Replace Windows 8 with Windows 7

[PhilBinner]

I have a Samsung Ultrabook NP540U3C running Windows 8. It is still in warranty, but I am so fed up with it I need to do something to make it work properly. The problem is that Samsung has partitioned the disc so that C: is only 40 Gb, which is far too small to run windows 8, even with all other programmes and everything I can manage being put into D: it keeps running out of space on C:. Why some manufacturers do this I have no idea; it always causes problems, but this one is the worst I have ever encountered.

What I need to do is re-partition the drive. What I would like to do is re-partition the drive and change to Windows 7, because as far as I am concerned Windows 8 is not fit for purpose, unless, that is, your purpose is to make it behave like a phone that won't make calls.

I have attached an external DVD and told it to boot from that, intending to use the partition manager and set up Windows 7. The only boot disc it will try to use, however, is a windows 8 disc which came with a Medion machine. I haven't let that run because that's not what I want, but I did go so far as to get it booting from the DVD. If the disc I put in there is Windows 7 it shows an error as Not Verified; Windows 2000 or Ubuntu it just doesn't recognise at all; it just goes ahead and boots from the hard drive.

I'm wondering now whether what I want to do is even possible. Samsung have obviously done their best to stop anything except Windows 8 being put onto this machine. Is it that other operating systems will not be able to use the touch screen.

Any help will be seriously appreciated, so thanks in advance.

[Alan2273]

I think your problem is not the other operating systems but the EUFI Bios, as the other OS's are not digitally signed, so they are not allowed to boot.

You need to disable secure boot in the BIOS.

Hit F2 right after power on. First under the "BOOT" section of the bios, disable secure boot - this option is to protect your computer by preventing you from booting from removable drives.

Next you need to go to the Advanced section and disable fast boot, the notebook doesn't initialize USB devices in the bios at post with this option on, which makes it boot faster, but doesn't allow it to boot from these devices.

Third you may, depending on your bios version, need to change the setting for booting from UEFI, Legacy, or auto/both. If you have this selection in the bios select Auto or both.

Save settings and reboot, hit F10 right at boot to select the proper boot device. I recommend this over changing the boot order in the bios, as you want it to normally boot from the internal hard disk. Once you've completed your work its usually a good idea to change everything back as it was, but not necessary.

[PhilBinner]

Thanks for the help. I followed the instructions except that in OS mode selection I chnged the setting from UEFI OS to CSM OS. I assume that is equivalent to what you were saying, except that you couldn't see my individual computer at the time. That got over the boot from DVD problem.

When I got to re-partitioning the disk I deleted D: and expanded C: to get over the lack of space on C:. Windows 7 could not be installed, however. The message was 'Windows 7 cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style'.

I think this must be telling me that windows 8 requires a completely different format to windows 7, so I will have to go further than just changing disk partitions. I did try deleting and re-creating the primary partition, but this didn't change anything.

The only other partition manager I haveis on a Ubuntu setup disk. I should be able to abort before Ubuntu is fuly installed, or just let it insatll and then put Windows 7 on over it.

Any comments would be helpful, as you may notice I am not completely out of my depth, but still a long way from actually knowing what I'm doing.

[Boris]

To adjust your partition sizes use EASEUS Partition Master Free

http://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/epm-free.html

[PhilBinner]

The problem with that is that I no longer have a Windows system on the computer. I think I'll have a look at the latest Ubuntu, because I wouldn't mindd seeing that on a decent touch screen computer, and I shoud be able to put Windows 7 back onto it afterwards anyway. I'll post how I get on.

[Alan2273]

If you have a live Ubuntu disk it should contain GParted, you can use that to change the file format to NTFS.

[PhilBinner]

I installed Ubuntu 14.04. It was extremely easy, and it re-partitioned and formated the disk for me, so it should now be a simple operation to load Windows 7 if ever decide I want to. Initial thoughts on Ubuntu, however, are that it may well stay there. The touch screen doesn't work exactly as I would like it, but the overall system is so much faster and smoother than any windows I have ever used that I will be reluctant to loose it. After the abomination that is Windows 8 it is a breath of fresh air.

I have used Linux before, both Ubuntu and Linux Mint. I moved away from Linux Mint because it didn't work properly last time I installed it, and from Ubuntu because I kept being sent away from the GUI and told to use the terminal. Like pretty much everybody else, I have been hooked on the GUI since Windows 3.1 came out in about 1990. This is the first time I've seen Ubutu on a decent computer, however. I may eventually turn away for the same reasons as previously, but for now it stays.