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]

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.

Best to sort out the problems first.

 

[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.

Best to sort out the problems first.

Indeed you are no doubt correct, I am cautious because on the desktop I had a folder that contained my bank/ebay/paypal/email passwords etc and dont really fancy sending such info off to dell. argh I guess I have no choice. Thanks again.

 

[zee007]

For some reason this does not work for me. I have a Sony vaIO laptop and I try to reboot from a USB and it keeps restarting constantly until I unplug the USB. Any tips? I cant stand W8!

 

[zee007]

Operating System Not Found

Guys, I'm in big trouble. I disabled the secure boot and now Windows 8 does not start up and I cant even boot from the USB. It keeps hanging when I try to US boot WIN 7 or XP.

I have a Sony Vaio SVS13122CXB

Any suggestions?

 

[MrShowdown]

Have you tried using this procedure:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

 

[zee007]

I wish I could even get inside windows right now. It hangs right at start up saying "Operating System Not Found." If I try to load a USB with Windows 7, it hangs on the Sony logo start up and keeps rebooting to that point, over and over again until I take out the USB. Nothing seems to work

 

[theog]

For some reason this does not work for me. I have a Sony vaIO laptop and I try to reboot from a USB and it keeps restarting constantly until I unplug the USB. Any tips? I cant stand W8!

Welcome to EightForums.

Why have you started at Step Four?

 

[theog]

I wish I could even get inside windows right now. It hangs right at start up saying "Operating System Not Found." If I try to load a USB with Windows 7, it hangs on the Sony logo start up and keeps rebooting to that point, over and over again until I take out the USB. Nothing seems to work

Set CSM to uEFI Boot.

 

[zee007]

Hi Theog,

Sorry for sounding like a noob, but what is CSM? I only can get access to the command prompt at the moment. Anything else I try fails because I disabled the UEFI and nothings bootable anymore. The problem with the tutorial is that is expects you to have windows 8 to load all the files on the USB after step 4. How do I do it if the Windows 8 PC hangs?

The tutorial states this:


Warning

• Disabling UEFI will make the system unbootable as there is no MBR on the disks.
• You CANNOT make a sector-by-sector copy of GPT disks. The Disk and Partition GUIDs will no longer be unique. This must never happen. You can make a sector-by-sector copy of the contents of ESP or basic data partitions.
• Disable secure boot before installing Windows 7.

Does that mean I'm screwed as I disabled mine ?

 

[theog]

Hi Theog,

Sorry for sounding like a noob, but what is CSM? I only can get access to the command prompt at the moment. Anything else I try fails because I disabled the UEFI and nothings bootable anymore. The problem with the tutorial is that is expects you to have windows 8 to load all the files on the USB after step 4. How do I do it if the Windows 8 PC hangs?

The tutorial states this:


Warning

• Disabling UEFI will make the system unbootable as there is no MBR on the disks.
• You CANNOT make a sector-by-sector copy of GPT disks. The Disk and Partition GUIDs will no longer be unique. This must never happen. You can make a sector-by-sector copy of the contents of ESP or basic data partitions.
• Disable secure boot before installing Windows 7.

Does that mean I'm screwed as I disabled mine ?

Take a look at Step Three.
Reset CSM to uEFI Boot. ( ENABLE uEFI Boot.)

 

[zee007]

I do not have access to the BIOS or CSM to do that

 

[zee007]

Theog,

I tried step 3 and it will not take me anywhere. As soon as the PC boots, the "Operating System Not Found" shows up almost instantly.

Luckily, I made a Sony system Restore disk, which allows me to use the recovery settings, but nothing works in the dashboard except for command prompt. Any type of recovery I try to initiate fails due to no windows being not recognized or present. This all happened when I disabled the UEFI firmware. And now that option also does not show up in the Sony Dashboard/Recovery area.

I need some serious help with this otherwise I just flushed down $900!

Thanks!

 

[theog]

I do not have access to the BIOS or CSM to do that

This all happened when I disabled the UEFI firmware.

Reset to ENABLED.

1.With the computer powered off, press the Assist button to enter the VAOCare Rescue Mode Boot screen.
2.Select the ‘Start BIOS setup [F2]’ option to proceed to the system BIOS.
3.Once inside the InsydeH2O Setup Utility, use the arrow keys to select the ‘Boot’ list.

 

[zee007]

You are the man!

So I'm back to where I was (W8).

I tried the entire process to boot from USB for UEFI and I had ran into 2 issues:

1. B) Having the free program 7-Zip installed, right click on the sources\install.wim file on the USB, and click/tap on 7-Zip and Open archive. (see screenshot below)

I do not know what you want me to do here? Look for that specific file and.....


2. I could not find this file anywhere in my W7 Files: sources\install.wim\1\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.egi


Thanks for all your help Theog!!

 

[theog]

11. If Using 64-bit Windows 7

NOTE: Thank you to theog for this step. You do not need to do this step unless you are creating a 64-bit Windows 7 UEFI USB. If not, then go to step 12 below instead.

A) On the USB flash drive, copy the efi\microsoft\boot folder up one level into the efi folder as efi\boot. (see screenshot below)


B) Having the free program 7-Zip installed, right click on the sources\install.wim file on the USB, and click/tap on 7-Zip and Open archive. (see screenshot below)


C) In 7-Zip, navigate to and "Copy" the sources\install.wim\1\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.egi file to your desktop, and close 7-Zip. (see screenshot below)


D) Rename the bootmgfw.egi file on your desktop to bootx64.efi.

E) Copy/Move the renamed bootx64.efi file into the efi/boot folder (step 11A) on the USB.

Are you a MS Windows 7 x64 DVD.
If you have a DVD Drive, you can use the DVD.

 

[NickMoulsdale]

Thank you for this, pulling a lot of diverse information from multiple sources.

The joy of getting W8 Off my nice shiny Toshiba is unbounded. I REALLY did try out W8. It was AWFUL!

Keep up the good work.
I had a new Lenovo Z580 which had W8 on It but I could not access the bios or turn off secure boot. To turn off secure boot you MUST put a password in the bios/EUFA. IF you do that you will never get to BIOS or Eufa using F2 or F12. Indeed Lenovo's own website says F1 and F10 which is Completely wrong!
It had to go back!

 

[theog]

Thank you for this, pulling a lot of diverse information from multiple sources.

The joy of getting W8 Off my nice shiny Toshiba is unbounded. I REALLY did try out W8. It was AWFUL!

Keep up the good work.
I had a new Lenovo Z580 which had W8 on It but I could not access the bios or turn off secure boot. To turn off secure boot you MUST put a password in the bios/EUFA. IF you do that you will never get to BIOS or Eufa using F2 or F12. Indeed Lenovo's own website says F1 and F10 which is Completely wrong!
It had to go back!

Welcome to EightForums.

For Lenovo.

2.Insert the Applications and Drivers Recovery Disc into the DVD drive.
3.Press F10 to save the Setup Utility configuration changes. The computer restarts and the recovery program opens. Follow the instructions on the screen to begin the recovery process.

Lenovo Support Express - Windows 8 - Downgrade Instructions

 

[NickMoulsdale]

Thanks for that, BUT it doesn't work on my Z580. First the discs have to be purcased from Lenovo at $ 40. Then they will not do anything UNLESS you have NOT followed the LENOVO website instructions which lock up the BIOS/EUFI.

How can Lenovo have W7 Downgrade instructions from W8 that have wrong access key (s) as in F1 and F10 when its F2 and F12?

Please note Its Lenovo support that broke it with incorrect info both on line and verbally.

 

[theog]

Thanks for that, BUT it doesn't work on my Z580. First the discs have to be purcased from Lenovo at $ 40. Then they will not do anything UNLESS you have NOT followed the LENOVO website instructions which lock up the BIOS/EUFI.

How can Lenovo have W7 Downgrade instructions from W8 that have wrong access key (s) as in F1 and F10 when its F2 and F12?

Please note Its Lenovo support that broke it with incorrect info both on line and verbally.

UEFI install guide using USB drive for Lenovo X120e.
UEFI install guide using USB drive for Lenovo X120e. - YouTube

 

[xavamros]

Hello,

My boss just bought an hp pavilion g7-2200et with win8-x64 and wanted me to downgrade it to win7-x86. I have been formatting pcs since i was a child and i have an average knowledge. The thing which makes me afraid of going forward is mostly its because the computer belongs to my boss not to me, which stops me from doing aggressive stuff. The situation i am in is this: The laptop does not have any cds(neither windows nor driver). I have made a recovery disc(4 discs actually) from the hp recovery thingie therefore i can proceed without hesitation with the deleting/creating partition process right? and the other thing is will i be able to find 32 bit drivers for the current hardware of this pc? Most of the people on forums who has hp laptops downgraded had found out that windows found some of their hardware, they managed to install some win8 drivers without problem and the rest manually, i am all for that but tbh i am still a bit afraid if i should proceed or not, therefore i wanted to ask your opinion before proceeding.

Thanks in advance, hope you will reply soon