Drivers & Software

[michael5]

I purchased a Gigagbyte Aorus Elite AM4 B450  motherboard, along with a Ryzen 5 2600 CPU. I took on the challenge of migrating my Windows 7 Pro from an AM3 board with a Phenom II CPU--which ran flawlessley. I was successful (after much time, research, effort and trial and error), up to the point of the Ryzen drivers, see attached. I understand Microsoft put the same limitations on Windows 8.1, so I did not attempt installing that. Note that my computer does seem to run better on the AM4 board, with only exception being it takes a lot longer to start windows than before. I don't overclock or play with the settings, as I am not a gamer.

I have tried all the packages Gigabtye and AMD have to get those processor drivers inititalized without success. Uninstalling and reinstalling the processors make no difference. Does anyone have any success in overcoming that Microsoft forced limitation? I am not a fan of Win10.

[elstaci]

You are probably going to have to do a Clean install of Windows 7 since you are going from a Non-Ryzen processor to a Ryzen processor with a new Motherboard.

But before doing that, try uninstall the processor special drivers in Device Manager and then clicking on "Scan for Hardware Changes" which will reinstall the drivers again.

Did you install the latest CHIPSET from your motherboard driver download page or from AMD download page?

You can download the latest Windows 7 CHIPSETS and BIOS from here: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B450-AORUS-ELITE-rev-10/support#support-dl-bios

Try doing a CLEAR CMOS (resetting to default settings) in case it is a BIOS setting causing the issue.

Otherwise I suggest you do a Clean Windows 7 installation first.

EDIT: Try this first before doing a Clean install of Windows 7 if all of the above other suggestions didn't work.

First update the Windows 7 CHIPSET and BIOS version.

Second try doing a In-Place Windows 7 Repair by running the Windows 7 installation disk while on the Windows 7 Desktop. It should mention about installing Windows OS again while saving all of your 3rd party Apps and Windows configuration. If it doesn't then cancel the installation.

If it does, choose that and it should install a new Windows 7 folder and create a Windows.old folder in the Root Directory. See if that fixes your issue if it doesn't then you have no choice but to do a clean Windows 7 Installation.

[michael5]

Thank you for your reply. Did all of that already. In-place repair went through the motions, then reported it could not make those repairs. Tried it from the new dedicated repair disk ISO, as well as my retail install disk, both for Win7 and Win8.1. Did an sfc /scannow too. Some reindexing occured but still no change with the processor.

Doing a clean install I will lose all the updates for the OS, including the OS KB's I selectively installed over the years, as well as other updates that will have to be reinstalled/reconfigured again.  I had worked for two weeks on this to even get the OS to compelete an initial startup for the drivers: Even a PS/2 keyboard was only partly functional at first, and I could not even get into safe mode. WinPE boot, DOS commands and trial and error. Uninstalling and Hardware scanning had no effect.

Maybe I will leave it as is until I decide to migrate to Win10 and have to buy all new expensive software for those apps not compatible with Win10 and/or dual boot Linux. My desktop functions and software works fine as it is right now with this new  motherboard and chips-- no other issues. It is more responsive superfically with all the apps I am using, especially the music and video editing I do. Even with Ryzen driver crippled, I guess I just won't get the full benefit of its capabilities.

I had hoped, after several years now, someone at AMD or Gigabyte had developed a workaround for the failed processor driver initiation block in Win7 and Win8.1. The chipset driver packages available don't do it in my case. Someone wrote an great little app that gets rid of the nag screen about the processor at least. I thought Microsoft turned Win7 over to open source after they dropped support for it?

Call me old school. Curses to Microsoft.

[michael5 · Accepted solution]

Well, it took me 2 months, over many, many hours, but I can now claim victory with an in-place Windows 7 Pro hard drive upgrade from an AM3 motherboard with a Phenom II chip to a new AM4 B450 board with a Ryzen 5 2600 chip. I am disappointed with AMD tech support for not taking my environment described to them into account, which made all their suggestions invalid.

It is still a lot easier to just clean re-install Win7. However, I had over 15 years of configuration tweaks, customizations, and still very useful fully functional software invested that I did not care to purchase a replacement for or reinstall and reconfigure as a consequence, as well as very deliberately selected Microsoft Win updates over the years that withstood the test of time and had my rig running like a top. I had all the motivation to avoid having to spend a likely equal amount of time starting from scratch. And I am not even a gamer.

Basics you will definitely need:

1.     PS/2 keyboard ($2 at a computer surplus brick and mortar store in most areas). If you do not have a PS/2 connection on your motherboard, you cannot pass go and are out of luck. USB PS/2 adapters did not work for me for this.

2.    The Win7 64 bit repair disk (not your original repair\recovery installation disk). You can find the ISO online here and in other places:        https://archive.org/details/windows-7-64-bit-repair-disc

3.    The current driver installer package from AMD for Win7, and your installation disc for your motherboard as well. Prepare to brush up on your DOS environment commands. Install only what you need for your particular environment. If you use a separate video card, make those drivers are updated too.

The initial challenge is of course the USB3 drivers. My PS/2 keyboard wasstill  not fully functional with the initial drivers already in my environment, but at least the Tab and enter keys were working to navigate through the necessary selections.

Keep in mind this is also specific to my own Win7 environment, so your mileage may vary. Make sure everything is working and you start from a clean boot into Win7 before you go further after you get past the initial USB 3 roadblock. It may take more time to boot, and you may even need to rebuild the boot record from the command line until you can make further adjustments and tweaks if you get bootup or shutdown total freezing. Your patience will be tested often. Manual restore points created after every incrememental improvement will be your best friend.

Not all the target drivers are in obvious places or can be discerned from its filename or description: I discovered the previous K8 CPU driver loading at boot that was keeping the Ryzen  processor threads from initializing by chance in the "show hidden devices" view in Device Manager. In the properties for that driver you can disable it, reboot, and then delete it from the Driver repository in the Windows\Win32\drivers directory.

if you have a new separate sound card you want to install, best practice is to do that last, after everything else is stable. Be aware that some cards, like those from ASUS, need to install their own USB 3 drivers--they may conflict wtih the AMD ones and they may or may not be compatible with your environment. If you remove or disable them after installation, you may need to haul out your PS/2 keyboard and Win7 64 repair disk to get that back on track again.

Good luck to anyone who takes on this challenge in the future.

[michael5]

Correction: All your registered drivers are in the Windows\System32\drivers and \driverStore folders.