Return from W10 to W7

willden said:

How do I obtain a W7 key and how do I get rid of W10.I am a complete novice and need guidance please.

You can find Windows 7 Home product key and installation DVD for $60 - $70 on amazon. You will boot the computer from the DVD and do a clean install of Windows 7 (select Install Now, then Custom Install, delete all the partitions on the hard drive, install Windows 7 to the resulting unallocated space). Then, later on when it gets all the updates that will take 2 - 3 days you will have to block the one for Windows 10.

This will completely erase EVERYTHING that came with the computer (except the Windows 8 product key will still be bios should you want to go back to Windows 8 but that won't affect Windows 7 at all.)

QUESTION:
There is a section Control Panel -> System and Security -> Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

In this section, there is a section for Restore.
Does this only work if W10 is an upgrade from W7?

My installation is a clean install of W10. Not an upgrade from previous OS. For me, that section says:
Windows could not find a backup for this computer.


I was just curious about what this section was for.

crimson said:

QUESTION:
There is a section Control Panel -> System and Security -> Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

In this section, there is a section for Restore.
Does this only work if W10 is an upgrade from W7?

My installation is a clean install of W10. Not an upgrade from previous OS. For me, that section says:
Windows could not find a backup for this computer.


I was just curious about what this section was for.

That section is for restoring a system image backup that was created with the "Create a system image" link on the same screen.

NavyLCDR said:

That section is for restoring a system image backup that was created with the "Create a system image" link on the same screen.

OK I see. Thank you. Sorry I don't know if I should have started a new thread. Not intending to hijack.

I just realized this section is exactly the same as the Backup and Restore section in Windows 7 OS.

There's an options in the Backup section for:
Set up backup
Create system image
Create a system repair disc

First you would create some sort of back up. Then in the future in case you want to restore to your backup, you would go to the Restore section to do so.


I guess the question I was mainly concerned about is why W10 calls it "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)". In W7, it's simply called Backup and Restore. And it's the exact same section.

It is called Backup and Restore Windows 7 because it is for using the old Windows 7 style backup. Windows 8 and 10 have a newer backup system and their files are incompatible with Windows 7 backup files. I don't remember exactly, but I think in Windows 10 you can take a full system backup from a relevant link in File History.