Downgrade Windows 8 based PC to Windows 7

Most Windows 8 base PC such as HP Envy 15 notebook require BIOS/UEFI setup before you can downgrade it to Windows 7. Before we start I would like to point out important points:<br /><br />For this tutorial :<br /><ul><li>We use Internal DVD/CD- ROM as install disk. (change it base on your boot disk such as flash drive or external DVD/CD-ROM). </li><li>I strongly recommend to use Windows 7 SP1 because it is more stable and fix some bugs like remove pop-up notification about secure boot. </li></ul><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">1.First step We need to access UEFI BIOS, here is how:</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKGirhSDxc_uJ88aqgbHwKm4H65ZfSBf2gizl8WiE7tats7VDu26k81UVWPcUou1JbqONZZnMfDgZ94u9lAOumMhXbaSJ8hMxO05jqCvYlaS8cqGCPKfqGVdpiglReo8kH7RZG-HLD1k/s1600/UEFI_BIOS-STARTUP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKGirhSDxc_uJ88aqgbHwKm4H65ZfSBf2gizl8WiE7tats7VDu26k81UVWPcUou1JbqONZZnMfDgZ94u9lAOumMhXbaSJ8hMxO05jqCvYlaS8cqGCPKfqGVdpiglReo8kH7RZG-HLD1k/s1600/UEFI_BIOS-STARTUP.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UEFI Firmware Setting on Windows 8</td></tr></tbody></table><ol><li>Press the Windows key + C, or swipe in from the right edge of the screen to open your Charms. </li><li>Click Settings. Click Change PC Settings. In PC Settings, select General. </li><li>Scroll down to the bottom and Under Advanced startup, click Restart now. </li><li>In the boot menu, select Troubleshoot. </li><li>In the Troubleshoot menu, select Advanced options.</li><li> In the Advanced options menu, select UEFI Firmware Settings. </li><li>Click Restart to restart the system and enter UEFI (BIOS). </li><li>Make sure you already insert your windows 7 install disk before restart.  </li></ol><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> *UEFI/BIOS interface is different base on your notebook/PC</i></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">2.  Upon restart enter BIOS, make this changes:</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUVGWmUKi-nC9_o1XRnXeTE-yMpf6zEt5O23_12uAcPe_i0gENe7-WK3AlmweNklg7eFqzQ4MWRUJ4ICF7ixFQliRPfl6HFYNRIaZDaTLgSPaXOFKflcPIIIxJKiJNFaeVx-tbtAF1XU/s1600/legacy+and+secure+boot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUVGWmUKi-nC9_o1XRnXeTE-yMpf6zEt5O23_12uAcPe_i0gENe7-WK3AlmweNklg7eFqzQ4MWRUJ4ICF7ixFQliRPfl6HFYNRIaZDaTLgSPaXOFKflcPIIIxJKiJNFaeVx-tbtAF1XU/s1600/legacy+and+secure+boot.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The secure boot and Legacy support may located at different location base on your BIOS</td></tr></tbody></table><ul><li>Legacy Boot or Legacy Support : Enable</li><li>Secure Boot : Disable</li><li>Boot order : Change the boot order by select your DVD/CD-rom as the first boot device. </li></ul><hr /><ul><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>note 1 : if you are installing using DVD) - If you are using USB Drive, make the USB Drive as the first boot device. Or - you can also change this boot device later (step 4)</i></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>note 2: you may need to press certain button to enter BIOS, example for HP 2000 you need to press F10</i></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>note 3 : New Bios - such Fujitsu AMI BIOS, secure boot is located under security panel. For most HP product it is located under system configuration.</i></span></li></ul><hr /><i></i><br /><span style="font-size: large;">3.Now press F10 to exit and save changes.</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">4. If you already set your first boot device (in step 2), skip this step, if not, upon restart - press ESC and press F9 to select your boot device.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkRio6c3uf2zU62Q9HA3cyo3hNZQwctbgXi97WJCUyi8vZwzhq2uh6R7ITDKmLv6NmuAYFPHGDsvZwZ18J8cOCyLRLq9XIYMigolXcpn7Ta4u7omcH7IFcJfNtqjCxoQwwXHr1d0YyjQ/s1600/start-up+menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkRio6c3uf2zU62Q9HA3cyo3hNZQwctbgXi97WJCUyi8vZwzhq2uh6R7ITDKmLv6NmuAYFPHGDsvZwZ18J8cOCyLRLq9XIYMigolXcpn7Ta4u7omcH7IFcJfNtqjCxoQwwXHr1d0YyjQ/s1600/start-up+menu.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Press F9 to select your boot device (windows 7 installation disk)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: large;">5. Select your boot device using the arrow key and press enter.(in this tutorial we use DVD/CD-Rom).</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqXNPpcniToUFYb0x7Fx2w1z0OF_DgH70QGdgLOVyX2mmQMd-WrdGVUg4OVvOxz4DY5kYEivJQtNZAG3JUL1Xex7Dd9Pi3xT0SMtsIkJKnkzimAFuodGzrK_Q7cccFN3IK-xGI2mFe68/s1600/boot+manager.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqXNPpcniToUFYb0x7Fx2w1z0OF_DgH70QGdgLOVyX2mmQMd-WrdGVUg4OVvOxz4DY5kYEivJQtNZAG3JUL1Xex7Dd9Pi3xT0SMtsIkJKnkzimAFuodGzrK_Q7cccFN3IK-xGI2mFe68/s1600/boot+manager.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boot interface may look different base on your Notebook/PC</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">6. All Done, Windows 7 will start to install right away</span>, (<a href="http://laptop-driver.blogspot.com/2009/11/installing-windows-7-part-1.html" target="_blank">tutorial to install windows 7</a>). <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Partition Setup During Installation :</span><br /><hr />During Windows 7 installation, it will ask which partition you want to install windows 7. If you get the message:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx5eZpgYZ2buf0_ox3VF2sbSNgPQ2MJaUmVV2uHwCkPoJQ2f4erfKihu1PTxtsSjg_E6S6kDfmt3kTAM-er6d6sA-cpNzaiP61RMD2ZNDnD6nGSePcQYABip2s1P6LxhXkZV0FsMZcq6s/s1600/windows+can't+be+installed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx5eZpgYZ2buf0_ox3VF2sbSNgPQ2MJaUmVV2uHwCkPoJQ2f4erfKihu1PTxtsSjg_E6S6kDfmt3kTAM-er6d6sA-cpNzaiP61RMD2ZNDnD6nGSePcQYABip2s1P6LxhXkZV0FsMZcq6s/s1600/windows+can't%2Bbe%2Binstalled.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Windows can't be installed on drive 0 partition x " , </span></span></i></span></div><br />you need to delete all partition and create a new partition before installing windows 7.<br />You can still create multiple partition later on by using disk management in Windows 7, for now just create one partition for Windows 7 Installation as your C drive).  <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Additional Notes.</span><br /><hr /><ol><li>Not all Notebook/PC require this setup to downgrade to Windows 7, try to install Windows 7 normally first and if there is an error mean you do need  to setup the BIOS/UEFI.</li><li>Windows 8 base PC - Refer to  PC/Notebook/Desktop design specifically for per-installed with Windows 8. </li><li>If you have the USB 3.0 option on your BIOS, go to "System Configuration", "USB 3.0 Config in Pre-OS" and set to "Auto". </li><li>If you are using USB Flash Drive as the boot device (Windows 7 install disk) - Make sure to format it as FAT 32 and use with USB 2.0 slot, do not use USB 3.0 slot.</li><li>If you are Using SDD (mSATA drive) - Change the Sata otion to AHCI (we actually want to disable Intel Smart Response Technology). </li><li>Each computer use different key to enter BIOS, check your manual for this or Google it. Here is some reference: </li></ol><ul><li>Asus : F8</li><li>Sony : F2</li><li>Gateway : F10</li><li>Gigabyte : F12</li><li>Dell : Del/F12</li><li>HP/Compaq : F2/ESC</li><li>Acer : F2/F12</li><li>eMachines : F10</li><li>Toshiba : F12</li><li>Fujitsu : F12</li></ul><br />If you have problems do let me know in the comment section below.

Most Windows 8 base PC such as HP Envy 15 notebook require BIOS/UEFI setup before you can downgrade it to Windows 7. Before we start I would...