UX32VD - Windows 8 to Windows 7

Hi Guys

I just purchased a UX32VD and I am looking to change it from windows 8 to windows 7. I have been trying to work with windows 8 for the last week, and I am having a difficult time. I am curious though as to how I should actually downgrade it. If I were to swap out the existing 500 GB hitachi and load in a SSD, could I still chose to boot from the SSD or would it still boot windows 8. I guess I am just trying to figure out how to downgrade the os. I have a working copy of windows 7, and an external dvd drive, so I am just wondering how to proceed.

Thank you

EDIT: So after more research, I guess I was a bit confused with what the iSSD actually was used for. I thought that W8 was stored on the iSSD, but now I guess it is just used for cache.

So I should just be able to remove the hitachi, and replace with the Samsung, and then clean install W7 and good to go right?

 

That would be nice, wouldn't it? If your system came shipped with Windows 8, you probably have the OA 3.0 implemented. This feature secures the Windows product key (for Windows 8) in the BIOS. Since it's hard coded, the Windows installation refers to this during installation, and rejects any version and edition of Windows that does not match it.

It's because of this feature that you would have to utilize downgrade rights.

Now if your system came with Windows 7 from factory, then chances are it has SLIC 2.1 instead of the OA 3.0 - in which case a fresh install should be no problem.

 

The downgrade rights sound like it is only for windows 8 pro though?

Is there any way around the OA3.0? I have already purchased a W7 disc. Should I put in one of my SSD from my other laptops with W7 on it, and see if it boots up?

 

Hello I find how to bypass the OEM key :

Just use notepad to make a file called PID.txt and put the following in the file:

[PID]
Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Place your windows 8 Pro key in where the X's are and save the file to the /sources directory in the root of your USB key.

The PID file overrides the pre-installed OEM key in the bios of your computer. Windows 8 installation starts right up. Now I have a clean install of Windows 8 pro.

 

Yes, from Windows 8 Pro strictly to Windows 7 Professional or Vista Business. My understanding was that you could also downgrade to 7 Ultimate, but I don't see that listed in the EULA downgrade rights.

I don't know that Windows 7 will boot up from that drive when in another system, due to the HAL. I've seen some people have success with it and some people have the OS crash and loop.

Aside from MifuneT's method, you can try what lololo suggested below (MifuneT's method is for a clean install of Windows 8 Pro, though).

I have not tried this myself, but perhaps it would work for installing Win 7. Give it a shot and let us know if it works!

 

Thank you very much for the responses. Is it possible that I can just disable CSM and secure boot in my bios (i check that I can do it last night with the computer), and then do a clean install on the samsung 840? Or am I still likely to continue to have problems?

 

I read that ' enabling' CSM will allow you to do a fresh install of 7, though I haven't tested it myself. Installing 7 under CSM means it will not be installed under UEFI, mind you. But you can try it if it's all the same to you.

 

Enable CSM is the only way to boot from Windows 7 disk if you want to do clean install of Windows 7.

 

Just to follow up guys, I got win7 installed. It was really easy.

I swapped in a samsung 840 pro 256gb ssd,
used an external asus cdrom drive with a legal copy of win7 home premium,
CSM is enabled
Secure boot is disabled

everything works great... it took less than an hour to do everything. I will update some drivers in the near future, but there werent any issues. Thanks for the help.

 

Thanks for the update, one question: Did you need a separate, bought copy of Windows 7 to install or could you use the Windows 8 license that came with the UX32VD?

 

If your system came with Windows 8 Pre-installed and you want to downgrade to Windows 7 you will need to buy a separately copy. Only if your system shipped with Windows 8 Pro pre-installed have downgrade rights to Windows 7:

Understanding downgrade rights

 

I just received my ux31a and it shipped with win8 home premium, can i still do a fresh install of win7 by disabling csm? I haven't tried yet but I plan on wiping everything for a clean win7 install..

edit: got it, had to disable secure boot

 

Nice. :thumbsup: Just remember that CSM is emulated legacy BIOS/32 bit EFI, so you're not installing Win7 under UEFI at that point.

 

In all honesty, I am not too familiar with UEFI and what it means in practical usage. In order to install win7, I had to disable secure boot and actually enable CSM (by default i was disabled). This removed the ability to edit fastboot settings.

I tried to install rapid start technology but I cant disable CSM and enable fastboot anymore or my notebook won't recognize the SSD it seems (it will continuously just boot directly to bios with no devices listed in the boot options).

In all honesty, I've just decided to leave it as is for the time being. This machine boots extremely fast (haven't counted, but I'd say around 10-15 seconds, certainly under 20) and wakes up within 2 or 3 seconds from sleep. Can you shed some light on whats going on with my setup?

ps when i was trying to install rapid start, I had partitioned off 4096 and proceeded to install but I realized I couldn't enable fastboot and get into windows so I jut reallocated the space back into my primary C partition. I still have fast boot times and can enjoy the extra 4gb of usable space. Are there any obvious downsides to not having the fastboot if my machine appears to be booting fast enough for me already?

 

You cannot use a Windows 8 license for a Windows 7 install. You'll need both the installation media and a Windows 7 key.

 

Exact same scenario and I just put a Samsung 840 256 in. Do turning these options off in the bios effect performance ?

I've read from a few sources that Windows 8 is faster than 7 ... I find that hard to believe because of the interface running along with Start Tiles ...

Have you guys gone back to 8 since switching to 7? Thoughts ?

 

It doesn't negatively impact OS performance as far as I know, but UEFI with CSM disabled will boot faster. And Windows 8 is slightly faster due to the new platform and less resource heavy interface.

 

Yes, windows 8 with a 3rd party start menu is the way to go.