Installing Win 7 Pro over Windows 10

[pivo11]

G'day,

I recently purchased a laptop that came with Windows 10 pre-installed and I would like to use Win 7 Pro instead. Can I just install Win 7 over Windows 10 or is there something that will prevent that? Will there be driver problems involved that might make things difficult? There are two drives on the computer, an SSD for the OS and apps and a 54000 rpm hard drive for files. I would appreciate any and all help and advice. Thanks up front.

Cheers,
Fritz

 

[mrjimphelps]

You should be able to do a clean install of Windows 7 over Windows 10. There are two things to keep in mind:

1. You will need an install key for Windows 7. Do you have one? Did you get a Windows 7 license with this laptop, allowing you do downgrade to Windows 7? If you don't have that, don't even start the process, because you won't be able to activate Windows 7.

2. If you have a Windows 7 install key, then you will want to do a clean install of Windows 7 -- as clean as you can do. That means that you should do either of the following:

• If you can do a factory restore to Windows 7, that will be the best option, because not only will it completely wipe the drive, but also, it will install all of the drivers that are needed for your laptop.
• If you are doing a clean install with a standard Windows 7 install disk, at the very beginning of the process choose Custom Install. Then remove the partition which has Windows 10 on it, and recreate that partition, then format it, then proceed with installing Windows to that partition. This will clear all traces of Windows 10 off of the main partition before you install Windows 7.

After completing the Windows 7 install, make sure that TRIM is active on your SSD.

 

[pivo11]

• If you are doing a clean install with a standard Windows 7 install disk, at the very beginning of the process choose Custom Install. Then remove the partition which has Windows 10 on it, and recreate that partition, then format it, then proceed with installing Windows to that partition. This will clear all traces of Windows 10 off of the main partition before you install Windows 7.

After completing the Windows 7 install, make sure that TRIM is active on your SSD.

Thank you very much, Mr. Phelps, for your swift reply. I can't do a restore, so I have to do a clean installation.
I do have an OEM Windows install disk and a serial number. My problem is that I am ignorant of how to delete the partition and recreate it, much less how to format it. I know next to nothing about Windows 10. I don't even know how to find out how many partitions there are on my drives. Would it be advisable to delete all the partitions on both drives and start from there? Thanks once again.

Cheers,
Fritz

 

[Megahertz07]

Please give us ALL the laptop specs (Brand, model etc)
- If you have used your OEM license on another computer, you can't use it anymore on another computer.
- New hardware requires some drivers that aren't on Win 7 installation disk. You will have to add those drivers (USB 3.x, SATA and NVMe) to the installation disk before you begin.
It isn't an easy task.
Read my tutorial Create a Windows 7 USB flash installation with new drives for new MB's - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[RolandJS]

I think one can contact Microsoft to get their permission to "move/transfer" an OEM license from computer or computer? Or did I misunderstand a post elsewhere on The 'Net?

 

[Megahertz07]

If you have to replace the MB, M$ may reset the counter and you may use the license again. Depends on the humor of the attendant.

 

[RolandJS]

If you have to replace the MB, M$ may reset the counter and you may use the license again. Depends on the humor of the attendant.

Thanks for adding that, so, in short, MS does not have to "move/transfer" an OEM license from computer to computer just because enduser wants to replace an old computer with a new computer?

 

[torchwood]

Another thing

W10 Pro and above machines from some OEM's DO have downgrade rights.
BUT it also depends on whether the specific model has been "stopped" by the OEM.

easy check run the tool from here, if the downgrade is available - W7 details will be shown.

ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Forums

Roy

 

[AddRAM]

You will also have to disable Secure Boot in the Bios.

 

[pivo11]

Please give us ALL the laptop specs (Brand, model etc)
- If you have used your OEM license on another computer, you can't use it anymore on another computer.
- New hardware requires some drivers that aren't on Win 7 installation disk. You will have to add those drivers (USB 3.x, SATA and NVMe) to the installation disk before you begin.
It isn't an easy task.
Read my tutorial Create a Windows 7 USB flash installation with new drives for new MB's - Windows 7 Help Forums

Thanks, Megahertz. The laptop is an Asus S410U with 8 Gb RAM, one 128 Gb SSD, one 1Tb HDD, Nvidia GeForce MX150 with Windows 10 64 bit pre-installed. In addition to the OEM disk, I have an .iso copy of Win 7 Pro. The copy of Win 7 that I have has been used on another machine, so if I can't do a restore, I'll have to get a new copy of Win 7 and I don't know that it's worth it to me. Thanks again.

Cheers,
Fritz

 

[Barman58]

The other potential issue you have is the availability of Drivers, It is possible that the manufacturer, Asus, will not have developed suitable Windows 7 Drivers for specific hardware setups used in the system,

This is more of an issue on laptops than desktops as more specialised hardware is used.

If this is a laptop that is designed for business use then there may be Windows 7 drivers available, business regularly run 5-10 years behind the current Operating System Software in use by private individuals, so check the Asus site for driver availability for your hardware.

If Asus does not list Windows 7 Drivers then it may be possible to find them direct from the component manufacturers, but this can be complex and could also invalidate your Warranty (just changing the OS could do this So check the fine print)

 

[Barman58]

Thanks for adding that, so, in short, MS does not have to "move/transfer" an OEM license from computer to computer just because enduser wants to replace an old computer with a new computer?

OEM licenses supplied Pre-installed with hardware from major microsoft partners (Dell HP, Asus Etc), is not the responsibility of microsoft. The responsibility is passed onto the OEM as part of the deal that gets them the OS for a small cost.

There are also the Small builder OEM licenses that can be shipped with hardware from smaller system builders.

Neither of these Licences are allowed to be transferred to different hardware at the whim of the user. In the event of hardware failure that would invalidate the licence terms, Either the Major OEM or Microsoft may, at their discretion, replace or re-activate the licence if they are satisfied that the issue is one of a genuine failure ( this normally only applies to a Motherboard as most other component changes will not trigger a licence failure )

Retail Licences can be moved many times as long as they are only in use on the number of systems they are allowed to be used on at any one time (normally this is one only, but there are also family and business licences which can be used on multiple systems concurrently

 

[pivo11]

I thank you one and all for all your help and advice. Looks like this is just going to be too much hassle for what it'll be worth. I really thought I could just reformat my hard drive and install Win 7. Was not aware that there would be so much to do. Ah, well, so it goes. Thanks again.

Cheers,
Fritz