Windows 10: Can I delete Win 10 and install 7?

I believe that this isn't a physical issue, but rather one of licensing.

You can't go from 10 to 7 without a clean install. The issue is whether you'd have to purchase a Win7 license to permit you to activate the new Win7 installation.

I'm no expert on MS licensing, and I'm not clear on whether buying a Pro upgrade would buy you downgrade rights if you don't currently have them.

At least in the US, a home to pro license isn't a great deal cheaper than a system builder Win7 Pro license. (The EULA for that may not permit that to be installed on a home system, but I am unaware that there has ever been enforcement of that.)

If the laptop was never sold with 7, it makes sense trying to get 10 sorted on it before messing around with an OS downgrade.

 

I started off in the middle did not read the OP. Will do better.. Sorry.

 

It is not just a licencing issue - almost certainly OP would need a new licence based on info we have gleaned.

It MAY also be a technical issue, as many new devices now simply do not have suitable Windows 7 drivers anymore. It may install and use generic drivers, but possible with reduced functionality.

 

Been there done that, no big deal. *Wink

 

As far as I know, no, upgrading to 10 Pro doesn't automatically get you downgrade rights. It just gets you 10 Pro. The way I understand it, downgrade rights come with the PC when purchased. And It has to have 10 Pro installed to qualify for that option. Also not all OEM's offers it on all models. It's up to them if they want to authorize it.

So, to make a long story short, upgrading from Home to Pro won't magically get you downgrade rights. And even if it did, by buying the upgrade right from the OEM that sold you the PC. < The only way I can even remotely see it working. Downgrading to Windows 7 isn't going to easy peasy. IMHO your still looking at a clean install to get there.

 

Before I do anything, I would make a trip to the drivers section for your device on the ASUS support page. Then see if Windows 7 is even an option. My laptop came installed with Windows 8.0 Core. Windows 7 64 bit is an option for me, but only because at some point, that's what it shipped with from the factory. From what I've seen, most OEM's don't develop drivers for an OS that, that device never shipped with from the factory. For example, there are no drivers for Windows 10 for my K75DE Laptop. They moved on to newer models when Windows 10 was released. My laptop is fine with the Windows Update supplied drivers though so no big deal for me. IMHO, Windows 10 is much better stock driver wise than previous Windows operating systems were.

 

Thank you so much to everyone for all the replies and terrific information!

I think I'm going to go with your idea alphanumeric. I really like the thought of going with a pure Windows 10 install without having all the bloatware.

And if that doesn't work there are many great suggestions here *Smile

 

^This^
If the OP's laptop is Skylake then installing Windows 7 will be really tricky if your laptop manufacturer doesn't offer Windows 7 support. I did a little research on this when my brother-in-law built his custom Skylake gaming rig because he originally wanted Windows 7. It ended up being more trouble than it was worth and he opted to use Windows 10 instead. The problem is that Skylake chipsets treat all USB ports as XHCI (not just the USB 3.0 ports like on older chipsets). Since Windows 7 doesn't have native XHCI support, none of your USB ports will work during the install. This may not be an issue for your laptop if it's like mine and uses PS/2 for the integrated keyboard and touchpad but I'm not sure how Skylake chipsets treat that interface either (Mine is Haswell). Also, your laptop will definitely need to have an integrated SATA DVD drive for the install and you'll need at least the manufacturer's Windows 7 XHCI driver burned on an optical disk to load it and get your USB ports working after the install. If they don't offer Windows 7 drivers for your laptop, you might be out of luck.

 

Also.. because everyone has asked I'll answer *Smile

ROG GL752VW | ROG - Republic Of Gamers | ASUS Canada
is what I'm using.

I haven't looked into drivers yet as I am tracking down one of the 10 USB drives located in random locations in my home *Smile

 

Before you do the clean install it would be a good idea to backup your device drivers.

Backup and Restore Device Drivers in Windows 10 Windows 10 Hardware Drivers Tutorials

 

If you upgraded from 7 Home to 10 Home, you can rollback to 7 Home, within a certain time limit. Once the windows old folder is gone you would have to clean install 7 Home to go back.

 

Hi,
Sure take a peak at this
Create a Windows 7 USB flash installation with new drives for new MB's - Windows 7 Help Forums

Asus has a tool also you can look into
[Desktop PC/All-in-One]Windows 7 and USB 3.0 driver installation for Skylake(H110/H170/Z170/B150/Q150/Q170) and Braswell platform | Official Support | ASUS USA