Issues when installing Windows 7

[TeaSippingWeeb]

Compaq Presario CQ60

Processor: AMD Sempron

RAM: 4GB

HDD: 500GB

 

I'm trying to install windows 7 onto an older laptop.  It was originally running on windows xp, but was updated to 7, and then to 10.  Now on Windows 10, it's barely functional, so I've been trying to reinstall windows 7.  I couldn't boot from a USB drive on the laptop for some reason, so I put the HDD into another laptop and installed it.  When I put the drive back into the laptop in question, it only displays a command prompt cursor.

 

What I tried:
Memory Test, passed.

Changing BIOS options to boot using Legacy only (There's no bios options available, apart from boot order.)
Resetting the CMOS

 

I'm not sure what else to do here.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Some older laptops don't boot from UBS sticks.  Yours may be one of those.  For those machines you'll need to boot it from a DVD instead of a stick.

 

Installing the OS on another machine and then swapping over the hard drive is never a good idea.  The OS will be installed with drivers for the machine that you installed it on.  If that has a different chipset etc, you can end up with a non-functioning OS (like you did).

 

The only proper solution is to put your Windows 7 installer on an empty DVD, put that in the laptop's tray and start the installation like that.  Afterwards you can use the USB stick to install the drivers etc. 

Speaking of drivers, be sure to check which exact model of CQ60 you have.  Odds are that you'll need to at least install the network drivers manually before Win7 can search online for the rest of the drivers.

[TeaSippingWeeb]

So the CD drive on the laptop wasn't working.  I managed to connect a HDD externally with a working OS.  I then put an extracted ISO of the windows installation files into the blank internal HDD and installed it like that.  Honestly, it was more pain than it was worth.  The laptop is only like 20 quid.