Windows 10 to Windows 7 question.

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Hi, my brother currently has a pc with Windows 10 pre installed since he bought it but has been having a lot of problems with the OS and interface ect and wants to downgrade to windows 7. Is it as easy as putting a windows 7 install disk into the computer and running it or is there pre requisites ect because every article I've read online is different and I don't want to mess up his computer lol. Also I have his Windows 10 product key aswell as a new bought Windows 7 disk and product key. Thanks
 
upgrade your brother

(to add something useful you will need to disable UFEI when installing W7 ... thinking about it I don't know if you really need to... but I always do and I've never failed to get W7 on a windows 10 machine)
 
What CPU does the PC use? if it is one of the newer Intel 6th generation or more recent such as the i7 8700K then getting Windows 7 on there can be non-trivial.
 
upgrade your brother

(to add something useful you will need to disable UFEI when installing W7 ... thinking about it I don't know if you really need to... but I always do and I've never failed to get W7 on a windows 10 machine)
Windows 7 is UFEI compatible.
 
It should be fine but you know I would buy a new hard drive for the PC, remove the old one, and start with a brand new drive in it. Why? Well if there is something he doesn't like you can just go right back to the old drive with Win 10 on it. The cost of a new drive is small compared to the frustration if something "untoward" happens.
 
What sort of issue does he have. I can understand not liking windows 8, but 10 isn't really all that much different from 7.
Windows 7 support will stop in Jan 2020 so he'll need to upgrade from Windows 7 then to not have security issues.
 
What CPU does the PC use? if it is one of the newer Intel 6th generation or more recent such as the i7 8700K then getting Windows 7 on there can be non-trivial.

There are updates which cause this that he will need to block to stop the Microsoft "Malware" messages. Other than this it should work.

I would just stick with 10 though personally, maybe installing a "Classic" start menu program.
 
There are updates which cause this that he will need to block to stop the Microsoft "Malware" messages. Other than this it should work.

I would just stick with 10 though personally, maybe installing a "Classic" start menu program.

In some cases with newer CPUs there are issues with USB drivers, etc. on 7 - not insurmountable but also potentially non-trivial to fix as well as the updates stuff.
 
a lot of comments! Thanks everyone, however he's adamant he wants Windows 7, he's more of a simple person and can only stick to what he's used to wierd I know considering how win 10 is, however installing a start menu could be a short term alternative he might like it. And Its not an expensive gaming pc, it's only a i3 4170 I think would have to check when I get home. IF I have to put windows 7 on what would be the easiest way? Again thanks for all the information!
 
I installed windows 7 on my 8700K system (fresh install)
only thing I had to do was to slipstream a samsung nvme driver onto the USB stick with windows 7 on it
the motherboard drivers worked fine with 7
only thing you need to do after that is get the unlock patch (which allows removes the restriction on windows updates imposed by MS)
https://www.techpowerup.com/232527/...-and-8-1-updates-for-core-kaby-lake-and-ryzen
 
I installed windows 7 on my 8700K system (fresh install)
only thing I had to do was to slipstream a samsung nvme driver onto the USB stick with windows 7 on it
the motherboard drivers worked fine with 7
only thing you need to do after that is get the unlock patch (which allows removes the restriction on windows updates imposed by MS)
https://www.techpowerup.com/232527/...-and-8-1-updates-for-core-kaby-lake-and-ryzen

Is it mandatory to put the driver on the USB stick with Win 7? Because I only have the windows disk to fresh install it with atm. Is it as simple as putting it in and running it? Then once it's done dld the patch? Or is the patch just for newer builds? Thanks
 
If you have an NVMe SSD you will need a driver fir it either already slipstreamed in or to add to the install partway through. What driver will depend on the drive.

Same goes for USB3 ports if you are using one for the install otherwise it won’t see the files.

Beyond that, you should be fine. Just watch out for Microsoft’s attempts to try and force you onto 10 (GWX control panel to stop the auto install and you’ll need something to enable Windows update as apparantly it’s legal to just blacklist processors these days) but then you should be fine.
 
Install StartisBack or ClassicShell configure them properly and Windows 10 will look like Windows 7. Its what I do.
 
My parents didn't like going from win2k to XP, had to do the classic look and feel thing. Going t win7 they didn't have an issue with, nor to win10. Your brother should just go to win10 and feel lucky he missed out on vista and win8.
 
I just got an ACER ASPIRE E5-576G with WIN10 Home and burnt that bridge behind me.
After I installed WIN7 Ultimate, I loaded a USB driver from a cd that I had burned ("Intel_USB_3.0_xHC_Driver_AlpineRidge_PV_5.0.0.32").
This USB driver loads in with no trouble at all. That was all I needed from a cd. Once the usb was installed everything else used it.
Then, the "Wireless LAN_Intel_19.60.0_W10x64_A" installed without a problem.
Now the fun.
The graphics driver (15.45) using the modified idglh64.inf was installed, but does not appear in the clicked 'control panel, display, adjust resolution, advanced settings, adapter tab'. Instead the driver appears as <unknown>.
Following that, an Nvidia driver which installs appears to work but is also listed as <unknown>.
The problem is that neither driver has "accelerated graphics" capability required by many games (including Freecell!!).
Any advice?
Joe.
 
Have you tried manually downloading the latest nVidia driver from the nVidia web-page? also you might have to find the latest Intel chipset drivers that support 7 for the device and install them before the graphics drivers.
 
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