I have a legal Windows7 instalation disk but my computer died.

[0ldman]

A so called "water event" drowned my HP Computer. I still have the key and the legal instalaton disk.
A local computer builder tells me it is absolutly imposible for him to build me a I7 core computer which will accept Windows 7. Is this true?

 

[samuria]

Welcome to the forum. It may well not work depending on I7 version Win10 will work fine Is Windows 7 compatible with 7th Generation Intel Core i7 Processors - Microsoft Community

 

[SIW2]

A so called "water event" drowned my HP Computer. I still have the key and the legal instalaton disk.
A local computer builder tells me it is absolutly imposible for him to build me a I7 core computer which will accept Windows 7. Is this true?

It might be impossible for him, but plenty of people are running win7 on i7 computers.

Possibly the only motherboards he has do not support csm. I can't imagine why.

 

[RolandJS]

Guys, Gals, aren't almost new builds very un-friendly, incompatable, with windows 7? It's getting harder and harder to find W7-friendly motherboards and such, even my local computer place says they can only order windows 10 stuff.

 

[Megahertz07]

A so called "water event" drowned my HP Computer. I still have the key and the legal instalaton disk.
A local computer builder tells me it is absolutly imposible for him to build me a I7 core computer which will accept Windows 7. Is this true?

The key and the legal installation disk you have is to install only on the HP Computer that was drowned, it won't activate in any other computer, specially a new one that has Win 10.

You can buy a new Win 7 retail license from a trusted seller like Newegg.com (don't buy on ebay) then slipstream the needed drivers to the Win 7 installation disk but most new generation laptops will only run win 10 or Linux.

My advice is to buy a used Win 7 laptop, format or replace the HDD (with a SSD) and reinstall win 7 with the license on the COA sticker on it.

 

[RolandJS]

Can a phone call to MS help -- explaining what happened?

 

[ian50]

SIW2 #3 says W7 is being run by plenty of people on I7 machines


Megahertz07 #5 says most new generation laptops will only run W10 or some variation of Linux


I have found both these contributors to provide comment worth reading and understanding.


So, what to do when, inevitably, my current laptop falls over with no economic possible repair ?


I'm following Johnhoh's comments on how to tame W10 with great care. There are now a number of threads where these comments are available. What To Do After January 2020, for example. Very interesting and helpful.

 

[townsbg]

Megahertz07: Newegg no longer sells anything but 10.

 

[SIW2]

So, what to do when, inevitably, my current laptop falls over with no economic possible repair ?

If you have need of a laptop, then you would have to buy one - either new, or second hand.

Is that the answer you were looking for?

 

[Megahertz07]

Megahertz07 #5 says most new generation laptops will only run W10 or some variation of Linux

I have found both these contributors to provide comment worth reading and understanding.

Any hardware needs a proper driver to run under the OS. As Win 7 is no longer for sale, M$ and / or hardware manufactures doesn't develop drivers for Win 7, only Win 10.
Linux drivers are developed by the Linux contributors.
On a Laptop it's even more critical as they are built to run only Win 10.

 

[SIW2]

This thread is getting messy. The OP was asking about desktops. ian50 is asking about laptops. Different animals.

Many people are running laptops up to and including intel coffee/whiskylake with win7.

Amd laptop is trickier because of their recent on cpu graphics. AMD desktops working fine with win 7 up to and including the new 3000 series with separate grahics card.

So if you want to run win7 on a laptop get one with coffee/whiskylake or earlier.

 

[ZakGordon7]

In a recent (few months back) Ryzen 1600 build i had to be careful what motherboard i used as many did not officially support Windows 7 (with drivers etc). It made it harder i was after a mini-iTX profile, so yeah you do need to check carefully the manufacturers website info on the hardware you buy IF you plan to carry on using Windows 7.

 

[BlueGuy]

I would say time to hit the bricks and mortar shops for old stock, non-UEFI mobos, pay attention to CPUs, but true. I had a hell of a time finding a socket AM3 to replace the previous unlocked Sempron to Athlon II but found one X3 435, that I'm keeping stock, no more unlocking cores for me. Try to read some mobo manuals online , you've probably figured that already, to see what you can get in the support media.