How to downgrade from Windows 8 to 7

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matthewcroton

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This may seem like a fairly novice question so bear with me here.

I have a laptop which had Windows 8 pre-installed. It worked fine for 2-3 years however the hard drive has recently failed on it.

I would like to get a copy of Windows 7, as I prefer it over 8, installed on a fresh drive. Would there be any issues with this as I'm looking at getting an OEM copy to keep costs down and I have read that it "ties" to the motherboard so that you can't transfer it onto another device (which I'm not looking to do anyway).
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bitIntel i7 Quad Core 6700K 4.0ghzKingston 16GB 2133MHz DDR4 Hyper X FURY Black...EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom build
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
CPU
Intel i7 Quad Core 6700K 4.0ghz
Motherboard
Asus Z170-A
Memory
Kingston 16GB 2133MHz DDR4 Hyper X FURY Black Series (x2 8GB
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ 6GB
Monitor(s) Displays
BenQ GW2765HT LED IPS 27" Monitor 2560x1440
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
2TB Western Digital Drive
Samsung 2.5" 250GB 850 EVO Solid State Drive
Case
Corsair Carbide Series 200R
Cooling
Cooler Master RR-212E-16PK-r1 Hyper
First thing is to verify there are Windows 7 drivers for all the hardware. Go to the Laptop vendor's site and see if there are driver downloads for Win 7 for this specific model. If not, there could be problems with some drivers.

If there are no driver issues, then you can "go for it".
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10 64 bitIntel i7 6700K16GB Corsair DominatorIntel CPU Graphics
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
My Own Build
OS
Windows 10 64 bit
CPU
Intel i7 6700K
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero
Memory
16GB Corsair Dominator
Graphics Card(s)
Intel CPU Graphics
Sound Card
RealTek
Monitor(s) Displays
27" Dell S2719dgf
Screen Resolution
2560X1440
Hard Drives
1 TB Samsung 850 EVO SSD for Win 10 Pro
500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD for Win 10 Insider
2 TB drive for backup
PSU
EVGA Supernova 750G2
Case
BeQuiet Silent Base 600
Cooling
Deepcool Captain 120EX
Keyboard
Microsoft Wireless 2000
Mouse
Microsoft wireless
Internet Speed
100 MB/sec (Cable)
Antivirus
Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes
Browser
Edge/Firefox
Other Info
Cakewalk (Sonar) by BandLab and Studio One 4.1 Pro recording studio software. MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid recording interface, Frontier Tranzport wireless control unit, Behringer X-Touch Control Surface.
Five USB connected optical drives for CD Audio production using Nero BurningROM
Thanks for the reply, I'll check out the drivers later.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bitIntel i7 Quad Core 6700K 4.0ghzKingston 16GB 2133MHz DDR4 Hyper X FURY Black...EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom build
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
CPU
Intel i7 Quad Core 6700K 4.0ghz
Motherboard
Asus Z170-A
Memory
Kingston 16GB 2133MHz DDR4 Hyper X FURY Black Series (x2 8GB
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ 6GB
Monitor(s) Displays
BenQ GW2765HT LED IPS 27" Monitor 2560x1440
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
2TB Western Digital Drive
Samsung 2.5" 250GB 850 EVO Solid State Drive
Case
Corsair Carbide Series 200R
Cooling
Cooler Master RR-212E-16PK-r1 Hyper
See if the laptop you have has downgrade rights.
If it does, there are drivers for it. You can even ask for the win 7 pro installation disk.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 7 HP 64i5 6600K - 800MHz to 4200MHz4+4G GSkill DDR4 3000IG - Intel 530
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    custom build
    OS
    Windows 7 HP 64
    CPU
    i5 6600K - 800MHz to 4200MHz
    Motherboard
    GA-Z170-HD3P
    Memory
    4+4G GSkill DDR4 3000
    Graphics Card(s)
    IG - Intel 530
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    (1) -1 SM951 – 128GB M.2 AHCI PCIe SSD drive for Windows 7 and Lubuntu
    (2) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for Data
    (3) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for backup
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W TR2 gold
    Keyboard
    Old and good Chicony mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech mX performance - 9 buttons (had to disable some)
    Internet Speed
    500Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
    Other Info
    TinyWall firewall

  • At a glance

    Windows 7 Proi7-4500U 800MHz to 3.0GHz(4+4)G DDR3 1600IG intel 4400 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Asus Q550LF
    OS
    Windows 7 Pro
    CPU
    i7-4500U 800MHz to 3.0GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    (4+4)G DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    IG intel 4400 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Display LP156WF4-SPH1
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    BX500 120G SSD for Windows and programs +
    1T HDD for data
    Internet Speed
    500 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox
    Other Info
    TinyWall firewall
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