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OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:45 am
by Khali
OK, I have this new system and on some advice I went ahead and got windows 8. After two weeks of fighting with 8 I have come to the conclusion I hate it. Is it possible to replace windows 8 with windows 7 without having to wipe the drive and start all over? I have spent the last two weeks down loading software and updates and really would like to avoid having to do all that again.

I don't really like Windows 7 but XP will not support my 32GB of memory so I guess 7 is where I want to go.

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:59 am
by just brew it!
If you are going from a newer version back to an older one, you really should reformat.

Any updates you downloaded for 8 are worthless for 7 anyway.

Any 3rd party software where you did not save the original installer will need to be re-downloaded.

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:04 pm
by DancinJack
Khali wrote:
Is it possible to replace windows 8 with windows 7 without having to wipe the drive and start all over?

I don't really like Windows 7 but XP will not support my 32GB of memory so I guess 7 is where I want to go.


No.

There really isn't anything about XP that is better than W7. It's time to upgrade.

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:09 pm
by bthylafh
No. You must format the drive and install Win7.

If it's the UI you hate, you could check out http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ first. That'll give you a start menu back.

Other alternatives: http://arstechnica.com/information-tech ... tart-menu/

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:37 pm
by Firestarter
Khali wrote:
Flying Fox wrote:
Try to really use it first with an open mind instead of always carrying a bias?


Bias, what bias? I don't like it after two weeks of trying to work with it and suddenly I am biased because of this? I like things simple and easy to use and that does not describe Windows 8 at all.

I ask for help and advice and I get implications that I am prejudiced in some way. Seriously, if my not like a piece of software is biased to you, you have larger issues to deal with.

And suddenly Flying Fox has issues? :lol:

To anwser your question: No, you should really wipe the disk and start over if you want to downgrade. You probably don't have to download everything again if you didn't delete the installers, as most drivers and stuff have 1 package for Windows 7 and 8. Do be warned though that although Windows 8 has caught a lot of flak for it's UI choices, Windows 7 is not really that much different (save for Metro, obviously). In fact, the biggest difference by far was between XP and Vista, and I imagine that a lot of UI issues that you have are from features that have been introduced in Vista.

If you do decide to downgrade to Windows 7, make sure you get a version that actually supports 32GB. You need to get Windows 7 Ultimate, Enterprise or Professional, as Home Premium only supports 16GB.

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:08 pm
by Ryu Connor
In summary you'll have to go back to 7 as your hardware and especially RAM is too advanced for XP.

You will have to format and install from scratch. There are no tools for regressing operating systems. You can use the Windows Easy Transfer Tool to at least ease the migration of your documents, videos, pictures, and music.

You will have to buy Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate due to the total amount of RAM you have.

I split out the learning curve of UIs discussion into another thread.

Please reserve this thread for any further questions on the regression.

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:12 pm
by Flying Fox
Ryu Connor wrote:
You will have to format and install from scratch. There are no tools for regressing operating systems. You can use the Windows Easy Transfer Tool to at least ease the migration of your documents, videos, pictures, and music.

If the OP has just one partition (and one drive) in his system, what does Easy Transfer require in terms of temporary storage? Will a network share be ok or it has to be something more attached like an internal HDD or USB flash/HDD?

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:20 pm
by Ryu Connor
An external drive is ideal, but network is option.

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:21 pm
by Voldenuit
Ryu Connor wrote:
You will have to buy Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate due to the total amount of RAM you have.


If the OP got win 8 pro preinstalled on his system, he should be able to downgrade to Windows 7 Pro with no additional fees.

He just has to download the ISO and burn them to a DVD or bootable USB drive (google instructions on how to make a win 7 USB install thumb drive).

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:26 pm
by biffzinker
Khali wrote:
OK, I have this new system and on some advice I went ahead and got windows 8. After two weeks of fighting with 8 I have come to the conclusion I hate it. Is it possible to replace windows 8 with windows 7 without having to wipe the drive and start all over? I have spent the last two weeks down loading software and updates and really would like to avoid having to do all that again.

I don't really like Windows 7 but XP will not support my 32GB of memory so I guess 7 is where I want to go.

There is always Windows XP Professional 64-bit

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:47 pm
by bthylafh
biffzinker wrote:
There is always Windows XP Professional 64-bit


That's no solution. It goes EOL at the same time as 32-bit XP, in April next year.

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:04 pm
by just brew it!
bthylafh wrote:
biffzinker wrote:
There is always Windows XP Professional 64-bit

That's no solution. It goes EOL at the same time as 32-bit XP, in April next year.

It also has really spotty driver support. I speak from first-hand experience, we still use it a lot where I work. :roll:

Re: OS help

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:19 pm
by anotherengineer
Khali wrote:
OK, I have this new system and on some advice I went ahead and got windows 8. After two weeks of fighting with 8 I have come to the conclusion I hate it. Is it possible to replace windows 8 with windows 7 without having to wipe the drive and start all over? I have spent the last two weeks down loading software and updates and really would like to avoid having to do all that again.

I don't really like Windows 7 but XP will not support my 32GB of memory so I guess 7 is where I want to go.


I have XP x64 edition, the later one based on windows server 2003, brand new in the case unused, $30 it's yours.