Windows 10: Go Back to the Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10

Please let us know how it went.

 

You're most welcome! Nobre The edition of 10 you are seeing going on or trying to at least will be following the upgrade path for the edition of 8.1 you are upgrading from either the 8.1 Home edition to 10 Home or 8.1 Pro to 10 Pro.

If you do end up with a failed upgrade and end up back at the 8.1 desktop there's an alternate route to see 10 go on fresh rather then dealing this type of problem again. Clean Install Windows 10 Directly without having to Upgrade First - Windows 10 Forums

You will still want to look over the other guide as well while that will show you how to bypass the need to see an upgrade install as long as you are able to get 8.1 back. If the upgrade should finish and end up seeing activation you can then go for the clean install if the upgrade doesn't seem right.

For the time depending on which version you end up in if you should still be looking at the inverted display you can use the display manager depending on which graphics adapter you have to flip the screen to the opposite. You will have to work upside down however to press the Windows and R keys together and type "dxdiag" in at the run command line type prompt that will appear and then open the first tab for "Display 1". At the top that will show NVidia, AMD/ATI, or other like Intel. For NVidia you will need to bring up the control center for that software and select the "Rotate display" option under "Display. For ATI driven you would right click on the desktop to choose the Catalyst Control Center and under "Common Display Tasks" you click on the "Rotate Desktop" option there.

Either way whether back in 8.1 or finding the upgrade complete you may end up needing to go for the latest display drivers if the problem continues once you have the normal display back. But regardless of the outcome get back in here to let us know how it turns out.

 

I'm just curious. Actually, that's a lie. LOL. I'm rolling back to Win 7 and have been sitting here staring at a screen titled "Go back to previous build" (I never got the option to go back specifically to Windows 7) for now about 30 minutes. How long does the rollback generally take?

Having been burned by MSoft's recovery options before, I have all my installation media with me and all critical files are backed up but I'm just wanting a rough time frame so I'm not waiting for something that's never going to complete.

Thanks!

 

Hello sloantech280, *Smile

If you're seeing this on a blue screen, then you may not have started the process yet.

If it's on a black screen, then it should be working on restoring the previous Windows if it hasn't been longer than 31 days since you upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7.

Usually, it doesn't more than 15 minutes or so to finish. However, this also depends on the performance of your computer and if there were any issues with Windows. Issues could slow the process.

As long as you have hard drive activity, it's best to wait and let it finish unless you decide to bite the bullet and do a clean install.

 

Thanks, Brink! It's been an hour and a half on the blue screen I described with "Restarting" next to MS's spinning dots.

Guess I'll just go ahead and blow it away. No sense waiting for something that might not happen.

Oh wow. I hit the restart button on the front of the tower, just to see if that did anything or confirm I needed to do a clean install. Got a black screen for the amount of time it took to compose this reply on my phone. Right before I typed "Oh wow" the computer beeped and I'm now at the Windows 7 login screen! Cool!

Thanks again & Happy New Year!

 

Great news. I hope you have a Happy New Year as well. *Party

 

My computer has been sitting at the blue restarting screen for 15 hours. How much longer can it take?

 

Hello maraviclin, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

It normally shouldn't take that long at all unless you had some issues with you computer before starting.

If you still have hard drive activity during this, then it would be best to let it sit until finished to avoid a possible clean install.

 

Shawn - the tute needs changing perhaps (?), it appears Microsoft is pulling the rug on rollbacks: Microsoft reduces Windows 10 roll-back grace period | Computerworld

 

Hey Peter, *Smile

I was hoping that may have just been for the anniversary build, and not for future Insider builds and OS upgrades. I'll update the tutorial now.

Here's the full context of it though: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...or-windows-8.1

If it’s been fewer than 10 days since you upgraded to the Windows 10, or fewer than 30 days if you upgraded before July 29th, 2016:

 

Ah, that clarifies it, I should have researched a bit more. Thanks.

 

This brings me to the previous version pf windows 10 or brings me back to windows 8.1(i've never had it)

 

Hello Andrei, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

This will bring you back to whatever previous Windows was installed before your current Windows 10.

If you previously had an older version of Windows 10 installed, then that would be what it goes back to.

 

There should be a warning prominently posted at the top of this and any similar Tute to the effect that unless there is at least twice the space available on the drive than the size of windows.old folder, the recovery wont proceed.
(Someone emailed me this complaining that my favourite websites had let them down).

 

Thank you Peter @Ex_Brit. Added to the notes. *Smile