Windows 7 Advice

TheVoid · 30/08/14 - 15:44

Hi all,

Basically, I have an Acer Netbook that is has Windows 8.1 installed as well as all the Acer bloatware.

It also has 4GB of Ram, but it's still slow at times, especially at loading Chrome. My old Netbook had Windows 7 and I always found it pretty quick and was pleased with it, so I can only put this down to Windows 8.1 being too much for a Netbook.

Firstly, I was planning on buying a Windows 7 download from here -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331304956444?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT.

100% feedback and all looks fine. I have some questions though.

- Will a clean install Windows 7 be better than what I have now?

- The download I'd be buying... is it restricted to the computer it's installed on, or can it be installed on another PC if I get rid of my current one?

- I have created a default factory setting USB stick within my Acer Recovery. I presume if things go wrong or I want to go back to Windows 8, I can just restore from the USB stick and go back to Win 8?

- I can install 32 bit or 64 bit for my Netbook - which would be advisable bearing in mind I want my Netbook to be as quick as poss.

- Finally, if it's a clean install of a Windows OS, am I going to have issues with drivers for my hardware, i.e. the Netbooks internals?

Thanks everyone.

Stig · 30/08/14 - 16:56

We covered all this in your previous thread.
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2002573

Windows 8 should be at least as fast as Windows 7 on the same hardware. Why change it?

To see if the preloaded crapware is slowing it down, try starting it in safe mode.

mac2708 · 30/08/14 - 17:30

Leave it alone and as already suggested use Classic Shell or similar and get rid of the bloatware
Also check to see what's being loaded (and running) each time you boot up (you might be surprised)

Have a look at these
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2109735/replace-windows-8-with-windows-7-or-a-look-alike.html
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13326-downgrade-windows-8-windows-7-a.html

TheVoid · 30/08/14 - 17:38

OK thanks. Is there a way to download a legit windows 8.1 (instead of the one I have on my factory discs) and would my existing key work with it?

mac2708 · 30/08/14 - 18:12

I assume your reasoning behind this is to install Windows without the bloatware.
IMHO it would be easier to simply get rid of the unwanted programs.
However, this may/may not help
http://superuser.com/questions/697253/clean-install-windows-8-1-or-windows-8-from-oem-key

[Deleted User] · 30/08/14 - 18:33

Stick your serial in here;

http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/drivers

Then you'll be able to download all your drivers BEFORE you start

Sorry for poking fun at your notebook in the other thread.

TheVoid · 30/08/14 - 18:43

Well I can't install a clean Windows 8 and people are advising me not to buy that key from eBay so can't really do much.

Stig · 30/08/14 - 19:00

TheVoid wrote: »

Well I can't install a clean Windows 8 and people are advising me not to buy that key from eBay so can't really do much.

You can do a clean install of Windows 8.1, but it's a bit complicated. If you can get hold of an .iso of Windows 8.1 64-bit and a generic activation key you might get it to work.

Have you considered that your new netbook just isn't as good as your previous one?

mac2708 · 30/08/14 - 19:08

TheVoid wrote: »

Well I can't install a clean Windows 8 and people are advising me not to buy that key from eBay so can't really do much.

There are some things you can do which may help
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2141881/beat-it-bloatware-how-to-clean-the-crap-off-your-pc.html

Then have a look to see what's starting up each time - a lot aren't needed and only serve to slow things down.
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/msconfig.htm

Trouble is that every program installed (or that you may install) considers that it has the divine right to start every time you switch on.

http://www.shouldiremoveit.com

TheVoid · 30/08/14 - 19:35

Stig wrote: »

You can do a clean install of Windows 8.1, but it's a bit complicated. If you can get hold of an .iso of Windows 8.1 64-bit and a generic activation key you might get it to work.

Have you considered that your new netbook just isn't as good as your previous one?

Same specs. Just better in terms of the GPU and 3.0 USB.

Maxatoria · 30/08/14 - 20:02

I've got a crappy packard bell notebook and all i did was download a basic win 8 iso and it then detected and auto authenticated after wiping the drive clean as something they put on the recovery partition made it unusable as the wireless couldn't talk unless you were about 3 feet from the router and i couldn't be arsed to spend a few days doing all sorts of investigations

this notebook had a uefi bios so if yours does theres a good chance it'll just auto authenticate and then after a few reboots for updates you'll be happy and generally i think win 8 is faster to boot up than 7 and now it goes auto desktop who cares about the metro interface

s2k · 30/08/14 - 20:36

Maxatoria wrote: »

I've got a crappy packard bell notebook and all i did was download a basic win 8 iso and it then detected and auto authenticated

this notebook had a uefi bios so if yours does theres a good chance it'll just auto authenticate and then after a few reboots for updates you'll be happy and generally i think win 8 is faster to boot up than 7 and now it goes auto desktop who cares about the metro interface

Basically this. I had to rebuild an Acer Aspire recently and the builtin recovery partition was completely hosed. I ended up using a regular Windows 8 ISO and it picked up the activation details from the BIOS automatically.

If you find it starts blue screening shortly afterwards its because of the WiFi card. Updating the driver resolves it.

TheVoid · 30/08/14 - 20:49

Hmm, I don't think I'll benefit from a clean install, I may as well just restore to factory settings on Win 8 which I've recently done.

Hey there!

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