New laptop hangs trying to install Windows 7

[Brad]

So the girlfriend has a new laptop. bought without and OS because I already have a genuine Windows 7 64bit with key. Problem is that during bootup from the CD it hangs fairly early on with a bit of graphic corruption at the top of the screen. PC specialist (where we got it from) have put Windows 8.1 (trial) on there and it boots into that OK. I suspect it's something to do with the UEFI bios (there is no legacy option). Does anyone have any ideas? Surely it cannot be that this PC can't run windows 7 at all?

Thanks chaps.

[briareos_kerensky]

UEFI BIOS should only be a problem if you're trying to install a x86 Windows, I've installed Win7 x64 on UEFI desktop computers with no issues.
The only thing that comes to my mind is that Windows cannot correctly communicate with the disk controller, so you'll need a disk with the correct drivers that Windows can use...then again, this should only be the case if you're trying to install the OS on a disk hosted by a PCI-E RAID controller or similar.
Where does exactly the install freezes? At the first progression bar ("Windows preparing the installation procedure" or something), or when the installer gets into the GUI? You spoke of graphic corruption, what does the screen look like when that happens? Completely black with coloured lines on the topmost part?

[k0pp0]

UEFI BIOS should only be a problem if you're trying to install a x86 Windows, I've installed Win7 x64 on UEFI desktop computers with no issues.
The only thing that comes to my mind is that Windows cannot correctly communicate with the disk controller, so you'll need a disk with the correct drivers that Windows can use...then again, this should only be the case if you're trying to install the OS on a disk hosted by a PCI-E RAID controller or similar.
Where does exactly the install freezes? At the first progression bar ("Windows preparing the installation procedure" or something), or when the installer gets into the GUI? You spoke of graphic corruption, what does the screen look like when that happens? Completely black with coloured lines on the topmost part?

UEFI Bios makes me spew bile from my eyeballs.

[briareos_kerensky]

UEFI Bios makes me spew bile from my eyeballs.

Yeah, I'm not exactly a fan of those either. In my current motherboard, the VT-X was disabled by default (strange) and the option was in the overclocking tab! At least with old BIOSes you could expect a similar layout among different manufacturers, now even there are dramatically different GUIs everywhere.

[Brad]

Ok, so this pc will only boot a secure OS. That means Windows 8 or greater or a special version of Linux that has been certified. The BIOS does not have an option to perform a non-secure boot. however, PC Specialist are sending me a BIOS upgrade that will enable this apparently.

[speedlolita]

What a world we live in...

[Brad]

It feels like all aspects of life are having more and more restrictions imposed!

[EvilBoris]

Urgh. Who wants protection from Rootkits and malware!

[Brad]

Windows 8 *is* malware

[speedlolita]

Urgh. Who wants protection from Rootkits and malware!

Only get those if you browse dodgy sites!

[briareos_kerensky]

Or use Sony CDs

[k0pp0]

Ok, so this pc will only boot a secure OS. That means Windows 8 or greater or a special version of Linux that has been certified. The BIOS does not have an option to perform a non-secure boot. however, PC Specialist are sending me a BIOS upgrade that will enable this apparently.

Did you get your BIOS in the end? I've just sorted my laptop out with a crispy win7 ultimate install, learning a fair bit about UEFI and even mounting .VHD files as OS images in the process..