What's wrong: CSM is ON, SecBoot is Off, HDD is MBR. Win7 x64

Apologies for another UEFI related thread. I've opened up about 10 tabs on this and most threads descend into chatter or skip a step that makes it unclear what the solution is.

I've seen the "Windows 7: UEFI - Install Windows 7 with" thread.
Steps 2, 4, 5 are done.
Step 6 I can't do as the interface does not come up. However I removed the drive and did it via diskpart on a seperate PC.
I can't proceed further.

I've a ASUS X540S which some seem to have gotten to work with Win7 x64. Not sure how, a step seems to be skipped when people discuss how they did it.

HDD: The 1TB HDD drive has had all partitions removed and GPT turned off (it is MBR). It is an empty drive.

'BIOS'
SATA Mode is AHCI (no other option ATM)
Launch CSM is Enabled
Launch PSE OpROM policy is Enabled
Secure Boot is Disabled
Secure Boot Control is Disabled

OS Disk
Retail Windows 7 x64 DVD

Windows 10 Drivers on a USB stick. (figure I'd install them once I get to the desktop.)

I was getting a 'red bar of death' at the Windows Logo screen but now I'm getting a 0x0000007E error after changing to the above settings.

I'm guessing one little thing is wrong and that is the show stopper. Not sure which, this UEFI thing is new to me, I assumed with 'Legacy support' enabled and going back to the old drive setup Windows Setup would do the rest but I can't get that far.

As your ASUS X540S came with Win 10, you MUST generate the factory recover disks before attempting to install Win 7 so if something goes wrong you can still restore your OS (Win 10).
Some new laptops aren't able to run Win 7. As your laptop has UEFI BIOS you should try to install Win 7 64 as UEFI / GPT.
Witch Windows Logo was / is giving error: from installation disk or after HDD install?
Do you have mouse when you boot from installation media? Is your win 7 retail DVD SP1?

ThrashZone said:

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Did you disable fast start in windows 10 first in power options ?

I'd image disabling fast start in bios is also a good thing to do.

Closest things I have in the BIOS to "Fast Start" is 'Wake n Lid Open' and 'SMART test on Start'.

Megahertz07 said:

Some new laptops aren't able to run Win 7. As your laptop has UEFI BIOS you should try to install Win 7 64 as UEFI / GPT.

Well I tried booting from the Win7 DVD as the computer was with Windows 10 (so setup with GPT) but windows wouldn't let me, just rebooted to Win10 Desktop.
So I did the startup options to allow bootup changes and it still couldn't let me, just rebooted to Win10 Desktop.
I assumed Windows 10 was getting in the way so I removed all the partitions / data, without changing any BIOS settings and I got the red bar error. This felt like progress as it was just a case of getting the Windows Setup to boot then.
I'm not fussed how I get Windows 7 working, just that it does. I feel like there is just one variable wrong stopping me getting past either the red bar or the 0x0000007E error.

Megahertz07 said:

Witch Windows Logo was / is giving error: from installation disk or after HDD install?

When starting from the Windows 7 DVD.
Before I turned on CSM it was the 0x0000007E error.
After I turned on CSM etc it was this red bar halt:
When it says "Starting Windows", just like this: http://i.stack.imgur.com/2sF7H.png

Is it Lenovo or Asus laptop?

megahertz07 said:

is it lenovo or asus laptop?

asus x540s

The bad news are that, on some new hardware, Win 7 can't be installed. Is Windows 7 x64 UEFI install even possible?

Useful help so far. Thank you very much Ladies and Gents. I've made a custom Windows 7 USB install with all the drivers I could find from the previous Windows 10 install. The installer ran with the keyboard working but without trackpad support (I figure I can fix that later). The install process completed and Windows went to boot for the first time.

I got first one then another error message.

File: \Windows\system32\DRIVERS\msisadrv.sys (Status 0xc0000428)
"Cannot verify the digital Signature."

So in the boot menu I choose to ignore whether a driver is verified or not.

Then I get this message:

File: \Windows\system32\DRIVERS\vdrvroot.sys (Status 0xc0000098)
"Windows failed to load because a required file is missing or corrupt."

I've tried to run repair my computer from the original Windows 7 disk and it says that that Install DVD is not supported for the repair action?!?

I've tried booting into safe mode and the computer crashes.

This is a new computer the hard drive should not have bad sectors on it.

Does this file need replacing / how can I replace this file?

The ASUS X540S (https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/X540SA/specifications/) can come with Intel® Pentium® Quad-Core N3700 Processor, Intel® Celeron® Dual-Core N3050 Processor, or Intel® Celeron® Dual-Core N3150 Processor.
From Intel https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/ww...000005526.html
N3700, N3050 and N3150 are NOT compatible with Win 7 and are ONLY compatible with Win 10.