Installing Windows XP/7 on UEFI Laptop with CSM, but BIOS without any major changes.

[MettleSphee]

Good day!

I have the laptop possibly mentioned above, I did make a recovery USB in case anything would go wrong. My warranty has expired and I am not a newbie to computers, operating systems and such.

I got sick of windows 8.1 on my laptop not being able to run old games, so I thought that I would have to install either Windows 7 or XP.

I tried Windows 7, with USB stick and then with an external USB DVD Drive... None worked, because I got a "Load Driver" message, where it looks for the CD drivers (of course it doesn't have any). The BIOS barely has settings to enable CSM, Secure boot and to change the boot order, no other technical stuff that would help me proceed with my installation. The CD isn't corrupted, nor the ISO, because I do have an original key to use, so I am not pirating anything.

Windows XP, also original, won't continue setup after loading the file acpi.sys, because it will show a STOP error screen about it. As mentioned above, I do not have a good BIOS to change ANY settings needed, HOWEVER the BIOS tells me that CSM can be enabled for INSTALLING WINDOWS XP OR OLDER OS.

I cannot go any further than this by any meanings, but I am asking you if is there a compatible BIOS that I can flash so I can change more settings in order to install my desired Operating Systems.

Edit: The BIOS is InsydeH20 version F.27

Regards,

MettleSphee

[Chimney_83]

Welcome to HP Forums @MettleSphee, 

I understand that you are unable to downgrade the OS installed on your computer. I would like to provide my suggestion. 

Firstly, XP support has been discontinued. 

Disclaimer: HP does not recommend you to change the configuration of the computer, you can do so at your own risk.

If you have the setup file in the USB stick, you can keep tapping F9 on startup to select the USB in boot device options. 

If you want to restore or rollback BIOS to an older version, click here. 

Hope this helps. 

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Accepted Solution" and "Kudos" buttons, that’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!
Good Luck.

[MettleSphee]

"Firstly, XP support has been discontinued. " I would say forcedly discontinued, but oh well...

"If you have the setup file in the USB stick, you can keep tapping F9 on startup to select the USB in boot device options. 

If you want to restore or rollback BIOS to an older version, click here. "

I do know how to enter a BIOS, because, as I said...

"The BIOS barely has settings to enable CSM, Secure boot and to change the boot order, no other technical stuff that would help me proceed with my installation. The BIOS is InsydeH20 version F.27"

I hoped that would outline what I would need, because older versions are just incompatible with Windows 10... That is all the difference there is.

What I asked for is whether I would get a custom version of a BIOS, where I could change ACPI, SATA/IDE, other good stuff we need for doing certain things.

What upsets me about the laptop is that it can recommend me downgrading to Windows XP, which is fully incompatible and it won't get me past a STOP error screen reffering to ACPI.sys.

Edit: I know how to use boot settings for selecting a differend OS or Bootable USB Stick,

Regards,

MettleSphee

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Chimney_83 wrote: 

Firstly, XP support has been discontinued. 

If you have the setup file in the USB stick, you can keep tapping F9 on startup to select the USB in boot device options. 

If you want to restore or rollback BIOS to an older version, click here. 

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[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply, the BIOS installed on our computers have limited ability to safeguard the computer.

To install the latest version of BIOS, you can visit www.hp.com/drivers and enter the product number and download it. 

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. 

They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. 

Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. 

Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.

[MettleSphee]

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@Chimney_83 wrote:

Thanks for the reply, the BIOS installed on our computers have limited ability to safeguard the computer.

To install the latest version of BIOS, you can visit www.hp.com/drivers and enter the product number and download it. 

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From what I understood, your BIOS systems are not able to safeguard much (you can modify most stuff at your pleasure). My BIOS is updated to the latest version from HP Message Center, made fully compatible with Windows 10. Unfortunately, Windows 10 still doesn't satisfy me enough to want to keep or upgrade to it.

Instead, mine isn't really made for heavy modifying, but it is quite safeguarded.

I would like to talk to the experts in order to give up to this safeguard so I can change any setting the device may allow and won't show up with the factory settings (For example: SATA/IDE, ACPI, USB 3.0 Boot Compatibility mode, etc.)

Thanks again for what you have done.

EDIT: Error made duplicates of the post. Please do not delete this post.

Regards,

MettleSphee 

[MettleSphee]

I have no idea how much do I have to wait, but I'll wait for an answer to my problem, because I haven't recieved any PMs in my inbox.

Regards,

MettleSphee