"Downgrading" from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 7 Pro

[BB1950]

Windows 8 certainly isn't Intuitive or more productive.

Maybe some of the Windows 8 fans here might understand why someone would want to downgrade to Windows 7 putting aside the aside the eye candy available in Windows 7:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpwKiRKmZc

[Chicog]

The Windows 8 (formerly Metro) interface on Desktops sucks in my opinion, but that's why most people go straight back to the old desktop and start menu.

I can't say that I miss aero, so I obviously wasn't that dependent on it.

As for the rest, Windows 8 is faster and significantly more secure than Windows 7.

I cannot see the point in downgrading, but as you say you don't like it. Makes sense to you but not to me.

[tribalfusion001]

If you want Win 8 to be more like Win 7, then buy and install Stardock Start8 for $4.99, it boots straight to the desktop, my computer, control panel etc are all accessible from the Start8 start button, plus win 8 runs a lot faster than win 7.

[draftvader]

Windows 8 certainly isn't Intuitive or more productive.

Maybe some of the Windows 8 fans here might understand why someone would want to downgrade to Windows 7 putting aside the aside the eye candy available in Windows 7:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpwKiRKmZc

Jumping about to see whether this person got to the desktop (rather than spend 25 minutes listening to his ego) I realise that he didn't. How much have I seen of Metro? Less than 2 minutes in total and 1 minute of that was trying to find how to get to the desktop.

Why ANY sane person with ANY experience with Windows would hang around in Metro on their PC is beyond me. It is a concept in its infancy and it does have plenty of uses, just not to the average user.....yet.

I guarantee in the next 2-3 years you will be using Metro apps on touch screens in locations that you never expect. You probably won't even know you are. Microsoft couldn't care how they make their licence sales but they do care about volume. Simplifying the user experience is not just about your or my experience at our PC but how many times we will be in contact with the Windows architecture throughout our day without even knowing it. I still have the utmost respect for 7 but have to admit that 8 has really grown on me since I stopped listening to the naysayers and got on with it myself. The opinions of some posters that I respect on TV helped me make my decision, so thanks guys.

[A1Str8]

If the computer doesn't have dvd drive then you will need to use a usb stick for installation. You will need to get your hands on a windows 7 system and upon installing it you should be able to use the product key that is currently in use on your machine.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[kkerry]

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/637-windows-8.1-feature-news.html

Some of the complaints about Windows 8 look like being addressed in 8.1, available for downloading here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/preview-download

[bangkokstick]

Why not just try to get used as everybody else ?

Sorry but I often meet the same problem with new things but i don't think it's bad for us to try to adapt and thing differently than just living in the past...

Just my idea, sorry :-)

[chrisinth]

If the computer doesn't have dvd drive then you will need to use a usb stick for installation. You will need to get your hands on a windows 7 system and upon installing it you should be able to use the product key that is currently in use on your machine.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

One point that should be added here is that the USD (if this is what you are going to use for installation) has to be bootable.

Probably the easiest way to do this is from this link: http://rufus.akeo.ie/

But would have to agree with the majority of posters, keep Win 8 and use a 3rd party to make it look like Win 7.

NB: it wouldn't do any harm making a bootable USB from the hidden partition for Win 8. If you ever have a hard drive failure on your notebook, you will have a hard drive failure, all partitions................

[chrisinth]

For anyone interested, if you need to slipstream to, or customize your Win 8 installation (your own drivers, etc), Winreducer 8 is a good little programme to use. It is (was) still in Beta, but worked without a problem for me.

Talk-through:

http://www.howtogeek.com/169522/customize-your-windows-8-installation-disc-and-slipstream-updates-with-winreducer/

[draftvader]

For anyone interested, if you need to slipstream to, or customize your Win 8 installation (your own drivers, etc), Winreducer 8 is a good little programme to use. It is (was) still in Beta, but worked without a problem for me.

Talk-through:

http://www.howtogeek.com/169522/customize-your-windows-8-installation-disc-and-slipstream-updates-with-winreducer/

In a similar vien http://www.rt7lite.com/downloads.html

This also can create a bootable USB from iso or original media

[draftvader]

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/637-windows-8.1-feature-news.html Some of the complaints about Windows 8 look like being addressed in 8.1, available for downloading here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/preview-download

Looks like MS have missed the point on this one. What's the point in the start menu they've put back? Classic Shell. It's free and brilliant.

[Chicog]

Dont downgrade there is no need and so many great apps with windows 8. There is only one thing missing that costs you $5 usd to buy the start screen . Start 8 from stardock makes windows 8 exactly the same as windows 7 with switchable screen from 8 to 7.

Dont downgrade you will regret it get stardock start 8 then star using the best windows ever built.

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/

Why pay $5 when Classic Shell is free?

[JakeBKK]

isn't always the same, with mr gates comes out with? you have to hang back, relax .or use marc's products. at least the run as they supposed to do. I mean there is not a single windows version which works before SP1 I liked NT4 , but 8 ? I really try. And now i have to deal with that oulook shit. get you ship into shape.

[Chicog]

Have you been at the Chang?

[draftvader]

JakeBKK Change your password or call an exorcist!

[ozyjon]

Just keep in mind something,, one time in Laos my laptop / notebook crashed big time, i used a recovery program to at least get all my photos off the drive,, got new installation disk to re-load windows 7 and then got all the drivers for my machine,,, to this day it still has glitches and not all the keys work as they should,, keep this in mind.

[JakeBKK]

JakeBKK Change your password or call an exorcist!

i"m not sure if that would fix the issue. half of the windows releases we have seen, i would call half baked. NT4 was okay, 95,98and VISTA did not cut the chase. 7 is stable And now we are dealing with 8 and RT? Yes, you get it for free. Good for you. 8 is so insecure, i have no idea what to do with it.

I can put whatever AV on it and it will get infected within two days.And you don't have to do damn thing for that.

i respect everybody on this board. Mr Gates, i dont. Mark Shuttleworth.? Yes. Debian is so much better. The best thing, which came of the gates family is malaria research.

No daemons left here.

[draftvader]

JakeBKK Change your password or call an exorcist!

i"m not sure if that would fix the issue. half of the windows releases we have seen, i would call half baked. NT4 was okay, 95,98and VISTA did not cut the chase. 7 is stable And now we are dealing with 8 and RT? Yes, you get it for free. Good for you. 8 is so insecure, i have no idea what to do with it.

I can put whatever AV on it and it will get infected within two days.And you don't have to do dam_n thing for that.

i respect everybody on this board. Mr Gates, i dont. Mark Shuttleworth.? Yes. Debian is so much better. The best thing, which came of the gates family is malaria research.

No daemons left here.

Sorry JakeBKK I think I was a little too cryptic. I was referencing your previous post that appeared to have been garbled and slightly incomprehensible (i.e. not your usual self). However it has provoked you to make a comment about security in Windows 8. Please could you detail some of the issues that you have noticed so that Win8 users can look at these holes and work out whether we can do anything about them.

This kind of feedback would be well received by people who know your posts on these forums.

[Chicog]

JakeBKK Change your password or call an exorcist!

i"m not sure if that would fix the issue. half of the windows releases we have seen, i would call half baked. NT4 was okay, 95,98and VISTA did not cut the chase. 7 is stable And now we are dealing with 8 and RT? Yes, you get it for free. Good for you. 8 is so insecure, i have no idea what to do with it.

I can put whatever AV on it and it will get infected within two days.And you don't have to do dam_n thing for that.

i respect everybody on this board. Mr Gates, i dont. Mark Shuttleworth.? Yes. Debian is so much better. The best thing, which came of the gates family is malaria research.

No daemons left here.

Sorry JakeBKK I think I was a little too cryptic. I was referencing your previous post that appeared to have been garbled and slightly incomprehensible (i.e. not your usual self). However it has provoked you to make a comment about security in Windows 8. Please could you detail some of the issues that you have noticed so that Win8 users can look at these holes and work out whether we can do anything about them.

This kind of feedback would be well received by people who know your posts on these forums.

I too would like to know about his security in Windows 8. I have 5 PCs with it on, all running Avast, and not one of them is infected, nor do they "get infected within two days".

So something else is at work here.

Windows 8 security is better than any previous release of Windows.

http://www.derekseaman.com/2013/06/teched-windows-8-security-wca-b210.html

[JakeBKK]

JakeBKK Change your password or call an exorcist!

i"m not sure if that would fix the issue. half of the windows releases we have seen, i would call half baked. NT4 was okay, 95,98and VISTA did not cut the chase. 7 is stable And now we are dealing with 8 and RT? Yes, you get it for free. Good for you. 8 is so insecure, i have no idea what to do with it.

I can put whatever AV on it and it will get infected within two days.And you don't have to do dam_n thing for that.

i respect everybody on this board. Mr Gates, i dont. Mark Shuttleworth.? Yes. Debian is so much better. The best thing, which came of the gates family is malaria research.

No daemons left here.

Sorry JakeBKK I think I was a little too cryptic. I was referencing your previous post that appeared to have been garbled and slightly incomprehensible (i.e. not your usual self). However it has provoked you to make a comment about security in Windows 8. Please could you detail some of the issues that you have noticed so that Win8 users can look at these holes and work out whether we can do anything about them.

This kind of feedback would be well received by people who know your posts on these forums.

I too would like to know about his security in Windows 8. I have 5 PCs with it on, all running Avast, and not one of them is infected, nor do they "get infected within two days".

So something else is at work here.

Windows 8 security is better than any previous release of Windows.

http://www.derekseaman.com/2013/06/teched-windows-8-security-wca-b210.html

Chong, i know we disagreed sometime in the past, especially how to handle rouge software.The scans are not finished and i can look before tomorrow. noon. There is some new crap i have not seen before.It has Asian origin, the DLL's are more commercial.I think Chinese Right now i am running.everything i've got. I will not post what software i use. it usually ends up with computers not starting , if you don't know what you do.

You are welcome to PM me if you like.i'm trying to help a friend out here.he obviously didn't do anything.his girlfriend ether.And i can look at some strange piece of code stealing your sykpe an gmail logins.

But i will throw my friend a bone and buy him a kaspersky license tomorrow.

Going this distance, is simply ludacris.

He is a user, he doesn't have to understand the circumstances

Chong, where are you located at? i'll drop the code tomorrow. Let's have beer then. it. will not help my friend doing.... i'm not sure about that one.But, Chong you are bright guy, let's have fun then.

[Chicog]

<deleted> man, you need to lay off the sauce a bit. And tell your mate to stop surfing porn sites and update Java.

[Trembly]

. . . TPM appeared in 2006 as security technology. However, version 2.0 would implant a chip on every single PC, allowing it to control which programs could and couldn’t be executed because under Windows 8, there is no override. The users thus basically surrender control over their computers. . . .

Built-in backdoor: German govt warns of significant Windows 8 security danger

[draftvader]

. . . TPM appeared in 2006 as security technology. However, version 2.0 would implant a chip on every single PC, allowing it to control which programs could and couldn’t be executed because under Windows 8, there is no override. The users thus basically surrender control over their computers. . . .

Built-in backdoor: German govt warns of significant Windows 8 security danger

Whilst this makes very interesting reading and seems to be a reason for mass panic I must add, for those that did not spot it or don't entirely understand the article, that TPM is chip based. This means that there needs to be a specific physical chip on your motherboard. I have just checked mine and it appears that it does not. I am, for example only, running an ASUS P8p67 EVO motherboard. I have just been doing some research on this matter and have found the following information.

This page at Tom's Hardware has useful advice http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/290813-30-motherboards

to save you reading the whole article

In general, assuming the TPM information isn't listed in the specifications (it usually is), then the best way to find out if a board you want supports TPM, is to go to the manufacturer's website for that board, download the manual, and search for "TPM".

This article seems to point at Dell having heavy incorporation of this chipset as well. http://www.wave.com/support/trusted-platform-module-tpm-disabled-unavailable-or-locked-1

However there does seem to be a way to deal with this in BIOS (not for the feint hearted!)

BUT FINALLY (and probably most importantly) http://www.zdnet.com/dont-let-paranoia-over-the-nsa-and-tpm-weaken-your-security-7000019791/

[4evermaat]

Why not just try to get used as everybody else ?

 

Sorry but I often meet the same problem with new things but i don't think it's bad for us to try to adapt and thing differently than just living in the past...

 

Just my idea, sorry :-)

It was the way in which microsoft chose to do it; forcing the new metro interface on everyone after establishing the start menu method for years. It was arrogance, not logic, that went into that decision.

This was particularly annoying in a server environment (win2012). But as others have stated, classic shell (with a few minor customizations), fixed the problem.

One of the vps companies i work with say they have it preloaded with all new 2012 servers.

I currently use win7. I might try win8 when sp1 comes out. Any pressing reason to do it any earlier?

"...the 2nd best time to plant a tree is today." Sent from ThaiVisa app (Galaxy Note 2).

[Chicog]

I currently use win7. I might try win8 when sp1 comes out. Any pressing reason to do it any earlier?

Not really. But "SP1", otherwise known as 8.1, is out on October 18th.

[Trembly]

To those who are advocating learning the ropes of the new system, I hear you, but I use my computer to run my business and the opportunity-cost in productivity whilst retraining myself is just too great.

I understand Windows 8 is supposed to be optimised for touch-screens and so on but that's completely irrelevant to me because I use a standard non-touch-screen laptop.

Classic Shell doesn't work perfectly. Sometimes the start button appears, sometimes it goes AWOL and I have to remind it to display itself by going into Classic Shell settings. Perhaps I'm just 'not used to it yet', but Windows 8 still irritatingly forces me to go the long way round or resort to keyboard shortcuts for some very simple actions.

I was just doing a search for a good ISO mounter when I decided to see what the interweb has to say about W8 SP1; I reckon I can stretch my patience with W8 until October, if what they say about it being a mea culpa by Microsoft regarding the lack of some fundamental features from W7 in W8 is true.

In the meantime though, can someone please recommend a good, free tool for creating a W7 installation disk on my USB flash drive (just in case)?

[kkerry]

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Everything for which you asked is already on post #13 and prior.

[Trembly]

Everything for which you asked is already on post #13 and prior.

Thanks Jiu-Jitsu, somehow missed that!

[NeverSure]

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread - running of to a meeting.

The first thing I'd want to know before downgrading is if the manufacturer supplies drivers for the earlier OS for the machine. If so I'd want to download them to something like a USB stick. If not, I'm out of luck.

The second thing I'd want to know is if the bios can be set to boot from USB or LAN, since the machine doesn't have a DVD drive.

Put me in the classic shell camp to avoid a lot of headaches.