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Please help me, what's happening is freaking horrible...

I've just bought the new Asus Zenbook UX305 (Zenbook), which comes with the horrible Windows 8.1 and I don't want to install Windows 10... So I installed Windows 7 on it

THE PROBLEM: By reinstalling, I deleted all drivers, so now the Wireless driver is gone, so I can't get any network to install the wireless driver....

THE OTHER PROBLEM: I have another computer, so I downloaded the drivers and put them on a usb stick. BUT, because there's no drivers on the laptop, It doesn't recognize USBs!

About Asus UX305 (Zenbook)

  • NO CD/DVD reader
  • M.2 SSD
  • USB 3.0 ports only
  • No Direct WLAN Internet port

Additionnal Information

  • Both FAT, FAT32 and NTFS are not recognized
  • I don't have any system image of Windows 8.1 because the option wasn't available
  • I don't have any windows.old folders because the Windows 7 installation restarted 2 times before working correctly
  • I tried putting drivers files directly on the laptops hard drive, but oviously I don't have any M.2 support on my other computer
  • I don't have Windows 7 key (because my version is kind of not the most guenuine one...)
  • I haven't saved Windows 8.1 key (because I think and thought it won't be usefull for Windows 7)

Additionnal Question

Is there a way to modify the USB 3.0 port options so they can run in USB 2.0 without drivers? I mean, my other computer's USB ports worked perfectly without any drivers, so it's so ridiculous!

What can I do? Please help, it is so frustrating!

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  • Basic drivers for USB, discs and Ethernet should have gone in with the W7 installation. If they didn't, try one of the following:- 1. Reinstall W7 from bootable disc. 2. Check if there is a partition holding the manufacturer's drivers and utilities: some of these may work with W7. 3. Boot up a Live CD: this will have USB drivers, and can be used to copy from USB to hard drive. 4. Perform a factory restore, copy the drivers, re-install W7 (you can restore any personal files from the back-up that you must have taken before embarking in the down-grade).
    – AFH
    Sep 27, 2015 at 16:13
  • Forget to mention: laptop doesn't have any cd/dvd reader because it's too slim. Same for direct WLAN connection. AND my Windows 7 isn't the most guenuine version, so it installed with a setup.exe instead of .iso file... So how to make a Live CD with this?
    – lolgab123
    Sep 27, 2015 at 16:19
  • I can't advise you on how to use software fraudulently.
    – AFH
    Sep 27, 2015 at 17:10

3 Answers 3

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It's surprising it doesn't even recognize USB ports, so I'd suggest re-installing Windows directly from an .iso file, instead of setup.exe, which usually makes one of those dirty reinstalls.

Since cannot use a CD, then use a pendrive.

You can easily do it using Windows USB/DVD Download Tool, by choosing "USB device". You'll just need an empty pendrive and an ISO file. The steps will guide you to write the ISO in your pendrive, and making it bootable.

Since it boots from the BIOS, you won't need any USB drivers or similar. If that doesn't work, either, I'd begin to get worried (there could be some hardware problem with your USBs).

Also, keep in mind that you may have to change your BIOS' boot settings, to give preference to USB devices ;)

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  • Definitly seems interesting, but there's a problem: This installation needs a Windows key, right? And I don't have one... Can I do something to use the Windows 8.1 key that came with the laptop (which I haven't wrote anywhere before reinstalling) and use it for a guenuine version of Windows 7?
    – lolgab123
    Sep 27, 2015 at 16:54
  • No, sadly you can't do that. During the installation you don't need to provide a key (you can ommit that step, and activate Windows later). I can't suggest you to pirate a Windows copy, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle that once you're inside a working Windows 7.
    – Hewbot
    Sep 27, 2015 at 16:55
  • What if I activates Windows later? Does it will block any programs until I activates it? Do there will be a trial time?
    – lolgab123
    Sep 27, 2015 at 16:57
  • AFAIK, it will be like a full Windows copy, but with the water mark in the desktop, and the constant reminders telling you to activate it. After a few days (about a month or so) it could be a bit more "aggressive" (black background, some reduced functions...).
    – Hewbot
    Sep 27, 2015 at 17:00
  • Damn it. But why does the USB ports need drivers? Like it's just an infinite loop! And my 3 other computer's (2 manufactured, 1 custom) usb ports worked perfectly without any drivers when I installed my Windows 7 version of them!
    – lolgab123
    Sep 27, 2015 at 17:03
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Update

Finally, we decided to install Windows 10 on the Asus Zenbook laptop. We were able to recover the product key, so we installed a guenuine version of Windows. Also, I'm pretty sure I found the problem.

Problem Discovered

Windows 8 comes with the newer drivers made for older and newer computers. Windows 7 comes with older drivers made only for Windows 7 (and older) computers. The Zenbook comes packed with Windows 8. So, downgrading to any other version of Windows remove all the drivers (of course), but doesn't reinstall all of them (like USB ones) because they were not existing at the time the computer was released (like 4 years later).

Tips

Never downgrade a Windows version if your computer wasn't packed with it at the purchase.

We may have been able to buy a SATA to M.2 adapter to directly tranfer the drivers to the Zenbook's hard drive, but it will have cost around 100$, which is clearly too pricey for the need.

Thanks

By ending, I want to thanks all of you that tried to help me. It really is appreciate ;)

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  • Actually, I too ran into the same problem some days ago. I installed Win 7 on an HP notebook which came pre-installed with win 8.1, the same problem, no drivers including usb drivers. So I downloaded the necessary drivers to another pc, made a Live Linux usb device and booted from it, connected the pendrive containing the drivers and copied them to the hard disk. Then I restarted the system and boot into Windows 7 and installed the drivers. Everything is working fine now.
    – RogUE
    Oct 11, 2015 at 14:06
  • Mmh... I think my friend tried something like this (using dump files), but he nearly explained it to me (it was a bit above my level of understanding)... But thinking of it it seems pretty awesome 😊 But now I'm pretty happy with Windows 10 (Well, in fact, it's my brother's laptop 😶). I will still definitly investigate on this. Thanks!
    – lolgab123
    Oct 12, 2015 at 2:08
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OK guys, I'm here with the solution.

After hours of testing all random drivers I found one that works for my UX305F.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26929/Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-and-Drivers-for-Windows-7-

Hope it works for you guys as well.

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  • Post some content quoted from this link if it helped. Otherwise it is just a useless link. Aug 1, 2017 at 4:53
  • Thanks for that answer. I hoped that will help some people! If it does so, please comment here the results. Else, upgrading to Windows 10 seems to be a good solution.
    – lolgab123
    Aug 3, 2017 at 1:50

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