.

    The listed devices all have Splats on them (the exclamation mark)

    Arrrrghhhh!!!! I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy is holding. :throw:

    Where can I find this Rufus USB....?
     
  15. Bat.1

    Bat.1 MDL Expert

    Oct 18, 2014
    1,202
    1,388
    60
    #18 Bat.1, May 17, 2016
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  16. Jon_Snow

    Jon_Snow MDL Novice

    May 17, 2016
    18
    3
    0
    #19 Jon_Snow, May 17, 2016
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
    (OP)
    Thanks guys !!

    Bat1. -> I missed the first post you made on the first page because at the time I was making a post that went to page two. ...:eek: Sorry.

    I also did NOT catch you comment about putting the Rufus and Win 7 ISO on a USB 2 Thumb drive and use the USB 2 ports. That may be way it's not seeing it because the USB3 ports are not done or unavailable.

    At least that's what I think your saying.
    I also think your saying that I can put this all on a thumb drive and put into a USB 2 port and remove all the other partitions and then install a clean copy of windows 7.

    Am I correct in my thinking?

    I hope so because now there are several partitions and reserve drive space on the HD. I'd like to clean it all up and just have one OS -> Win 7.

    BTW I too am dragging.....I've only gotten a couple hrs sleep and my brain is now foggy due to lack of sleep and the meds I take at night at bedtime. Some of the meds help me sleep.
     
  17. Bat.1

    Bat.1 MDL Expert

    Oct 18, 2014
    1,202
    1,388
    60
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...