Installing Win7 on a Win8 laptop

[MustSeeMelons]

The question is already in the name of the thread - I want to install Windows 7 on a laptop which only has drivers for Windows 8/8.1. Once I got the laptop I installed Windows 7 without hesitation and was saddened by the lack of drivers. Is it possible to such a thing? The laptop in question is an Asus X550LB.

 

[rtwjunkie]

A quick search of the internet shows this to be a pretty common problem. Also, ASUS support site doesn't even carry drivers below W8. Windows 7 wasn't able to install geric microsoft drivers for it when you installed W7?


Why not just install W8.1, and then get something like ClassicShell or Start8, and then get the benefits of W8, but the UI of W7?

 

[zsolt_93]

Look for the manufacturers of the components in the W8 drivers. And download from the respective manufacturers: nVidia/Intel/Realtek etc. Or install 8.1 with classic shell.

 

[MustSeeMelons]

Windows 7 found some generics - like for audio, but not for the ethernet, wifi, media keys, backlight etc. Maybe I could just install Win8 drivers somehow? Like, how different could they be? If all fails, I could even sell this PC and get an older one with Win7..

Look for the manufacturers of the components in the W8 drivers. And download from the respective manufacturers: nVidia/Intel/Realtek etc. Or install 8.1 with classic shell.

I have installed classic shell on Win8..

 

[patrico]

hey, i had some problems doing the same but i managed it in the end, this place helped me http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...l-64-bit/c052117c-8faa-4b5b-bd31-30bb9b21a0eb

i had probs with the bios and the formatting of the ssd but with some perseverance it worked ok, im not sure i had the same probs with drivers tho

 

[erixx]

OP: BAD BAD BAD IDEA

Did I say bad idea?

 

[newtekie1]

The good thing with ASUS drivers is that you can almost always de-compress them and install everything through device manager. You can also download the Intel chipset drivers from Intel's website and the nVidia drivers from nVidia's website directly.

 

[erixx]

True, but Intel or Nvidia drivers are not the problem with laptops. It is touchpad mouse, keyboard and shortcuts, screen, audio, Asus functions, etc., everything that may be tailored. Plus before all or after all, why in heaven or hell go back to W7... I would not lose my time with this unless there is a huge reason.

 

[brandonwh64]

If it has the LAN driver installed you could just go to start and "devices and printers" then right click on your PC name and click device installation settings then make sure you have "yes, do this automatically" enabled. As long as you are connected into the internet it will search windows driver base for the drivers and possibly install some.

 

[rtwjunkie]

True, but Intel or Nvidia drivers are not the problem with laptops. It is touchpad mouse, keyboard and shortcuts, screen, audio, Asus functions, etc., everything that may be tailored. Plus before all or after all, why in heaven or hell go back to W7... I would not lose my time with this unless there is a huge reason.

I second this, which is why I suggested that he use Classic Shell or Start8. That way even if he doesn't like the Modern UI, he can get the benefits of 8.1 with the W7 UI he obviously loves.

 

[pigulici]

I think if he will look for drivers on the website of the manufacturers of the components, he will run fine with win 7...

 

[ste2425]

I agree with all the others. Whilst I absolutely hate modern UI. Why oh why oh why would I want a tablet UI on my PC. There are many benefits to 8 under the hood that I have noticed and it has squeezed a fair bit of extra umph out of my old rig too. I tried all the free start button apps and in the end went for Start is Back. You have to pay like a quid but all the others I felt were really flaky and didn't have the same features as this.

Plus i now have the best start button ever !!

 

[MustSeeMelons]

Everyone is saying that Window 8 is faster, but on my Lenovo Y500 it was just the opposite, also I have a strange issues with some web pages not loading or loading partially.. I'm pretty sure that with going Windows 7 on the Asus machine will solve all the issues. Will try to manually search for all the drivers and hopefully everything will be ok.

 

[pigulici]

I tried both, win7 and 8 on same pc, same speed, but the not friendly GUI from 8 get me away, and some issues still present, well I am back to 7, waiting for 9...