Downgrade E1-531-4624 from Windows 8 to Windows 7

My grandmother just received a new Acer E1-531-4624 as a gift from one of her daughters. She's 88 years old an she just can't get her head around using Windows 8. Since she had no problem using Windows 7, I'm wondering what I need to do to downgrade her system to Windows 7?

Aside from a clean install of Windows 7 (I have the media & key) and installation of all the Windows 7 drivers for that system, what else do I need to do? Do I need to revert the BIOS? On the Acer Support Site, there are 12 different BIOS versions available and a big red warning about not using the wrong one, so really hoping someone could push me in the right direction on what I need to do?

Thanks so much!

Kristin.

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Alan-London

I don't have an E1 but the M5 does *not* need a BIOS change. Win7 runs just fine with the Win8 BIOS. Ensure that you remove *all* passwords - don't set any!!

Check your E1 hardware to ensure you get the correct drivers for network and touchpad.

Having all required Win7 drivers on USB makes installation easier.

If you have nVidia as well as Intel, you may find (as I did) that you can only load nVidia drivers for Win8 (but they are more up to date anyway).

Briefly, in the BIOS, disable 'Secure Boot'; change 'UEFI' to 'Legacy'.

Install OS as normal.

Note that I am not familiar with the E1 model. I am simply describing the process I employed on my M5. In my case, everything went just fine but obviously, if you go ahead you do so at your own risk.

theboyk

Thanks!

Alan-London

Just one further thought.
If you find you cannot access 'Secure Boot' (greyed out), you may need to temporarily create a supervisor password.
Clear the password once you have disabled 'Secure Boot'. (Unless you really need passwords, don't set them - they will come back to haunt you!!)