Going from Windows 8 to Windows 7 on a laptop

[Gustavus]

I have never owned a laptop, but am thinking seriously about getting one. The Toshiba Satellite C875D-S7225 shows up at pretty reasonable prices on e-Bay. Unfortunately the ones at reasonable prices all seem to have Windows 8 while the ones that have Windows 7 go for much closer to new prices.

I could buy one with Windows 8 on it, reformat the drive and install Windows 7 -- but would need to find drivers for all of the devices in the laptop. Have any of you done this and how did you locate drivers for the new OS?

I'm only willing to try this if it can be done with high confidence of success without having to tear into the insides of the laptop.

Thanks for your comments.

PS
I despise Windows 8 so keeping that as an OS is not an option

 

[Nec_V20]

The easiest way is to look for drivers for the laptop on the manufacturers website.

You might not find a perfect match, but if you look at the specs you will be able to get the audio drivers, LAN drivers and the video drivers etc.

Not quite as convenient as just shoving in an installation disk, but it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Many of the drivers will be Win7/Win8 drivers anyway. So there is a good chance that if you do get a Win8 model most of the drivers you need will be compatible with Win7

 

[Gustavus]

Nec V20

Thanks. Not sure it will work, but on the Toshiba homepage they sell for $29.90 a piece of software they say will scan the laptop and download the latest drivers. I will give that a go. If it works as claimed it will be well worth the price.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Why not just get something like Start8?

Don't bother with the toshiba app. Most of the hardware should work straight out of the box. The couple things that don't should be easy to find online.

 

[Pardus]

Windows 8 and 8.1 will be the way to go, when I have to touch a pc with Windows 7/XP on it, I feel like i am going back in time. Once you use Windows 8 enough, you'll like it.
Use Classic Start Menu if you must have the start button.
Run Double Driver if you need to backup system drivers.

 

[Gustavus]

crashtestdummy

Thanks for the reply. As I said I despise Windows 8 and don't care that much for Windows 7 either, but am being forced to leave Windows XP to accomodate software changes. Both 7 and 8 are biased toward graphics which I have no use for -- 8 more than 7. I didn't know about Start8, but after reading about it on net this morning don't think it will satisfy me. One way or another, I will try to get a straight Windows 7 laptop.

 

[jaydee]

If you're willing to pay for Win7 license, why not just look for a laptop that already has Win7 on it instead of being set on this particular Toshiba?

BTW, I have used Win7Pro and Win8Pro with Start8 quite a bit. I really see no difference except the login screen and Win8 has better driver compatibility. Though it you have Win8 (non-Pro), you do lose out on WMC, which may or may not be a big deal to you. Also, if you have no use for graphics, why not try a Linux distro?

 

[Gustavus]

Thanks for all the replies. One of the reasons for leaving Windows XP is all the incompatible sites I am encountering on net -- running Outlook Express 6 which is the last one Windows XP supported. Plus I had read good reviews of the Toshiba and they show up on e-Bay pretty often. I am now following an Asus and will open up what I am willing to accept. Almost have to restrict attention to 17" models because of age and failing eyesight.

 

[ninaholic37]

One of the reasons for leaving Windows XP is all the incompatible sites I am encountering on net

I'm still using XP and haven't found any incompatible sites yet (on both an XP Asus and XP Toshiba Satellite). Firefox 24 works just as well on XP as is does in Windows 7 in my experience. Can you post any sites that don't work? That seems like a very odd claim to me.

 

[QuietDad]

Toshiba has all the drivers you need at http://support.toshiba.com/support/modelHome?freeText=3385530 for free. Take the laptop, download the drivers you need, at least the WIFI or Ethernet adapters. Install Windows 7, Get the internet working, go to that site and let it do all the work. This PC came with Windows 7 so all the drivers should be there.

 

[bgt]

Once you use Windows 8 enough, you'll like it.

:thumbsup: best OS MS ever made!

 

[Gustavus]

ninaholic37

What I encounter are sites in which a yellow bar appears all the way across the top of the screen saying something to the effect; Windows was unable to open the page. Switching to compatibility view

 

[VirtualLarry]

ninaholic37

What I encounter are sites in which a yellow bar appears all the way across the top of the screen saying something to the effect; Windows was unable to open the page. Switching to compatibility view

Use Firefox (or a derivative).