Installation guide for Win7 x64 on Acer Spin 5 CPU i7-8550u

This guide is for those who have i7-8550u CPU as mine, basically mostly of my previous guide is already done and ready to use.

A) Make a recovery USB of the current Windows 10, you will need a minimum 16GB USB for this, that will get formatted.


B) Download and/or extract and copy the following files on the secondary drive (HDD, because the SSD will get formatted) on the target Acer Spin 5 laptop:

1) Download Intel UHD 620 modified driver from here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FTY8HpZC5XqMqfAY_6Rlioh6d3tymV-E/view?usp=sharing and extract it's content ("Intel" folder).

2) Using any ISO file viewer, extract the Windows 7 x64 "install.wim" from any Windows 7 x64 ISO of your choice from the "sources" folder (I suggest to use the latemost ISO with intergrated updates to date just to be sure you avoid lacking of updates that might cause driver failures, such as this that I used successfully: https://www.teamos-hkrg.com/index.php?threads/windows-7-ultimate-sp1-x64-en-us-march2019-pre-activated-team-os.76902/ )

3) Download "Unlocker" application from here: https://softpedia-secure-download.com/dl/44d2cbc8123e8f7e9f72af262f84c058/5cd5d787/100068439/software/tweak/Unlocker%201.9.2.msi and copy it to the second USB stick/external HDD/secondary HDD on the target computer.

4) Download the "bootmgfw.efi" from here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gWP4cvRdpuPLtULao5AVpCnNALfAWNeS

5) Download the Acer Spin 5 Win7 x64 driver pack from here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GvZFlgd27COOwQXm6KheHeQyMrKVAis1 and extract it.

6) Download wufuc from here: https://github.com/zeffy/wufuc/releases/download/v1.0.1.201/wufuc_v1.0.1.201-x64.msi

7) Download the certificate registry files for Intel UHD driver from here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vLkZcQMfHL_7VEig1c2C3UsCcAjK8zWA and extract it.


C) Preparing a bootable Mini Windows 10 UEFI USB.

1) For this, you need an USB stick that will get formated to GPT format (you will lose all current data on it) so that it will boot on UEFI.

2) Download "Medicat Mini Windows 10 NAKED" ISO from here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wrP722c4KmeJ7_9dSetoDVmNOF8pe6na/view

3) Download "ISO2Disc" application from here: https://softpedia-secure-download.com/dl/3ad88ff69f85d1eb641722c7356a20e7/5cd5d86c/100194916/software/cd_dvd_tools/ISO2DiscSetup.exe and install it.

4) Insert the USB stick, check which drive letter it gets, then run "ISO2Disc", browse for the "Medicat Mini Windows 10 NAKED" ISO file, then select "Burn fo USB Flash Drive", verify that the correct drive letter of the USB stick and the size is correctly chosen, if not, choose the correct USB, then select "Partition Style" as "GPT" and click "Start Burn".


D) Installing Windows 7 x64 procedure on the target computer

1) Boot the target computer from the created bootable Mini Windows 10 UEFI USB.

2) Partition the install SSD using diskpart from an elevated (run as administrator) "Command Prompt" window, remember to backup all data first, this will delete everything, using the following commands (where N is your choice for the install SSD, be careful when choosing):
list disk
select disk N
clean
convert gpt
create partition efi size=100
format quick fs=fat32
assign letter="S"
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs
assign letter="W"
exit

3) Let's assume that your secondary drive (HDD) on the target computer (where you have already copied all the necessary files) has the "Z" drive letter, so just replace the "Z" drive letter in all the following commands with the one of your particular case.


4) Install Windows 7 x64 using DISM and apply EFI boot partition from the installation

a) Apply the "install.wim" image from your secondary drive (HDD) on the target computer to the "W" partition you created earlier, using the following command entered in an elevated (Run as administrator) "Command prompt" window:
DISM.exe /Apply-Image /ImageFile:Z:\install.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\

b) After the process is completed, apply EFI boot partition from the installation, using the following command entered in an elevated (Run as administrator) "Command prompt" window:
BCDboot.exe W:\Windows /s S:


5) Install the modified and signed Intel UHD driver from your secondary drive (HDD) on the target computer to the "W" partition you created earlier, using the following command entered in an elevated (Run as administrator) "Command prompt" window:
dism /Image:W:\ /Add-Driver /Driver:Z:\Intel\Graphics /Recurse /forceunsigned

6) Disable the legacy vga (which is incompatible with UEFI) from the registry of the installed Windows 7 from the "W" partition you created earlier, using the following commands entered line by line in an elevated (Run as administrator) "Command prompt" window:
set Services=HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services
reg.exe load HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM W:\Windows\system32\config\system
reg.exe add "%Services%\Vga" /f /t REG_DWORD /v "Start" /d 4
reg.exe add "%Services%\VgaSave" /f /t REG_DWORD /v "Start" /d 4
reg.exe unload HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM


7) Delete legacy vga driver file (which is incomaptible with UEFI) completely from the installed Windows 7 from the "W" partition you created earlier

a) Install "Unlocker" by running "Unlocker1.9.2.exe" from your secondary drive (HDD) on the target computer.

b) Using "Windows Explorer", go to "W:\Windows\system32\driver" and look for "vga.sys", right-click on it, and choose "Unlocker". A window appears and under "No action" menu, choose "Delete" and then click "OK". Check manually that the file is deleted. You have to use this method, because you can't normally delete "vga.sys" due to security permissions of the installation.


8) Using "Windows Explorer", copy "bootmgfw.efi" from your secondary drive (HDD) on the target computer to the following path: "S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot", overwriting the already existing file.

9) Disable legacy vga (which is incompatible with UEFI) from the EFI boot, using the following commands entered line by line in an elevated (Run as administrator) "Command prompt" window:
bcdedit /store "s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd" /set {default} bootlog yes
bcdedit /store "s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd" /set {default} bootstatuspolicy IgnoreAllFailures
bcdedit /store "s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd" /set {default} novesa on
bcdedit /store "s:\efi\microsoft\boot\bcd" /set {default} quietboot on


10) Add the Intel UHD video driver certificate to the Windows 7 installation.

a) Mount the registry of the Windows 7 installation from the "W" drive, using the following command entered in an elevated (Run as administrator) "Command prompt" window:
reg.exe load HKLM\loaded_SOFTWARE C:\Windows\system32\config\software

b) Merge the "cert1.reg" and "cert2.reg" files one by one, by double-clicking them from your secondary drive (HDD) on the target computer. You should also see a confirmation that the process is successful.

c) Unmount the registry of the Windows 7 installation from the "W" drive, using the following command entered in an elevated (Run as administrator) "Command prompt" window:
reg.exe unload HKLM\loaded_SOFTWARE


11) Reboot and remove all USB sticks from your computer. You should only get a black screen, the installation might take a while, then it should reboot automatically and then you should get video input when "Setup is checking for you system performance", then everything should go as normal.

12) Install "wufuc" from the secondary drive (HDD) to enable support for 8th Generation Intel CPUs on Win7 (this fixes Windows Update, but also very important is that this fixes some drivers not installing, for example Intel Thermal and Fingerprint), then ensure that Windows Update service is running (Windows Update can be set to "Do not automatically install updates", it doesn't matter), then reboot.

13) Install the drivers from the secondary drive (HDD), starting with "Intel Chipset" and then "Intel Rapid Storage".

14) Activating Windows 7 under UEFI with Windows Loader by DAZ will never work. Make an account or login to MyDigitalLife and follow these steps carefully: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/windslic-uefi-slic-injector.29740/page-30#post-862582