Windows 7 Installation Help Needed!

[HackerX]

Hello

Recently I bought an HP laptop (15-n208TX if that matters) and it came pre loaded with Windows 8.1.

However for the past one week, this OS has been giving me a serious headache. I am finding it very uncomfortable to use. So I want to install Windows 7 Home Premium on it and remove Windows 8.1.

Now, I have three partitions namely C drive(Windows), RECOVERY Drive(by default) and an E drive(which I created by partitioning C Drive).

I always install all my softwares and games on E drive so I do not have anything else on C drive expect Windows itself.

So my question is if I install Windows 7 Home Premium, is there an option to format only the C drive and retain all the other drives? Because I do not want to loose any data which I have on E drive.

(I have never installed an OS myself before)

And also I'll have to install all the drivers again or they will be installed itself with Windows 7?

Thank you guys. Any help will be appreciated!

 

[woworwow]

Yes, you can format the c drive only and install windows there.
But your software may not work properly

 

[HackerX]

Yes, you can format the c drive only and install windows there.
But your software may not work properly

Thanks for the reply. But I intend to install the 64 bit version itself as is my current Windows 8.1. Also the applications which I use on Windows 8.1 right now are all used in Windows 7 before. So I hope all my applications work. Am I correct?

And what about the drivers?

 

[weilin]

You should always back up anything that you can't afford to lose when messing with the OS. there's no guarantees that everything will go smoothly...

With that statement out of the way, If you really want to get rid of Win 8.1, You can pop in the win7 installation medium, and when it comes time to choose a disk, you should delete the "system reserved" (boot) partition, the C: partition and the Recovery partition. when you create a new partition, the installer should break about 100mb of it off to create a new boot partition. Select C drive for the new win 7 install and follow on screen instructions. Nothing on E should be touched.

Once you install windows 7, you will have to re-download all your drivers, you should refer to HP's website to get all the drivers you need for windows 7. you will also (probably) need to re-install all your applications, including the ones installed on e: chances are, they depend upon stuff in the windows folder that have now erased. they may also depend upon registry entries that won't exist anymore.

 

[HackerX]

You should always back up anything that you can't afford to lose when messing with the OS. there's no guarantees that everything will go smoothly...

With that statement out of the way, If you really want to get rid of Win 8.1, You can pop in the win7 installation medium, and when it comes time to choose a disk, you should delete the "system reserved" (boot) partition, the C: partition and the Recovery partition. when you create a new partition, the installer should break about 100mb of it off to create a new boot partition. Select C drive for the new win 7 install and follow on screen instructions. Nothing on E should be touched.

Once you install windows 7, you will have to re-download all your drivers, you should refer to HP's website to get all the drivers you need for windows 7. you will also (probably) need to re-install all your applications, including the ones installed on e: chances are, they depend upon stuff in the windows folder that have now erased. they may also depend upon registry entries that won't exist anymore.

Thank you for such an informative response. But after installing Windows 7, how shall I download drivers on my laptop if the Network adapter driver is not present. And also for my knowledge I am asking, if Windows 7 is installed on a desktop, then also the drivers have to be downloaded or not? Thanks.

 

[woworwow]

You can use the driver cd to get network drivers then download the rest

 

[weilin]

It's unlikely they gave you a driver cd if they don't even give you an OS disk... The best way to get drivers is to download it before you wipe the computer (or find another computer), save it to a USB key (or stick the installer in your E: ) and then proceed to wipe the PC.