Installing W7 on new laptop

[Amaryllis]

I have just ordered a new Acer Aspire 3 15.6in Athlon Silver 8GB 1TB Laptop with W10 and when it arrives I want to install Windows 7 Ultimate x64 as the sole OS. I have a retail copy on disc to create a bootable USB. Are there any compatability issues with a new laptop? I have wifi and graphics software for my old CQ58 which were downloaded from HP, will these be compatible on an Acer? Thanks.



https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9192562

 

[SIW2]

I expect you will need to update that installation media before attempting to install win7 on your new machine.

Update your Win 7 installation media

In addition, there are drivers for amd apu, not clear if they work on the athlon

Win-x-Ryzen-APU-Video-driver

 

[Amaryllis]

I expect you will need to update that installation media before attempting to install win7 on your new machine.

Update your Win 7 installation media


Thanks. Do I need to do that before I reformat? Do I put it on a separate partition?


I was planning to wipe everything and then boot from USB, on the assumption that any software that was missing would be available here, or somewhere.

 

[SIW2]

Do I need to do that before I reformat?

Yes. Update your win7 installation media as in that post. Then create a bootable usb stick containing the updated media.

Do I put it on a separate partition?

It would be wise to install win7 to a separate partition , so whatever your machine came with ( presumably win10 ) will still be intact.

You might have to hunt for some drivers for win7 assuming it installs ok - touchpad for example.

 

[Amaryllis]

Yes. Update your win7 installation media as in that post. Then create a bootable usb stick containing the updated media.



It would be wise to install win7 to a separate partition , so whatever your machine came with ( presumably win10 ) will still be intact.

You might have to hunt for some drivers for win7 assuming it installs ok - touchpad for example.

Good advice, it might be a bit rash to delete W10 before I get W7 up and running. One other question I have is about the copy of W7 that I have. When I bought this laptop eight years ago I didn't realise that it had W8 on it. I couldn't believe how awful it was, but thankfully a friend who runs a tech company gave me a retail copy of W7 and its key. I have reformatted this laptop several times over the years with it, but I'm wondering if I install this on a new machine, would he be charged for it? If so, do you know how much that would be for a small tech company?

 

[Amaryllis]

I have just read the other thread 'MS virus.' The disc that I was given is a blank disc but I was given a key which I have used several times to authenticate it. I have always assumed that it is legit, that it is licensed through his tech company, which is why I was wondering if he might be charged if I authenticate it on a new machine.

 

[SIW2]

I don't know, you would need to ask him.

 

[Megahertz07]

Win 7 has basically 3 license types:
- SLP that is the kind of license that comes with OEM computers (Dell, HP etc) This license is to be used only on the computer that came with it. It can't be transferred to another.
- OEM small builders is a license to be used by small computer builders. Once it is activated on a computer it will only activate on that computer.
- Retail license is a license you buy to be used on a computer you build, It can be transferred and used on another computer.

What license you have?

 

[SIW2]

An older machine might have a slic table. Doubt the new one does.

 

[Blake81]

As someone who installed Win7 in a brand new laptop not long ago, I can tell you that you may have problems with the drives- BIG PROBLEMS.

The Win7 I installed came with ZERO DRIVERS (even though it was the same one I've installed and have reinstalled thousand time on my main PC); no keyboard, no touchpad, no usb, no Ethernet, no mouse, no NOTHING- Computer was basically a vegetable.

I had to pull the HDD out (which thankfully, was easy to take out) and hook it to my desk PC so I could boot from it, look up all the drivers and install them on it. And it the end, there were many drivers (like touchpad, or caps lights) I was never able to find, as they simply didn't exist for Win7.

Still, the laptop works great now, and I haven't had any problems with it, so there's that.

My best advice is that, rather than doing the install IN the laptop, you take the HDD out, hook it to a Desk PC, and do the install from there.

 

[Amaryllis]

What license you have?[/QUOTE]




I did the check on the command prompt and it says it is retail. I was wondering that it may be licensed through a company and they may be charged each time it is authenticated on a new machine. He probably didn't imagine that I would want to use it eight years later on a new laptop. He would be the person to ask but I haven't seen him for about five years. The cost would be a drop in the ocean of his very succesful company, but it would be a bit presumptuous if I knew he would be charged.

 

[Amaryllis]

As someone who installed Win7 in a brand new laptop not long ago, I can tell you that you may have problems with the drives- BIG PROBLEMS.

The Win7 I installed came with ZERO DRIVERS (even though it was the same one I've installed and have reinstalled thousand time on my main PC); no keyboard, no touchpad, no usb, no Ethernet, no mouse, no NOTHING- Computer was basically a vegetable.

I had to pull the HDD out (which thankfully, was easy to take out) and hook it to my desk PC so I could boot from it, look up all the drivers and install them on it. And it the end, there were many drivers (like touchpad, or caps lights) I was never able to find, as they simply didn't exist for Win7.

Still, the laptop works great now, and I haven't had any problems with it, so there's that.

My best advice is that, rather than doing the install IN the laptop, you take the HDD out, hook it to a Desk PC, and do the install from there.

Did you use a mouse instead of the touchpad? As was suggested, I was going to keep W10 and install W7 on a new partition. Wouldn't I also be able to download any drivers on my old laptop and transfer them? I looked at the Acer site and they have lots of different drivers for different models. I assumed they would have anything needed.

 

[Blake81]

Did you use a mouse instead of the touchpad? As was suggested, I was going to keep W10 and install W7 on a new partition. Wouldn't I also be able to download any drivers on my old laptop and transfer them? I looked at the Acer site and they have lots of different drivers for different models. I assumed they would have anything needed.

Yeah, I used a mouse for it. It's (was) my college laptop (now it's my grandma's laptop).

And yes, you would be able to DL your drivers from your old laptop. Problem would be knowing WHICH drivers; some things, like USB, can be very, VERY finicky to accept a driver other than their own. Best way to do it is searching by the Hardware IDs, but to do that, you would have to have the Win7 already installed, and boot from it... which without mouse or keyboard can be a tough situation.

 

[RolandJS]

Since Windows 10 will remain intact, to gamble on Windows 7 installation may be a good gamble. To head off Murphy's Law of "Uhoh, a wrong choice somewhere, the entire HDD became one partition" -- make a full image backup of the OS partitions onto any reliable external usb device - such as an SSD or HDD.

 

[SIW2]

Did you use a mouse instead of the touchpad? As was suggested, I was going to keep W10 and install W7 on a new partition. Wouldn't I also be able to download any drivers on my old laptop and transfer them?

Yes. You could integrate the usb3 stack which works for all mobo usb3 to my knowledge.
It is not guaranteed that you will find drivers for everything, e.g. touchpad in which case, you could use a mouse.

There arent any successful win7 drivers for intel comet lake graphics.

You can find out by trying it.

Update your Win 7 installation media