Installing Windows 7 on New System

[Nowler]

Hey folks,

Would installing windows 7 do any damage to a brand new gaming system?
I know it's not supported by Microsoft anymore, and it's got security issues etc..
I also realize that there may be various instances of incompatibility for particular drivers and game, etc...

But would it damage the system to be the first instance of Windows to be installed?

I have found a way to upgrade to Windows 10 (I know the official free upgrade offering is finished), so Windows 7 would only be on it for a few minutes.

Surely this would be OK?
I could then check for updates/drivers once 10 is installed, right?


The system will be arriving soon, with a trial version of Windows 10 on it.

Thanks in advance

 

[Trader333]

If the system is new then it is highly likely that you wont be able to install Windows 7 at all as the hardware will not be compatible. This is an issue I have previously had when a friend wanted me to install Windows 8.1 on new hardware. What is the spec of the machine you have bought, ie what is the processor ?

 

[Nowler]

If the system is new then it is highly likely that you wont be able to install Windows 7 at all as the hardware will not be compatible. This is an issue I have previously had when a friend wanted me to install Windows 8.1 on new hardware. What is the spec of the machine you have bought, ie what is the processor ?

Thanks for the reply mate.

Processor is the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Hex-Core CPU

Give me a sec and I'll grab the list of parts

 

[Trader333]

The processor is the key issue. I would check on the AMD spec and see if it is compatible with Windows 7.

 

[Nowler]

OK, from what I see so far:

"Your Ryzen 5 2600 will work on Windows 7, but you won't be able to use Ryzen Master software to configure the CPU. Ryzen Master is compatible only with Windows 10 OS. " - AMD Forum December 2018


If I can get past the Processor issue, what might the next likely hurdle be?
As I said... W7 will only be on it for a few mins

 

[MasterOfCoin]

AMD Ryzen 5 2600X does not officially support Windows 7.

There will be issues getting this combination to work properly.

Suggest that if you need to run Win7 for some reason (to get at things that will only run on it) then you install a virtual machine to run it within a compatible operating system.

While you won't do any actual hardware damage to your new system trying anything like you suggest, I'd advise you first backup to a full recovery disk before doing anything at all.

I could suggest some other workarounds if need be.

 

[0007]

What you propose is potentially possible (with lots of caveats!). It wouldn't physically damage your computer but quite possibly there would be software conflicts resulting in problems. Since windows 7 has only recently become unsupported it's probable (though nothing is ever certain) that your forthcoming machine would run on it. However, as trader 333 has suggested – it would be useful to know the full spec of your machine. I've just seen that you are using a Ryzen 5 2600 X which is not the latest version of the CPU so I don't see why it shouldn't work with windows 7 - but that's only a guess, you need to check.

I'm not aware of what a "trial version of Windows 10" is. Is it possible that the machine is being supplied with an unregistered/unactivated copy of Windows 10? I would expect any new machine supplied professionally to have a fully working & activated copy of Windows 10 on it. You can download (free) legitimately from Microsoft a fully working and up-to-date copy of Windows 10 and install it on any suitable machine. You will be prompted to activate it (either with a legitimate code or by paying them some dosh) but it will still continue working satisfactorily while unactivated, indefinitely. Microsoft seem to have a different policy now whereby they do not cripple your machine if you do not have an activated copy of Windows. If you continue to run it unactivated the only disadvantage is that you will have a very discreet reminder in a corner of your windows screen and you will be unable to personalise the colours of your screen et cetera. If that bugs you, you can pay up!

Although the upgrade route from previous Windows versions has "officially" been discontinued, the fact is that it is still there and works ok – I've upgraded several machines since the deadline passed. The upgrade route presumably is what you are alluding to and there should not be a problem in principle in upgrading from windows 7. However, ............ the official upgrade route will take into account the type of licence that the installed version of Windows 7 has. This can get quite complicated and basically, if your edition of Windows 7 was a full retail copy then you should be okay but if it was originally supplied with a machine "as is" it's probably what is called an "OEM" version which would have been "married" to the original machine upon which it was installed and probably will not register/activate to another, unless that's the actual machine being upgraded. The only real way to find out with upgrades to Windows 10 is to actually try it – sometimes it will work when it shouldn't & vice versa. If you've actually paid for a legit copy of windows 7 then the Microsoft helpline are usually very helpful and you shouldn't have any problems – and sometimes you only have to go through an automated telephone procedure with no human involved.

If your machine is arriving with a load of gaming software et cetera you need to be sure that you can reinstall it if the upgrade goes wrong. If you are not completely happy with the process I would suggest that you find someone who is able to help you. But better than that, I would get the supplier of your new PC to get it all sorted out for you upfront.

 

[Nowler]

AMD Ryzen 5 2600X does not officially support Windows 7.

There will be issues getting this combination to work properly.

Suggest that if you need to run Win7 for some reason (to get at things that will only run on it) then you install a virtual machine to run it within a compatible operating system.

While you won't do any actual hardware damage to your new system trying anything like you suggest, I'd advise you first backup to a full recovery disk before doing anything at all.

I could suggest some other workarounds if need be.

I am not very savvy with tech.
I wouldn't know how to install a virtual machine.

When you say to back everything up first. Would this still be the case with a brand new computer? I personally have nothing on it to back up. Though I assume, it more for a back up of the various settings/drivers etc..?

What you propose is potentially possible (with lots of caveats!). It wouldn't physically damage your computer but quite possibly there would be software conflicts resulting in problems. Since windows 7 has only recently become unsupported it's probable (though nothing is ever certain) that your forthcoming machine would run on it. However, as trader 333 has suggested – it would be useful to know the full spec of your machine. I've just seen that you are using a Ryzen 5 2600 X which is not the latest version of the CPU so I don't see why it shouldn't work with windows 7 - but that's only a guess, you need to check.

What Specs do you want?
I was also thinking that as I'm using the Ryzen 5 2600x, i.e.. it not being the latest version (a few versions between it and the most recent), that there is a good chance that this might work - at least enough for me to upgrade for free.

I'm not aware of what a "trial version of Windows 10" is. Is it possible that the machine is being supplied with an unregistered/unactivated copy of Windows 10? I would expect any new machine supplied professionally to have a fully working & activated copy of Windows 10 on it. You can download (free) legitimately from Microsoft a fully working and up-to-date copy of Windows 10 and install it on any suitable machine. You will be prompted to activate it (either with a legitimate code or by paying them some dosh) but it will still continue working satisfactorily while unactivated, indefinitely. Microsoft seem to have a different policy now whereby they do not cripple your machine if you do not have an activated copy of Windows. If you continue to run it unactivated the only disadvantage is that you will have a very discreet reminder in a corner of your windows screen and you will be unable to personalise the colours of your screen et cetera. If that bugs you, you can pay up!

Yes, sorry. I mean an unactivated version of W10
I didn't realize that my system can run indefinitely on this version...
I would still like to have an activated version though... and I don't want to pay for it, hahah

Although the upgrade route from previous Windows versions has "officially" been discontinued, the fact is that it is still there and works ok – I've upgraded several machines since the deadline passed. The upgrade route presumably is what you are alluding to and there should not be a problem in principle in upgrading from windows 7. However, ............ the official upgrade route will take into account the type of licence that the installed version of Windows 7 has. This can get quite complicated and basically, if your edition of Windows 7 was a full retail copy then you should be okay but if it was originally supplied with a machine "as is" it's probably what is called an "OEM" version which would have been "married" to the original machine upon which it was installed and probably will not register/activate to another, unless that's the actual machine being upgraded. The only real way to find out with upgrades to Windows 10 is to actually try it – sometimes it will work when it shouldn't & vice versa. If you've actually paid for a legit copy of windows 7 then the Microsoft helpline are usually very helpful and you shouldn't have any problems – and sometimes you only have to go through an automated telephone procedure with no human involved.

This is a link to the W7 that I ordered:

Sign in or Register | eBay

Ebay seems to be down when I attempted to retrieve the description of the item.

If your machine is arriving with a load of gaming software et cetera you need to be sure that you can reinstall it if the upgrade goes wrong. If you are not completely happy with the process I would suggest that you find someone who is able to help you. But better than that, I would get the supplier of your new PC to get it all sorted out for you upfront.

I am not very tech savvy, but I can follow instructions (most of the time).
If I ensure to do a back up before I go near anything, and then the upgrade goes wrong (not sure how it could go wrong), then wouldn't reverting back to the back up sort it all?

The supplier said they wont install W7 onto it.
I opted out of the activated version of W10 because it saved me £100, and I upgraded my current old system to W10 for free the other day.

Surely it can't be THAT difficult?

- Do a back up
- Pop in the W7 disc
-If it installs, then upgrade how I upgraded this system
If it doesn't, then carry on using the unactivated W10 (or revert back to the back up first, and then carry on using the unactivated W10)
-If I can successfully upgrade the check for updates etc...



What Specs of my system would you like to know?

 

[Nowler]

Processor
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Hex-Core CPU

Graphics Card
1 x AMD Radeon RX 570 8GB Graphics Card

Memory/RAM
1 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz DDR4 Memory (2 x 8GB)

Solid State Drives
1 x 480GB Solid State Drive

Hard Drives
1 x 2TB Seagate BarraCuda Hard Drive

Optical Drives
1 x External DVD Re-Writer

Motherboard
1 x Gigabyte B450M AORUS Motherboard

 

[0007]

I think to install Win 7 when it's not supported by the processor is asking for trouble. There are workarounds but you need to know what you're doing and even then it can go wrong. For the unaided non-expert the practical solution might be to stick with unactivated Win10 until you can afford to activate. Having said that, there are non-legit ways of activating for free which have been published on the net.

 

[Nowler]

I think to install Win 7 when it's not supported by the processor is asking for trouble. There are workarounds but you need to know what you're doing and even then it can go wrong. For the unaided non-expert the practical solution might be to stick with unactivated Win10 until you can afford to activate. Having said that, there are non-legit ways of activating for free which have been published on the net.

Well now that I know the inactivated version will still work fine, I feel less strong about installing W7.

If the risks of cocking the system up was very low, then I would still proceed. But if it's going to be much more complicated than just backing it up, installing W7 from the disc, upgrading to W10 and updating, then I'm not so keen


And as you say, there are ways to activate it (perhaps a bit shady, lol)

 

[Signalcalc]

Try it and see, running Windows 7 on a new system that is unsupported does not mean it won't run fine, if it installs OK then it is likely to run OK. You can't break the hardware whatever you do (well you can if your messing with the firmware, but that is way advanced stuff). If Win7 won't install/run then just use the Win10 download as explained below.

What I don't understand is if it's a brand new machine, why doesn't it arrive with an OEM version of Win10? Is it a bare metal machine with no OS or a DIY build? Have you found a free way to upgrade to Win10 from Win7?

Microsoft provide the latest Win10 build ISO to download for free, then activate using a key to make it legal. However you don't need to activate it for it to run, but it won't be a legal copy until you do (it won't stop working though). The same ISO can be set to run Win 10 Pro instead of Win 10 Home and you can run Pro for 3 months as a trial version before activating it to make it legal, however that won't stop working either if you don't activate it after 3 months.

ISO files need to be either burnt to a bootable DVD or to a USB drive set to boot mode for the install (or can be used to install a virtual machine), you will need a working computer to create the DVD or bootable USB.

Win10 download link:

Download Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File)

A bit more info:

You Don't Need a Product Key to Install and Use Windows 10

You probably should get a Windows key, though,

www.howtogeek.com

How to Upgrade Your Ancient OS and Try Windows 10 or 11 for Free for 90 Days

If you're ready to kick Windows 7 or 8.1 to the curb, you can take Windows 10 or 11 for a free, 90-day spin courtesy of Microsoft's Enterprise evaluation version of Windows.

uk.pcmag.com

 

[Signalcalc]

Well now that I know the inactivated version will still work fine, I feel less strong about installing W7.

If the risks of cocking the system up was very low, then I would still proceed. But if it's going to be much more complicated than just backing it up, installing W7 from the disc, upgrading to W10 and updating, then I'm not so keen


And as you say, there are ways to activate it (perhaps a bit shady, lol)

If you have nothing to backup you won't need backup.

 

[Signalcalc]

What you propose is potentially possible (with lots of caveats!). It wouldn't physically damage your computer but quite possibly there would be software conflicts resulting in problems. Since windows 7 has only recently become unsupported it's probable (though nothing is ever certain) that your forthcoming machine would run on it. However, as trader 333 has suggested – it would be useful to know the full spec of your machine. I've just seen that you are using a Ryzen 5 2600 X which is not the latest version of the CPU so I don't see why it shouldn't work with windows 7 - but that's only a guess, you need to check.

I'm not aware of what a "trial version of Windows 10" is. Is it possible that the machine is being supplied with an unregistered/unactivated copy of Windows 10? I would expect any new machine supplied professionally to have a fully working & activated copy of Windows 10 on it. You can download (free) legitimately from Microsoft a fully working and up-to-date copy of Windows 10 and install it on any suitable machine. You will be prompted to activate it (either with a legitimate code or by paying them some dosh) but it will still continue working satisfactorily while unactivated, indefinitely. Microsoft seem to have a different policy now whereby they do not cripple your machine if you do not have an activated copy of Windows. If you continue to run it unactivated the only disadvantage is that you will have a very discreet reminder in a corner of your windows screen and you will be unable to personalise the colours of your screen et cetera. If that bugs you, you can pay up!

Although the upgrade route from previous Windows versions has "officially" been discontinued, the fact is that it is still there and works ok – I've upgraded several machines since the deadline passed. The upgrade route presumably is what you are alluding to and there should not be a problem in principle in upgrading from windows 7. However, ............ the official upgrade route will take into account the type of licence that the installed version of Windows 7 has. This can get quite complicated and basically, if your edition of Windows 7 was a full retail copy then you should be okay but if it was originally supplied with a machine "as is" it's probably what is called an "OEM" version which would have been "married" to the original machine upon which it was installed and probably will not register/activate to another, unless that's the actual machine being upgraded. The only real way to find out with upgrades to Windows 10 is to actually try it – sometimes it will work when it shouldn't & vice versa. If you've actually paid for a legit copy of windows 7 then the Microsoft helpline are usually very helpful and you shouldn't have any problems – and sometimes you only have to go through an automated telephone procedure with no human involved.

If your machine is arriving with a load of gaming software et cetera you need to be sure that you can reinstall it if the upgrade goes wrong. If you are not completely happy with the process I would suggest that you find someone who is able to help you. But better than that, I would get the supplier of your new PC to get it all sorted out for you upfront.

@0007 beat me to it

 

[Nowler]

I am getting the system from FiercePC.
I chose all the parts and they build it for me.

I could have gotten an activated W10, but it was already pushing the boundaries of what I could afford to drop on it. So I opted to just get the inactivated version and try upgrade for free by installing W7 on it.

Can people give a value out of 5 for likeliness that I cock something up by just popping in the disc and attempting to install W7. Or even % chance (I know it would only be a rough idea/your opinion)

I wouldnt be trying anything other than going straight for the free upgrade to W10.

If the upgrade didnt work. Then I can just download the inactivated version of W10 from Microsoft and activate later.

 

[Rufus_Leakey]

Can people give a value out of 5 for likeliness that I cock something up by just popping in the disc and attempting to install W7.

It should work, according to

Windows 7 Dies Today: Here's What You Need to Know

Farewell, Windows 7! Microsoft is no longer supporting the classic operating system as of today. Here's what that actually means.

www.howtogeek.com

If you use Windows 7, you can still keep using it. Heck, you can even install Windows 7 on a new system. Windows Update will still download all the patches Microsoft released before ending support. Things will keep working on January 15, 2020 nearly the same as they did on January 13, 2020.

 

[Nowler]

It should work, according to

Windows 7 Dies Today: Here's What You Need to Know

Farewell, Windows 7! Microsoft is no longer supporting the classic operating system as of today. Here's what that actually means.

www.howtogeek.com

Thanks for posting that mate.
I'm now on the fence about trying W7 and attempting to upgrade for free.

W7 is on it's way to me, as too is my new system. I'll have a think about it between now and then.

 

[0007]

I have read of situations where installing Windows 7 on Ryzen has encountered difficulties with implementing USB ports which could mean that your keyboard/mouse USB connections may not work and therefore give you major problems. This can be countered by using the old-fashioned PS/2 connector (which your new motherboard possesses) – but do you possess an old-fashioned PS/2 keyboard & mouse?

If you go down the Windows 7 installation route security should not be a major problem since you won't connect to the Internet until the time of activation and if you did pick up anything it can most likely be cleaned up. As I see it, the biggest unknown in your case is the quality/licensing heritage of your purchased copy of windows 7. As a general rule the cheaper the purchase the more likely you are to have problems – there are many counterfeit copies doing the rounds in addition to reissued/reused/redundant corporate copies which may or may not install/activate. The only way to find out is to go through the install process. The most likely worse case scenario is that you end up with an installation that neither works or activates– In which case you could just reinstall windows 10 (you would need access to another Internet-connected machine to make/download installation media) and bring the machine back to the state in which it was delivered to you. It's just possible that if you have trouble with the USB ports you could get yourself into (a non-expert's position) where you can't boot the machine and finding yourself needing expert help. I would also strongly advise you to have an alternative means of connecting to the net where at least you can seek advice.

There are 2 likely outcomes to your situation: (1) it all goes okay and eventually you end up with an activated Win10 or (2) you experience a whole load of hassle, learn a lot but end up with the machine where you started. Keep us informed– I will be interested to know the outcome. Also, if you have any further details of your Win 7 purchase that may give some extra guidance.

 

[Nowler]

I've managed to activate Windows 10 for free after googling searching a few things.

Anyone want to buy Windows 7 off me?
Will swap for some magic beans

 

[axaxi]

are you sure?? it's out of date