UEFI problems on windows 7 reinstall

Hi there

A week or so ago I installed windows 7(SP1) on my computer, the install went fine right till I installed the graphics drivers. When I re-booted I got a warning about the Bios had noticed a change, and the only way I could boot into windows 7 was to change my BIOS from Windows UEFI to 'Other OS' (I don't have the option to disable secure boot) I then put back an image of windows 10 back on my computer, which worked fine with UEFI set to windows.

Now when I go to fresh install windows 7 it installs fine to the point where it is setting windows up, I then get a blue screen with an error message It only stays a few seconds before asking me to reboot and then disappears so i cant even read the message. on reboot it gives me the same message that it cannot complete setup unless I restart, and so starts an endless loop. This is before I get to the point that I install the graphics, motherboard or any other drivers.

Is it possible that the NVIDIA card driver (that was previously installed) updated something in the cards BIOS that makes it incompatible with Windows 7 installs ?

This exact hardware setup has had windows 7 on before with no problems.

Andy

Megahertz07 said:

On new motherboards, there is an option of the OS (Win 8 or 10) and Other. For Win 7 the right set is Other. It the opens a CSM option to set UEFI or Legacy modes for drives and add on cards.
Please give us the brand and model of your MB.

Hi there

My motherboard is an ASUS Z97-K

I did try settings the secure boot to 'other os' but got the same result, not sure what the CSM options are ?

The confusing thing is that windows 7 installed fine last week, when i installed the graphics card driver, is when i had the problem. Now If i reinstall i get the error message.

I have tried a fresh install of both Linux mint and Windows 10 anniversary update (iso) and they worked fine

Win 8 and 10 has different boot sequence, that is why OS must be set to Other.
CSM is Compatibility Support Module. On the manual, (http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...web_hi-res.pdf) page 80/90 item 2.8.9 you have the options to set:
Boot Devices Control - UEFI only
Boot from Network Devices - Ignore
Boot from Storage Devices - UEFI driver first
Secure Boot - OS Type - Other

Beware, you're going do clean all the HDD.
- Boot your Win 7 installation on UEFI mode, go to install, custom, advanced, delete all partitions, create a new one (Win will create 3 partitions) and proceed.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Yep welcome to an asus mother board :)
After installing Microsoft Update KB3133977 for Windows 7, some users may encounter a "Secure Boot Violation" , which makes the system fail to boot into the operating system.

CMS should be enabled and everything beside the above should be fine at default settings.

This assumes you have a ntfs 100mb system reserved or no system reserved at all

If you have a efi system reserved or 2 system reserved it might be different.

That's good information, but here I'm talking about a fresh install no updates have been applied, the computer has not even been exposed to the internet at this time.

It's while installing from the DVD, it gets to the point in the install when it normally goes to a higher resolution and asks form the key before going on the the desktop for the first time. no drivers/updates have at that time been installed at all.

I had installed Windows 7 on the same machine a few weeks ago with no problems, on that occasion I only got the UEFI warning AFTER I had installed the NVIDIA drivers, changing the BIOS to 'Other OS' allowed me to boot properly at that time (after windows had already been installed) , this is why I suspect that the driver update may have altered the BIOS or basic function of the graphics card (if that's possible)

But even if i use 'Other OS' right from the start it still fails to complete installation

Is your BIOS up to date?
I think the problem is on the BIOS configuration or on the way you install Win 7. Have a close look at the BIOS configuratio.

Megahertz07 said:

Is your BIOS up to date?
I think the problem is on the BIOS configuration or on the way you install Win 7. Have a close look at the BIOS configuratio.

Hi Mega

BIOS is the latest, and yes I agree that does seem to be the problem, I've installed windows 7 at least 10 times on this rig with exactly the same hardware, and once with the current BIOS.

Windows 10 and Windows 10 anniversary update install just fine, and once installed the computer runs fine, I've done a RAM and graphics card test (by running it hard in games) no problems, so I suspect like you that my problem is in some configuration setting that only affects Windows 7 fresh install.

This is why I wonder if NVIDIA force-ware drivers also update the graphic card BIOS as it was after an update to the driver on the last install of windows 7 . where all my problems started.