Any "gotchas" when backleveling from Win10 to Win7?

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  1. enxio27
    Posts : 41
    Win7 Professional 64-bit SP1
       New #1

    Any "gotchas" when backleveling from Win10 to Win7?


    I have a brand new HP ProBook 455 (A10-8700P CPU) that came with Win10. I would like to backlevel it to Win7 using a clean install (from DVD), including a repartition of the hard drive. (I've done clean installs before, including backleveling from Win8.1 to Win7, so this isn't my first rodeo.) As near as I can tell, the BIOS supports legacy boot, and the CPU supports Win7. I've already created recovery disks, just in case I screw something up.

    Any other "gotchas" I need to be aware of? Any other prep I need to do before I take the plunge?
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  3. Osprey
    Posts : 24
    Windows 7/10
       New #2

    You must disable Secure Boot in UEFI firmware (BIOS), because Secure Boot is not compatible with Windows 7.

    HP ProBook 455 G3, AMD A10-8700P http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c04797413.pdf

    "Windows 10 versions, Windows 8.1 versions, Windows 7 versions, or FreeDOS 2.0"
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  4. Megahertz07
    Posts : 7,351
    Windows 7 HP 64
       New #3

    Very well done. As you already have the Factory restore disks, you are ready to try to install Win 7.
    You should install Win 7 64 on UEFI mode. Win 32 only boots under legacy mode.
    As Osprey mentioned, you must disable Secure Boot in UEFI firmware (BIOS), because Secure Boot is not compatible with Windows 7. Some call it CSM (Compatible System Mode) that must then be set to enabled.
    Boot your Win 7 installation media on UEFI mode, go advanced, clean all partitions, create new and proceed. It will create 3 partitions, UEFI-FAT32 , MS reserved -Raw and Win 7 NTFS.
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  6. townsbg
    Posts : 1,850
    Windows 7 pro
       New #4

    You will need manufacturer's drivers. Lucky for you there are some for 7. The listed drivers say home basic or home premium. It doesn't matter which you use as long as you select 64-bit for a 64-bit OS. Also your Windows 7 disk will have to be a retail one. It cannot be from a computer manufacturer. Only retail disks are transferable from one system to another. If you bought the disk from ebay or amazon be wary that it could be pirated and hence not likely activate or change it's status later on.
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  7. enxio27
    Posts : 41
    Win7 Professional 64-bit SP1
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Thanks! I had the idea that Secure Boot and UEFI had to go hand-in-hand. It appears from the previous responses that this is not the case. What are the advantages of GPT/UEFI over MBR? Will keeping the UEFI mess me up if/when I decide to add a dual-boot to Linux (Mint)?
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  8. Megahertz07
    Posts : 7,351
    Windows 7 HP 64
       New #6

    On Legacy / MBR you have only one master boot loader and from there it takes to the other.
    On an UEFI you may have many boot loaders, one for each OS. You choose witch OS to boot from by pressing F12 during POST. It's like having multi disks in one disk.
    I have a desktop with Win 7 and Lubuntu on a 128G SSD. My data files are on an large HDD. During POST I choose witch OS I want to boot and I can access my data files on the HDD. It works very well.
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  10. enxio27
    Posts : 41
    Win7 Professional 64-bit SP1
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    Megahertz07 said:
    I have a desktop with Win 7 and Lubuntu on a 128G SSD.
    Does Linux play nice with UEFI? (I'm wondering specifically about Mint.)
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  11. Megahertz07
    Posts : 7,351
    Windows 7 HP 64
       New #8

    Lubuntu does.
    I found this article Linux Mint 17: Hands-on with UEFI Secure Boot | ZDNet.
    It says it is even compatible with Secure boot (But win 7 isn't).
    This article says it is not compatible with Secure boot https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_rafaela_cinnamon.php
    Both says it's compatible with UEFI.
    So if you disable Secure boot, enable CSM with UEFI, both Win7 64 and Linux Mint will be able to install under UEFI.
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  12. enxio27
    Posts : 41
    Win7 Professional 64-bit SP1
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    Thanks, Megahertz07. I'll take a look at those.
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  13. ThrashZone
    Posts : 20,583
    Win-7-Pro64bit 7-H-Prem-64bit
       New #10

    Hi,
    It's a heck of a lot easier to test using a totally different hard drive or ssd with installing win-7 or especially linux :)
    If it doesn't work just install the original hdd back in it = done.

    Back up disks often fail.
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