Looking to install Windows7 on B450M motherboard, Ryzen 3200G, NVMe

[sluggerb]

I'm moving from an ancient AMD Phenom (yes, that ancient) on a AM2 motherboard (I told you it was that ancient) using a 5.25 Sata HDD (did I mention it was ancient?) to something more modern. Usage is home office type stuff. I don't play computer games outside the occasional casual game of Among Us. My primary goals are something that is stable and will reliably run for 10+ years or more. I bought my current PC 11 years ago so I do not upgrade frequently. Yes, I know the likelihood of using Window 7 for another 10 years might be low, but I can cross that bridge when I come to it. I'm planning on using it for at least the next 2-3 years at a minimum.

I have both retail and MSDN downloaded Windows 7 x64 pro iso's with valid keys, so authenticity is not an issue. What would I need to make the install work?

• Do I just go to Update your Win 7 installation media, download the updater, mount an ISO, run the updater, make a USB with Rufus and away we go?
• Do I need to run either the Gigabyte or MSI utilities to add USB3.0 and/or NVMe drivers for the install? The motherboard I am buying DOES have PS/2 ports so I can use those to skip the need for USB3 drivers to install, but I do want USB 3.0 working when I have the PC set up
• Do I need NVMe drivers to load during the instal process so the Win7 installed will see the HDD?
• I am on ESU and getting updates, do I need the patch on github that allows Ryzen's to get Windows Updates?

I am considering using a spare SATA platter drive I have that is less than a year old and was never used. I know it will be slower, BUT it saves me $60-$70 and would bypass any concerns I have about getting NVMe to work. Thoughts?

I'm hesitant to spend $400-ish on new components and put everything together only to find out I can't install my OS, or I can install it but not everything works, or everything works but not everything is recognized, or everything is recognized but I can't get ESU updates.

Thanks for your help. Ive been out of the PC building loop for a LONG time and it was much easier back in the day.

 

[SIW2]

Do I need to run either the Gigabyte or MSI utilities to add USB3.0 and/or NVMe drivers for the install?

No, they are included in the 7updater

Do I need NVMe drivers to load during the instal process so the Win7 installed will see the HDD?

The 7updater integrates them automatically


You will probably need ryzen apu drivers.
Win 7/Win8.1 x64 Ryzen APU Video driver（Update 2020.12.01 Vulkan/OpenCL API support!）

The easiest way is to add those to the drivers\installx64 folder

Then when 7updater has completed, copy the sources\install.wim file into the win10 installation media

Then install using that win10 installation media ( having replaced the win10 install.wim with the updated win7 install.wim.)

That saves trying to get win7 boot.wim to work with the ryzen apu.

 

[sluggerb]

No, they are included in the 7updater

Great

The 7updater integrates them automatically

Also Great

You will probably need ryzen apu drivers.
Win 7/Win8.1 x64 Ryzen APU Video driver（Update 2020.12.01 Vulkan/OpenCL API support!）

I see 2 drivers listed there, which should I get?

• Pure drivers for mainboards and CPUs
• Pure drivers for Ryzen APU Video driver 20.11.3 with CCC

The easiest way is to add those to the drivers\installx64 folder. Then when 7updater has completed, copy the sources\install.wim file into the win10 installation media. That saves trying to get win7 boot.wim to work with the apu.

Can you clarify the steps involved here a bit? Would I mount my Win7 Iso, copy the Win7 installation files from the mounted ISO to my HDD, put the drivers into drivers\installx64, then run 7updater on the copy of W7 on my HDD, and when it is finished convert that to a new ISO and burn it to a USB stick?

I'm not sure why W10 is mentioned,was that a typo?


Thanks for the assistance

 

[SIW2]

I'm not sure why W10 is mentioned,was that a typo?

No.


1. Update the win7 media. Make sure you put the ryzen drivers in the DRIVERS\Installx64 folder so they get integrated.

2. Copy the updated win7 install.wim into the sources folder of win10 installation media. (Delete the win10 install.wim or install.esd from the sources folder first ).

3. Use that altered win10 installation media to do the install.

 

[SIW2]

You will want the mainboard and the apu drivers.

Not sure why the link points at AMD_AM4_X399_TRX40_Drivers_B6_Win7_8.1_SHA256

The latest ones from canonkong are AMD_AM4_X399_TRX40_Drivers_B7_Win7_8.1_SHA256

Ask him.

 

[sluggerb]

No.


1. Update the win7 media. Make sure you put the ryzen drivers in the DRIVERS\Installx64 folder so they get integrated.

2. Copy the updated win7 install.wim into the sources folder of win10 installation media. (Delete the win10 install.wim or install.esd from the sources folder first ).

3. Use that altered win10 installation media to do the install.

I'm not sure I follow. Why would I use Windows 10 to install Windows 7?

 

[SIW2]

Because it is not trivial to get win7 boot.wim working with ryzen apu.

As I already said in post #2

That saves trying to get win7 boot.wim to work with the ryzen apu.

 

[sluggerb]

Because it is not trivial to get win7 boot.wim working with ryzen apu.

As I already said in post #2

How would the Window 10 installation media install the Windows 7 files? This isn't make a lot of sense, can you clarify? The few videos I have seen make no mention of Windows 10

 

[SIW2]

The same way it installs win10 except you have replaced win10 install.wim with win7 install.wim, therefore it will install win7.

I would probably pop winntsetup onto the usb stick and run that from booted win10 media, I prefer it to using windows setup.exe

WinNTSetup_v45b3

 

[sluggerb]

The same way it installs win10 except you have replaced win10 install.wim with win7 install.wim, therefore it will install win7.

I would probably pop winntsetup onto the usb stick and run that from booted win10 media, I prefer it to using windows setup.exe

WinNTSetup_v45b3

I've never used a windows image to install before. I just make a bootable usb stick with Rufus off the Windows 7 ISO, and install it.

I guess I was assuming I could run W7 updater on that ISO, then make a new USB stick with the updated ISO and install that. Then once Windows was up and running install the various drivers for the motherboard and graphics linked to on the other forum.

Would that not work?

 

[Megahertz07]

You don't need Rufus.

The Win 7 or win 10 has two images under \sources: Boot.wim and install.wim (or install.esd).
Boot.wim is the User interface to install or repair and install has the windows images to be installed.

Win 7 Boot.wim doesn't have the drives required to install on a Rysen MB but Win 10 Boot.wim does.

Once you've had added the drives to Win 7 install.wim you copy it to \sources on a win 10 installation drive.

- Download Media Creation Tool (MCT) and create a Win10 installation USB drive.
- With Explorer, go to Win10 USB drive \sources\install.esd and replace it with win 7 install.wim

Boot from the modified Win10 USB drive and install Win 7

 

[sluggerb]

So I've been reading articles on Windows 7 on Ryzen PC's, watching Youtube videos, reading tutorials, and literally zero people have mentioned anything about having to use the Windows 10 installer to install Windows 7. They all just add the USB3 drivers in and show it installing like normal. Is this a new thing?

 

[sluggerb]

Example MSI's guide to installing Windows 7 on a BM450M motherboard. It only shows using the MSI tool and setting the BIOS to egacy boot. MSI(R) HOW-TO install Win7 in B450 motherboard - YouTube

 

[sluggerb]

I guess I will give it a shot the straightforward way (using a PS2 KB/Mouse) and if it installs I can add the drivers myself.

I it doesn't work I can try the Win10 method, it sounds really weird (how would the Win10 Boot.win know how to use the Win7 install.wim? Would you get a Windows 10 install User Interface?)

 

[SilVER DRaGoN]

I guess I will give it a shot the straightforward way (using a PS2 KB/Mouse) and if it installs I can add the drivers myself.

I it doesn't work I can try the Win10 method, it sounds really weird (how would the Win10 Boot.win know how to use the Win7 install.wim? Would you get a Windows 10 install User Interface?)

Yes, you will get a Windows 10 install User Interface. Boot.wim will install whatever the install.wim is, be that win7 or win10.

 

[sluggerb]

Yes, you will get a Windows 10 install User Interface. Boot.wim will install whatever the install.wim is, be that win7 or win10.

I've been through both installers and they seem to ask a lot of different questions (the Windows 10 installer insists on a Microsoft account and OneDrive stuff and a whole bunch of things not in the win 7 installer). How does that work?

 

[Megahertz07]

Don't select update during installation and don't connect to the internet.

 

[SilVER DRaGoN]

I've been through both installers and they seem to ask a lot of different questions (the Windows 10 installer insists on a Microsoft account and OneDrive stuff and a whole bunch of things not in the win 7 installer). How does that work?

Once win7 has been installed it should look like a normal win7 install. ie. You won't see any of that stuff because it's not part of the 7 install. You'll get the usual... enter product key, setup user account, choose password, etc.

 

[sluggerb]

Well, it definitely sounds interesting! When I pull the trigger and buy all the components I will let you know how it goes

 

[jraya]

Tried but did not work. Did I mis something?

Hello, tried replacing install.esd of W10 by install.wim of W7. Booted from USB and installed windows 7 ultimate. But at the reboot after installation, it could not boot and asks for disk repair...

Am I missing something?

Best

You don't need Rufus.

The Win 7 or win 10 has two images under \sources: Boot.wim and install.wim (or install.esd).
Boot.wim is the User interface to install or repair and install has the windows images to be installed.

Win 7 Boot.wim doesn't have the drives required to install on a Rysen MB but Win 10 Boot.wim does.

Once you've had added the drives to Win 7 install.wim you copy it to \sources on a win 10 installation drive.

- Download Media Creation Tool (MCT) and create a Win10 installation USB drive.
- With Explorer, go to Win10 USB drive \sources\install.esd and replace it with win 7 install.wim

Boot from the modified Win10 USB drive and install Win 7