Solved Why does Win10 not allow overwrite by new Win7 disc?

[clydebern]

Hello.
I purchased a new in the box HP laptop, HP15-AF113CL from costco.
It comes preloaded with win10, it does not have a touchscreen.
I am not a fan of win10 and purchased a licensed copy of win7 pro from amazon.
The laptop does not allow me to overwrite the win10 with the new win7 pro.
I get a continuous "windows failed to start" error with,
"insert windows install disc and restart
file\$windows.~bt\windows\system32\winload.efi
status: 0xc000000f
os could not be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors."
Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Clydebern-

 

[whs]

I think the BIOS is blocking it. The reason is probably a possible lack of drivers for Win7.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Did you contact H-P and see if they blocked win-7 installs on this machine ?

Between win-10 fast startup which would need to be disabled,
Fast Startup - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

And the bios secure boot and os type being UEFI Only it's not surprising a win-7 install would fail to overwrite a current win-10 install.

 

[clydebern]

Ok. I spoke to (free) HP tech support. Thank you for suggesting it. You are correct, the system will not work with any other os besides win10. It may be possible to run it on win 7 in the future, but there is no way to know that at this time according to HP. Thanks again for your input. Clydebern-

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
You can = not sure how well it will work
But none the less you can install win-7 in virtual machine using win-10 visualization features or using a third party VMWare
All you need is a iso file for the win-7 version you have.

 

[whs]

Here are a few tutorials that show how to install an OS in virtual.

http://www.sevenforums.com/virtualization/355103-virtual-os-tutorial-install-setup-operate.html

 

[ThrashZone]

Yea I wouldn't doubt if H-P support just lied

If you have a spare ssd or hdd I would disable fast startup in win-10
Then shut down and replace the drive
Then enter the bios and disable secure boot
Make sure os type is not uefi only

Boot to the installation disk and see what happens

 

[clydebern]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry for the delay, theres a lot going on here.
I think your right that it may be possible as you say.
The hard drive is not easy access.
I am looking for instructions to take the laptop apart without breaking it.
This is the (edited down) HP tech support transcript.

---------------
1:35 PM Me: all i want to know is if the hp-af113cl can run windows 7?

1:36 PM HP: The unit which we are discussing now has been put on sale with Windows 10 and
has drivers only for this shipped Windows. There is no driver available to use with windows
7. Even though, this unit is fully compatible to run Windows 7. The computer you are using is
equipped with all new hardware like processor and motherboard and are made specifically for
win 10, thats why the individual manufacturers are yet to release the software driver for
windows 10 , which is why it is not listed in our website. Once they release the driver it
will be listed in our website also they will also be installed through windows update as
well. Please accept my apology as I am not in a position to give you any direct download for
drivers which will work with Windows 7.

1:38 PM HP: To make it fully functional we need all the required drivers and as it is not
available with us, I can tell you about two alternative approach on gathering them.

1:38 PM HP: HP support assistant and windows update is build in such a way that when they
are both turned on for a specific period of time that’s 5-6 days, windows update and HP
support assistant update will automatically inject the specific original driver for those
hardware like USB3, graphics motherboard whichever missing the driver for current Operating
system. So the whole process is fully automatic and we don’t have to manually go ahead search
them and install them separately. That’s the biggest advantage ,so no worries.

1:40 PM Me: when i try to load windows 7, the system does not allow it.

1:42 PM HP: Yes, that's because the computer haradware will not allow you to downgrade it

1:42 PM Me: so i must wait for the drivers to be released and it will be possible at that
time?

1:43 PM HP: To be very honest, may be no

1:44 PM Me: ok. so no way to know at this time?

1:44 PM HP: Right

1:46 PM HP: The computer hardware has built such a way that it will not allow you to
downgrade, because in future you may face issues with drivers, and it will be a problem then

1:47 PM Me: ok

 

[AddRAM]

They`re not gonna make drivers for it.

It`s not in their best interest.

 

[ThrashZone]

Yep,
You might be able to return it,
Many manufactures still sell win-7 machines mostly in the business sections of their websites
That and last I searched Amazon still has many win-7 units.

Laptops have the most issues with drivers seeing they have touchpads to function.

 

[Arc]

I get a continuous "windows failed to start" error with,
"insert windows install disc and restart
file\$windows.~bt\windows\system32\winload.efi
status: 0xc000000f
os could not be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors."

I know it is a long time there, but if you are interested, you may read it.

Error status 0xC000000F means STATUS_NO_SUCH_FILE, and reads as "{File Not Found} The file %hs does not exist."

It is happening during boot, that means some boot files are missing.

Why the boot files will be missing? Because, in my best guess, it is the BIOS feature that is not being compatible with the windows 7 installation. Windows 10 uses UEFI on its own, whereas a normal windows 7 installation does not go to UEFI, it assumes the Legacy BIOS.

If Windows is installed on Legacy BIOS, it keeps the boot records in a way that is different from the required boot records for UEFI. And here may be the root of the boot failure.

I doubt that a branded computer shipped with Windows 10 preinstalled will allow you to set the Legacy BIOS. If you can do it, then there will be no problem installing windows 7.
But if you cannot, try installing Windows 7 by running the installer as UEFI. The "Boot Menu" key will be required to do that. Go through this guide: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html.

Everything should go normal.

Next, the most important question raised by the persons who posted here is about the drivers. It will be most possible that the vendor will not list the necessary drivers for windows 7. No problem. You can always use the drivers suggested by windows update. Follow this guide: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2803-device-installation-settings.html

Windows 7 should work now. I have installed Windows 7 on my colleague's Dell (W10 preinstalled) following the same process, just a few days ago.

Finally, about windows 10 .... I am using it for a few months. It is not bad. It does not require a lot of new things to learn. It just looks a bit different and some things works slight differently. If you want, you use it for a few days, there will be no problem when you will be accustomed with the changed GUI.

 

[whs]

I think we mentioned the driver problem. See post #2.

 

[Arc]

I think we mentioned the driver problem. See post #2.

I mentioned your contribution, with a possible solution.

Here I mentioned ....

Next, the most important question raised by the persons who posted here is about the drivers

And here is the workaround as I thought ....

It will be most possible that the vendor will not list the necessary drivers for windows 7. No problem. You can always use the drivers suggested by windows update. Follow this guide: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...-settings.html

 

[whs]

Right Arc. Reps coming.

 

[clydebern]

Thanks for all the input. Well I got out of the error loop, and it loaded the disc, but it froze at the "starting windows" icon screen and the disc drive stopped. Im at 15 mins and counting, I have never seen a windows load hang this long. I would have to assume thats failed attempt?

 

[clydebern]

Install is loading. Problems were as stated. I disabled the secure boot, and switched to legacy bios instead of uefi. Will post update when complete or if more problems. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Arc]

Something in the partition table or/and the BIOS setup is incompatible which is causing it.

but it froze at the "starting windows" icon screen and the disc drive stopped.

If you have any running windows on the computer, Post a screenshot of the disk management window.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

If you dont have, download Partition wizard Bootable CD (the last one in the link). Burn it in a blank CD or in a USB flash stick.

Boot into Partition Wizards GUI following this instructions. When you are on the last screen, take a camera snap of the screen and upload the snap here.
Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

We need to see the partitions and parameters.

 

[clydebern]

Windows 7 pro loaded successfully. Only issue now is getting online to windows update to get drivers. As warned, windows 7 does not see the eathernet controller or wireless controller. HP indicated this should be possible. I will follow up with them tomorrow (or if you know how). Thanks again.

 

[clydebern]

Got ethernet controller driver from driverscollection.com. Connected successfully. Windows updates running. Looks like its going to work.

 

[Arc]

All the best. I should have said you to get the network driver earlier. Thats a big fault from my part.