acute Posted March 26, 2017 #1 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Good day, fellow UM'ers. I have bought a new (reasonably high-spec) Windows 10 laptop, but I hate, loathe, detest, everything about Windows 10, and I love Windows 7. My question is..... If I got hold of a new, unused, Windows 7 Home Premium disc, would I be able to install it without software/firmware/hardware issues? Basically, would it work? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ouija ouija Posted March 26, 2017 #2 Share Posted March 26, 2017 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #3 Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) "Windows 10 is an abomination unto the Lord" - Proverbs 7, Ch 12, Verse 4. (That's in the Bible, probably) Edited March 26, 2017 by acute 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesjr191 Posted March 26, 2017 #4 Share Posted March 26, 2017 There are many sites to get a copy of Windows 7 at no problem. Your windows key will not work though and will have to be substituted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #5 Share Posted March 26, 2017 4 minutes ago, jamesjr191 said: There are many sites to get a copy of Windows 7 at no problem. Your windows key will not work though and will have to be substituted. Can you please explain a little more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Waters Posted March 26, 2017 #6 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I think you have to have your own (purchased copy) of Windows 7 because of the unique activation key/code you need to register it with Microsoft, otherwise you'll only be able to use it temporarily. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #7 Share Posted March 26, 2017 4 minutes ago, Still Waters said: I think you have to have your own (purchased copy) of Windows 7 because of the unique activation key/code you need to register it with Microsoft, otherwise you'll only be able to use it temporarily. Ah yes, I think I understand. Do you think I can use my old Windows 7 disc, if I take it off my old laptop first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #8 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Trying to Google the question is very frustrating. Every website I've found is talking about rolling back to 7 after upgrading to 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saru Posted March 26, 2017 #9 Share Posted March 26, 2017 17 minutes ago, acute said: Do you think I can use my old Windows 7 disc, if I take it off my old laptop first? You need to get a Windows 7 disc (i.e. DVD) and install it on your new computer from that. You will also need the associated key that comes with it. If you have an existing Windows 7 disc that you've installed on another computer, you can install it on the new computer but you will need to transfer the license to your new computer via the activation process and remove Windows from the old computer. You can't have the same copy of Windows ( i.e. the same key ) on more than one computer at the same time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #10 Share Posted March 26, 2017 3 minutes ago, Saru said: You need to get a Windows 7 disc (i.e. DVD) and install it on your new computer from that. You will also need the associated key that comes with it. If you have an existing Windows 7 disc that you've installed on another computer, you can install it on the new computer but you will need to transfer the license to your new computer via the activation process and remove Windows from the old computer. You can't have the same copy of Windows ( i.e. the same key ) on more than one computer at the same time. Thanks, Saru. That sounds quite promising! This (old) laptop came with a Win7 disc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpandMyMind Posted March 26, 2017 #11 Share Posted March 26, 2017 If the place you bought it did the Windows 10 update pre sale, like all retailers had to do, you might be able to roll back to Windows 7 without too much hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little_dreamer Posted March 26, 2017 #12 Share Posted March 26, 2017 You could try a 3rd party download like Windows Classic Shell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #13 Share Posted March 26, 2017 40 minutes ago, little_dreamer said: You could try a 3rd party download like Windows Classic Shell. I've never heard of this. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #14 Share Posted March 26, 2017 43 minutes ago, ExpandMyMind said: If the place you bought it did the Windows 10 update pre sale, like all retailers had to do, you might be able to roll back to Windows 7 without too much hassle. I bought it from PCWorld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 26, 2017 Author #15 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I really like the look of that Windows Classic Shell. I just hope it doesn't slow down my super-duper new gadget. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcom Posted March 28, 2017 #16 Share Posted March 28, 2017 On 3/27/2017 at 0:15 AM, acute said: Good day, fellow UM'ers. I have bought a new (reasonably high-spec) Windows 10 laptop, but I hate, loathe, detest, everything about Windows 10, and I love Windows 7. My question is..... If I got hold of a new, unused, Windows 7 Home Premium disc, would I be able to install it without software/firmware/hardware issues? Basically, would it work? Phew, yes, if you bought it after October then it is w10 only, no rollbacks will be possible. I bought a new laptop with 10, and had to get a team of experts to install 7. This wasn't easy, since it was a brand new Laptop, and it likes 10 over 7, but they managed to fix it. And if you install 7 over 10, it will have issues, so l would recommend finding some free software online that wipes Everything off your HDD, before installing anything else. And then having to find all of the drivers, burn each one on to a disk, and installing, probably for a day or so. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acute Posted March 28, 2017 Author #17 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Thanks for the advice, and the luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atheist Pope Posted April 1, 2017 #18 Share Posted April 1, 2017 I sympathize with you as I hate the UI of Windows 8 and 10 -- they're optimised for tablets and mobile devices, not desktops or laptops. I bought a Windows 8.1 laptop and I have a legit copy of Windows 7 Ultimate in my CD case, and it was a nightmare to install and get it working properly. Windows Vista and 7 were similar so easy to revert back or upgrade to, but the jump from 7 to 8.1 and 10 is like apples and oranges. I couldn't get the drivers installed as the manufacturer's website only offered Windows 8.1 and 10 drivers! Thus, I flashed the bios, tweaked its settings and after many painstaking hours, managed to get my ethernet driver working. Once I had that port active, I then used a third-party driver program to retrieve the others and now I'm back to the best OS ever invented - Windows 7 Ultimate. FYI, many experts recommend not using driver downloading software, but in my case, I had a legit license so just used it once connected to the internet to solve the issues and when I went into device manager, all looked good. Hope you can solve your issues as I can imagine the frustration you've been through. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Wellington Posted April 1, 2017 #19 Share Posted April 1, 2017 On 26/03/2017 at 2:15 PM, acute said: Good day, fellow UM'ers. I have bought a new (reasonably high-spec) Windows 10 laptop, but I hate, loathe, detest, everything about Windows 10, and I love Windows 7. My question is..... If I got hold of a new, unused, Windows 7 Home Premium disc, would I be able to install it without software/firmware/hardware issues? Basically, would it work? It all depends on what CPU you have. New CPUs (Skylake or Ryzen) dont work on older operating systems so you need Windows 10. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcom Posted April 1, 2017 #20 Share Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) 51 minutes ago, Atheist Pope said: I sympathize with you as I hate the UI of Windows 8 and 10 -- they're optimised for tablets and mobile devices, not desktops or laptops. I bought a Windows 8.1 laptop and I have a legit copy of Windows 7 Ultimate in my CD case, and it was a nightmare to install and get it working properly. Windows Vista and 7 were similar so easy to revert back or upgrade to, but the jump from 7 to 8.1 and 10 is like apples and oranges. I couldn't get the drivers installed as the manufacturer's website only offered Windows 8.1 and 10 drivers! Thus, I flashed the bios, tweaked its settings and after many painstaking hours, managed to get my ethernet driver working. Once I had that port active, I then used a third-party driver program to retrieve the others and now I'm back to the best OS ever invented - Windows 7 Ultimate. FYI, many experts recommend not using driver downloading software, but in my case, I had a legit license so just used it once connected to the internet to solve the issues and when I went into device manager, all looked good. Hope you can solve your issues as I can imagine the frustration you've been through. Yep, l bought one about a month ago, which was supposed to have 7 pro and had 10. It took a team of experts, a good part of a day to pull that crap off, and put w7Pro on, since all of the drivers, had to be burnt onto a DVD in order to install it. And the other thing is if l have a tech, issue, then it won't be easy to fix, so l would strongly advise to make multiple Images of your OS, so if it has kittens, you could wipe it all and reinstall. W7Pro is pretty good as well, lol. But l agree, visually it is the most beautiful OS Microsoft has come up with. 21 minutes ago, RabidMongoose said: It all depends on what CPU you have. New CPUs (Skylake or Ryzen) dont work on older operating systems so you need Windows 10. Hmmm, l got a 1 month old Toshiba directly from the manufacturer, (China) about a month ago, and eventhough tricky to install has worked perfectly ever since. 10, phew, multiple issues from day one. Another scary thing l learned is, if you have w10, and decide to leave it on, or not put the internet on it, to get around the updates, the software will have issues later on. Not sure what will happen, but most likely it would freeze the OS in a few months to a years time, if you don't update. Edited April 1, 2017 by tmcom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Wellington Posted April 1, 2017 #21 Share Posted April 1, 2017 59 minutes ago, tmcom said: Yep, l bought one about a month ago, which was supposed to have 7 pro and had 10. It took a team of experts, a good part of a day to pull that crap off, and put w7Pro on, since all of the drivers, had to be burnt onto a DVD in order to install it. And the other thing is if l have a tech, issue, then it won't be easy to fix, so l would strongly advise to make multiple Images of your OS, so if it has kittens, you could wipe it all and reinstall. W7Pro is pretty good as well, lol. But l agree, visually it is the most beautiful OS Microsoft has come up with. Hmmm, l got a 1 month old Toshiba directly from the manufacturer, (China) about a month ago, and eventhough tricky to install has worked perfectly ever since. 10, phew, multiple issues from day one. Another scary thing l learned is, if you have w10, and decide to leave it on, or not put the internet on it, to get around the updates, the software will have issues later on. Not sure what will happen, but most likely it would freeze the OS in a few months to a years time, if you don't update. If its made for the Chinese market you probably wont have one of the lasted CPUs families inside. Hence why it even works with win 7. It means win 10 wont work on your laptop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWoo7 Posted April 1, 2017 #22 Share Posted April 1, 2017 47 minutes ago, tmcom said: then it won't be easy to fix, so l would strongly advise to make multiple Images of your OS How about when they look at you like you're from mars when one mentions that? We were wiped out just not up to ordering extra parts needed but needed another system so bought one at one of the main geek shops. We mentioned no restore disk? ah how about disk full of the drivers? "Oh well you can download those. There's also this Windows Restore are you familiar with that?" They even proceeded to showed us on computer on front desk the sound card company saying you get updates etc. here you know. Like that was the only driver, it was a raid system for blank sakes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolguy Posted April 1, 2017 #23 Share Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) Windows ten is the best learn how to it use it, its there best OS in years, if windows ten was updated just scan the pc and get the right drivers, Edited April 1, 2017 by coolguy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcom Posted April 2, 2017 #24 Share Posted April 2, 2017 (edited) 10 hours ago, RabidMongoose said: If its made for the Chinese market you probably wont have one of the lasted CPUs families inside. Hence why it even works with win 7. It means win 10 wont work on your laptop. No, it had windows 10 Pro installed when l turned it on, (to my disappointment) and eventhough the team were frustrated with installing w7Pro, they pulled it off. Windows 7 Pro has worked about as flawlessly as w7 can since then, but it would be a lot harder to fix if needed. But l can always buy a new HDD, or SSD and install the last Mirror. 10 hours ago, MWoo7 said: How about when they look at you like you're from mars when one mentions that? We were wiped out just not up to ordering extra parts needed but needed another system so bought one at one of the main geek shops. We mentioned no restore disk? ah how about disk full of the drivers? "Oh well you can download those. There's also this Windows Restore are you familiar with that?" They even proceeded to showed us on computer on front desk the sound card company saying you get updates etc. here you know. Like that was the only driver, it was a raid system for blank sakes. No, Windows Backup will not work for w7 Pro, l had to use a third party one. As for a comparison between 10 and 7... 10 7 pro 10 and 7 Pro. So you have a choice between ugly, bland and not ugly, bland? I would rather have a BMW from 2009, than a Lamborghini from 2015 without a paint job, and having to endlessly send it back to get repaired. Edited April 2, 2017 by tmcom 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Wellington Posted April 2, 2017 #25 Share Posted April 2, 2017 8 hours ago, tmcom said: No, it had windows 10 Pro installed when l turned it on, (to my disappointment) and eventhough the team were frustrated with installing w7Pro, they pulled it off. Windows 7 Pro has worked about as flawlessly as w7 can since then, but it would be a lot harder to fix if needed. But l can always buy a new HDD, or SSD and install the last Mirror. No, Windows Backup will not work for w7 Pro, l had to use a third party one. You are using a Skylake CPU there so you need Windows 10. The official stance is older version of windows won't work with newer CPUs. I'm surprised they even managed to get Windows 7 installed and suspect you will encounter many problems with it. At the very minimum it cannot use the advanced features built into newer chips but I suspect you will also encounter bugs, crashes and performance issues. The sad thing is for the same money you could have got a currently valid previous generation CPU (Haswell or Broadwell) which is both more powerful than the CPU you are using while being completely compatible with WIndows 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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