Windows 7 on Acer Aspire E5-774G

[niemand]

Greetings,

The model is here.
Product support

I understand it's Kaby Lake so what are the chances of getting Win 7 working on it?
So far, I have failed, probably due to the lack of USB3 drivers (they're not provided even for Win 10 above).
Ideally, I want to preserve the existing Win 10 as once it's gone, the system might be entirely unusable (no installation media provided with the laptop).
No USB option in BIOS. Of course, Secure Boot is switched off. Boot Mode (UEFI/Legacy) can be changed but Win 10 doesn't boot in Legacy. Win 7 doesn't install either way, with different errors though.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Megahertz07]

- Win 7 64 bits can be installed as UEFI with Secure Boot switched off.
- The needed drives are from Intel chipset, no problem.
To install the drivers on the Win 7 installation disk, read my tutorial. Create a Windows 7 USB flash installation with new drives for new MB's
There are also an Asus and MSI application do it.

 

[niemand]

Thanks, Megahertz07

I realised the page with the spec has no links to the page with the drivers.

Product support

You know, from the provided list, what exact drivers I have to try and embed in the installation package? You mentioned that the chipset is required but on the other link (Acer Aspire E5-774-54HJ Notebook Review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews) I understood they only needed AHCI drivers to get past the setup stage.

And why on Earth Acer provides Kaby Lake drivers in addition to non-Kaby Lake drivers on the above page? That's if I can somehow magically disable the Kaby Lake functionality in this configuration.

Sorry, I didn't completely digest your marvellous Win 7 USB article so it will take more time (and, probably, more questions). But why you mentioned ASUS and MSI utilities? I mean, for my Acer laptop I can't probably use them as my mainboard isn't manufactured by them. In fact, I couldn't find any information on its motherboard except for the fact that it's Kaby Lake. So it must be from Intel, I guess.

 

[Megahertz07]

You can add the USB 3 and AHCI drivers to the Win 7 installation disk using my tutorial (it add not only to the installation wizard but also to the maintenance wizard an to the installation files.
MSI and Asus has an application to add only to the installation wizard. As it only deals with the Win 7 installation disk and not with the MB, you can use it.
I'm going to search for the links to give you.

 

[Megahertz07]

ASUS EZ Installer
- Use this tool 1.03.03 to create a Windows 7 installation file with USB 3.0 drivers preloaded for 200 series motherboards
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/ASUS_EZInstaller_V10303.zip

Intel_USB3_50032_Win7_32_64
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/usb30/Intel_USB3_50032_Win7_32_64.zip

Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology Driver for Windows 7 32-bit & 64-bit,
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/sata/IRST_Win7_81_10_V15201020.zip

 

[niemand]

Megahertz07, appreciate your continued support

You know if NTLite can be used as successfully as your manual method of preparing a bootable USB with all the drivers? I remember using NLite (NTLite) predecessor a few years ago.

For me the main thing is to get past the installation stage. Fighting an exclamation marks in the Device Manager is sooo much easier, generally. So if I can only install Win 7 with the minimum necessary drivers, that would be a good starting point.

 

[Megahertz07]

I have used nlite successfully on Win XP. I've tried NTLite without success.
I've used myself the method described on my tutorial. It takes about 20 minutes.

Many people has used Asus EZ Installer.
You only need the USB and AHCI drives that are on the folders I gave you the link.

As things can go wrong, before you begin, make the Factory Recover disks from your Acer laptop.
Once you have the Win 7 installation disks with the USB 3 and AHCI drives on it, do a clean install, deleting all partitions.
Clean Install Windows 7

 

[niemand]

Thanks for the additional details, Megahertz07. But I think there is one small (or big?) misunderstanding here - I do NOT want to delete existing Win 10 installation. I prefer to be forced to switch the BIOS (Legacy/UEFI) while keeping my existing Windows 10 rather than try a clean setup of Win 7 and/or Win 10.

 

[Megahertz07]

Sorry, forgot the dual boot.

You don't have to make a BIOS switch to have Win 10 and Win 7 as long as you disable secure boot (for both).
As Win 10 is installed as UEFI you must also install win 7 as UEFI. To do so, make sure you boot the win 7 installation disk as UEFI.

Prepare your system for dual boot:
- As things can go wrong, before you begin, make the Factory Recover disks from your Acer laptop.
- Backup your data on another disk.
- Defrag Win 10 partition.
- Open Disk Manager and create a new partition for Win 7.

Boot from Win 7 installation disk (with the added drivers) as UEFI, go to install, choose the created partition and proceed.
Once installed, open device manager and load the missing drivers.

Windows boot manager will be created with Win 10 and Win 7 option.