Asus E410 Windows

hi, i bought this asus e410 which may or may not have been a mistake. it has win 10 on it which i hate and ive tried the classic shell thing and not any better. i would like to format the hd and install win 7. thing is that this thing apparently doesn't have a hd as is commonly understood... or so im told.... its some sort of memory storage thing soldered to the mother board... again... so im told.... either way... how do i format this thing to start over ? i know i may have driver issues but i think i can work around those... maybe.... either way , i want to try it.

 

It would be a mistake to go back to the unsupported Windows 7. W7 is so old and obsolete, that even security software makers are stopping support.

The developer of Classic Shell ceased development way back in December 2017 because it was too much of a challenge and too time consuming to keep it current and compatible with the ever evolving Windows 10. See: Classic Shell no longer in development and has been taken over by Open-Shell. But sadly, even development on it is lagging and sparse.

If you meant Open-Shell and don't like that, I use and recommend Start10 (Start11 for W11) which brings back the familiar W7 Start menu and desktop and for a sma one-time cost for a lifetime license, it is well worth it. It has a decent 30-day trial period too, if still unsure. This is, IMO, the best W10 start button alternative.

More importantly, your system will remain support and secure for years to come and you will not be a threat to other.

 

Just because it has an "integrated / onboard ssd" doesn't really make it any different from any other PC, just not upgradable. You don't need to format to start over, make a bootable USB with Rufus or Ventoy and during the Windows install delete the partitions. It comes up after you select "Custom" install.

 

i appreciate your input but point out that i have 2 destops and 3 lap tops running win 7 just fine and a lot of my software isn't compatible with win 10/11. also... i have a client who has a manufacturing firm where the whole thing runs on win 7 and all my banks computers run win 7 so it can't be as bad as all that... i find win 10 invasive and annoying in the extreme and more geared to social media and entertainment than serious work . no thank you

 

thats good advice.... but isn't a oem win 7 cd a bootable cd ? when i stick that in the system just ignores it... as if the bios doesn' t have a " boot from cd" line in it. now... on a scale of 1 to 10 where you guys are all 9's and 10 as far as understanding this stuff at a molecular level, im about a 4. i can fumble my way thru most things but can not be described as " knowing what im doing " . thats why the no boot from the oem disc thing confused me... and none of the fn keys gets me into the bios to see whats there... and asus desribes the hdd as " locked " anyway. so in a word, i am over my head and need the same sort of direction you would give to a golden retriever if i am going to get this done at all. thanks for your patience

 

you misunderstood or i wasn't clear. the dvd i have is straight from microsoft.... NOT the installation disc that you used to get when you bought dell stuff. i bought a bunch of them for nickles and dimes when they were on sale. thx for the bios hint.

 

Not the point. This is Deja vu all over again. This same conversation happened with XP, and sadly, lessons learned have not been heeded. So history repeats itself.

When an OS is no longer supported by the developer and by key members of the security industry, chances are when (not "if" but "when") a new security vulnerability is discovered (and, yes, the bad guys are still looking), that vulnerability will not fixed, patched, or protected.

But that does NOT just mean that computer is now at risk of being compromised. If that were the case, no big deal. The problem is, any compromised computer that is connected to a network that has Internet access, then becomes a threat to the rest of us. And that is not cool. It is like driving a car with worn out brakes. The drive is not just a threat to him or herself, but to others too.

Well, it may be annoying, and slightly invasive (at first), but definitely not more geared to social media and entertainment than serious work.

Again, it is easy to make W10 look and feel like W7. And with a little effort, it is not invasive - not even sure I know what that means. If you mean it invades your privacy, nah!

Even at its worse, Microsoft is NOT trying to steal our passwords, full name, birth date, street address, bank account and credit card information, Social Security or Insurance Numbers, personal contacts, or read our emails. Nor is it trying to overwrite security certifications, redirect us to malicious sites, or take control of our computers to send spam or distribute malware, or participate in DDoS attacks against others. If anything, W10 is better at protecting us from all that than any previous version of Windows.

So many just don't understand the difference between security and privacy. The difference is HUGE! These same people have no problems compromising their privacy with their cell phones. For example, on our PCs, Microsoft does not know our physical location. In fact, with an Ethernet connected computer the closest Microsoft knows where we are physically located is our ISP's POP (point of presence). The POP is the physical locations where our ISP connects our computer to the Internet backbone. In my case, that is 6 miles across town.

On the other hand, our ISP already knows our home address, our real and full name, birth date, and our billing information too. They also know every single website we visit and what we did while there.

Our cell phone carriers are even worse. They also know our home address, our real and full name, birth date, and our billing information. They know who we have talked to and texted. But worse, our cell phone carrier knows exactly where we are standing to within a couple meters. They know the store we are in, the aisle and even the products in the aisle we are standing in front of! They know where we've been, how long we were there, the direction we are heading now and how fast we are moving!

Then of course, there's Google and Facebook - companies who work on the premise of learning everything about us and using (and sharing and selling ) that information for their profits!

Frankly, when it comes to privacy concerns, Microsoft is the least of our worries.

No doubt true, but that does not make it right or justify their continued use. The manufacturing firm "may" be the exception "IF" it runs on a closed (no Internet access) network. Otherwise, it is up to the software makers to make new versions and banks for sure, need to upgrade to the more secure OS.

I DO sympathize and understand your feelings. IMO, W7 was the best Windows Microsoft ever produced. But "was" is the operative word here. But W7 is over 13 years old and has now been superseded 3 times over now.

I won't harp on this anymore after this last word. Folk just need to understand and be reminded that running obsolete, superseded, legacy, unsupported operating systems on a computer that has Internet access, potentially puts others at risk too.

 

You have to get in to BIOS and turn off Secure Boot, looks like F2 will do it. Also look around for boot options - to enable USB boot.
Might even look for a "legacy" boot option. Hard to say, not all BIOS/UEFI are laid out the same.