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My PC specs are 1. DH87MC 2. 2*8GB Ram (currently dual channel config windows 10) 3.gtx 760 graphic card 4.2TB HDD I am currently using windows 10 and I want to switch to windows 7. I want to install windows 7 in UEFI and have gpt partition feature. It allows to have multiple partition which is important for me. So I have windows 7 iso file. I have used Rufus tool to create a bootable usb drive for "GPT UEFI". I have disabled legacy boot and secure boot and fastboot. I have updated the bios. The usb drive is recognised now (initially I had trouble with usb not recognised in boot menu). And installed the windows 7. After installation the PC rebooted and in "starting windows" screen the PC is stuck. The default SATA controller is AHCI in my motherboard. In some website I red that enabling SATA compatibility will solve the problem but it didn't. I have searched lots and lots of websites but couldn't find the solution. And also I tried booting the windows 7 in safe mode. The loading gets stuck at "loading risk.sys". Please someone tell me how to fix it.

Sri Sai Suhaas G
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  • turn off [GOP and enable VGA option ROM (BIOS interrupt 10 (INT 10H))](https://superuser.com/a/1057484/174557) – magicandre1981 May 19 '17 at 13:57
  • thanx for the reply. there is no option as GOP and VGA. i turned on legacy option and the windows 7 booted and completed installation. So now windows 7 is booting from legacy or UEFI? – Sri Sai Suhaas G May 20 '17 at 16:37
  • in win7, open disk management and look if the boot partition is MBR or GPT. if MBR you use BIOS boot, if GPT, you use UEFI – magicandre1981 May 20 '17 at 16:53
  • @magicandre1981 **[CSM (Legacy) Mode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#CSM_booting) should never be enabled for an OS**, as it's _sole purpose_ was to support distros that didn't yet support EFI boot circa <2017 _(Windows ≥7 supports EFI boot)_. CSM Mode emulates BIOS' 16bit architecture within a 32bit environment & doing so will cause performance degradation _(boot times increase by 400%+, GPT can't be used, etc.)_; only reason to enable CSM Mode is when needing to access a legacy OP[tion] ROM, and once done in the OP ROM, CSM Mode should be re-disabled – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 18:45
  • @magicandre1981 _(Cont'd)_ If moving from a BIOS motherboard to a UEFI motherboard, [`mbr2gpt`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt) should be used to convert the OS drive to GPT by booting WinPE _(Windows install USB)_, which I cover in [this](https://superuser.com/a/1716089/529800) answer. – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 18:48

2 Answers2

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  1. I have used Rufus tool to create a bootable USB drive for "GPT UEFI"

    (Windows boot sequence)
    If EFI boot was the issue, boot would fail when UEFI hands off to the Windows Bootloader

  2. I have disabled legacy boot and secure boot and fastboot.

    Secure Boot should always be enabled when booting Windows, as there's no reason to disable it:

    • Disabling Secure Boot creates an insecure machine at boot, as it protects against rootkits and malicious drivers/software loading at boot

  3. The PC rebooted and "Starting Windows" screen is stuck on "Loading risk.sys"

    risk.sys doesn't appear to be a Windows system file, as Microsoft Docs returns zero results and only three results (one being this question) were returned by Google and DuckDuckGo (unheard of):

    • Due to this, it's likely malware from a malware laden install ISO if this is occurring immediately following a clean install

    To resolve:
    Only use install media downloaded from Microsoft.

  4. I turned on Legacy option and Windows 7 booted and completed the installation; is it booting from Legacy or UEFI?

    Booting is either/or, so with CSM Mode enabled, UEFI is emulating BIOS and using MBR.

    CSM [Legacy] Mode should never be enabled for an OS, as it's sole purpose was to support distros that didn't yet support EFI boot circa <2017 (Windows ≥7 supports EFI boot):

    • CSM Mode emulates BIOS' 16bit architecture within a 32bit environment and doing so will cause performance degradation (boot times increase by 400%+, GPT can't be used, etc.)
    • The only reason to enable CSM Mode is when needing to access a legacy OP[tion] ROM, and once done in the OP ROM, CSM Mode should be re-disabled.

JW0914
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Problem is the uefi. make new bootable USB with legacy MBR instead of UEFI. and then also enable legacy boot in bios and installation will goes ok.

user44570
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    **[CSM (Legacy) Mode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#CSM_booting) should never be enabled for an OS**, as it's _sole purpose_ was to support distros that didn't yet support EFI boot circa <2017 _(Windows ≥7 supports EFI boot)_. CSM Mode emulates BIOS' 16bit architecture within a 32bit environment and doing so will cause performance degradation _(boot times increase by 400%+, GPT can't be used, etc.)_. The only reason to enable CSM Mode is when needing to access a legacy OP[tion] ROM, and once done in the OP ROM, CSM Mode should be re-disabled. – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 14:25
  • _(Cont'd...)_ If EFI boot was the issue, boot would fail when UEFI hands off to the [Windows Bootloader](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/bringup/boot-and-uefi) _([Boot Sequence](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/img-boot-sequence))_ – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 14:34
  • @JW0914 i understand UEFI have faster boots , but for old laptops or another machine which got stuck on windows 7 logo [ starting windows ] after loading files . what FIX you have ??? there is no suitable solution for that problem even you can google it on Microsoft forums no working solution i found. so to revive my old laptop i switch to GPT and turned off UEFI secure boot mode and installation went OK. – user44570 May 25 '22 at 11:04
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    There's a fundamental misunderstanding that's occurring: Secure boot has nothing to do with this, as the only time Secure Boot could potentially be an issue is if the motherboard OEM [never intended](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/oem-secure-boot#signature-databases-and-keys) Windows to run on the motherboard _(has no bearing on >99% of PCs/laptops)_. CSM Mode has nothing to do with Secure Boot and should never be enabled as it was for _distros_ [BSD/Linux] that didn't support EFI boot circa <2017. GPT is incompatible with CSM Mode being enabled. – JW0914 May 25 '22 at 11:38
  • _(Cont'd...)_ Microsoft made Windows 7 compatible with EFI boot at some point after it was released to market and it would have supported EFI boot at the time the OP's question was asked _(May 2017)_. As to Windows 7 issues, the OP's issue appears to be due to a malware laden install ISO, which I cover in my answer since `risk.sys` doesn't appear to be a Windows system file. – JW0914 May 25 '22 at 11:41