Anyone still running Windows 7?

So, I just picked up this Lenovo G710 (running an Intel Core i5 4200m, with a DVDRW drive, 6GB of RAM, a 1000GB HDD plus an 8GB SSD, an NVIDIA GeForce GT720M, a 17.3" LED screen, LAN, BT, a webcam, and USB 3.0) but it doesn't have an OS installed. I was really hoping to get Windows 7 32-bit running on it, but then I noticed the BIOS is UEFI, which seems to be playing hardball by only supporting 64-bit operating systems. Is there any kind of workaround to make this happen?
Thanks

Jonathan Wood5 said:I just picked up a Lenovo G710 (Intel Core i5 4200m, DVDRW, 6GB RAM, 1TB HDD + 8GB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GT720M, 17.3" LED, LAN, BT, webcam, USB 3.0) that didn't come with an OS. I was planning on installing Windows 7 32-bit, but I noticed the BIOS is UEFI, which seems to only support 64-bit operating systems. Is there any way to make this work?
Thanks

I have to ask... why?
A 32-bit version of Windows is only going to recognize about 3.2 or maybe 4GB of RAM at most.
Why wouldn't you just take advantage of all the memory you actually have?

Thanks, man. If I end up installing Windows 7 64-bit, does that actually solve the issue of getting the system to recognize all my RAM, and will it play nice with UEFI BIOS?
Appreciate it.

Jonathan Wood5 said:Alright, thanks. If I switch over to Windows 7 64-bit, will that actually fix the issue where it recognizes all my RAM, and will it work fine with a UEFI BIOS?
Thanks

Yeah. I'm running the x64 version of Windows 7 myself.
It sees the full amount of RAM without any issues.
Plus, you've got a processor that supports 64-bit instructions, so there's really no downside.
Any older applications designed for 32-bit should run just fine.
Honestly, I can't see much point in anyone sticking with a 32-bit OS these days.

placidwalker53 said:Sure, Windows 7 eats up more than Windows XP, but 30GB right out of the gate? That's overkill. Maybe you didn't actually wipe the drive, so you're still seeing leftover XP files.

It's a brand-new hard drive, freshly formatted. It was a clean slate just last week.🙂

Larry Ortiz5 said:Turn off hibernation and wipe out your system restore points. Use CCleaner to clear out temp files and all that other junk, and you'll see more space on your drive. I’m running Windows 8.1 Pro, and after a proper cleanup, I clawed back 18 GB. And that’s not even saying I have many programs installed.

Not sure how to disable hibernation or clear those system restore points. As for CCleaner, I already scrubbed everything.🤷

Benjamin King2 said:Is the Windows folder really taking up 30 GB or what?

I just did a clean install of Windows 7, and my C drive is showing 30 gigs used. I've barely installed any small programs yet.😢The Windows folder itself is sitting at 16.1 GB, and with all the other folders on the C drive, it totals 18.9 GB. It makes zero sense why the system claims it's eating up 30 GB of hard drive space.

Here’s a quick video that shows you how to clear out those system restores. Honestly, it doesn't get much easier than this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1dKOXcjIQ

And if you're looking to disable hibernation, check out this video

Just open up your command prompt as an administrator and type in powercfg -h off

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAcQwvwpVtY

Quick question—I'm looking to install Windows 7 64 BT, but all the motherboard drivers I can find are just for Windows XP or Windows Vista. Would the 64-bit Vista drivers actually work on Windows 7 64 BT?

Morgan Foster5 said:I have a quick question regarding an upgrade. I'm looking to install Windows 7 64 BT, but the only motherboard drivers I can find are specifically for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Would anyone know if those 64-bit Vista drivers would actually function on Windows 7 64 BT?

Personally, I wouldn't count on it; those old Windows XP drivers almost certainly won't play nice with Windows 7.

driftingbadger17 said:I don't think those Windows XP drivers are gonna cut it on Windows 7.

Here's the driver link—basically, nothing here works for Windows 7 except for the audio one.
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/...hp?S_ID=359#dl

book Windows 7 I can't get this thing to boot from a USB drive. My laptop doesn't even have an optical drive, so I'm stuck trying to run it via the hard drive or a thumb drive, but I'm hitting a total brick wall. Does anyone actually have a viable workaround for this?

What kind of error message are you getting?

And what did you use to create the Windows 7 bootable USB?

Andrew Patel43 said:I'm trying to get this Windows 7 boot disk running from a USB drive, but I've hit a massive wall. My laptop doesn't even have an optical drive, so I'm stuck choosing between installing via the hard drive or a thumb drive, but neither way seems to be working at all. Does anyone have a workaround or some kind of fix for this situation?

Check this out:

Larry Ortiz5 said:Here is a video on how to wipe those system restores. It’s basic stuff, really:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1dKOXcjIQ

And here is how you disable hibernation.

Just run CMD as an admin and type powercfg -h off. It's not rocket science.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAcQwvwpVtY

Thanks a lot. I followed those steps and everything is running smoothly now. Total usage is down to just 20 gigs even with all my software installed. Cheers!🙂

ironcyclist452 said:My freshly installed Windows 7 is eating up 30 gigs on my C drive. I barely have any small programs on there.😢The Windows folder itself is 16.1 gigs, and when you add all the other folders on the C partition, it only hits 18.9 gigs. So I have no clue why it’s claiming 30 gigs of hard drive space.

The Windows folder size is fine, but as for the rest... it really depends on how big your page file is, if hibernation is turned on, or the size of your Recycle Bin—each of those can easily gobble up a few extra GBs.

And for the record, you don't call it a "partition" in a notebook. 😁

Quote : Andrew Peterson2

It’s just like a broken engine stalling out right when you hit the highway. Total nonsense. Quote : Andrew Peterson2 says: The Windows folder is fine, but everything else? It depends. You’ve got to look at your page file size, whether hibernation is toggled on, and how much space that Recycle Bin is hogging. Each one of those can easily eat up several gigabytes. It’s called a partition, not a musical score you'd find in a sheet music shop. 😁

Yeah, you're right about the partition. My mistake there. Hibernation was turned on, but like I mentioned before, I cleared out the system restore points and disabled hibernation entirely. Now everything's running smooth. Windows is only taking up 20 gigs instead of that bloated 30. Thanks!😂

So, I’m rocking an HP laptop running Windows 7 32-bit (reinstalled more than a few times now). Everything is technically working just fine, but there's this weird glitch where the wireless icon won't show up in the system tray. Instead, I just see that little LAN icon with a big red X over it because I don't have an Ethernet cable plugged in. View on imgur
The thing is, I can hop online via Wi-Fi without any issues and everything works perfectly, it's just that missing icon that's bugging me. Even when I toggle the wireless off on the laptop, the icon just shows up as crossed out to indicate it's off, but as soon as I flip the wireless back on, it reverts right back to that LAN icon. I've already tried reinstalling both the LAN and WLAN drivers twice—even though things were working before—but no luck. I know deep down that the hardware is doing its job, but it’s driving me nuts; anyone have a fix for this?
Thanks

Anyone got a recommendation for a simple firewall? I just want something straightforward to block certain apps from hitting the internet... nothing too crazy, just basic control.

Picked up an Asus laptop yesterday—it's got integrated graphics since I'm mostly just using it for browsing and watching movies. Running Windows 7.
The catch is the max resolution is stuck at 1024x768, which is honestly pretty annoying.
Any idea how I can bump that up? I've heard it might be a driver issue... anyone know?
Thanks in advance!