Windows 7, still possible to install?

hyou0079

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Sep 3, 2017
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Recently my 2011 Asus G73JH Laptop finally expired, after a tech support location I took it to diagnose a flickering screen issue finally killed it while trying to rectify the issue. Realizing it was more ineffective to try and fix it as opposed to just getting a new one, I consulted some people and bought a 2016 Asus Strix GL753VD, as it seemed to have everything I was looking to maintain from the G73JH Laptop.

My biggest issue however is that Windows 10 is the preinstalled OS on the laptop, and as hard as I've been trying, I've been having a great deal of difficulty adjusting to the new operating system. I looked up the model on Asus' website however, and Windows 7 drivers aren't offered for this laptop model. Does that mean it's simply not possible to run Windows 7 on the laptop?
 

R_1

Estimable
Herald
this is where it gets academic.
you will need to identify all the drivers your system needs and look to the manufacturer of said devices and see if there is a 7 driver available. not asus but the maker of the device/chip itself. this is most important for storage sub-systems. Windows needs that driver to install itself, most if not all of the other drivers can be installed after windows is running assuming they exist.

I am not a fan of windows 10 myself.
 

hyou0079

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Sep 3, 2017
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There's a slight concern there.

My previous laptop, the G73JH, at one point had issues that were thought to be related to the monitor (they weren't, but that's a different story), it was recommended to me by somebody that I reinstall the driver from the manufacturer's website, rather than Asus' drivers section. When I did that, it did not work right at all, the screen was fuzzy and had a pink tint. I ended up having to do a system reimage to resolve that.

What are the odds that could happen here?

As for the drivers involved, best I can say is they'd be listed under win10 in the laptop's drivers section on their website, not sure if that's enough of a breadcrumb to follow.
 

mbarnes86

Distinguished
Sep 16, 2010
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Hi

Neither Microsoft or Intel want you to run 7th or 8th generation Intel CPU with windows 7

to discourage you Microsoft will disable Windows updates and Intel will not make a graphics driver available for the integrated intel graphics

booting Windows 7 on USB 3.0 ports may be a problem but assuming there is a DVD drive a standard Windows 7 DVD would be able to boot up

Standard SATA SSD are not a problem but some M2 type SSD need special drivers.

Try to get used to the Windows 10 interface and disable as many Tablet Features as possible
see if you can get used to the Win 10 before downgrading to Win 7

googling 'make windows 10 look like windows 7'
brings up a lot of useful suggestions

regards
Mike Barnes
 

R_1

Estimable
Herald


Thus my preface, academically it should work but if ASUS edited the drivers what you describe is possible if not likely.

windows 10 drove me to Linux Mint with Cinnamon as my daily driver, I only use 10 for gaming these days.
 

hyou0079

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Sep 3, 2017
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It's really not JUST a superficial issue with Win10

I've become aware of how Windows 10 updates, the fact it will download update and automatically restart your computer without prompt or asking, regardless of what you're doing. Considering I stream artwork to make money and would prefer to not risk losing my progress in any projects I'm working on, the fact I cannot disable that is a big concern. "Set it to a certain time" is not a preferable option either since I work at all hours of the day. Deadlines force such things.

I'm also concerned around regaining the programs from my old laptop. I've kept my programs app data always backed up along with the installers, so if I had to reinstall Win7 on it I'd be able to restore every program to how it was before setting-wise. Obviously for anything that requires an externally-located image or sound that wouldn't work, but would it be possible for me to transplant my App Data settings from Win7 onto the App Data folder in win10 and have everything work as it did before? I say that assuming that even still exists within Win10's architecture, I'm not sure. That's not even taking into account whether or not my installers will work for Win10 as they did Win7 or if a specific new installer is needed.

Security is also a bit concerning. I've used Microsoft Security Essentials, a free but otherwise extremely competent security software, ever since Windows Vista. However I've recently been made aware that MSE is not usable in Win10, the reason being Windows' built in Defender supposedly has cannibalized parts of MSE to the point it can now perform security on its own. I can't say this is particularly comforting though, given Defender's track record of being mostly useless in the past, but I'm not sure what could be considered a suitable replacement for Microsoft Security Essentials.

So I guess this has become less "help me get Win7 back" and more "how do I properly adjust to the forced migration to Win10"
 

ElectrO_90

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Jun 21, 2016
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There are ways of turning this off, just google it.