Anyone install Windows 7 on a Windows 8 tablet?

[amdhunter]

Specifically a Samsung ATIV 500T.

Just got mine back from repair (bezel issue, caused by myself) and remembered why I was instantly annoyed with it before I sent it back. I dislike Windows 8.

I would really like to try Windows 7 on it, but I left my AC adapter at my desk at work, and will pass by after 5:30 today, when most people should be gone.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this yet. AFAIK, Windows 7 does support touch screens natively.

 

[dagamer34]

I'm confused. If you don't like Windows 8 on a tablet, don't buy a tablet. It literally is like buying a Mac, saying you hate OS X, and installing Windows 7 on it. Sure people do it, but it makes absolutely no sense.

Also, the real problem is driver support, no OEM is going to help you get correct drivers. And I'm not sure that Clover Trail officially supports Windows 7, it was designed with Windows 8 in mind.

 

[amdhunter]

I'm confused. If you don't like Windows 8 on a tablet, don't buy a tablet. It literally is like buying a Mac, saying you hate OS X, and installing Windows 7 on it. Sure people do it, but it makes absolutely no sense.

Also, the real problem is driver support, no OEM is going to help you get correct drivers. And I'm not sure that Clover Trail officially supports Windows 7, it was designed with Windows 8 in mind.

I want to experiment a little bit with it. I love tinkering with stuff like this. I am going to format it anyway and put my own version of Windows 8 on it to get rid of the bloat installed. I might as well try Windows 7 on it.

 

[Sheep]

I'm confused. If you don't like Windows 8 on a tablet, don't buy a tablet. It literally is like buying a Mac, saying you hate OS X, and installing Windows 7 on it. Sure people do it, but it makes absolutely no sense.

I was actually debating buying a Mac Mini as a HTPC and installing Windows 7 on it. There's no Windows equivalent to the Mac Mini form factor, AFAIK.

 

[Deeko]

I'm confused. If you don't like Windows 8 on a tablet, don't buy a tablet. It literally is like buying a Mac, saying you hate OS X, and installing Windows 7 on it. Sure people do it, but it makes absolutely no sense.

I have a MacBook Air running almost exclusively Windows 8....

 

[dagamer34]

I was actually debating buying a Mac Mini as a HTPC and installing Windows 7 on it. There's no Windows equivalent to the Mac Mini form factor, AFAIK.

Hmm... I should clarify. It's like buying a Mac laptop and doing that, because Apple doesn't bother optimizing its drivers for optimum battery life and the trackpad doesn't ever feel right. The Mac mini is great as a Windows machine though, I just bought one.

 

[dagamer34]

I have a MacBook Air running almost exclusively Windows 8....

Did you buy it this year? I can understand if you bought your Air in 2010 or 2011 when there weren't really any similar PCs, but today, I think it would be a mistake to buy the MacBook Air for the form factor only instead of picking up something like the ASUS UX31A. It has a superior 1080p IPS display, touchscreen, and the hardware is fully optimized for Windows 8 instead of waiting for Apple to release proper drivers (the OS hit RTM 4 months ago, what on earth are they doing over there??). I consider the ASUS UX31A proof that Apple is gimping the current Airs in order to push their rather expensive Retina MacBook Pro lineup.

 

[Deeko]

Did you buy it this year? I can understand if you bought your Air in 2010 or 2011 when there weren't really any similar PCs, but today, I think it would be a mistake to buy the MacBook Air for the form factor only instead of picking up something like the ASUS UX31A. It has a superior 1080p IPS display, touchscreen, and the hardware is fully optimized for Windows 8 instead of waiting for Apple to release proper drivers (the OS hit RTM 4 months ago, what on earth are they doing over there??).

I bought it about a year ago, its the 2011 model. I didn't buy it for the form factor. I bought it because I was considering porting some of my apps to iOS, which requires a Mac. However I quickly realized that I hate MacOS and the Objective C is an abomination of a programming language, and as such installed Windows and haven't looked back. I recently got a Lenovo Carbon from work, which is most certainly superior in every way, but it also costs more.

The Windows 7 bootcamp drivers work just as well in Windows 8 as they did 7.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I wanted to wipe the Windows 8 on the tablet and reinstall Windows 8 Pro from my DVD. But I could not get the damn 500T to boot from either my USB DVD drive or USB flash drive. I've heard others have been able to do it, but they also mentioned theirs would only boot from a Windows 8 install DVD or flash drive (I couldn't even get that far with mine).

I tried disabling the secure boot option in the BIOS, but it didn't help.

I did find that in Windows 8 there is an option to Refresh Windows, which seems to basically remove all the desktop apps and bloatware, but it keeps the Windows 8 apps. After it's finished, it puts a file on your desktop letting you know of all the apps that were removed. This seems like a great way to remove the bloatware. I then added my Windows 8 Pro key.

Wish I could figure out why I can't boot from USB thought, makes me a bit worried not having that option.

 

[Ravynmagi]

The good thing about Windows 8 is that even desktop apps are a lot more touch friendly than they are in Windows 7.

 

[Graze]

I have a MacBook Air running almost exclusively Windows 8....

Well that's a downgrade if I ever saw one!

 

[Deeko]

Well that's a downgrade if I ever saw one!

Well that's a troll if I ever saw one!

 

[amdhunter]

I wanted to wipe the Windows 8 on the tablet and reinstall Windows 8 Pro from my DVD. But I could not get the damn 500T to boot from either my USB DVD drive or USB flash drive. I've heard others have been able to do it, but they also mentioned theirs would only boot from a Windows 8 install DVD or flash drive (I couldn't even get that far with mine).

I tried disabling the secure boot option in the BIOS, but it didn't help.

I did find that in Windows 8 there is an option to Refresh Windows, which seems to basically remove all the desktop apps and bloatware, but it keeps the Windows 8 apps. After it's finished, it puts a file on your desktop letting you know of all the apps that were removed. This seems like a great way to remove the bloatware. I then added my Windows 8 Pro key.

Wish I could figure out why I can't boot from USB thought, makes me a bit worried not having that option.

Yep. Same problem here. No option to clean install. Even after doing the "refresh", there were lingering items left over - Samsung Update, PowerDVD. Not that bad I guess, but I am also worried about what's going to happen if Windows bombs out one day.

What if I keep my data on the drive and it has to go to Samsung? There would be no way to wipe it - that's unacceptable.

 

[dagamer34]

Yep. Same problem here. No option to clean install. Even after doing the "refresh", there were lingering items left over - Samsung Update, PowerDVD. Not that bad I guess, but I am also worried about what's going to happen if Windows bombs out one day.

What if I keep my data on the drive and it has to go to Samsung? There would be no way to wipe it - that's unacceptable.

This is one reason why I recommend always buying your PCs from the Microsoft Store (either online or retail). Their Signature PCs clear off all that crud and reflash the refresh image. It's sad they have to do that for their own operating system, but Microsoft's "partners" never seem to act like they should.

 

[podspi]

Yep. Same problem here. No option to clean install. Even after doing the "refresh", there were lingering items left over - Samsung Update, PowerDVD. Not that bad I guess, but I am also worried about what's going to happen if Windows bombs out one day.

What if I keep my data on the drive and it has to go to Samsung? There would be no way to wipe it - that's unacceptable.

I use Bitlocker on my 500t for that exact reason. Although, that is a problem with any computer/device with non-removable Storage.

You can try booting Win 7 on these, but my feeling is you're going to have a bad time. You might Want to check out the Samsung app called "QuickStart" it re-enables the start menu (well, a Samsung Version).

Also, the Samsung Updater is a must have it pulls more current files than what is posted on Samsung's site, and imho the 500t is not worth using with the earlier firmware and drivers.

 

[ViRGE]

It's entirely likely that the 500T only supports UEFI. In which case you would need to prepare a UEFI capable Win7 installer on a USB flash drive. Win7 can boot from UEFI, but out of the box it lacks the necessary EFI modules for the installer to run in EFI mode.

 

[amdhunter]

I wanted to wipe the Windows 8 on the tablet and reinstall Windows 8 Pro from my DVD. But I could not get the damn 500T to boot from either my USB DVD drive or USB flash drive. I've heard others have been able to do it, but they also mentioned theirs would only boot from a Windows 8 install DVD or flash drive (I couldn't even get that far with mine).

I tried disabling the secure boot option in the BIOS, but it didn't help.

I did find that in Windows 8 there is an option to Refresh Windows, which seems to basically remove all the desktop apps and bloatware, but it keeps the Windows 8 apps. After it's finished, it puts a file on your desktop letting you know of all the apps that were removed. This seems like a great way to remove the bloatware. I then added my Windows 8 Pro key.

Wish I could figure out why I can't boot from USB thought, makes me a bit worried not having that option.

Try this out.

 

[ilkhan]

Will win7 even run on an ARM SoC? I don't they will. You'd need an x86 chip, like a surface pro, to even have the option.

 

[Crono]

I've tried win 7 with a touchscreen monitor, not very usable for anything. The Win 8 app store plus charms and gestures really does make for a much better touch experience. Regular Windows programs aren't designed with large enough UI elements like buttons, with the exception of POS software designed for touch and the like (stuff going back to the older generation of tablets). I wouldn't waste time and effort putting windows 7 on a tablet with windows 8.

I still hear a lot of people complaining about Windows 8 and some who are reluctant to switch, but its not bad even for desktop, it just takes some time to really get used to it.

 

[ViRGE]

Will win7 even run on an ARM SoC? I don't they will. You'd need an x86 chip, like a surface pro, to even have the option.

The ATIV 500T is a Win8 tablet, not a WinRT tablet. So it's x86, specifically an Atom processor.

 

[Yuriman]

I believe Windows 8 is more battery friendly, there are a lot of small "optimizations" that make it much more suitable for tables.

Example: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2250925

 

[Walilaw]

I managed to boot Ativ500t from USB as follows:

1. Change BIOS > Boot > OS Mode Selection to CSM and UEFI OS
2. Turn off Secure Boot
3. Shutdown
4. Plug in your USB bootable device and Power on Ativ when the blue power light comes on press F10
5. Please select Boot device window, select your USB device

That is all. I managed to load Windows 7 and now waiting for Samsung to send me the windows 7 drivers link!

 

[IntelUser2000]

You'll probably get noticeably less battery life on Windows 7 though. But Clover Trail platform should still be better than on previous generation, by virtue of supporting S0iX. I'm not sure how much the impact will be.

 

[amdhunter]

I managed to boot Ativ500t from USB as follows:

1. Change BIOS > Boot > OS Mode Selection to CSM and UEFI OS
2. Turn off Secure Boot
3. Shutdown
4. Plug in your USB bootable device and Power on Ativ when the blue power light comes on press F10
5. Please select Boot device window, select your USB device

That is all. I managed to load Windows 7 and now waiting for Samsung to send me the windows 7 drivers link!

What BIOS version are you on?

 

[Walilaw]

Sorry typo mistake. It is 700T (XE700T1C) and the Bios ver is P05AAT.