Problems installing Windows 7 64bit with 7th Gen Intel CPU

[Indymil]

Trying to build another media center but am unable to install Windows 7 64b using a 7th gen intel processor.

System: motherboard- Gigabyte GA-B150-HD3
processor- Intel 7th gen i3-7100 Kaby Lake

According to Gigabyte site "The problem lies in the fact that Windows 7's installer is only compatible with an older type of USB driver ... Gigabyte motherboard uses a newer kind of USB driver, meaning you will get an error when trying to install Windows 7."

They have an installer aid on their support page, but I've been unable to get it to work. (I've been working on this for three weeks)

If anyone has had a similar problem, please share your solution (in detail). I'm beginning to think I need to go with Windows 10 and try load Media Center.

[Scallica]

Disable the USB controller in the BIOS, then re-enable it after you install Windows 7.

[Indymil]

There is no option to disable the USB controller.
BIOS shows USB Controler 1 XHCI
Legacy USB support- enabled
XHCI hand-off disabled
USB mass storage support enabled
Port 60/64 emulator enabled

Thank you for your previous response. Still searching for a solution.

[Sammy2]

This came up a week or two ago on my Google Now Feed on my phone. I didn't really read it yet but thought I'd share it just in case it is helpful to you.

http://bgr.com/2017/04/20/windows-7-update-kaby-lake/

[DavidinCT]

Disable the USB controller in the BIOS, then re-enable it after you install Windows 7.

That is one way, you could always imbed the driver into the installer....

[jachin99]

Just sharing, I have an HP laptop that came from the factory with Win 10 and a Kaby Lake i7. I installed Win 7 on a separate HDD partition, and had problems with USB, and Wireless NIC but I eventually got the Wireless NIC working at the expense of breaking my Wireless functionality in WIn 10. Then one day, windows 7 did an integrity check on the file system (I guess), and erased Win 10. I had secure boot disabled in bios, along with any other setting that looked like it would interfere with my installation. So I hope you do get this working but I would really tread lightly, and make sure you have good backups. If you happen to get WIn 7 and 10 on the same machine, then please share because my solution to WIn 7 on my new laptop is virtual box, which comes with its own needed tweaks, etc.

[jeneral]

If anyone has had a similar problem, please share your solution (in detail). I'm beginning to think I need to go with Windows 10 and try load Media Center.

I just had to do this the other day. I tried to install Windows 10 with the WMC hack but my DVBLink TV Source kept crashing. IIRC the main issue with installing Windows 7 on one of these boards is the loss of Keyboard/Mouse access during the install. I haven't tried it myself, but supposedly installing from the DVD instead of a USB stick works for some people, providing they are plugging their devices into the USB 2.0 ports (the 2 ports above your PS/2 port).

To slipstream a USB 3.0 Windows 7 boot USB, I did the following. I downloaded the Gigabyte USB Installation tool and extracted it to a folder on my desktop. If you don't have a physical Windows 7 DVD, you will need to mount a Windows 7 ISO. I used a program called WinCDEmu (Google it...it's free). I installed that program and mounted my ISO to a spare drive letter. I plugged my USB flash drive into my PC and ran the Gigabyte USB tool. In the source path you select your physical DVD (if using an actual DVD) or your newly mounted ISO. In the destination path you select your USB flash disk. Click start and 15-20 minutes later your Windows 7 boot disk should be ready.

In Windows 7 you will need to download a Beta driver for the video. [21.20.16.4508] This driver can be downloaded from Gigabyte's support website for your MB. http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA- ... support-dl Look under the Driver, VGA section. Just remember that you will run into the Windows Update issue. There is a workaround but it involves modifying a windows system file.

Good luck!

[Indymil]

I was never able to load Windows 7 with my setup (see my first post). I purchased Windows 10 and was unable to install it also. I would get to the point it was loading files, and, at 82% ... it said it encountered a problem and rebooted. This happened on 2 consecutive occasions.

In desperation, I removed one of the 8 GB memory sticks (had 2 plugged in). I was able to load Windows 10 flawlessly. I then inserted the other memory stick and all ran smoothly.

I wonder now if I'd removed the memory stick when initially trying to install Windows 7, if it might have worked. However, at this point, I'm not starting over. I would like to load media center on the Windows 10 machine ... so plan on working on that. I'm researching Silicon Dust's DVR app (if anyone has any experience with it, please let me know).

I have an older machine running Windows 7 Home Server. I've not had the occasion to restore anything. May use the new version of Windows 7 I bought to convert it to a Windows 7 Media Center. Thanks for input you've furnished.

[Indymil]

I went ahead and put an empty formatted hard drive in my computer and tried loading Windows 7 (taking out one of the memory sticks, leaving the other 8 Gb in). It worked.

Initially, I got "Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate and existing partition", but I closed out of that, went back to the Install option, and was able to get through it.

[ZippyTheChicken]

I read the other day on slashdot that microsoft is starting to disable win7 installs on 7gen cpus.. if you get it working in premium or pro then down the line you might have issues on windows update.. which is wonderful because i have been looking for a 7gen for some time now.. and now I will have to rethink and go 6gen maybe.. you can make your own patched install disks of win7 or manually install updates for 7gen cpus but.. idk

[Indymil]

I ran into that problem. I could not install PlayReady (said my CPU needed newer version of Windows, i.e. 10). I had read on InfoWorld.com that W7 updates were being blocked. I went into Windows Update and deleted two KB401... updates and blocked future updates. After that I was able to download PlayReady and use MediaCenter (seems to be working well).

I see the handwriting on the wall. I currently use 2 Ceton 4 tuner PCI's in two different computers (these have worked well). I have one Silicon Dust HD homerun that has worked well (two additional W 7 PC's use this). I have ordered another Silicon Dust HomeRun that will be delivered in the next couple of days.

Within the next six months I plan on building another media PC ... will try it with Windows 10 and (at least my current plan) use the Silicon Dust DVR program.

[sparkinstx]

This is by design. It was known as far back as the fall of last year that Microsoft was not going to support anything earlier than Windows 10 on Kaby Lake (7th generation) hardware. It's an agreement between Intel, Microsoft, and the hardware manufacturers to drive adoption of Windows 10, and speed up the sunset of earlier operating systems.

The hardware manufacturers have since gotten pushback from some customers that are not ready to move to Windows 10, so some manufacturers (like Dell) are offering some of their enterprise class systems with either Kaby Lake or Skylake (6th generation) processors. But how long that will last is anyone's guess. Maybe through the end of 2017, or through 1Q 2018.

[MrPaul]

Kaby Lake has been a huge PITA for me and I'm sure others. Just in case it helps someone else this is my highlights.

Win7 HTPC died. Didn't post. It was 9 years old so didn't even bother troubleshooting. New MB, CPU, & RAM...I overkilled it some
- MSI Z170a Gaming M5
- Intel g4560 LGA1151
- Kept same OS SSD with Win7 intact.

Here are the various "learning opportunities" I ran into
* Wouldn't post. BIOS didn't support Kaby Lake. Bought older CPU off eBay, fashed, swapped, and now boots fine
* Win7 not genuine (expected...just ran activation again)
* Windows update is disabled (not failed) due to Kaby Lake. Fixed by using this tool.
* Intel Drivers says hardware isn't supported. Used display driver from Gigabyte
* Various issues with playready. Followed guides to remove it then reinstall it

My rant is that not supporting and disabling support are two completely different things. They are actively writing code to disable updates and I'm sure their partnership with Intel has impacted their decision. The x86_64 architecture is a standard which is what ALL CPUs are built upon. It's why you can take an application from any 64 bit cpu to another. The fact that it's Gen7 doesn't mean any legacy CPU features are disabled. Same with the Intel display drivers...all you need to do to add support is modify the inf file to include your OS. I was lazy so I found one pre modded.

Maybe my links will help someone, maybe even me, in the future.