Can I still buy a computer with Windows 7?

linnemeyerhere said:

TonyEvil said:

The real problem is not whether Windows 7 will install over Windows 8, it will if you can boot from DVD or USB.

The real question is if you can find Windows 7 drivers for all your new hardware.

I remember reading that many Windows 8 laptops didn't allow for a Windows 7 install at all, somehow I remember the mobo had chips that prevented this or something. Does anyone have more details on that or am I a victim of poor internet reading skills?

You're close. Some manufacturers didn't make Win 7 drivers for their new Win 8 machines. In fact, HP proudly announced it (not surprising since they have a history of prematurely abandoning older technology).

The chip you are thinking about is actually a piece of...er...firmware called Secure Boot that blocked upgrading to Win 7 or installing any other OSes. Usually, that can be turned off so the availability of Win 7 drivers remains the only real issue to upgrading to Win 7.

linnemeyerhere said:

TonyEvil said:

The real problem is not whether Windows 7 will install over Windows 8, it will if you can boot from DVD or USB.

The real question is if you can find Windows 7 drivers for all your new hardware.

I remember reading that many Windows 8 laptops didn't allow for a Windows 7 install at all, somehow I remember the mobo had chips that prevented this or something. Does anyone have more details on that or am I a victim of poor internet reading skills?

Some OEM manufacturers are locking end-users out of the options in UEFI/ BIOS firmware on consumer PC’s, to install other OS's in UEFI mode, so you can only install in Legacy mode, on business PC’s there not.



Windows Hardware Certification Requirements for Client and Server Systems

Microsoft said:

Mandatory. On non-ARM systems, the platform MUST implement the ability for a physically present user to select between two Secure Boot modes in firmware setup: "Custom" and "Standard". Custom Mode allows for more flexibility as specified in the following:

It shall be possible for a physically present user to use the Custom Mode firmware setup option to modify the contents of the Secure Boot signature databases and the PK. This may be implemented by simply providing the option to clear all Secure Boot databases (PK, KEK, db, dbx), which puts the system into setup mode.

If the user ends up deleting the PK then, upon exiting the Custom Mode firmware setup, the system is operating in Setup Mode with SecureBoot turned off.

The firmware setup shall indicate if Secure Boot is turned on, and if it is operated in Standard or Custom Mode. The firmware setup must provide an option to return from Custom to Standard Mode which restores the factory defaults. On an ARM system, it is forbidden to enable Custom Mode. Only Standard Mode may be enabled.

Technical Note: UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS, Advantech(EN) - YouTube

My mom just bought an i5-based Inspiron from Dell about a month ago and ordered it with Win 7 Home Premium.

I think they're only doing Win 7 on one line of Inspirons now, though...they've gone all-in with Win 8.

I have an hp laptop came with windows 8. To instal 7 need to enable legacy boot in bios. Some drivers instal fine others will say wont work for windows 7. Between manufacturer drivers and the hp ones I got all mine working with very little effort. Worse case scenario is you google one that isn't working by hardware id and someone links a windows 7 version that does work on their forums. Haven't seen any stuck because they couldn't get things working.