Downgrade Windows 10 To 7
Rosamunda Froats
I just bought this laptop and it came preinstalled with windows 11. No software updates have been performed since the day I received it( its still running the build of win11 that it shipped with). However, I want windows 10 on it. I mainly use linux, so I plan on installing Arch or something similar alongside Windows 10. Will purging windows 11 and installing linux void my warranty?
I'm afraid so. You'll have to use microsoft's site to create windows installation media.... HP provides recovery media via cloud with cloud recovery tool, but in your case (if available) will be a windows11 cloning media since it was shipped with it.....
Thank you for the answer! However, will doing this(and installing linux) void my warranty? (And is there an official 'guide' or path to downgrade from 11 to 10? Or will I have to completely remove windows 11 and then do a clean install of windows 10)
I'm afraid so. You'll have to use microsoft site to create windows installation media.... HP provides recovery media via cloud with cloud recovery tool, but in your case (if available) will be a windows11 cloning media since it was shipped with it.....
Indeed, I rarely use windows. The only reason I wish to downgrade to windows 10 is because win 11 is MS's new test subject. They'll push whatever crappy design idea or quirk they have over there, and I'll be safe from it all on my win10 install.
You cannot downgrade to Windows 7 Pro without doing a complete re-installation, and you cannot use a Windows 7 Pro activation key to activate Windows 7 Ultimate. However, you should be able to use the activation key from an OEM copy of Windows Ultimate that you purchase.
If it doesn't accept the Win7 Ultimate activation key when you enter it, you should be able to do a repair installation of Windows using the Ultimate OEM CD that you purchased and use that OEM CD's activation key. It will activate Windoows 7 Ultimate using the OEM CD, but it should not remove any of your files or software.
A Windows 7 Ultimate Installation can normally not change into a minor version of "Windows 7 Home Premium" or "Professional". If you have installed a preview version of Windows 7 Ultimate (e.g. beta, release candidate build 7100 or RTM build 7600) and want to install a cheaper version Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional the installation is refused:
All data, documents, music and movie files, installed driver and programs, shortcuts, program and user settings are retained. Only in a few Windows 7 programs some settings are reset to the initial settings; e.g. in the "services". After the downgrade the Windows 7 installation, of course, must be re-activated.
Can't be done. When you install Windows 7, it installs THAT edition. You can't go backwards. If you use a multi-disk with all the installations, it asks you during Setup, and tells you to make sure you chose the right one. You will need to reinstall Windows 7 Pro to get only the Pro features. If you already have OEM Ultimate, I'd say keep using it (unless it was pirated)
I was in a similar situation. I had "Windows 7 Home Prem OA HP" on a HP desktop I bought new and then upgraded the system to Ultimate with an Upgrade key. But now that I bought a refurb desktop with no OS (with a COA for "Windows Vista Business OEMAc") I needed to use that Ultimate license on the "new" refurb desktop. So my "downgrade ultimate to home premium" search brought me here, amongst other places.
I used the registry solution explained here, manually and without the use of a popular tool from a website called deviantart. I figured I was better off hacking the puter manually myself. I did however used it this way (notice upper & lower case matching the "Ultimate" entry format):
Then, I needed to do the "in-place repair upgrade." I tried using the windows 7 repair disk I had originally made with the HP desktop only to realize that it was not what I needed. What I needed was a Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit installation disk. Since I was afraid to use the system recovery disks of the hp desktop (who knows, it might have worked but I did not want to risk a complete recovery), I downloaded an iso image from digitalriver. For that I followed the advice and links I found on a microsoft community post (://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/can-i-downgrade-from-windows-7-ultimate-to-home/ca6cda9a-3c44-40aa-880f-45b12947a880). I burned the iso image to a dvd using imgburn.
To do the "in-place repair upgrade" I used the DVD I had made, pop it into the dvd drive and allowed autorun to start the process (you can navigate to the dvd and double click setup.exe if necessary). I then followed the process as presented by unawave (www.unawave.de/installation/downgrade-en.html?lang=EN) and here, although the german screen shot is just superfluous. This was a very good step by step site that helped me. I did not get a compatability report about the languages pack; only a small warning that the system needed rebooting before runing setup.exe (which I did before running setup.exe a second time). After the second time running setup.exe, then the rest of the process went as planned. When I was done, I was able to confirm that the windows version had been downgraded to Home Premium.
But, a brief warning about activation of the product key. Once I "downgraded" I needed to re-activate my Home Premium key (stuck on the side of the HP desktop). When I tried activating it, the system responded that it was invalid and that I could not activate it online and needed to do a phone activation process to get an confirmation id. I figured, I was already done with the deed and since I legally owned the license (aka product key) I had nothing to loose. The pop-up warning window asked me to call a toll free number and follow instructions. The call was answered by an automated system which asked me to enter on the phone a total of nine six-digit number groups which were displayed on the pop-up instructions. After this, the automated response indicated that my activation was valid and that I needed to enter eight six-digit number groups (A through H) it would give me to put in their corresponding spaces on the pop-up instructions window (see ://img.technospot.net/windows-7-activation-screen.png). The automated system allows for all the number groups to be repeated to verify they are entered correctly. I completed the phone verification process and there it was ... the install was activated and fully functioning as it used to be. So, this was a successful "in-place repair upgrade" downgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Home Premium (HP original install).
My thanks go to everyone who contributed in this thread on this page. Also, my thanks go to the following websites and postings which also helped me to do this. Mind you, I used the advice in all of them as advice only and did not follow anyone's instructions blindly or uniquely. Always do your homework before undertaking tinkering such as this ... and of course, always backup backup backup
There are severalreasons why you would want to downgrade your Windows 10 laptop or PC to aprevious version of Windows. Perhaps you are not able to run certain apps onWindows 10 or you simply liked Windows 8 or Windows 7 better. No matter what yourreason for downgrading is, we are here to make the process of downgradingeasy.
When you upgrade,Microsoft will give you 10 days to downgrade to your original version in mostcases (some users may be able to downgrade within 30 days). Here are the stepsto downgrade Windows 10 within the 30-day rollback period:
There are several ways to access the BIOS Setup Utility, you can also press the BIOS key rapidly while the computer is restarting. The BIOS key is typically one the function keys (F1 or F2), the ESC key, or the DEL key.
If you shop for a new PC today, the odds are overwhelming that it will be preinstalled with Windows 11. Windows 10 support is nearly at an end, and Microsoft's OEM partners are building hardware designed to work with Microsoft's latest operating system. In the retail channel, you won't find any Windows 10 PCs, unless they're surplus/overstock models built two or three years ago that didn't sell. Even in the enterprise market, you'll find only Windows 11 PCs.
Although you can easily upgrade a Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, preserving installed apps, settings, and data files, you can't do the reverse. If you want to 'downgrade' from Windows 11 to Windows 10, you have to do a clean install, which requires backing up and restoring your data files and reinstalling all your apps. But your license for Windows 11 will suffice to activate Windows 10 (and vice versa), which means you'll still have the option to upgrade to Windows 11 later, after Microsoft has (one hopes) fixed the things that are annoying you right now.
If your new PC comes with Windows 11 preinstalled, you might think twice about whether you really want to go to these lengths. You may encounter glitches and hardware incompatibilities when you install Windows 10, and those problems might be even more annoying than whatever issues you have with Windows 11. You'll also forfeit any support rights you have with the PC maker.
If, on the other hand, the PC was originally designed to run Windows 10, your chances of successfully installing Windows 10 are much better. In any case, you should make a complete backup of your system before going any further. (For recommendations of third-party software, including some excellent free options, see "The best backup software: Top picks for Windows and Mac.")
The ideal way to do a clean install is to download a Windows 10 recovery image made specifically for your PC model. To discover whether this solution is available for your PC, see this article: "How to get a free Windows (or Linux) recovery image for your OEM PC."
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