Help Trying To Install Windows 7 - New Computer

Hiskid1973 · 06 Mar 2018

I purchased a newer computer that came with W8 that was upgraded to W10. I'd like to add the 500 GB drive from the old one and put a fresh copy of W-7 on it. I have W10 looking more like 7 but have legacy programs I'd like to keep using. First I tried removing the W10 drive and loading W7 but it said something about mbr and gpt. I d-loaded partition guru and changed it I guess. The old windows was still there so I really don't know if I changed anything. Anyway I put the W10 drive back in and attached the W7 drive. I have a thumb drive I made with boot able W10pe and W7pe. I booted to the W7pe and it loaded, picked the correct drive, but then it alerted to"setup unable to create a new system partition" ect...Any help for an old timer so I don't mess up the W10 drive with all the W7 back up files. Thanks Hk.

PS Will the old W7 Home Premium retail activation still work on the same brand but newer computer ? If not can I still buy a new activation code yet ?

Snick · 06 Mar 2018

Hi Hiskid1973,

What legacy programs are you trying to run?

Have you tried running the legacy programs in compatibility mode?

Do you have a retail Windows 7 with valid 25-character product key? If so, it will work, providing that key is not in use on another computer.

I'd do a system image of the drive you are going to experiment on (save on external hard drive or another drive of your choice). General consensus on SevenForums is Macrium Reflect Free, I agree with this choice, however, I use AOMEI Backupper Free. It has a simple GUI (graphical user interface) and is easy for the newbie/novice to navigate. You can mount the backup, then in computer, choose the drive and access everything on the image. If your experiment doesn't work, you can restore the drive with the image and all is as it was!

mrjimphelps · 07 Mar 2018

If you are happy running Windows 10 on your computer, you can use Hyper-V to set up a Windows 7 virtual machine within Windows 10. This would be an easy way to run your legacy programs within Windows 10.

In order to be able to run Hyper-V, you'll need to be running 64-bit (not 32-bit) Windows 10, and it needs to be either Pro, Enterprise, or Education. You'll also need to have enough memory. If you are going to run the virtual machine only every now and then, you should be able to get by with 4 GB of RAM in the computer. But if you will use the VM regularly, then you should have at least 8 GB of RAM in the computer.

If you have Windows 10 64-bit Home version, then you will need to use something other than Hyper-V; you could try VMWare Workstation Player or Oracle Virtual Box. However, if you have 32-bit Windows 10, then I wouldn't recommend going the virtual machine route.

A Windows 7 VM will be an easy way to be able to run your Windows 7 programs for many years to come, while keeping the latest version of Windows on the computer.

Barman58 · 07 Mar 2018

Just a few points, what you decide to do is, as always, a decision that only you can make ...

If you were running an OEM windows 7, ( one that came with the computer), then you will need to purchase a new copy of Windows 7 - this would be required for the older style of Multi-Booting and for the new Virtual Machine method. These licence keys are still available but are beginning to get expensive - I have seen prices of US $150 upwards . also probably around 90% of the Windows 7 Operating Systems offered for sale are Counterfeit or otherwise illegal.

If you do go this way ...

Only buy from a supplier that you can fully trust, and offer a full refund, you can try large well known online retail outlets, but in these cases it's better to look for a small "Mom & Pop" store with old unopened stock
Never buy a key code only, always buy a fully shrink wrapped sealed OS package with the Key inside (those visible on outside are often already used.

Depending on your location I have seen refurbished complete systems for reasonable prices including the OS - is this an option?
Buy Cheap Desktop Windows 7 Systems at Morgan Computers

I have only occasionally seen software that will not run on a later version of the Windows OS that they were written for, these were invariably always Special purpose Business Software, System Utilities, or badly written games - if you are trapped into one of these then you will need to either find an alternative or find a way to Run Windows 7, either of which could cost a substantial amount of money

Bat 1 · 07 Mar 2018

Your old dc7900 has the HDD partitioned in MBR while the New PC is partitioned in UEFI. Going by what you posted in Your last thread Need Help With Setting/fixing Up HP dc8300 USDT Computer - Windows 7 Help Forums I'd say you could dual boot by going into BIOS at boot up, turning Off Secure Boot and changing the setting from UEFI to Legacy supported. You could then change to boot from the Win 7 HDD first.

If I skipped anything in translating Cajun to Murrican, can someone correct this since it's time for my nap

Hiskid1973 · 07 Mar 2018

Bat 1 said:

Your old dc7900 has the HDD partitioned in MBR while the New PC is partitioned in UEFI. Going by what you posted in Your last thread Need Help With Setting/fixing Up HP dc8300 USDT Computer - Windows 7 Help Forums I'd say you could dual boot by going into BIOS at boot up, turning Off Secure Boot and changing the setting from UEFI to Legacy supported. You could then change to boot from the Win 7 HDD first.

If I skipped anything in translating Cajun to Murrican, can someone correct this since it's time for my nap

Thanks . I Have a thump drive with 10 and 7pe. Win 10 is working good in the main slot. I have the drive for 7 is in a cd drive holder. I put the thumb drive in to boot. It goes through and highlights the correct drive that has two healthy partitions on it. Next produces this : "setup was unable to create a new system partition or find ..." Not sure how to proceed.

Bat 1 · 07 Mar 2018

OK so you're trying to make a fresh install using a PE and AFAIK that ain't gonna work. You'll need a Win 7 ISO and Key to activate it, To not complicate things I'd advise removing the Win 10 drive cables. You'll need to do what I posted above as well as being sure to use the USB 2 ports on the Motherboard for the Install USB drive. Please Note: Advisory: HP Compaq Elite 8300 Desktop PCs - USB 2.0 Ports on the Backplane May Be Confused With USB 3.0 Ports | HPÂ® Customer Support so you won't get confused.

Since You're making a fresh install you'll want to delete the partitions on the HDD and left Windows create new ones. You can install MBR since the Drive is already initialized that way or You can use diskpart to initialize the HDD to UEFI. I usually just do it the easy way using Disc Management while the drive is plugged into a working PC.

Hiskid1973 · 08 Mar 2018

Thanks. I got it working. Deleted everything and let the W7 take over. It loaded, re-booted and I loaded the network driver. It went online and activated in a few minutes. Evidently letting windows do it's own thing rather that me doing the partiitioning/formatting worked. Thanks and God bless.

Bat 1 · 08 Mar 2018

Hiskid1973 said:

Thanks. I got it working. Deleted everything and let the W7 take over. It loaded, re-booted and I loaded the network driver. It went online and activated in a few minutes. Evidently letting windows do it's own thing rather that me doing the partiitioning/formatting worked. Thanks and God bless.

Nice to read you got it :) Sometimes maybe Microsoft does know what's best