Solved Might it be possible to go from W10-Pro back to W7-Pro?

[Mike Lynch]

If I took a Backup of my W10-Pro System and Restored it to a W7-Pro System, could it work?

Is there any other way back, out there?

Mike

 

[michael diemer]

My experience has been that, once you go beyond the point of no return, no, you would need to reinstall W7. If you are still on "this side" of it, then yes you should be able to, but only on the same computer.

 

[Mike Lynch]

@michael diemer

It would be:
from an existing HP 8300-USDT System running W10-Pro
to an existing HP-8300-CMT System with a fresh install of W7-Pro.

What do you think?

Mike

 

[MisterEd]

It should be possible. A couple years ago I upgraded a computer from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro. A couple months later I regretted doing that because the computer was so slow. I replaced the HDD with another one and reinstalled Windows 7 Pro on it. I activated it using the original Windows 7 Pro product key.

 

[michael diemer]

By reinstalling W7, of course. I thought OP was asking how to roll 10 back to 7, once the short "grace" period ends.

 

[Pete1946]

Make sure that their is not a Microsoft 'Non-return' setting.
Some time ago, during their 'free' update period, I Installed '10'- did'nt like it.
not knowing this time limit existed, I had to pay a cimputer 'wiz' to re-install 8.1

 

[Mike Lynch]

I used my HP Retail Windows-7 Pro 64 SP1 DVD to do a clean install to a new Hard Drive.
I struggled with it as HP in their infinite wisdom, never includes a Driver for the NIC.
I was referred to an Intel Download which got me IE8 working on the Internet.
When I went to run a Windows Update, I was presented with an Error: 80072EFE.
Not being able to find a solution, I'm calling on the Forum for Insite.
Am I just out of luck trying to revert back to Windows-7 Pro 64?
No, I want to revert back, if possible, NOT get into a discussion / argument of why I shouldn't.
Please help me determine if my attempt to revert back to Windows-7 Pro 64 is futile or not.
If not, how can I get back to where I choose to be?

Mike

 

[MisterEd]

Try installing these updates to see if that helps. How to obtain and install Windows 7 SP2
BTW, I have three computers with Windows 7. None of them have any problems checking for Windows 7 updates. Of course I rarely get updates anymore but checking for them has been no problem.

Computer #1:
Custom (2017)
MBD: ASUS PRIME X370-PRO
CPU: AMD Ryzen 1700X
GPU: ASUS ROG STRIX-GTX1060-6G-GAMING
O/S: Windows 7 Home

Computer #2:
Custom (2009)
MBD: ASUS M4N82 Deluxe
CPU: AMD Phenom II 960T X4
GPU: ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 1GB
O/S: Windows 7 Pro

Computer #3:
Toshiba Tecra M7-S7331 laptop/tablet (2006)
MBD: Toshiba Portable PC
CPU: Intel Core Duo T2400 (1.83GHz)
GPU: Intel Mobile Intel 945 Express
O/S: Windows 7 Pro

 

[Volume Z]

You will be able to use Windows Update after:

Installing KB3125574 or

installing KB3138612 or

installing KB4534310 or

installing the Microsoft Update Client or

enabling the TLS 1.2 protocol.

Location for Microsoft Security Essentials

At any rate install KB4474419 and KB4490628 first, even before enabling Windows Update, and skip superseded KB3020369.

2019 SHA-2 Code Signing Support requirement for Windows and WSUS

 

[Muffin Top]

If I took a Backup of my W10-Pro System and Restored it to a W7-Pro System, could it work?

Is there any other way back, out there?

It's pretty easy to get Win 7 updates working. However, major caveat here, it looks like the internet guidance on getting bypassESU working, to get the post-2020 updates, is obsolete. Apparently, Microsoft has eliminated our ability to use those hacks to obtain the post-2020 secure-boot update.

So you'll need to use a bootloader from a newer version of Windows to boot Win 7 securely. Historically, I've browsed the internet securely by running system restore after every internet session. However, that is expected not to be sufficient in the future because of AI-replicated BIOS malware. Therefore, secure boot is a must-have going forward.

If you're comfortable with securely booting Win 7, then good product activation keys are dirt-cheap, now that 7 is unfashionable.

 

[samuria]

Be sure you can get 7 drivers before doing it

 

[Muffin Top]

The price of Win 7 is now so close to $0, that it's not a big loss, financially, if it doesn't work.

It just depends on whether the OP has time to fiddle with it. Maybe on the weekend he'll have time to check for drivers.

 

[Megahertz07]

I used my HP Retail Windows-7 Pro 64 SP1 DVD to do a clean install to a new Hard Drive.
I struggled with it as HP in their infinite wisdom, never includes a Driver for the NIC.
I was referred to an Intel Download which got me IE8 working on the Internet.
When I went to run a Windows Update, I was presented with an Error: 80072EFE.
Not being able to find a solution, I'm calling on the Forum for Insite.
Am I just out of luck trying to revert back to Windows-7 Pro 64?
No, I want to revert back, if possible, NOT get into a discussion / argument of why I shouldn't.
Please help me determine if my attempt to revert back to Windows-7 Pro 64 is futile or not.
If not, how can I get back to where I choose to be?

Mike

Why don't you update using Simplix
Single file with all updates - Simplix

 

[Mike Lynch]

Why don't you update using Simplix?

I did and no luck, still on IE8!

I do not blame Simplix, it's something else, perhaps associated with HP and their infinite wisdom.

I will use the Retail Version of the Windows-7 Pro SP1 Media I purchased from the Internet and see where that leads.

I had tried again to use the "faulty" Media I received from HP for this specific Family of PC's.

Again, overall, HP makes good PC Hardware products but their Software Support sucks.

I will try and report back quickly after I use the Retail Version.

Mike

 

[Muffin Top]

Why don't you update using Simplix
Single file with all updates - Simplix

Thanks for sharing this. I think I'm pretty close to identifying the 3 updates that we need to manually download (4490628 & 4474419 & 5006749).

We need to avoid 4493132, and a few others, to avoid the end-of-support messages.

Isn't it possible that anything from GitHub or MajorGeeks could be bad? It seems like it would be theoretically safer to know the 3 or 4 updates to avoid. Win 7 updates real fast on modern hardware, so you don't need Simplix for speed or automation.

It's hard to find the 3 or 4 bad updates on the internet, because most forums launch into griping about MicroSoft or recommending Linux.