Missing CD driver USB support issues with windows 7

KaptanJackSparrow

Active Member
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Probably a Noob mistake but I thought I grabbed all the drivers from the windows 10 Host installation ? Am I missing something ? I also thought I Incorporated a generic USB 3 driver.

Please help and thank you.
 
there isnt a generic ms usb3/3.1 driver for w7, only hardware specific ones, amd intel asmedia etc. i dont know if the w10 driver will work on 7.
whatever driver you use will have to go into boot.wim - setup aswell as install.wim
 
there isnt a generic ms usb3/3.1 driver for w7, only hardware specific ones, amd intel asmedia etc. i dont know if the w10 driver will work on 7.
whatever driver you use will have to go into boot.wim - setup aswell as install.wim
Yes, you're right. I missed the part where he wrote where he obtained the drivers. If it's an Intel desktop motherboard, the Z370 chipsets and older should most likely have official Windows 7 drivers that can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. For the Z390 and newer, some modified drivers will be needed, though I've never used them myself.
 
Hi thanks for the replies everyone.
u probably made uefi usb. but your pc doesnt support it?
I don't think that's the issue, I Used the latest Rufus portable USB burner to make an image in BIOS or UEFI with CSM mode, The PC does support UEFI however I prefer to avoid UEFI as much as possible, I tried the USB stick on two computers in Both UFEI mode and in legacy mode. if there is a better tool or one that can be used to create multiple installers on a single large USB please let me know,


That's exactly the one I used, with the KB mentioned in the thread. If I can get generic USB driver working instead of having to use a device specific one that would be awesome.

You have to integrate the USB driver in the windows setup as well, not only the Windows version you will be using.

That's probably the problem, I thought that the driver integration was global, So in order to use the drivers during the boot-up installation I'd have to select

Boot/Setup | Boot.wim
2. Microsoft windows Setup (x64)

And import the drivers there as well ? I'd also probably want to do the same thing for the Microsoft windows PE for compatibility reasons or will it add them to Boot.wim and apply to both options ? I don't think it'll hurt to do it more than once ? Also does the KB mentioned in the Universal USB 3 need to be installed into the Boot.wim as well and if so does that apply to Hotfixes for things like NVMe support ?

Yes, you're right. I missed the part where he wrote where he obtained the drivers. If it's an Intel desktop motherboard, the Z370 chipsets and older should most likely have official Windows 7 drivers that can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. For the Z390 and newer, some modified drivers will be needed, though I've never used them myself.

The newest board I have is in my MSI laptop and it's running a 6th gen Intel Skylake CPU, Next newest is a 4790K also MSI Motherbored, which strangely appears to have 2 separate USB 3 controllers one from Intel and one from asmedia.


Edit: Ok that seems to have moved things along, Currently unable to install to any partition on any drive.

Unable to install.jpg
 
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it is normal to have an additional usb and sata controllers when the requirements exceed the chipsets design specifications.
 
Edit: Ok that seems to have moved things along, Currently unable to install to any partition on any drive.

View attachment 4340
you need to integrate usb drivers to boot.wim. if u integrated to install.wim you should have said that at the begining...

if you had uefi install before and using nonuefi usb right now. u won't be able to install windows untill u delete the drives completely. same goes for other way around... windows needs to format the drives according to what u have on usb, can't do it if they are already formatted to something else

btw when u pass this screen and if u have bsod while installation don't integrate to install.wim (i had that scenario before) only integrating to boot.wim is enough. u can install any driver after u reach desktop
 
you need to integrate usb drivers to boot.wim. if u integrated to install.wim you should have said that at the begining...

I'm sorry, until you had mentioned it I didn't know that there was a difference :oops: but it makes sense now.


btw when u pass this screen and if u have bsod while installation don't integrate to install.wim (i had that scenario before) only integrating to boot.wim is enough. u can install any driver after u reach desktop

Good to know, I've only been working with boot.wim at this point because I figure that the first step is making that stable I can tweak things after windows 7 becomes installable. I've been trying to give boot.wim the necessary drivers and windows updates to give it hardware support but I've been getting blue screens of death or the issues with the CD/DVD drive issues. I've uploaded my Latest Attempt because I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.


if you had uefi install before and using nonuefi usb right now. u won't be able to install windows untill u delete the drives completely. same goes for other way around... windows needs to format the drives according to what u have on usb, can't do it if they are already formatted to something else

Sorry that's a bit unclear, the computer systems I am working on have Legacy support, I Format the USB as MBR NTFS in Rufus for BIOS or UFEI with CSM. I make sure the BIOS is set to Legacy support when I boot the USB Stick. I have several hard drives in the computer so the destination drive is formatted as MBR NTFS (So all 3 should match, Bios In Legacy mode, USB burn In Legacy MBR mode, destination hard drive in Legacy MBR NTFS mode). I understand that it would be impossible to install a UEFI and a Legacy operating system on the same hard drive because they require different hard drive formats MBR vs GPT however it should be possible to install UEFI on disk 1 and Legacy on Disk 2 if the Bios allows you to switch between modes ? Obviously only 1 OS would be bootable at a time and I'd have to switch modes in the BIOS to switch between Operating systems. Also a hard drive formatted as GPT drive wouldn't be usable in Legacy mode or by windows 7 for install or boot up if I'm not mistaken ?

On my MSI Laptop I do unfortunately have a UFEI Copy of Windows 10 that came with the computer. Ideally I'd like to boot into legacy mode Install windows 7 on an alternate solid state drive formatted as MBR NTFS before I wipe all my hard drives and destroy that copy of windows 10 because otherwise I would lock myself out.
 

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  • Boot Wim 2.xml
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The newest board I have is in my MSI laptop and it's running a 6th gen Intel Skylake CPU, Next newest is a 4790K also MSI Motherbored, which strangely appears to have 2 separate USB 3 controllers one from Intel and one from asmedia.


Edit: Ok that seems to have moved things along, Currently unable to install to any partition on any drive.

View attachment 4340

So you're installing this for multiple computers? Laptops will be tricky to work with due to the lack of Windows 7 drivers. The latest that I've seen official support for is the 4th gen. But if you've got it to the point where it's already recognizing the USB and you can't install onto the partition you want, then this is what you can do:

1. After you get to the point where it doesn't let you install onto the partition, like in your picture, hit x and let it go back to the beginning where you have to hit "Install Now".
2. Unplug your USB.
3. Hit "Install Now".
4. Plug your USB right after you hit "Install Now"

You should be able to install it now. However, if it doesn't let you install it on the one you want, unplug all other SSDs and Hard drives before you start, except for the one that you want to install Windows on and try again using that unplugging USB method. You don't actually have to use step 1 btw, you can do it right from the start before you hit "Install Now" the first time.
 
its not only the lack of w7 drivers, oems are locking machines down to certain os's somewhere in the mainboard, bios maybe. if your machine came with 8/8.1 then it may have an official downgrade path to 7. if it came with 10 it may have a downgrade for 8/8.1.
 
So you're installing this for multiple computers?

Yes I'm trying to make an updated base image of windows 7 that will be used on multiple computers, or if I cannot do it with a single Image at least get the procedure down so that I can make hardware specific images as needed.


So you're installing this for multiple computers? Laptops will be tricky to work with due to the lack of Windows 7 drivers. The latest that I've seen official support for is the 4th gen.
I've got a 6th gen skylake in the laptop I was under the impression that Windows 7 was supported up to Gen 7 kabby lake I'm fairly determined to get windows 7 on the computer otherwise it's of no use use to me. everything aside from the laptop is older and shouldn't be as much of an issue aside from Nvme support.

its not only the lack of w7 drivers, oems are locking machines down to certain os's somewhere in the mainboard, bios maybe. if your machine came with 8/8.1 then it may have an official downgrade path to 7. if it came with 10 it may have a downgrade for 8/8.1.

:eek: Yikes that should be horribly illegal.... It came with windows 10 I'll keep in mind that I may have to do a double downgrade to get to windows 7. my response to windows 10 is not one that could be described in polite company.


if you've got it to the point where it's already recognizing the USB and you can't install onto the partition you want, then this is what you can do:

1. After you get to the point where it doesn't let you install onto the partition, like in your picture, hit x and let it go back to the beginning where you have to hit "Install Now".
2. Unplug your USB.
3. Hit "Install Now".
4. Plug your USB right after you hit "Install Now"

You should be able to install it now. However, if it doesn't let you install it on the one you want, unplug all other SSDs and Hard drives before you start, except for the one that you want to install Windows on and try again using that unplugging USB method. You don't actually have to use step 1 btw, you can do it right from the start before you hit "Install Now" the first time.

I'll try that next chance I get, currently my latest image is causing a BSOD So I'll have to back track a bit to figure out what's causing it. Version 003 and 004 worked but the later versions don't... not sure why yet. I've only been working with the boot.wim since ege914 mentioned that driver integration into install.wim can cause problems.

if anyone can figure out what's wrong with my preset posted above that's causing the BSOD it would be a huge help.
 
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its not only the lack of w7 drivers, oems are locking machines down to certain os's somewhere in the mainboard, bios maybe. if your machine came with 8/8.1 then it may have an official downgrade path to 7. if it came with 10 it may have a downgrade for 8/8.1.
Hmm? Are you talking about laptops specifically? I've never heard of manufacturers restricting support to certain OS's by locking it down in some way. I know that Lenovo has had a history of restricting it so that only certain approved hardware will work (like wifi adapters).

I've also seen some people report that they were able to get Windows 7 working on some fairly new laptops, but with some drivers issues that can't fully be solved because there are just no USB 3.0 drivers for Windows 7 on later chipsets, for instance.

Yes I'm trying to make an updated base image of windows 7 that will be used on multiple computers, or if I cannot do it with a single Image at least get the procedure down so that I can make hardware specific images as needed.



I've got a 6th gen skylake in the laptop I was under the impression that Windows 7 was supported up to Gen 7 kabby lake I'm fairly determined to get windows 7 on the computer otherwise it's of no use use to me. everything aside from the laptop is older and shouldn't be as much of an issue aside from Nvme support.



:eek: Yikes that should be horribly illegal.... It came with windows 10 I'll keep in mind that I may have to do a double downgrade to get to windows 7. my response to windows 10 is not one that could be described in polite company.




I'll try that next chance I get, currently my latest image is causing a BSOD So I'll have to back track a bit to figure out what's causing it. Version 003 and 004 worked but the later versions don't... not sure why yet. I've only been working with the boot.wim since ege914 mentioned that driver integration into install.wim can cause problems.

if anyone can figure out what's wrong with my preset posted above that's causing the BSOD it would be a huge help.

I have tried to make some "universal" images before, and they work for the most part, but some computers will blue screen with them after Windows 7 is finished installing. It's caused by driver issues. It's best to just integrate only the right drivers for that system if you don't want it to blue screen.

That being said, since you seem to have not integrated drivers into install.wim, your case seems off. Sorry, but I don't feel like downloading your preset and going though it and making an ISO, etc. How about you just test it by installing it on a VM to see if it blue screens on that. If it doesn't, it's probably still driver issue.

And if you really want help getting this working, why not just post specific hardware information rather than just bits and pieces of some information. What are the laptop models? And what's the drive that you're installing to? I'm sure I saw NVMe mentioned in your posts somewhere, but different NVMe drives need to be handled differently. For example, Samsung NVMe drives have their own drivers.
 
It came with windows 10
a lot of old oem systems are being sold with w10 installed. trick is to look at the manufacturer page and see what os's were availible for it before you buy.

I've never heard of manufacturers restricting support to certain OS's by locking it down in some way.
i havnt seen it 1st hand, just reports.

if push comes to shove dont dismiss w8.1, its a good os and has native ms usb3/3.1 drivers which makes installation a lot easier :)
 
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a lot of old oem systems are being sold with w10 installed. trick is to look at the manufacturer page and see what os's were availible for it before you buy.
Oh, that's what you meant. OK, yeah.

The latest desktop official Windows 7 driver support for intel chipsets end at the 370 series chipsets. Starting from 390, they don't provide any official support for Windows 7 drivers, but there are some modded drivers. Some people have installed some PCIe cards to get USB 3 since they can't get the intel one working.

For laptops, I think the latest official Windows 7 drivers I've seen is probably for the 4th generation intel series on the HM87 chipset. There may have been one for the 6th generation that I saw once for a Thinkpad, but I'm not sure if I'm remembering that right (if it was actually a laptop).
 
Oh, that's what you meant. OK, yeah.

The latest desktop official Windows 7 driver support for intel chipsets end at the 370 series chipsets. Starting from 390, they don't provide any official support for Windows 7 drivers, but there are some modded drivers. Some people have installed some PCIe cards to get USB 3 since they can't get the intel one working.

Install Windows 7 and 8.1 onto Intel 8th, 9th and 10th(?) generation


its been a long time but,,,, w7 is officially supported on H310C(R2.0), not the earlier h310. certain it works on B365.
w8.1 installs on b360/b365. there is an old igpu driver for Coffee Lake that works on 7 and 8.1.
 
Yup... no arguments there... I have Windows 7 on my desktop running a 9th gen intel CPU myself. I specifically chose that latest chipset at the time with official driver support (Z370), because I didn't want the hassle of dealing with modded Drivers for the Z390 chipset. I've certainly seen reports of people getting it working with modded drivers on later chipsets than the 370 series. Since it's fairly recent, that's also how I know that the 370 series is the last chipset officially supporting Windows 7 from the intel desktop side.

I feel like this is getting a bit off-topic though, so I'm going to stop responding regarding this topic that we've branched off on.
 
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