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Question

Can't start my laptop after installing windows 7

Aug 16, 2018 9:48AM PDT

Yesterday i tried to install windows 7 on my laptop after being completely done with windows 10.

Now i can't start the laptop, i have a boot menu with 2 options, continue to windows 10 (which tells me it's missing system files.) or it lets me continue the windows installation (which does absolutely nothing. i've had it on for 1.5 days now).

Resetting the laptop back to windows 10 won't work, because windows 10 removed it's own system backup, windows 10 also deleted the laptops original backup EFI files. I also can't load the EFI file from my windows setup USB, because i need to locate the hardware drivers for it.

(Yes, the laptop is windows 7 compatible, i already downloaded all drivers from the manufacturers website. The laptop is a HP probook 430 g2)

I hope someone can help me with my issue,
Thanks in advance.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
What is this with EFI files?
Aug 16, 2018 9:55AM PDT

That's news to me. I have swapped in new drives that were blank and installed almost every version of Windows since about 2.x to hard disks and for current machines never had to find any EFI files.

Did you start with an empty drive? That is, when W7's installer asks you where to install did you delete all the old partitions so W7 would install properly?

As to the Windows setup USB it's unclear what that USB is. W7 often fails to install from USB which is why I just install from DVD since that's how Microsoft supplied W7.

-> Try again but be sure the HDD is blank, that is, without partitions when you start your W7 install.

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Clarification Drive, USB & EFI files
Aug 16, 2018 10:05AM PDT

The laptop came with with windows 8, so the drive wasn't empty.
Also, when i tried to install windows 7, i didn't delete all the files, the installer would move the old version of windows to a folder named windows.old.
The USB is a kingston USB with in ISO from my windows DVD, because my laptop doesn't have a disk drive.

And about the EFI files, i also don't know they existed until my laptop asked me to locate an EFI backup at one point.

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I don't have the error message about the EFI files.
Aug 16, 2018 12:17PM PDT

This reads as if you are trying to install W7 to a drive that has remnants of W8 or a later Windows. Great way to get a sore head.

I'd start with a blank drive. Sorry if I shortchange you why trying to install Windows to a not blank drive is a great way to lose many many hours.