Installing Windows 7 on Alienware M17x-R4
I used to use a Windows-based process to copy the Windows 7 installer to a new hard disk which would then be installed in a new system, and then I would install the OS to that very drive from itself. It worked great. This was before 2015, the Year of Linux on the Desktop.
Now that I use all GNU/Linux, but I needed to install Windows 7, I had a hard time getting this prepared. Here is how I did it.
AskUbuntu indicated to use WoeUSB, so i used the provided instructions.
Deploying WoeUSB to a usb caused the win 7 installer to not be able to choose a disk at all (a failure of the windows installer, not WoeUSB), so I used WoeUSB to copy my win7x64 pro install iso to the SSD that I then placed in the system.
time sudo bash ./woeusb-5.2.4.bash --target-filesystem NTFS --device /mnt/public/Support/SetupsBig/Windows/en_windows_7_professional_x64_dvd_x15-65805.iso /dev/sdZ
Why I did it
The graphics card in a (Dell) Alienware M17x-R4 graphics card is an Nvidia 660M. I was unable to get the debian-packaged drivers and the nvidia.com drivers to work on modern kernel (6.4.0.3). I concluded it was useful for retro gaming, if you call the Windows 7 era retro gaming.
I could have probably used an older release of Devuan GNU+Linux, but I use exclusively Devuan unstable, and I don't want to start using an older release now.
References
- https://askubuntu.com/questions/289559/how-can-i-create-a-windows-bootable-usb-stick-using-ubuntu
- https://github.com/WoeUSB/WoeUSB
- https://superuser.com/questions/320581/couldnt-find-boot-disk-error-while-installing-windows-7-using-usb
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