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Syliara wrote on 2014-09-01 08:35
Ok so I am trying to install windows 7 on my laptop thought startup so I can get a full wipe, however its giving me issues. When I get to the part where it asks where I want to install windows it says none of the disk partitions are compatible. I'm not going to lie, I really don't understand why they wouldnt be compatible and I dont understand why my comp came with 5 different disk partitions. The first one (400 MB) is OEM (Reserved), the second one (260 MB) is labled System for the type, the third one (128 MB) is MSR (Reserved), the fourth one (910.4 GB) is the Primary, and the fifth one (20.4 GB) is OEM (Reserved). I ended up formatting all of them out of frustration but before I did so, the first one had WINRES (I think) next to it, the 4th one had Windows next to it, and the 5th one had Recovery next to it. Keep in mind not a single one of these is "compatible" with windows 7 installation for some reason. The reason for the first one was that it was a GPT partition style, the 2nd one is the same but says its an EFI system partition (ESP), the third one says its also GPT and is a Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition, the fourth one says its GPT and thats it, and the fifth one says the same thing as the first one. My computer had windows 8.1 preinstalled on it when I received it but I honestly do not want to deal with windows 8.1 if I can avoid it. If you have any further questions I'll try and answer them the best I can, but I have no idea wat most of these acronyms mean or stand for. Thank you~
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Osayidan wrote on 2014-09-01 11:39
In the installation process when you get to the disks part you were stuck at, go into the advanced settings and delete all the partitions (delete, not format. the red X button), they should then merge into one big disk. Select that one and (if you want just one big C: drive) click next. Windows will take care of partitioning it the way it needs (usually just creating a "system reserved" that it needs for booting up).
Also keep in mind if your computer had 8.1 pre-installed on it, you're more than likely going to have to hope they provide 7 drivers on the manufacturer site, and if they don't you'll have to try and make the 8.1 drivers work. If you're lucky the hardware will be generic enough and win7 will have built in drivers for most things.
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Yoorah wrote on 2014-09-01 21:36
Yeah, what Osay said. To add to that, I suggest you create two usable partitions: One for the OS and apps (C:), around 200 GB in size, and one for your documents/media/whatever (D:), with the remaining 800 GB.
This way, if you want to reformat Windows later, you can easily format the C partition and it won't affect your media collections and whatnot on D.
As for why you had 5 partitions: The first two have to do with a reserved system partition needed by Windows. The third one is a requirement of the GPT partition format, as opposed to the good old MBR. (GPT is a newer format, but it gives no real benefit for 1TB disks. It's needed to support larger drives.) The fourth one is your actual usable Windows partition from before. The last one was a recovery partition in case you wanted to do a factory restore.
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Syliara wrote on 2014-09-01 21:37
Quote from Osayidan;1244275:
In the installation process when you get to the disks part you were stuck at, go into the advanced settings and delete all the partitions (delete, not format. the red X button), they should then merge into one big disk. Select that one and (if you want just one big C: drive) click next. Windows will take care of partitioning it the way it needs (usually just creating a "system reserved" that it needs for booting up).
Also keep in mind if your computer had 8.1 pre-installed on it, you're more than likely going to have to hope they provide 7 drivers on the manufacturer site, and if they don't you'll have to try and make the 8.1 drivers work. If you're lucky the hardware will be generic enough and win7 will have built in drivers for most things.
Thank you for the help, i was able to install the windows 7 however I don't have a wireless driver installed now. Is there anywhere specific I can go to download it and transfer it to my laptop?
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Baku wrote on 2014-09-01 21:38
If you can connect an ethernet cable temporarily to your laptop, then you can run windows update which should download all those base drivers you need.
Otherwise you'll have to look for your motherboard model and find the drivers from their site.
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Syliara wrote on 2014-09-01 21:42
Quote from Baku;1244376:
If you can connect an ethernet cable temporarily to your laptop, then you can run windows update which should download all those base drivers you need.
Otherwise you'll have to look for your motherboard model and find the drivers from their site.
It seems that even with an ethernet cable my comp isnt picking up a connection.
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Yoorah wrote on 2014-09-01 21:45
Ah, the wonders of formatting the system and not having network drivers. :D...
You can find the specs of the system on the manufacturer's website. Usually you'll also find drivers for Windows 7 on there. If not, you can typically get them form the chipset manufacturer (like Intel, Realtek, etc).
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Syliara wrote on 2014-09-01 21:57
Quote from Yoorah;1244381:
Ah, the wonders of formatting the system and not having network drivers. :D...
You can find the specs of the system on the manufacturer's website. Usually you'll also find drivers for Windows 7 on there. If not, you can typically get them form the chipset manufacturer (like Intel, Realtek, etc).
Well I found the driver for network however now a huge issue has presented itself. It seems my comp has literally no working drivers at this point. It wont recognize any usb's put into it so I cant transfer from a usb. However it seems that my cd drive is still recognizable but I'm not sure how I can make use of that.
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Compass wrote on 2014-09-01 22:00
Quote from Nui;1244383:
Well I found the driver for network however now a huge issue has presented itself. It seems my comp has literally no working drivers at this point. It wont recognize any usb's put into it so I cant transfer from a usb. However it seems that my cd drive is still recognizable but I'm not sure how I can make use of that.
Got any blanks CDs you can put the drivers on?
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Syliara wrote on 2014-09-01 22:04
Quote from Compass;1244384:
Got any blanks CDs you can put the drivers on?
I'm sure I can get ahold of one, but how do i go about burning a downloaded file like a network driver onto a cd?
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Baku wrote on 2014-09-01 22:11
https://cdburnerxp.se/
Download, install, select "Data disc", drag file into window, click burn.
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Yoorah wrote on 2014-09-01 22:14
Have you tried all USB ports? Some of them use different controllers, one of them might have a working driver...
You actually don't need a separate program to burn files to a CD. You can just drag files into it from Windows and hit write or w/e.
If you can't burn a CD, you'll have to use another computer to create a Linux "live CD" (can use a USB flash drive as well) and boot from that on your laptop. You'll be able to mount your system disk and download the right drivers to it. You'll then be able to reboot back into Windows 7 and access them from the local hard disk.
Not sure what's the latest favourite for Linux live images these days, but I think Ubuntu should work:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
Instructions for creating a bootable USB stick:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu
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Syliara wrote on 2014-09-01 22:42
It seems one of my usb ports does work, however I'm still having issues finding the correct network driver. It says I need the Microsoft SNMP service.
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Baku wrote on 2014-09-01 22:43
Quote from Yoorah;1244388:
You actually don't need a separate program to burn files to a CD. You can just drag files into it from Windows and hit write or w/e.
Oh yeah, I forgot Windowsâ„¢ has that.
Quote from Nui;1244394:
It seems one of my usb ports does work, however I'm still having issues finding the correct network driver. It says I need the Microsoft SNMP service.
Do you know your mobo manufacturer/model?
You can try using CPU-Z to get it.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
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Yoorah wrote on 2014-09-01 22:54
I don't think Microsoft SNMP service has anything to do with it. Just ignore it.
You want to know the model of the laptop, as that will let you look up the specs on the manufacturer's site. You can get those from dxdiag, or other ways...
[Image: http://i.imgur.com/ciswAdF.png]
Start > search > dxdiag
[S]Or just flip your laptop over and note down the make/model name/number.[/S]