Downgrade to Windows 7 gone all wrong

[Guest]

Good day everyone. I am still a student today and i own a pc with a pre-installed windows 7 os in it. when the new os (windows 8) had been available lately , i decided to upgrade to it. however, my sister (who is also a user of my pc) requested that windows 7 should be retained. the problem is i already installed windows 8 and got no idea how to downgrade back to7. i googled it and a site provided an instruction on doing one. it says about a series of steps. first to open command prompt during boot. then, rename all folders in drive c: (windows, program files, etc) using cmd "ren", then ultimately copying all the files from the previous os (which is located in "windows.old" folder) to the drive c:.

The problem is when i got to step two (renaming all folders in drives c the power accidentally died and when i restarted the pc. there is no os anymore to automatically boot (since all the windows system folders in c: had been renamed). my pc had become a vegetable right now. i don't know how to reverse my actions anymore since i can't even open command prompt anymore. is there any means of running a program (command prompt) in a flash drive during boot (without accessing c..?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

"If I use a Windows 8 Upgrade disc/download to upgrade my Windows 7 computer to Windows 8, can I then use my old Windows 7 disc and product key to install Windows 7 on another computer?"

No. The Windows 8 Upgrade license replaces the previous Windows 7 (or Windows Vista or Windows XP) license.

To be clear: your old version of Windows that you upgraded from can no longer be used on your current, or any other,
computer.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/windows-8-install-faq.htm

 

[ingtar33]

yep. you've been boned by microsoft, windows 8.

reinstall win8, stick classic shell onto it, it's free and will make win8 work like win7. your sis will be happy and your problem will be fixed.

 

[ChryznjonBasco]

yep. you've been boned by microsoft, windows 8.

reinstall win8, stick classic shell onto it, it's free and will make win8 work like win7. your sis will be happy and your problem will be fixed.

apparently there is no os working on my pc. can i still reinstall win8 on it? i first installed win8 using .iso file on a usb drive i guess the computer will not boot the usb?

i am also thinking on booting win8 instead on usb? is that possible? if so, how can i do it? thanks again

 

[ingtar33]

yeah. you broke your os install... so just reformat and install win8

 

[thently]

Ignore all that of course you can go back to Windows 7. Here is how to get to prompt with windows 7 disk so you can finish up what you started.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/682-command-prompt-startup.html

Thent

 

[ingtar33]

Ignore all that of course you can go back to Windows 7. Here is how to get to prompt with windows 7 disk so you can finish up what you started.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/682-command-prompt-startup.html

Thent

yes but once he installed windows 8 over his win7 install, and registered it, microsoft killed the product key for his win7 (yes, MS does this). the only way he'll get win7 working now is to buy a new product key from ms, or hack it (which i won't give someone advice on how to do)

so his best bet is to reinstall win8 which still has a valid product key, then install classic shell onto it, to make it work like win7

 

[thently]

I'm not all that concerned about that if he can move the files back to where they are needed he will have back his activated version of Windows 7... So not having an active key will not mean much.

Thent

 

[thently]

I'm not all that concerned about that at all if he can move the files back to where they are needed he will have back his activated version of Windows 7... So not having an active key will not mean much.

Thent

 

[thently]

I'm not all that concerned about that at all if he can move the files back to where they are needed he will have back his activated version of Windows 7... So not having an active key will not mean much.

Thent

 

[thently]

Also if you have a Dell Or HP or other OEM computer you can use the disk that came with the computer and it will never ask for a key so I really doubt MS deactivated an OEM key that is on millions of computers.

Thent

 

[ChryznjonBasco]

yeah. you broke your os install... so just reformat and install win8

ok thanks: i guess this is the only way then ..

 

[ChryznjonBasco]

I'm not all that concerned about that if he can move the files back to where they are needed he will have back his activated version of Windows 7... So not having an active key will not mean much.

Thent

ok2.. it means a lot.. thanks Thent.

 

[MidnightDistort]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2015107/downgrading-from-windows-8-to-7-what-you-need-to-know.html

You can still use Windows 7 i believe you just won't get any updates from MS. If you really don't want to use Windows 8 though, you can try Linux Mint: http://www.linuxmint.com/ Just youtube and google how to use it. You don't need to install it either to try it out. Just keep in mind Linux won't work on every computer, so don't get frustrated if Mint won't work for you. WINE is your best friend as well. It might not be good enough as a permanent replacement to Windows, if you have certain software that simply won't work with Linux but if you like the idea Linux has, it doesn't hurt to use it. I'm on my laptop right now with Linux Mint, it functions pretty well so far .

 

[thently]

Linux is not the answer. Talk about a limited OS if you game at all. It has it's place in the world but not an everyday OS if you ask me.

Thent