Solved Can I Clean Install 7 On An HP Pavilion Laptop That Has 10?

[Calliope]

I am planning to purchase a brand new laptop that is an HP Pavilion 17. It has Windows 10 Professional 64 bit pre-installed on it, and I have purchased an OEM to downgrade it to Windows 7 Professional 64 bit via a clean install. Doing this via the optical drive, and not the usb method, will there be any problems involved with doing this?

I have read of people being unable to do this with some laptops via usb, and wondered if that extended to the optical drive. I have read of the various issues with Dell.

I know how to do the clean install of 7, since I did one for my current computer (a desktop about a decade old now, also HP; and I installed a different OEM of 7 on my father’s computer) about 4 years ago to upgrade from XP to Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit. I think I know where to find the drivers on HP's site following any clean installation. It’s just the question on if I’ll have be running into any problems getting 7 to install on HP these days.

Is it just a matter of making certain it’s not a 7th generation processor when I purchase the laptop, or do I need to be on the lookout for more to avoid?

 

[mrjimphelps]

If you can be sure to get a Haswell or Broadwell CPU (4th or 5th Generation), AND if you can get Windows 7 drivers for your laptop, then you shouldn't have any problem. I personally wouldn't spend the money for anything newer than a Broadwell CPU if I were going to go with Windows 7 - it's too much of a risk that you might not be able to do Windows updates.

 

[Calliope]

If you can be sure to get a Haswell or Broadwell CPU (4th or 5th Generation), AND if you can get Windows 7 drivers for your laptop, then you shouldn't have any problem. I personally wouldn't spend the money for anything newer than a Broadwell CPU if I were going to go with Windows 7 - it's too much of a risk that you might not be able to do Windows updates.

Thank you!

 

[mrjimphelps]

Scroll to the bottom of this page:
http://store.hp.com/us/en/mlp/busin...1400_us/en/ips/business_laptops/elite/viewall

There are some brand new HP laptops available with Windows 7 pre-installed. They have 6th Generation CPUs, so likely they are on the approved list for Windows 7 updates. However, they are quite expensive.

Dell has some new Windows 7 laptops which are a lot cheaper than HP:
http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/sc/laptops?appliedRefinements=6633

When you go to the Dell website, if you go to the "business" computers, you can specify that you want Windows 7.

 

[Calliope]

Scroll to the bottom of this page:
http://store.hp.com/us/en/mlp/busin...1400_us/en/ips/business_laptops/elite/viewall

There are some brand new HP laptops available with Windows 7 pre-installed. They have 6th Generation CPUs, so likely they are on the approved list for Windows 7 updates. However, they are quite expensive.

Dell has some new Windows 7 laptops which are a lot cheaper than HP:
http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/sc/laptops?appliedRefinements=6633

When you go to the Dell website, if you go to the "business" computers, you can specify that you want Windows 7.

Again, thank you for all the help. I'll certainly be sifting through the HP store again (and checking various local places that I know of) shortly, because I likely missed several of those on the approved list, while looking primarily at the 17 inch Pavilions.

 

[Calliope]

If you can be sure to get a Haswell or Broadwell CPU (4th or 5th Generation), AND if you can get Windows 7 drivers for your laptop, then you shouldn't have any problem. I personally wouldn't spend the money for anything newer than a Broadwell CPU if I were going to go with Windows 7 - it's too much of a risk that you might not be able to do Windows updates.

As I was sifting through and ruling out the ones that wouldn't be compatible, when I ended up going to Amazon, I've got a question. What about AMD A12-9700P? Would it be possible to install Windows 7 with that one? They aren't Intel, but I wasn't sure if that extended to AMD with blocking 7.

 

[mrjimphelps]

AMD also has certain CPUs which will allow Windows 7 updates and certain ones which won't. However, I'm not up on which ones will and which ones won't.

 

[Megahertz07]

Win 7 isn't compatible with secure boot, so the most important thing to look at the new laptop is if you can disable it. On BIOS it can be as OS=other and/or CSM=enable.

You can install win 7 on 6th (skylake) and 7th (kabylake) generation Intel systems, although, 7th (kabylake) is more tricky.
As 6th (skylake) and 7th (kabylake) chipsets doesn't have USB 2.0 (only 3.x) you will have to add have USB 3.x drivers to the installation disk. It's also the same for M.2 and SATA drivers.
I've never installed win 7 on new gen AMD, but it's the same issue.
Read my tutorial Create a Windows 7 USB flash installation with new drives for new MB's - Windows 7 Help Forums

As there are many pirates copies of Win 7, only buy from trusted sources.
Have a look at the laptops you like, take note of the brand and model and place here so we can have a look at the specifications.

 

[Calliope]

Win 7 isn't compatible with secure boot, so the most important thing to look at the new laptop is if you can disable it. On BIOS it can be as OS=other and/or CSM=enable.

You can install win 7 on 6th (skylake) and 7th (kabylake) generation Intel systems, although, 7th (kabylake) is more tricky.
As 6th (skylake) and 7th (kabylake) chipsets doesn't have USB 2.0 (only 3.x) you will have to add have USB 3.x drivers to the installation disk. It's also the same for M.2 and SATA drivers.
I've never installed win 7 on new gen AMD, but it's the same issue.
Read my tutorial Create a Windows 7 USB flash installation with new drives for new MB's - Windows 7 Help Forums

As there are many pirates copies of Win 7, only buy from trusted sources.
Have a look at the laptops you like, take note of the brand and model and place here so we can have a look at the specifications.

I won't be doing it via USB, but by an OEM CD-ROM if that makes a difference. I spotted the thing about the USB 3.x drivers issue, from reading through the forums, and have read your tutorial. (I printed it out just in case, at one point.)

 

[Megahertz07]

If it the new laptop only have USB 3.x ports, you may not have mouse / touch pad and keyboard (they can use USB) to install from a DVD. And you may not see the disk if a new SATA driver is required.

 

[Calliope]

If it the new laptop only have USB 3.x ports, you may not have mouse / touch pad and keyboard (they can use USB) to install from a DVD. And you may not see the disk if a new SATA driver is required.

Thank you for the warning!

I just checked the specs of the one I have an interest in right now, and luckily it has two USB 2.0 ports. There is only one USB 3.0 port. I'll find out about the driver.

 

[Megahertz07]

Thank you for the warning!

I just checked the specs of the one I have an interest in right now, and luckily it has two USB 2.0 ports. There is only one USB 3.0 port. I'll find out about the driver.

What is the brand and model of the one you have an interest?
I want to find out the chipset it has.

Before you buy, you can talk to the seller and ask if you can boot from the win 7 installation DVD. Once booted, go to install and see if you have mouse and if you can see the disk. Also pay attention if it says it has to load a driver from a cd/dvd. Then abort the installation.

 

[Calliope]

What is the brand and model of the one you have an interest?
I want to find out the chipset it has.

Before you buy, you can talk to the seller and ask if you can boot from the win 7 installation DVD. Once booted, go to install and see if you have mouse and if you can see the disk. Also pay attention if it says it has to load a driver from a cd/dvd. Then abort the installation.

Thank you for the tip. It's the HP Pavilion 17-y006cy, with touch screen capability. The one I'm looking at has 2 TB of hard drive space, and 12 GB of RAM. It is "2.5GHz seventh-generation AMD A12-9700P quad-core accelerated processor with 2MB cache, up to 3.4GHz," if that helps with the chipset.

I'm starting to wonder if it might very well be easier all around (and fewer potential drivers being missing unexpectedly) if I simply created a dual boot between 10 and 7 after a purchase of the laptop, and then simply primarily used 7. I just don't know if that would cause any conflicts, since 10 would be the Home version, and 7 would be Professional. However, both would be 64 bit.

 

[Megahertz07]

My suggestion: Buy a SSD. See if the laptop has a second HDD doc.
If it has, buy a small SSD (128G or 256G). If it doesn't, buy one to your needs. Buy a USB 3.0 case to put the original HDD.
With the SSD, replace the HDD and try to install win 7 on it. If you find out you can't run Win 7 on the laptop, clone and resize the original HDD into the SSD and use the HDD on the USB case for backups.

This site Notebook APU Drivers
says that you can install win 7 64 with the AMD A12-9700P

Touch screen probably won't work on Win 7

 

[Calliope]

My suggestion: Buy a SSD. See if the laptop has a second HDD doc.
If it has, buy a small SSD (128G or 256G). If it doesn't, buy one to your needs. Buy a USB 3.0 case to put the original HDD.
With the SSD, replace the HDD and try to install win 7 on it. If you find out you can't run Win 7 on the laptop, clone and resize the original HDD into the SSD and use the HDD on the USB case for backups.

This site Notebook APU Drivers

says that you can install win 7 64 with the AMD A12-9700P

Touch screen probably won't work on Win 7

That's fine by me, since I didn't particularly need the touch screen feature. It was just the best selection I found. I just needed an upgrade from my older desktop that was almost a decade old at this point, and was nearing the end.

Thank you for the link, as well! I'll see about finding out if it does have a second HDD doc, and get an SSD to do a test run.

 

[Calliope]

I have successfully done a clean install on the laptop to change it to Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, and activated it. I have reinstalled almost all of the drivers that would be necessary for it, and regained access to the internet. However, there is one driver in particular that I can't find anything for right now. It’s the Network Controller, according to Device Manager.

(There are also two others that don't seem as vital since nothing huge was broken. I have found them to also be listed under Other Devices in Device Manager, beneath Network Controller. One is Unknown, but its location is on the PCI Bus, giving a code 28. The other is also listed as Unknown, also has a code 28, but has its location as "on Microsoft ACPI Compliant System." Any suggestions for where to start? Thank you beforehand.)

 

[SIW2]

Snappy Driver Installer download | SourceForge.net

 

[Megahertz07]

Open device manager, right click on one of them - Properties - Details tab - Hardware ID
Select the fist ID right click and copy.
Paste it here. It's something like HID\VID_046D&PID_C52B&REV_1203&MI_02&Qid_101A&WI_01&Class_0000000

 

[Calliope]

Open device manager, right click on one of them - Properties - Details tab - Hardware ID
Select the fist ID right click and copy.
Paste it here. It's something like HID\VID_046D&PID_C52B&REV_1203&MI_02&Qid_101A&WI_01&Class_0000000

The first unknown device isn't that long for the Hardware ID, strangely. It is this: ACPI\SMB0001

As for the second unknown device, it says this: ACPI\MSFT0101

While I was there, if it helps to narrow things down I also checked out the Network Controller. That says:
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_3165&SUBSYS_40108086&REV_81

 

[mrjimphelps]

The Vendor ID (for the Network Controller) is 8086 (that's Intel), and the Device ID is 3165.

Go to www.pcidatabase.com and do a Device search on 3165. It will return some listings. At least one of those listings will have both 8086 as the Vendor ID and 3165 as the Device ID. If you will click on the hyperlink on each of the listings which have a match on both numbers, you will be directed to where you can get the driver for this device.