Reduce the level of UnDowngradeable!
Reduce the level of UnDowngradeable!
So my grandparents purchased a Dell Desktop with Windows 8 already installed. They prefer Windows 7 Home Premium and aren't fond of Windows 8. I tried installing Windows 7 Home Premium as a normal copy and attempted to downgrade. All the steps were completed, but when the system restarted during "Expanding Files," it refused to proceed, insisting on Driver Signatures and asking if I wanted to return to Windows 8. After checking multiple sources, I realized that if the machine wasn't preloaded with Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro, you didn’t have downgrade rights. I considered an alternative: I removed the drive, used a spare one for testing, formatted it on my laptop, and tried booting from the BIOS into Windows 8 Recovery. It eventually found the OS but couldn't locate files in Sys32, then switched to a Toshiba utility mode. After some adjustments, it booted normally but didn’t recognize the new drive. I then installed an SSD and asked for an OEM installation, hoping it would behave like the desktop version. This led me to wonder if there’s a way to downgrade or if ClassicShell (the original installer) is still an option.
Consider other methods to access BIOS on the laptop. Adjust the boot settings to use the installation disk or SSD via another machine. Insert the device into the laptop and fix any driver problems. (Success is unlikely here)
I attempted to transfer the data, connected the HDD to my laptop using this link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product. The 750GB drive was formatted to show 688GB free, and then I installed it on the Dell Tower. After turning it on, Windows 8 prompted for a repair. Once that completed, I connected my flash drive with a copy of Windows 7 OEM, entered BIOS, booted from USB first, and left the HDD in its boot order. At that point I encountered the "No Boot Found" option—pressing F1 to retry or F2 to start BIOS.
I didn’t need to install anything from my laptop; I just used it to format the drive. I really love my laptop, but it’s against the law in California to marry non-living things. I’ve taken it apart a few times, re-applied thermal paste, swapped the HDD for an SSD, and plan to replace the battery soon. (I prefer hardware over software.) If I want to upgrade something, I’d rather upgrade this tower.
Completely removing the existing partitions on the hard drive within the W7 installer results in their elimination. When you instruct me to delete the partitions, I understand you want all detected ones removed. Following this, I will guide you through creating a fresh partition.
It shouldn't have been any partitions on the drive. I'm comfortable with technology up to that point. The W7 Installer (Flash Drive) is just something I had stored away a while back.
I also attempted a disk replacement, but that didn’t help either. It’s unclear where they could install an operating system or any related software without the hard drive. The one I used was formatted completely—nothing remained. Additionally, it never came with Windows 8 by default; it only had Windows 7 Ultimate installed.