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Sorry for the vague title. I haven't used a Windows Laptop in about 4 years and the last time I reformatted a laptop around 2 years ago, I used Windows 7 (which turned out fine).

Recently, I had a friend approach me because her laptop died (Acer V5 - 471G, it was running Windows 8.1), she tried powering it up and it just gave her "Operating System Not Found". We backed up all the files that we can by opening the laptop and slapping the hard drive in a reader and copying the files I could still open. After placing the laptop back together, I tried installing Windows 7 (via DVD). At first, I had to figure out what was happening because my boot order wasn't being saved and I was going straight to the "Operating System Not Found" Error once more. I then figured out that the laptop was running a UEFI and not the Legacy type that's why the Win7 DVD installer wasn't being detected. I reverted it back to Legacy and then proceeded with the install. However, after installing Windows 7, the laptop was acting rather slow and BSOD-ed quickly. I think the laptop wasn't "Built" to run Win 7.

This lead me to think that I should install Windows 8.1 on the laptop. I acquired a copy of windows 8.1, but now, with all the new settings like UEFI and GPT, I am not sure how to proceed with installing at all. Does anyone have or can provide a fool-proof guide on how to do a fresh install of Windows 8.1? Any help for the uninitiated will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Apologies if this isn't the network for this. I turned to superuser because I couldn't find a specific guide online.

Razgriz
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  • It is as simply as creating an installation media and booting to it. Windows 7 64-bit fully supports UEFI so your conclusion has some holes in it. – Ramhound Mar 18 '16 at 12:33
  • Is there a chance that the hard drive should be replaced? I haven't been using Windows for a long time and I was puzzled when the freshly installed Windows 7 64-bit wasn't working smoothly. – Razgriz Mar 18 '16 at 12:35
  • You tell me? Does the S.M.A.R.T data report the drive is unhealthy? – Ramhound Mar 18 '16 at 12:47
  • Hold on, I've got to look up how to find that and then I'll get back to you. – Razgriz Mar 18 '16 at 12:50
  • @Razgriz [How can I read my hard drive's SMART status in Windows 7?](http://superuser.com/q/29240), and [What is the easiest method of checking SMART status for your hard drive?](http://superuser.com/q/14803) – DavidPostill Mar 18 '16 at 13:24
  • Hm this will be tricky, I don't think the laptop is cooperating enough for me to even install a hard drive scanner as it behaves incredibly slow an uncooperative at times. – Razgriz Mar 18 '16 at 23:38

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