Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7

Downgrade Windows 8 Preinstalled to Windows 7

How to Downgrade Windows 8 Preinstalled to Windows 7​

This tutorial will show you how to downgrade your Windows 8 Preinstalled with or without Secure Boot to Windows 7.

We always assume you have made your Factory Recovery Discs using the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Media Creator app the first day you had your new PC, and made a Startup Repair CD/DVD/USB.

• Recovery Drive - Create with USB Flash Drive in Windows 8
• System Repair Disc - Create in Windows 8

Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

You can order OEM Recovery disks from your OEM manufacturer's website.

You can use the Windows system image.

System Image - Create in Windows 8

Recovery Drive - Create with USB Flash Drive in Windows 8

System Repair Disc - Create in Windows 8




1) Open an elevated Power Shell in Windows 8.

2) Type confirm-SecureBootUEFI






If TRUE, your uEFI BIOS is set to Secure Boot, go to step 3 below.

If FALSE, your uEFI BIOS is not set to Secure Boot, NO need to reset uEFI BIOS. Go to step 4.



3) Reset BIOS to default, and reboot to BIOS make sure Secure Boot is disabled.
NOTE: Check your manufacturer's uEFI/BIOS firmware manual for settings.

   Note

You may also need to
Make sure CSM is ENABLED, & set to UEFI boot.

enable Boot Menu.

enable BIOS password.

Technical Note: UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS - YouTube

On some OEM manufacturer's the CSM setting are

UEFI = Windows 8 only
Legacy = All OS.
UEFI & Legacy = All OS.



To install in Legacy Mode:
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation - Windows 7 Help Forums
Clean Install Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

Startup Options Menu - Boot to in Windows 8
Secure Boot - Enable or Disable in UEFI

   Note

How to reset your UEFI Bios Firmware from Windows 8


Toshiba How-To: Resetting your UEFI Bios Firmware on Windows 8 - YouTube





NOTE: Example above, uEFI-BIOS is from a Fujitsu P400.

New AMI Fujitsu uEFI-BIOS, plus other OEM manufacturer's.




AMI | American Megatrends Inc. : Aptio® V Launch Hardware Showcase

American Megatrends Presents Showcase of Windows® 8-ready Hardware with Aptio® V UEFI BIOS Firmware at “Touch the Future with Aptio V” Launch Event

On Friday, October 5th, 2012

4) Boot from your UEFI 64-bit Windows 7 DVD or USB using the one time boot menu.

   Note

If you do not have a UEFI 64-bit Windows 7 DVD or USB, then you can create a UEFI USB using the tutorial below.

UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

5) press enter on the UEFI DVD drive




6) Follow this tutorial:


UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

   Note

For PC's with the 32gb MSATA IRST acceleration cache.
Install Windows on MSATA (SSD) Drive - Windows 7 Help Forums
Install Windows on System with MSATA and ISRT - Windows 7 Help Forums

A) Delete all partitions. (in Drive Options)





B) Remake partitions. (in Drive Options)


How to Clean the HD Drive, using Step one in this tutorial:
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation - Windows 7 Forums





& than Reboot PC to install.







All Done.

DO NOT ENABLE SECURE BOOT AFTER INSTALLING WINDOWS 7, WINDOWS 7 WILL NOT BOOT.​

   Note

When dual booting with Windows 8 Preinstalled & Windows 7

Follow Step one to five in this tutorial:
Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7

   Warning

If you shrink a partition before deleting the OEM Recovery partition, the partition & the new partition may be converted to Dynamic partitions.

Than follow this tutorial: (installing in uEFI mode.)
Dual Boot Installation - Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Enable or Disable Secure Boot in UEFI
• How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Delete "Windows 8" in your Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Delete "Windows 7" in your Dual Boot with Windows 8
• How to Upgrade from Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8 or 8.1
• How to Do a Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade
• How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1

 

[theog]

Welcome to EightForums

You are welcome.

Try this one:

Drivers Informer: Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Controller overview

 

[JS1987]

Latest version is 2.08, 25-10-12.

Downloads for LIFEBOOK AH532
Download the PDF Instruction file.

Thanks, Dave76 for linking me. I installed the BIOS and the secure boot was automatically disabled!

I installed Windows 7 with no problems!

Thanks again theog for this great tutorial. I'm glad I don't have to deal with Windows 8 anymore...

 

[theog]

Latest version is 2.08, 25-10-12.

Downloads for LIFEBOOK AH532
Download the PDF Instruction file.

Thanks, Dave76 for linking me. I installed the BIOS and the secure boot was automatically disabled!

I installed Windows 7 with no problems!

Thanks again theog for this great tutorial. I'm glad I don't have to deal with Windows 8 anymore...

You are welcome.

 

[Dave76]

Latest version is 2.08, 25-10-12.

Downloads for LIFEBOOK AH532
Download the PDF Instruction file.

Thanks, Dave76 for linking me. I installed the BIOS and the secure boot was automatically disabled!

I installed Windows 7 with no problems!

Thanks again theog for this great tutorial. I'm glad I don't have to deal with Windows 8 anymore...

You are welcome, glad to hear you got everything working.

 

[Roltz]

Hey Man, i've been trying to downgrade for the last 48hrs, just stumbled here!

I entered the PowerShell under Admin, got as far as PS C:\Windows\system32> confirm-SecureBootUEFI
But am faced with 7 lines of error.. Attached below.. any ideas/advice??

 

[Dave76]

That's indicating you don't have the secure boot option in your BIOS.

What computer do you have?

 

[theog]

Hey Man, i've been trying to downgrade for the last 48hrs, just stumbled here!

I entered the PowerShell under Admin, got as far as PS C:\Windows\system32> confirm-SecureBootUEFI
But am faced with 7 lines of error.. Attached below.. any ideas/advice??

View attachment 13267

Check to see if Secure Boot is ENABLED in the uEFI/BIOS firmware.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I don't know if its a forest for the trees situation (for me or the author) but is this procedure ONLY for branded PCs that came with Windows 8 installed? Or can this process also be used on a home built PC that had Windows 8 installed on it? And if so, does that require a separate purchase of a Windows 7 license?

 

[theog]

I don't know if its a forest for the trees situation (for me or the author) but is this procedure ONLY for branded PCs that came with Windows 8 installed? Or can this process also be used on a home built PC that had Windows 8 installed on it? And if so, does that require a separate purchase of a Windows 7 license?

Welcome to EightForums.

As you have a home built PC, start at Step Six.

Yes, you need a Windows 7 licence.

 

[meljuga]

Hi there,

I followed instructions OP wrote but for some reason I am unable to boot to Win 7 installation.

I created UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive for Win 7, disabled Secure Boot from BIOS and choose to boot from USB but whatever I try to do, Wondows 8 boots and totally ignores my choice. When I make UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive for Win 8 than I am able to start installation from USB normally. Why is that?

Here is short Youtube video where I show my problem.

I own Asus k55a

[video=youtube_share;0P_vPQkuouQ]http://youtu.be/0P_vPQkuouQ[/video]

 

[Brink]

Hello Meljunga, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Double check to make sure that the Win 7 USB has been marked as active.

If it has, then please post a screenshot showing the USB in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc), and a screenshot of the contents of the USB.

 

[theog]

Welcome to EightForums.

Looking at the vodeo, looks like your USB Pendrive is not bootable.

Is Windows 7 DVD x32 or x64?

Where do you buy your DVD from?

 

[meljuga]

Guys, you are really quick in trying to help!

Literally after spending hours and hours trying to figure out new stuff Microsoft introduced in Windows 8 together with new bios I first encountered with, finally I found solution to my problem.

Solution is on this page.

The trick was to copy EFI boot manager firmware file from Win 8 to Win 7 USB installation flowing instructions bellow after I created UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive :



Now you will need to copy the contents of the windows 7 install dvd to the USB with a regular copy paste from windows explorer.
Once this is done you will need to get a copy of the EFI boot manager firmware file from a computer that has windows 64 bit installed on a UEFI system.
This file is located in C:\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.efi
On your USB (Let’s assume it’s drive E look in E:\efi\microsoft\boot and copy this boot folder up one level so it sits in E:\efi\boot
Now copy the bootmgfw.efi file from your computer which has windows installed to this new E:\efi\boot folder and rename it to bootx64.efi
Insert the USB in the machine and turn it on and boot into the UEFI/BIOS loader and check for boot options. On the ASUS Zenbook it detected two boot options on the USB drive. One was UEFI and one was regular BIOS. I made the UEFI option the first choice and restarted the machine.
I could now install windows to the formatted existing GPT partitions that were on the machine.

_____________

Important!
Besides setting bios to disable "Secure Boot" I had to enable "launch CSM" in order to reach Win 7 installation setup.


Might be useful to update OP for others?

 

[theog]

Important!
Besides setting bios to disable "Secure Boot" I had to enable "launch CSM" in order to reach Win 7 installation setup.


Might be useful to update OP for others?

That would be Step Three.

3) Reset BIOS to default, and reboot to BIOS make sure Secure Boot is disabled.
NOTE: Check your manufacturer's uEFI BIOS manual for settings.

 

[meljuga]

Important!
Besides setting bios to disable "Secure Boot" I had to enable "launch CSM" in order to reach Win 7 installation setup.


Might be useful to update OP for others?

That would be Step Three.

3) Reset BIOS to default, and reboot to BIOS make sure Secure Boot is disabled.
NOTE: Check your manufacturer's uEFI BIOS manual for settings.

I can assure you I didn't miss any step you wrote in tutorial. In my case it was essential to place EFI boot manager firmware file from Win 8 to Win 7 USB installation in order to start clean Win 7 installation from USB.

That part I think would be good to include in very first post, otherwise I not sure what good is it.

 

[theog]

Important!
Besides setting bios to disable "Secure Boot" I had to enable "launch CSM" in order to reach Win 7 installation setup.


Might be useful to update OP for others?

That would be Step Three.

3) Reset BIOS to default, and reboot to BIOS make sure Secure Boot is disabled.
NOTE: Check your manufacturer's uEFI BIOS manual for settings.

I can assure you I didn't miss any step you wrote in tutorial. In my case it was essential to place EFI boot manager firmware file from Win 8 to Win 7 USB installation in order to start clean Win 7 installation from USB.

That part I think would be good to include in very first post, otherwise I not sure what good is it.

Where do you buy your DVD from?

No reply.

Not need with a Genuine MS Windows 7 DVD.

 

[meljuga]

That would be Step Three.

3) Reset BIOS to default, and reboot to BIOS make sure Secure Boot is disabled.
NOTE: Check your manufacturer's uEFI BIOS manual for settings.

I can assure you I didn't miss any step you wrote in tutorial. In my case it was essential to place EFI boot manager firmware file from Win 8 to Win 7 USB installation in order to start clean Win 7 installation from USB.

That part I think would be good to include in very first post, otherwise I not sure what good is it.

Where do you buy your DVD from?

No reply.

Not need with a Genuine MS Windows 7 DVD.

I missed that

It is ISO x64 file I downloaded from digital river. I guess it is as Genuine as possible.

 

[iloathewindows8]

Hi guys I wonder if you can help me.

I am not a complete novice on the PC but I am checking to make sure I have everything correct before I waste a little more money on a windows product.

Recently in the last few weeks I purchased a brand new laptop from dell. It came with windows 8, The first day of using it was ok a bit slow but i put it down to updates that seemed to be happening in the background. The next few days I started getting niggly annoying little things like smart audio failing, then returning then failing. Followed by catalyst control errors.. Then it started getting annoying where the wireless would continually dissconnect 6 or 7 times a day and would only start working again when i restarted the laptop. Few more days pass and I started getting random errors here there and everywhere from system error to apps freezing even though I wasnt using them.

2 days ago after I log into my user account the desktop appears black and I can see nothing. Task manager would open and everything was running but I could get nothing on the desktop. I tried system refresh and halfway through it crashed saying pc needs to restart. On restart I could get back to my desktop but so many things kept failing I went for a reset of the pc.. after about 3 hours and 70% reset of windows the pc crashes again and says it must restart. When it restarts I was on a loop of "auto diagnosing problem" "cannot help blah blah" for endless hours until one time it booted up to desktop. This time I had no apps, The task bar that pops out with all the options on wouldnt even load. All I had was an empty desktop with windows 8 written in the corner. I managed to get myself into options and one last time tried to restore from recovery and guess what it also crashed halfway through saying the pc encountered a problem and must restart.

Now when I turn on my pc all I get is after about 2 seconds.. "Recovery" a required device cannot be connected.. error code 0xc00000f. It tells me I need a recovery disc which didnt come with the laptop. After about a minute the computer shuts down.

I can get to setup/boot sections if I am fast enough. But I can not access desktop or anything.

My question is if I purchase a Windows 7 new installation disc, Will I be able to run it or will I just get stuck on this "recovery" page. Can it run from setup or boot? Like I said I am not all that advanced with these 2 options. I just dont want to waste another 90 quid on something that wont run once I have it.

While I liked how fast windows 8 got me to desktop, I dont use the apps.. miss the start bar and just am really not comfortable at all with what windows 8 is and the miserable experience I have had with it. So I really would prefer windows 7.

This was my dell order.

210-38419 Inspiron 7520 Base 1SR
203-26592 N1115S47 1 SR
213-16085 Processor : Intel Core i5-3210M (2.50 GHz, 3M cache) 1 SR
230-12208 Display : 15.6in High Definition (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife 1 SR
320-12258 LCD Back Cover : Aluminium 1 SR
340-29871 Software : EBAY-Icon,Favorite,W8 1 SR
340-30324 Resource DVD : Inspiron 7520 Win 8 1 SR
340-30457 Ship Accessory : English Docs 1 SR
370-21775 Memory : 6144MB (1x2048 + 1x4096) 1600MHz DDR3 1 SR
400-23851 Hard Drive : 750GB Serial ATA (5400RPM) 1 SR
429-16146 Optical Drive : 8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive 1 SR
430-10860 Cyber Link Power DVD 1 SR
450-14393 Power Cord : UK 1M 1 SR
451-11870 Battery : Primary 6-cell 48W/HR LI-ION 1 SR
490-13285 Graphics : 2GB AMD Radeon HD 7730M 1 SR
555-14110 Wireless : Intel 2230 WLAN Card (802.11n + BT 4.0) 1 SR
555-14160 Driver : 2230 Wireless Card 1 SR
555-14211 Daughter Board for WLAN 1 SR
555-14212 Wireless Display Application 1 SR
583-16053 Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Backlit Keyboard with Multi-touch Touchpad 1 SR
619-37958 Operating System : Windows 8 64 bit, English 1 SR
620-12452 OS Media : Not Included 1 SR
630-15410 Software : Microsoft Office Trial Standard 1 SR
640-12869 Amazon Kindle Metro App 1 SR
640-12870 E-Bay Shopping Metro App 1 SR
640-12871 Amazon Shopping Metro App 1 SR
640-12872 Amazon Shopping Taskbar Icon 1 SR
525-10011 Software : Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, Digital Delivery 1 SR
525-10029 Software : Adobe Premier Elements 10, Digital Delivery 1 SR
650-14215 Antivirus : McAfee Security Centre 15 Month Subscription 1 SR
683-12240 No Installation 1 SR
685-14608 90Day Premium Software Phone Support 1 SR
754-56794 Standard Service - 1 year Collect & Return hardware support included with your PC 1 SR
754-61373 1 Year Hardware Support - Next Business Day 1 SR
755-10575 No Accidental Damage Protection 1 OS
759-10833 No DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 SR
800-13150 Not included 9 SR
800-13256 Thank You for Choosing Dell 1 SR
799-18006 Inspiron 7520 Order 1 SR
211-10033 Packaging : Brown Box 1 SR
998-15755 Thank You for Choosing Dell 1

Sorry If i have gone on excessively I just wanted to provide all the details.
In simple terms I guess the question is if I buy a windows 7 disc will I be able to run it ok on this system and will it run from setup/boot section since I cant access the desktop.

Kind regards.

 

[theog]

Hi iloathewindows8

Welcome to EightForums.

1) Return your PC to Dell for replacement or repair.

 

[iloathewindows8]

Thanks theog.

Damn so buying a windows 7 install wont solve the problem?
If they repair it I gather they would send it back with windows 8 and I would have to wait a while? Wish I didnt waste 500 to be honest.