[OnePlus 7 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] KemikalElite:
I'm trying to flash a test run of this to make sure it works before loading a custom ROM on the phone.

When I try installing the drivers from the OP I get the "The system cannot find the file specified." error.

When I use the L2 drivers or QDLoader HS-USB Driver_64bit_Setup.exe Windows installs it but the tool gets stuck on param preload.

Downloading the driver from Windows Update does not work.

I'm using the stock USB cable. I can't think of anything else to try other than a different computer. Its possible Microsoft changed something since 2019 to prevent the driver from working properly.

EDIT: I got it working. This took over 5 hours of searching posts and trying every possible combination of steps I could think of.

I had to disable driver signature enforcement through the Windows startup options, even though these should be signed drivers. I have no idea why that is. I never got any sort of warning that the device wouldn't work due to driver signatures or lack of. I tried this as a last resort remembering its worked for older devices in the past.

I am one thousand percent done with Microsoft's nonsense at this point.

I ran the process twice including installing drivers to ensure this works and I can repeat the steps. For anyone else that knows everything else is correct try disabling driver signature enforcement.

The first run I tested with the stock OnePlus cable directly into a USB 3 port.

The second run I used a third party magnetic cable connected through a USB hub.

So in my experience the cable or port used shouldn't matter as long as it shows in device manager.

If you are having issues getting the phone to register, make sure the cable is no longer than 3 feet. I have had issues getting data transferred over 6 foot cables.

Start Menu > Power > Hold Shift and click Restart > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Reboot

When the computer reboots, at the startup settings screen press 7 to boot with signature enforcement disabled.

Once the desktop loads open Device Manager and the MSMDownloadTool.

With the phone off, hold Volume Up and Volume Down while plugging in the usb cable (dont press the power button)

In Device Manager you may see "Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008" under the COM Ports category. If this is here, right click it and click Uninstall Device. In the popup check Delete driver and click Uninstall.

At this point the device icon should change to a yellow triangle or it may already be there if no driver was installed.

Now run the QDLoader_HS-USB_Driver_64Bit_Setup.exe clicking Next until the end, then Finish. You can select No to reboot Windows since the driver should work fine without rebooting.

In my experience the Setup.exe method was the only driver that worked for me.

Now Windows should actually be ready to flash the phone. With the MSM Tool in focus again hold down both volume keys and connect the usb cable. (remember dont press the power button)

Once you hear the Windows chime of the device connecting click Start on the MSM Tool.

If it doesn't start flashing the device may have already been in EDL mode in which case you will need to force the phone to reboot into fastboot mode, power it off, and then repeat the steps in enter EDL mode.

You can manually reboot the phone out of EDL mode by disconnecting the cable and holding both volume keys and the power button.

I hope my solution and listing the steps in detail helps someone else.