Dell charging me for drivers for 7  

Slartybart said:

synysterlulz: I think I have some news that isn't going to sit well with you. I was thinking about the issue posted and I wondered "How did they activate Windows, what key did they enter?".

An early part of our conversation gave me something to research - Win8 Pro. I knew that MS allowed Win8 -> Win7 downgrades and I knew that Dell was going to charge you for drivers. I looked at the Dell policy and saw that they only allowed Win8 Pro downgrades. I should have written this at that point (post 6)

I decided to check what Microsoft downgrade rights had to say and found the same policy in effect.
Understanding downgrade rights
Downgrade rights details

Given this information, it is not permissible by forum rules (#4) for me or any other member to assist you. I'm truly sorry about this, but there are legalities involved. You could purchase a Win7 retail disc and install it on the Dell laptop, I don't think that is outside the License Terms of MS or Dell.

This does not, in any way, put you in bad standing on the forum and you are welcome to participate here as long as you don't go outside the forum rules.

So this ends my part in your thread.

Regards,

Bill
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So does that mean it is illegal to do a completely clean install too?

Computer0304 said:

Slartybart said:

.....You could purchase a Win7 retail disc and install it on the Dell laptop, I don't think that is outside the License Terms of MS or Dell.

So does that mean it is illegal to do a completely clean install too?

It's a licensing issue. Where would the legitimate license come from other than a purchased Win7 license. As long as the license is legit, a clean install presents no issues.

As it is now, neither MS or Dell offer a valid downgrade license path since the Thread Starter did not have Win8 Pro on the machine.

Slartybart said:

Computer0304 said:

Slartybart said:

.....You could purchase a Win7 retail disc and install it on the Dell laptop, I don't think that is outside the License Terms of MS or Dell.

So does that mean it is illegal to do a completely clean install too?

It's a licensing issue. Where would the legitimate license come from other than a purchased Win7 license. As long as the license is legit, a clean install presents no issues.

As it is now, neither MS or Dell offer a valid downgrade license path since the Thread Starter did not have Win8 Pro on the machine.

Oh but I still don't get the difference of downgrade and clean install because won't downgrading be the same for a person who just got the computer with no apps as a clean install? Wait I should not ask this question because it would count as hijacking this thread.

Computer0304 said:

Oh but I still don't get the difference of downgrade and clean install because won't downgrading be the same for a person who just got the computer with no apps as a clean install? Wait I should not ask this question because it would count as hijacking this thread.

It's a fair question. I was going to ask it myself, but decided to look it up.
So that other people understood, I included two links to Microsoft Win8 Downgrade Rights in post# 30.

You quoted my post# 30 which also had the information right there.

It doesn't matter if it's a downgraded machine or a machine with no apps (OS?) or an upgraded machine. There are User Agreements that all users have to legally abide by. You can't just willey nilley put an OS on any machine - that goes against the User Agreement and Licensing Terms.

I hope that answers your question. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call Microsoft about their terms - always get it from the horse's mouth I say.

Bill

Another perspective is to just accept Windows 8.1. When I recently posed the question here I was quite surprised to find that many people are quite happy with 8.1. Furthermore, it may be a faster OS for your laptop. You say you bought the laptop for school and I would have thought W8.1 would be fine. As has been pointed out you don't appear to have legal downgrade rights.
http://en.community.dell.com/support.../19478077.aspx
Also remember that Windows 9 (or whatever they are going to call it) is due out next year.

Two things makes Windows 8.1 usable and you can almost virtually skipped the Metro stuff is to purchase.

To open up in a regular window instead of full-screen for the apps this works perfect. (I use this)
ModernMix? - Run Modern (Metro) apps in a window on your desktop with ModernMix?

For start menu
Start8 Start menu for Windows 8. Bring the Windows 8 Start menu back.
or
(this is what I use)
StartIsBack - real start menu for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1

Jerry