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HP Recommended
Pavilion desktop 570-a100na
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

I have two PCs and would like to remove the OS,W10, on one and replace it with W7. It would then be removed from the net and not used online and I would be able to use programmes that ran happily on everything since 98se up to W7. However, I am unable to shift W10, do a W7 installation over the top or anything else. I have even tried DBAN using Rufus on a USB stick to no avail. 

 

I have tried so many ideas gained from Google that I can't remember the various happenings other than during attempted W7 installs I am informed that a file has not been signed off. I suspect that before advice can be given I will need to repeat the various attempts, optimistically, if only for my sanity, this won't be required but if so I shall have to start again and make notes.

 

Any help appreciated.

13 REPLIES 13
HP Recommended

@wideboater 

IF the PC you want to reload Win7 on originally came with Win7 then you have a serious issue -- as you would need the original HP OEM version of Win7 to reuse the existing Windows license; otherwise, you would have to buy a new license to match the version of Win7 that you are installing.

 

The issue there is that HP has not stocked HP Recovery Media for Win7 for some time now and MS no longer makes Win7 available, so I have no idea where you would go to get Win7 installation media.

 

There are others here that might be able to point you to such sources, but you would have to wait until they add onto this thread to know where to go.



I am a volunteer and I do not work for, nor represent, HP
HP Recommended

Hi, @wideboater 

 

Looking at the specs for your PC, you would need to install W7 from a DVD because it does not have the USB3 drivers within the installation media to install.

 

Make sure the KB and mouse are connected to the USB 2 ports in the back of the PC, and not the USB 3 ports.

 

Before attempting to install W7, you also need to go into the BIOS, enable legacy mode and disable secure boot.   W7 is not compatible with secure boot.

 

See this link for the settings to change...

 

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03659945#:~:text=%20HP%20PCs%20-%20Cannot%20Start%20Desktop%2...

 

Those would be the only suggestions I can offer.

HP Recommended

I purchased a W7 disc when it came out to escape its predecessor so that isn't a problem, but thanks.

HP Recommended

Thank you for your help, I now have W7 installed after a bit of a struggle.

 

I still have two problems, one is no internet connection and Windows cannot find one and the other under "other devices" in devcie manager there are just a list - ethernet controller, network controller,pci device,pci encryption/decryption controller, sm bus controller, USB controller, unknown device all with the little yellow exclamation mark. I suspect that the second problem is tied to the first, i.e. I cannot get online.

 

Could you offer advice as to how I connect.

HP Recommended

Something I forgot to mention in the previous post is that there is no setting for booting from CD, anywhere. I installed W7 by clicking on setup. The CD drive does not appear in "computer or as far as I can see in device manager. If I plug a USB stick in that doesn't show either.

HP Recommended

You're very welcome.

 

If you had enabled legacy mode and disabled secure boot in the BIOS, the DVD/USB flash drives should show up as legacy boot devices, when you select the F9 boot options menu after pressing the ESC key to get the main menu of options.

 

If not, I have no idea why not.

 

As far as all of those devices that need drivers...

 

First, install the AMD chipset driver and restart the PC.  Select the W7 x64 driver from the list.

 

That should install the USB, SMBus and PCI E/D controllers.

 

https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/970

 

Graphics:  Download and install the W7 x64 driver and restart the PC.

 

https://www.amd.com/en/support/apu/amd-series-processors/amd-a9-series-apu-for-laptops/7th-gen-a9-94...

 

Audio:   Accept the agreement.  Download and install the Windows 64 bit driver at the link below and restart the PC.

 

https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/pc-audio-codecs-high-definition-audio-codecs-softw...

 

Ethernet:  Download, unzip and run the setup application from the W7 driver file at the link below.

 

https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/network-interface-controllers-10-100-1000m-gigabit...

 

SD Card reader:   Download, unzip and run the setup application from the 1st driver file listed at the link below.

 

https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/card-reader-solutions-card-reader-controllers-soft...

 

Wifi:

 

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp96501-97000/sp96873.exe

 

Bluetooth:

 

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp98001-98500/sp98266.exe

 

For the unknown device and any other remaining devices that need drivers...please post the hardware ID's for those devices, so I can figure out what drivers they need.

 

Use this guide for how to find the hardware ID for a device.

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/193798/how-to-find-drivers-for-unknown-devices-in-the-device-manager/

HP Recommended

Unfortunately I do not have net access on the W7 comp, only on the W10. I can download the drivers on the W10 comp and burn them to a disc but then there is no way I can run the disc on the W7 comp.

 

When I go into the F9 boot options menu the cd drive is there and I can highlight it. W7 CD will boot then but it will not run repair, only installation.

 

HP Recommended

If you installed W7 on the PC, then you can burn the drivers to the DVD and install them by running the DVD from the windows desktop on W7.

 

You wouldn't need to boot from the DVD to install the drivers.

HP Recommended

Unfortunately the CD/DVD drive does not appear in W7 and any disc put into it doesn't do anything. Similar with any USB sticks I plug in, doesn't show. The only drives that come up in Computer are c drive and the restore drive. The restore drive when opened, see picture, does nothing, it doesn't restore anything.

 

So do you think that if I was to run DBAN and clear whatever stuff is on there I might be able to re-install W7 with all the missing drivers. Hopefully I could set the PC to boot from the DBAN DVD in the BIOS settings.

 

I appreciate the help your are giving me, thank you.

 

 

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