Can't downgrade from Windows 8 on HP Touchsmart 11

[krukovksi]

Hello everyone. I have a so called hybrid laptop HP Pavilion Touchsmart 11-n010dx. It has Windows 8.1 pre installed and I don't like it that much. So I decided to downgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium x64 and faced some problems. I've done Windows installation plenty of times before and that is the first time when it's so tricky. First of all the laptop doesn't have an optical drive so I'm using a flash drive. I set UEFI BIOS to a necessary settings (disabled Secure Boot, enabled Legacy Support). I'm using a 2.0 USB port so that is not a problem. The problem is while installing a message shows up that I need a CD/DVD driver. I made some research and decided that I need motherboard or chipset drivers. I tried it - no result. I think I've tried everything but maybe you guys can help me. Thank you in advance and I hope you'll have some ideas concerning my issue.

 

[theog]

It has Windows 8.1 pre installed and I don't like it that much. So I decided to downgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium x64

YES & NO, down to your UEFI/BIOS firmware settings.

1) Downgrade to Windows 7.
Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7
Warning you must have the UEFI/BIOS firmware setting in Step Three set.

Make sure you read the NOTE at Step three.

2) If Using a USB Pen drive on a PC with a UEFI BIOS.
USB Pen drive need to be formatted to FAT32 as in
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
Take note of Step 11 for Windows 7.
Also you will need to use a USB 2.0 port, as there are no USB 3.0 drivers in Windows 7.


You will need to buy Windows 7 x64 DVD & product key.

 

[gregrocker]

The prompt for driver always means a bad installer. Download a fresh ISO for your licensed version and write to stick with the tool in Steps 1 and 2 of http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164.

Then boot the stick by name from the ESC menu at boot, under USB, Removable or HD's which listing you may need to expand to see the stick. Be sure to choose the non-UEFI choice for the stick if you want Legacy MBR install and have enabled Legacy and CSM in BIOS setup. Delete all partitions at Steps 7/8 of http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html then create and format a new one for install.

If there are further problems work through the steps for Overcoming Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums

If you want to try a UEFI install then use Option One for the tool Theog gave above, make sure UEFI is enabled in BIOS and delete all partitions to proceed.

Other tips are same as here to assure you get and keep a perfect http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164.