Apologies in advance for resurrecting this dead horse for further flagellation. Details to follow, but the shortest version of this question first: Is there a way to install Windows 7 on a rig with a Z370 motherboard given the USB driver issue?
Detailed version:
It's been seven years since I built my last PC, so I finally got around to making a replacement from scratch with the following components:
-Intel i5-8600k
-ASRock Z370M-ITX/AC
-G.Skill Ripjaws Series V DDR4-3200 16GB
-Samsung 970 EVO 500GB SSD
-Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA III HDD
-Asus GeForce 1050Ti 4GB Phoenix
-Seasonic M12II 620 PSU
(I am assuming the case, optical drives, display, peripherals, etc. are not relevant here)
You will immediately notice some issues, probably quicker than I did.
First, Win7 doesn't come with NVMe drivers. I tried the method from Intel for injecting the drivers into the installation ISO, but no luck there (the initial step of copying over the files to the SSD would work, but it couldn't boot to that disk for the rest of the installation process). My next plan was to install the OS onto the HDD (which was intended for storage later), install the NVMe drivers, and then migrate it to the SSD via Samsung's utility; not my favorite option (since I have a habit of giving clean OS install every year to wipe away the detritus that has built up), but it seemed the path of least resistance. Until...
Second, the motherboard doesn't have Win7 drivers. This is particularly an issue for USB, as it becomes difficult to complete installation without a mouse or keyboard (not recognized through USB 2 ports either). I had thought I had seen Win7 drivers available on ASRock's website when I was comparing motherboards back in the spring, but I either misread or they were removed by the time I finally got around to assembling. Now, I suppose I could follow in the vein of my previous solution, and hook up the HDD to an old motherboard (my old build has a Z68), install Win7 and the USB 3.0 and NVMe drivers there, and then pop it into the new build, but I suspect it won't be too happy with that (if anyone has tried something similar successfully, please please chime in). Otherwise, anyone have any suggestions for how to get this installed?
Third, issues that will follow the installation that you might know that I don't know yet. I understand that there is a compatibility issue between Coffee Lake and Windows 7, but I am unclear on how this would manifest itself - windows update issues, security holes, literal meltdowns of my computer? Some of these I could work with (or, at least, I have enough hubris to think I could), some of them not. Any experiences you can provide here are appreciated.
(For those of you who have read this far and are still wondering "Why not just install Windows 10?", I am not going to get into the details, but the answer is a hard "Not an option.")
Detailed version:
It's been seven years since I built my last PC, so I finally got around to making a replacement from scratch with the following components:
-Intel i5-8600k
-ASRock Z370M-ITX/AC
-G.Skill Ripjaws Series V DDR4-3200 16GB
-Samsung 970 EVO 500GB SSD
-Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA III HDD
-Asus GeForce 1050Ti 4GB Phoenix
-Seasonic M12II 620 PSU
(I am assuming the case, optical drives, display, peripherals, etc. are not relevant here)
You will immediately notice some issues, probably quicker than I did.
First, Win7 doesn't come with NVMe drivers. I tried the method from Intel for injecting the drivers into the installation ISO, but no luck there (the initial step of copying over the files to the SSD would work, but it couldn't boot to that disk for the rest of the installation process). My next plan was to install the OS onto the HDD (which was intended for storage later), install the NVMe drivers, and then migrate it to the SSD via Samsung's utility; not my favorite option (since I have a habit of giving clean OS install every year to wipe away the detritus that has built up), but it seemed the path of least resistance. Until...
Second, the motherboard doesn't have Win7 drivers. This is particularly an issue for USB, as it becomes difficult to complete installation without a mouse or keyboard (not recognized through USB 2 ports either). I had thought I had seen Win7 drivers available on ASRock's website when I was comparing motherboards back in the spring, but I either misread or they were removed by the time I finally got around to assembling. Now, I suppose I could follow in the vein of my previous solution, and hook up the HDD to an old motherboard (my old build has a Z68), install Win7 and the USB 3.0 and NVMe drivers there, and then pop it into the new build, but I suspect it won't be too happy with that (if anyone has tried something similar successfully, please please chime in). Otherwise, anyone have any suggestions for how to get this installed?
Third, issues that will follow the installation that you might know that I don't know yet. I understand that there is a compatibility issue between Coffee Lake and Windows 7, but I am unclear on how this would manifest itself - windows update issues, security holes, literal meltdowns of my computer? Some of these I could work with (or, at least, I have enough hubris to think I could), some of them not. Any experiences you can provide here are appreciated.
(For those of you who have read this far and are still wondering "Why not just install Windows 10?", I am not going to get into the details, but the answer is a hard "Not an option.")
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