How to get rid of windows 8 and install windows 7?

[+BudMan MVC]

^ what??

You are thinking too much about the technical aspects of the wording.. Be it a rollback/uninstall of the OS that you upgraded too or a clean install

The user wants to use w7 vs w8, be it you call it going back to windows 7 since this has windows 8 on it now. Or saying I want to downgrade to w7, or I want to install w7 on this box - all end up meaning the same thing.

When have you ever heard a user say I want to downgrade my OS? There is no "difference" -- just you looking at a technical definition of a term/phrase vs what the user was asking. Clearly the user wanted w7 on his box vs the w8 it came with ;)

I agree with you "technically" the box never had 7 so its not really going back too something.. Come on are you going to play word/grammer nazi here?

My point was from what I read from MS, he has the legal right to install w7 on the box that came with w8 - even if he never had w7 on the box ever, etc. And clearly it states no cost.. So he does not have to buy a copy of w7 to install on it was my point.

[*RedBull*]

The key though is if it came as an upgraded Win8. I suspect it was an OEM. Therefore he can only format and install windows 7. But I'm with you Budman (Y) .

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

As BudMan noted in his reply containing the link to Microsoft's web site, if a computer came with a legally licensed version of Microsoft Windows 8 Pro installed, you can legally downgrade it to Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition or Microsoft Windows Vista Business Edition having obtained genuine Windows media and a corresponding product key rom a prior legally licensed version from OEM or Retail channels?there's even a provision for Volume License customers.

A few comments/suggestions, though, in no particular order:

• If you are looking at buying a new computer that comes with a choice of Microsoft Windows 7 or Microsoft Windows 8, you should strongly consider buying the one which comes with Windows 8. Why this is? Because that computer will ship with an Microsoft OEM Activation 3.0 (OA3) license embedded in its firmware, which is a new means of licensing Windows that Microsoft introduced for Windows 8. If you purchase a computer with Windows 7 pre-loaded, it is going to be very unlikely that it has an embedded OA3 license, since the computer manufacturer would then paying for two Windows licenses for the computer. Once you have the computer, though, you can still install Microsoft Windows 7 on it.
  
• Before you downgrade a computer running Microsoft Windows 8, create recovery media for it using whatever tool Microsoft or the computer manufacturer provides and test it by performing a wipe and reload of the drive. Why do this? Simply, to verify that the media used to reinstall Windows 8 works. Someday, you may wish to sell or give away that computer. You may even decide you want to run Windows 8 on it. If the recovery media doesnt work, or fails for some reason. Ask the computer manufacturer to send you a replacement set. Most computer manufacturers will probably want to provide you with a free set instead of having to accept the return of a computer they just sold you.
  
• Consider giving Windows 8 a try. I understand that the Start Screen is a little jarring after having used the Start Menu for eighteen years, but I have found that once you are on the Desktop, computer behavior becomes very familiar. Also, you may even learn to like the features for power users, such as various Windows key combinations (WinKey+X, WinKey+C, WinKey+D, WinKey+F and so forth).
  

There has also been mention of various replacement Start Menu apps (StartIsBack, Start8, WindowsClassicShell, and so forth), and you might want to give those a try. I see those more as a "bridging" type of application, though, to help transition users to the Windows 8 user interface model.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[Neowinuser1991]

MSE is included in Windows 8 now. It is better then having no antivirus but its detections are lacking and its obviously missing key features. However IE10 does have a download checker, and a site checker (vs just a site checker) that detects a lot more bad sites then say Firefox or Chrome. However no antivirus app is any help if the user themselves is the issue...so give it a try but once in a while do a online scan from bitdefender to see if it missed anything.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

and this is a good example of where the answer feature would come in handy :)

it's nice that you guys are still trying to help the OP but he has already said he found his answer on the previous page

turns out he just didn't like the start screen

I bought start8 and i absolutely love it!

[+BudMan MVC]

Its not always ONLY about the OP, what about the next guy doing a search about how to get rid of windows 8 and install 7