Laptops that come without OS usually have an expensive disadvantage, the rest has Win 10. So, a basic question: Is it possible to wipe the disc completely and install Win 7? Ot is it not as simple as that? Thanks
As long as you can find drivers, and if the machine uses UEFI, you use a modded 7 or enable CSM in the BIOS, then it should install fine
I have a Acer desktop that came with Windows 8 and the only way to install Windows 7 on it would be to roll back the bios to an earlier version and I did not want to do that, Is a modded 7 a way to get around that and if so could you point me in the right direction.
Why would you need to roll back to an earlier BIOS? Just look for Murphy78's up to date Windows 7 ISOs, it includes UEFI
Thank you, so basically what I need are the drivers. Is there a point in asking which ones? Or would the answer be something like 83? If not, where would I find a list and where the correct drivers drivers, would somethuing like Speccy give me the information that I need about "my" computer, so I can start collecting the drivers on another computer. Then install first the drivers or Win 7? If you get the feeling I am not to savvy with computers, you are correct, on the other hand, I have not found any other way of learning... Thank You for your help, I appreciate it as always
The bios blocks anything less than Windows 8, It has nothing to do with UEFI Edit: I did try Murphy78
An earlier BIOS I could get from my Motherboard supplier? For my desktop, I picked the parts myself, for a desktop I cannot do that. What should I look out for?
Can You give the model number. Something I've never heard of before and I'd like to learn about that.
Brand: Acer Product Name: Aspire M3420 SNID: 23903692392 I bought the computer new from one of the big box store's, Not sure what year but it was when Windows 8 first came out. If you look on the Acer website for my model it was originally built for Windows 7 but they updated the BIOS to blacklist the Windows 7 installer. If I rolled back the BIOS to an earlier version I could have installed 7 and then upgrade the BIOS after installing and it would of worked fine. Years ago when I searched on how to install Windows 7 I only found one post on the Acer forums that explained it.
Use one of the USB2 ports instead of the USB3 ports on the MOBO Not sure if that Model has UEFI but if it does disable secure boot in the BIOS. Nothing I Personally know of with American Megatrends BIOS on the A75 chipset would blacklist a OS. The upgrades I've installed were only to allow newer Gen CPUs to be installed. And Yes Bat learned and then re-learned to upgrade the BIOS Before upgrading the CPU
I used a USB 2 - 4 gig drive and did use the USB 2 port. I disabled UEFI. Acer blacklisted the Windows 7 installer from completing the install.
wow this is totally stupid.. Maybe you can trick the installer by moving the Windows 7 installer.wim to a Windows 8 PE based installation disc/usb stick? Or install Windows 7 inside a Virtual Machine that uses the physical hard drive as vhd.
Probably because Microsoft told them to, Or gave them a wheelbarrow full of money. When Microsoft releases a new OS they want as many people to use it as they can and will do anything in their power to bump up the numbers.
They likely don't want to provide any kind of support for older operating systems. On another note, it's kind of disgusting what blocks OEMs put into their firmware. The worse one I've heard of is a newer HP laptop that comes in two models, one with a M.2 SSD included, and the other without. Both use the same motherboard and thus, both include M.2 ports. The one without the M.2 SSD however has a BIOS blacklist that prevents the installation of any M.2 SSD. Wtf... I have a $1000 Acer gaming laptop atm that's a joke also with BIOS settings. I've examined my BIOS file and there are a ton of fun and useful settings, but of course they're locked away. And of course Acer went through fun times making sure I can't unlock them either (UEFI variables locked, flash registers locked, Insyde's SecureFlash enabled, and even some low-level signature check that prevents me from simply flashing custom firmware to the chip directly with a SPI flasher). I've never been so upset with a BIOS until this laptop... Going a little off-topic though On another note, why does Windows 7 in UEFI need a newer (unofficial) image? I thought the official images could do UEFI if you moved some files around?
Acer BIOSes are lacking of CSM mode option so installing Windows 7 is nearly impossible (it is possible if you remove MS standard generic VGA driver). But I wouldn't recommend to try this way since its kinda risky since booting in the safe mode is impossible without MS generic VGA driver. On other hand, there's always a option to switch to Legacy Bios (in Acer BIOSes) but you know formatting to MBR is mandatory.