Using Windows 7 Drivers in Windows 8 with errors and problems

Hello! I have a sound problem in my PC. I DIDN'T have ANY problem with my sound card (Realtek, ALC 850) in Windows 7 64bit but I have the problem after installing Windows 8 64bit on my PC. When I try to install the sound driver, Windows 8 doesn't allow the Setup.exe (Realtek wizard for ALC850 setup file) to copy the driver and the setup encounters with problems and finishes with installing no drivers!. I also tried compatibility wizard for the setup.exe and chose "Windows Vista" but it didn't work. So, I tried to get the driver via windows update and the driver installed.
But the problem is the malfunction of the installed driver! I have a 6-channel speaker and it seems the installed driver (via Windows update) is for a 2-channel speaker or something like that. Every time I try to configure my speaker from Windows (by: Right clicking on Speaker Icon in the Taskbar --> Playback devices --> Speakers --> Configure --> 5.1 surround --> next ....) and click on the Finish button, Windows shows an error dialog that says: "Format not supported by this device!" and the configuration doesn't complete. In addition, when I want to test my 6-channel speaker (by: Right clicking on Speaker Icon in the Taskbar --> Playback devices --> Speakers --> Configure --> 5.1 surround --> Test ....), Windows shows an error dialog with this title "Device In Use" that says: " The device is being used by another application. If you continue, that application may stop working. Do you want to continue?"; I click on "yes" and the test sound play. The problem is the malfunction of the sound driver which is installed via Windows Update. I also run "update driver" in device manager again in order to get the latest driver online, but Windows could not find any newer version of the driver.
I can't even change my speaker configuration in Sound Effect (Realtek-Gigabyte sound manager) and every time I change the configuration from "2CH Speaker" to "6CH Speaker", it resets to "2CH Speaker".
Summary, I can't hear any sound from Rear, Center and Sub-woofer speakers. It seems that they have been kind of mute by Windows 8!!!!
I was wondering if someone could tell me what the problem is! Is there any way to fix this? If this problem can't be solved, I have to Install Windows 7!
Thank you in advance!

Here are the specifications of my (almost!!) old PC:
OS: Windows 8 Enterprise x64
CPU: Intel P4 3.52GHZ (OC), FSB: 850MHZ (OC), 2MB Cache Memory
RAM: 2x1GB (422MHZ, OC)
MB: Gigabyte 8IPE775-G (rev.: 1.1)
HDD: 1TB WD Caviar Black SATA III and 2TB WD Caviar Black SATA III
SOUND Card: Realtek ALC850 CODEC

 

You havn't mentioned which version you have tried? It looks like the latest is here:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/

But make sure you totally unimstall any previous versions first.

 

Yes, I tried to install the latest driver version and I got that from realtek.com. The latest driver version for ALC850 AC 97 is the driver below. here are the details:


Vista/Win7 (32/64 bits) Driver only (ZIP file)

6305​

2009/9/7​

Unfortunately Realtek hasn't released any AC 97 driver update since 2009. So I tried this version but Windows didn't allow the setup.exe to install drivers and the driver installation wizard finished without installing any driver. As I said before I currently use the driver which Windows installed via Windows update but it doesn't work properly.
According to Microsoft claims, we don't have to upgrade our PC hardware for Windows 8 because it can use the exact hardware of Windows 7. In addition, The drivers of Windows 7 can be installed in Windows 8 without facing any problem. These are the claims of Microsoft, however I think these are just claims and lies!!
I still have problem with the sound driver. I'm waiting for a solution to get my problem solved!
Thanks

 

Hello,
By saying "Windows doesn't allow setup.exe ...", I meant that the setup runs without any problem in the beginning but in the middle of the [driver installation] wizard, it (the wizard) stops for a moment; then it says "Rolling back the actions ..." and Windows closes the wizard and/or the wizard finishes without installing an driver. That's what I meant.
I have a 6-channel speaker [Front Right, Front Left, Center, Subwoofer, Rear Right, Rear Left] but now only Front Right and Front Left is working. I'm sure as hell (it's an idiom! ) that my speaker is NOT broken and the driver is not working properly, because I had no problem in Windows 7 x64.
I really don't know why Windows is incompatible with the Driver setup wizard?!! Why windows insists on installing my sound card driver via Windows Update and why the installed driver is NOT working properly?!!
So, Is there any solution to me to get this problem solved?!!
Thank you all in advance

 

Thank you for your reply. I forgot to tell you; I already have tried to install the sound driver manually in device manager, but it didn't work. I really thank you for trying to install the driver on your PC and for giving me some solutions! thank you!
If you get noticed when the setup wizard is installing the driver, a dialog will show (inside the wizard neither outside the wizard window nor in desktop) that says "rolling back actions ..." and suddenly the setup closes. I'm thinking to install windows 7 ultimate x64 because I didn't have any problem with it and I loved it (and I still love it!). I think the only improvements in Windows 8 are the Boot speed (windows start-up) and the shutdown speed, not anything else. According to the opinions of many Windows 8 users, the UI of Windows 8 is confusing (at least at the first look) and it takes time to get familiar and habituated with it!
I still have the problem; and I got frustrated with windows 8 and its incompatibility with my hardware and especially its strange User Interface!!
BTW, thank you all.

 

Hello again, my friend!
I did exactly what you told me to do and I succeeded! Thank you so much, Thank you!
The sound driver installed without any problem and it's working great!! I have to tell you I tried everything to get the driver installed properly but without success! I even used DSEO (Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider) software to sign the driver system files and be able to install them, but it didn't work for me. I somehow knew something was wrong with windows security for driver installation; since I remember the confirmation dialog for installing unsigned driver in windows 7 which is not shown in windows 8 anymore; but I had no idea how to disable this security feature until you taught me how to disable it.
Thank you so much buddy!! Good luck!

 

People should also be aware that this is not a Windows 8 issue.
This is a 3rd party Driver issue (AGAIN, [see history of Vista release issues]).
Realtek needs to update their drivers. That is the issue.

Glad that you were able to resolve it the way you did though.

 

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I've tried as you said but still cannot get the sound. Basically, there is no red warning screen to say I'm installing unverified driver. Things go smoothly and nothing change after restarting my PC. My playback driver still doesn't change and there no more option for me to choose. Can you help ? Thanks.