Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7

outsider · Apr 23, 2014

Yeeaaaaaahhh!!!

BIOS update solved my boot problem

OldGrantonian · Aug 16, 2014

When I type:

confirm-SecureBootUEFI

I get the message:
-------------------------------

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

PS C:\windows\system32> confirm-SecureBootUEFI
The term 'confirm-SecureBootUEFI' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, fu
nction, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if
a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:23
+ confirm-SecureBootUEFI <<<<
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (confirm-SecureBootUEFI:String)
[], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

PS C:\windows\system32>
---------------------------------------------

Please advise.

Brink · Aug 16, 2014

Hello OldGrantonian,

Looks like you have an older version of PowerShell that doesn't support that command.

OPTION ONE in the tutorial below may also be able to help confirm if you have secure boot enabled or not.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/20208-secure-boot-confirm-enabled-disabled-windows-8-a.html

OldGrantonian · Aug 17, 2014

Thanks for your response.

I must apologize. I had your tutorial open on my company laptop (Win 7), while experimenting on my personal Win 8 laptop.

The "EUFI unrecognized" message must have come from the Win 7 laptop. I can reproduce that message.

I've now advanced to the stage where I have a choice:

----------------------------------
Change BOOT mode to

1) Legacy Boot Mode, Secure Boot Off

2) EUFI Boot Mode, Secure Boot Off
-----------------------------------

Which option should I select here? I have a Dell Inspiron 17R 5720

I don't want to muddy the waters, but I might later be tempted to install a small Ubuntu partition at the end of the disk to manage disk images. Based on your tutorial, I made a disk image of my Win 8 machine in preparation for the downgrade. It took about an hour. The same volume of data on an old single-cpu Dell XP laptop used to take a lot less time using Linux tools (and I'm not a techie).

At this stage, will that affect the choice for the boot mode? Maybe I need to change back and forward later on?

Brink · Aug 17, 2014

In that case, you would want to use the "Legacy Boot Mode, Secure Boot Off" option to use BIOS mode instead of UEFI.

tambrico2 · Aug 17, 2014

I'm planning to follow this tutorial but I have one problem--I want to install windows 7 onto my SSD rather than my HDD. When I go to select which partition I want to install windows 7 onto, will the SSD show up as an option?

Brink · Aug 17, 2014

Yes, the SSD should show up to select the same as if it was a HDD.

tambrico2 · Aug 17, 2014

Thanks Brink. I have one more question if you dont mind answering. Im currently in the BIOS and it gives me the following options:

Secure Boot [Disabled]
Load Legacy Option ROM [Disabled]
Boot List Option [UEFI]
Add Boot Option [Enter]
Delete Boot Option [Enter]

Should I enable "Load Legacy Option ROM" or change the Boot List Option from "UEFI" to "Legacy" if secure boot has been turned off? Thanks for your help!

Brink · Aug 18, 2014

Since your going back to Windows 7, you could just leave it with legacy if you're not installing Windows 7 with UEFI.

OldGrantonian · Aug 22, 2014

I've just completed the excellent tutorial. My Windows 7 seems to be working fine.

I now want to download latest drivers from Dell. They have an application called DellSystemDetect.exe that downloads the recommended drivers, and installs them in the correct sequence.

Unfortunately, at the moment, my Win 7 has no internet connection. The trouble shooting tool said "Windows did not detect a properly installed network adapter". Device Manager shows no adapter.

I can see my external hard drive, so I could download the correct adapter to my company laptop and transfer it to my Win 7 laptop using the HDD.

Can you please tell me which driver(s) I need in order to set up an internet connection on my Win 7 laptop.
.

Brink · Aug 22, 2014

Hello OldGrantonian,

It should be the LAN network driver from Dell for your computer model number. If you're not sure which one, then post back with the model number of your Dell computer, and I'll be happy to help find it.

OldGrantonian · Aug 22, 2014

Brink said:
Hello OldGrantonian,

It should be the LAN network driver from Dell for your computer model number. If you're not sure which one, then post back with the model number of your Dell computer, and I'll be happy to help find it.

My model number is Inspiron 17R 5720. There are 11 network drivers on the page I'm looking at:

Product Support | Dell US

I would be grateful if you could tell me which driver I need.

Brink · Aug 22, 2014

You could check in Device Manager to see what the network adapter is to compare it to the list of available drivers to help.

OldGrantonian · Aug 22, 2014

Brink said:
You could check in Device Manager to see what the network adapter is to compare it to the list of available drivers to help.

As I mentioned earlier, there are no network adapters in Device Manager.

I have an item labelled "Other devices" with 7 contents, all marked with yellow exclamation mark:

BCM431A0
Ethernet Controller
Network Controller
PCI Simple Communications Controller
SM Bus Controller
Universal Serial Bus Controller
USB 2.0-CRW

Could you please have a look at the 11 Network adapters in the link I posted earlier, and advise which one(s) to download and transfer to my other laptop. I don't mind transferring all of them, but maybe that will cause later problems because I need to install all the other items such as BIOS, Chipset, in correct sequence. Note that there are 33 drivers in total for Win 7 (repeat Win 7, not Win 8).

Brink · Aug 22, 2014

With the specs below,...

New Inspiron 17R Laptop ? 3rd Gen, 17" Laptop with SWITCH lids | Dell

Wireless

Wi-Fi Bluetooth Options:
Dell Wireless 1703 802.11n + BT 4.0
Dell Wireless 1704 802.11n + BT 4.0
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 + BT 4.0

Wired communications
Integrated Ethernet 10/100

.. I would start with the latest version of these.

OldGrantonian · Aug 24, 2014

Brink said:
.. I would start with the latest version of these.
Dell Wireless 1703 Wi-Fi+ BT Driver Driver Details | Dell US
Dell DW1704 WiFi and Bluetooth Driver Driver Details | Dell US
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 WLAN Driver Driver Details | Dell US
Intel N-2230 Wi-Fi and BT Driver Driver Details | Dell US
Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver Driver Details | Dell US

Everything now looks fine. Many thanks for all the help and hand-holding

The following comments might sound negative, but they are intended to encourage people who might have some difficulties.

The first two drivers in your list announced that they had failed. But when I opened Device Manager to see what had happened, there were several additions to "Network adapters". (In a previous post, I mentioned that there was no branch called "Network adapters".)

I noticed that I had an internet connection. That was the main objective. Since then, I've been successfully adding one driver at a time (for safety), in the recommended sequence, with a reboot after each addition.

Two other network drivers in the recommended list also failed. But it seemed to me that further additions appeared in Device Manager. The video driver said that my bog-standard adapter was the recommended adapter. (But see later.)

Half-way through the drivers, I thought that I should try to activate my £45 eBay "Genyoowine Widnows 7 Home Preemium".

I tried to activate Windows, using Start > R-click Computer > Properties

I saw no option "Change Product Key". On the Windows Validation site, I clicked "Validate Now". Said "Your Windows is genuine".

I then noticed that 169 updates were installing themselves without my permission - but I let them continue.

So, I never entered any Product Code, but I have genuine Windows 7, with updates. Maybe I should have bought the £1 eBay offer

BTW: I've been installing, re-installing, repair-installing, upgrading, and downgrading Windows since version 3.1. I have never at any time been asked to provide a Product Key.

At random intervals, further Windows updates were added. Latest update caused my Display Adapters in Device Manager to change from "Standard VGA adapter" to "Intel HD Graphics 4000".

The next time I downgrade from Win 8 to Win 7, I think I'll just press the button and leave it to do everything itself, without my interfering.

jpolacko · Aug 31, 2014

Thanks for the information. Worked Great!

ICit2lol · Jan 9, 2015

Oh dear I wished I had known about this tutorial when I bought my new laptop with 8 on it as the resulting time consuming, irritating problems including the activation and verification issues I had with the seller to install 7 instead could have been so avoided

sodbrother · Jan 29, 2015

Great post! I am having trouble with a PC that came with Win8 where I formatted and installed Win7. The computer has UEFI bios. I got Win7 installed and running, appears that all drivers are installed properly. My problem is the computer runs VERY slow. takes 1-5 minutes to open a browser or program. I have ran virus scans, checked HD for errors, malware scans, all windows updates installed, java updated... I have tried everything I can think of... Any suggestions on where to look for my problem?

Gateway DX4860-UR28
Core i5
8gb Ram

ICit2lol · Jan 30, 2015

Hello sodbrother mate try some of these I find they slash a fair bit of time off the machines boot and performance times.
Optimize Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

if you have problems too I suggest you hop over to the 7 forum too - run by the same folks and we are all mostly in the 7 8 & 10 forums you will find

Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7

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