Installing Windows 7 on notebook with Windows 8 pre installed

Tavio · Apr 17, 2013

Hey guys,

I have just acquired a Dell Inspiron 7720 with Windows 8 pre installed. I want to remove Windows 8 and install Windows 7 in it. Windows 8 is installed in the C: partition which is in GPT style. There are 2 other partitions that seem to be related to Recovery. I don't care about the data in C: but I don't want to lose what's in Recovery. All partitions are in the same physical disk, which has 1TB of total space.

What I tried to do was to go into BIOS, change boot from UEFI to Legacy and boot from my Windows 7 DVD. The installation process then complained that Windows 7 could not be installed in C: because it is a GPT partition.

In my google searches I learned that Windows 7 can be installed in a GPT partition if I enable UEFI in the BIOS and then boot from the Windows 7 DVD in UEFI mode. However, I have no idea how to boot from the Windows 7 DVD in UEFI mode.

Can anybody advise me on how do acomplish this?

Thanks!

lookerup · Apr 17, 2013

is dual booting an option for you?

JackNaylorPE · Apr 17, 2013

Thought about adding an SSD ? Install Win7 on that

Tavio · Apr 17, 2013

lookerup :

i wouldnt mind dual booting so long as i can use windows 7

lookerup · Apr 17, 2013

Tavio :

you can just pop in the win 7 disc and boot it up cant you? i dont think you have to go through all that mess with installing it through UEFI mode.

pop in disk
boot up computer
wait for "press any key....."
and press any key and install ?

Tavio · Apr 17, 2013

lookerup :

Tavio :

you can just pop in the win 7 disc and boot it up cant you? i dont think you have to go through all that mess with installing it through UEFI mode.

pop in disk
boot up computer
wait for "press any key....."
and press any key and install ?

If i do that windows 8 boots normally, ignoring the dvd.

lookerup · Apr 17, 2013

Tavio :

lookerup :

If i do that windows 8 boots normally, ignoring the dvd.

what if you changed the booting priority?

like the bios has

1: HDD
2: CD/DVD drive
3: ............

and just change cd/dvd drive first and HDD to second.

Tavio · Apr 17, 2013

lookerup :

Tavio :

what if you changed the booting priority?

like the bios has

1: HDD
2: CD/DVD drive
3: ............

and just change cd/dvd drive first and HDD to second.

I can only do that if i change the boot in bios from uefi to legacy. After that, the problem described in the original post happens.

lookerup · Apr 17, 2013

I think you have to boot it from a usb with a minimum of 4gbs

Skanda Low · Jun 5, 2013

This worked for us!

To install Windows 7 on a pre-installed Windows 8 computer
==================================================

Used system
----------------

Laptop Acer Aspire V3-771G

Boot
------
Many new Windows8 pre-installed systems will not boot from CdRom.
To enable booting from CdRom you need to get into the Bios of your computer.

In this case (Acer laptop), press and hold the F2 key while restarting the system.
Restarting is important; Shutdown/startup will not work with the F2 key.

- Once in the Bios, go to the Boot section and set the CdROm device as primary boot device.

- Disable UEFI boot

- Exit with save & reboot

- Startup the computer using a 3rd party boot manager that supports GPT/MBR boot record management.
In this case we used an Acronis Boot Disk (created with Acronis True Image 2013).

Install - step 1 (Acronis)
-------------------------------
Windows 7 will only install on a disk/partition with a MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table

- From the Acronis boot menu, select True Image
- Choose Tools & Utilities from the left menu and Add New Disk -> Next
- Select your hard disk from the list -> Next
- Ok to confirm deletion of all data and start paritioning
--> ### double check that you have the correct disk, to prevent data loss !! ###
- Select the required disk initialization method: MBR -> Next
- Create partition(s) -> Next
- Specify settings for the partition being created -> Accept
- Proceed. MBR partition table will be created on the new disk.
- Finish. Exit True image, remove the Acronis boot CD and restart your computer, using a Windows7 boot CD

Install - step 2 (Windows)
---------------------------------
Install Windows7 on the newly created MBR disk

lookerup · Jun 15, 2013

Skanda Low :

This worked for us!

To install Windows 7 on a pre-installed Windows 8 computer
==================================================

Used system
----------------

Laptop Acer Aspire V3-771G

Boot
------
Many new Windows8 pre-installed systems will not boot from CdRom.
To enable booting from CdRom you need to get into the Bios of your computer.

In this case (Acer laptop), press and hold the F2 key while restarting the system.
Restarting is important; Shutdown/startup will not work with the F2 key.

- Once in the Bios, go to the Boot section and set the CdROm device as primary boot device.

- Disable UEFI boot

- Exit with save & reboot

- Startup the computer using a 3rd party boot manager that supports GPT/MBR boot record management.
In this case we used an Acronis Boot Disk (created with Acronis True Image 2013).

Install - step 1 (Acronis)
-------------------------------
Windows 7 will only install on a disk/partition with a MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table

- From the Acronis boot menu, select True Image
- Choose Tools & Utilities from the left menu and Add New Disk -> Next
- Select your hard disk from the list -> Next
- Ok to confirm deletion of all data and start paritioning
--> ### double check that you have the correct disk, to prevent data loss !! ###
- Select the required disk initialization method: MBR -> Next
- Create partition(s) -> Next
- Specify settings for the partition being created -> Accept
- Proceed. MBR partition table will be created on the new disk.
- Finish. Exit True image, remove the Acronis boot CD and restart your computer, using a Windows7 boot CD

Install - step 2 (Windows)
---------------------------------
Install Windows7 on the newly created MBR disk

Can you go into more detail of where you can disable/enable UEFI? I think that's what he's after because he can't find it.

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Installing Windows 7 on notebook with Windows 8 pre installed

Tavio

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Tavio

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Skanda Low

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