Please help me get 8.1 off my laptop!

[infairverona1]

Ok, I have an Acer Aspire ES1-511 that came with Windows 8.1 installed. I've read what seems like every solution to getting 8.1 off but it's not working for me. In my BIOS, much of the boot options are grayed out, except the option to switch to Legacy. When I do that and it boots up, all I get is the black screen with the message about there not being a bootable disk (something to that effect). When trying to install 7, it goes until the installation requires a reboot, in which after that, I get a black screen with 2 boot options: Setup and Windows 8.1. It won't let me choose Setup and tells me I need to disable the signature enforcement. I tried that, but it's only a temp fix and doesn't carry over into the next restart. So my only option is to boot into 8.1, which leaves me at square 1. So can someone please help me get 7 installed? This is absolutely the last time I'm buying a Windows computer and I only bought it for work purposes. It's been nothing but a pain. Thanks in advance!

 

[knight_of_baawa]

You have to switch to legacy and make the legacy optical drive and hard drive the 1st and 2nd boot options AND ensure that secure boot is turned off. Then you can install Win7. It has nothing to do with being a "Windows computer" per se.

 

[infairverona1]

You have to switch to legacy and make the legacy optical drive and hard drive the 1st and 2nd boot options AND ensure that secure boot is turned off. Then you can install Win7. It has nothing to do with being a "Windows computer" per se.

Ok, can you please explain to me how to do that? Because once I switch to Legacy, I don't have many options.

 

[knight_of_baawa]

You should be able to select the boot order. Once you set it to optical drive first, you should be able to boot off the 7 install disc and install it.

 

[infairverona1]

You should be able to select the boot order. Once you set it to optical drive first, you should be able to boot off the 7 install disc and install it.

Well you definitely led me in the right direction (I was trying to boot from a USB drive)! I was finally able to get it Windows 7 installed. Thanks so much!

 

[knight_of_baawa]

You're welcome.