Windows 10: need to downgrade, over 30 days after upgrade, no back up of win 8

I have a toshiba Satellite c855d-s5100, which I bought a few years back and came with windows 8 loaded. I upgraded to win 8.1 (which I loved over all), and then recently upgraded to win 10. Well, I thought I had done my research before upgrading, but I must have had a dyslexic moment, because while there are at least 50 Satellite models that are considered "suitable" for 10 by Toshiba, mine isn't one of them.

I had been holding out , hoping that the horrible lag and freezes, as well as the other more minor glitches, would soon be worked out via driver or OS updates, but eventually I gave up and decided I wanted to go back to 8.1. This was on Saturday, 34 days after install--which is when I found out about the 30-day easy reversion back to your previous OS. Heh.

EaseUS does me no good, since you need to have the program and create your back up before installation of win 10. Granted, had I access to more money, I would have gotten a memory stick and backed up 8.1 like an intelligent person; patience and I would have set up a recovery partition. But I didn't--and for the first time, I can't figure out how to fix my oops.

I opted to reset windows once I realized reversion wasn't going to happen easily, and I hoped that maybe the reset would help some of the glitchiness.

Heh.

Well, unlike when I reset 8.1--where I was kicked back to 8, all of the bloatware that came with my computer returned, etc., this time I had NOTHING. Realtek was my audio controller, now its Microsoft. Everything Toshiba--user guide, utilities, etc, is gone.

My computer, like many these days, for some bs reason came with no recovery media--just a recovery partition and the assurance that that should be all I need. So, my question is, where is that recovery partition? Did Windows write over the original, and in its exuberance delete not only the other win version but all the stock software and drivers (for better or worse) that came with my computer?

I'm stuck, and frustrated (this is just 1 of many things jabbing my sanity with a sharp stick at the moment, which is probably why I can't figure this out on my own)--will someone please help me bail my non-self-preserving ass out of this clusterfneh and give me back my computer and source of mental palate cleansing?

GRRRRAAAAUGH!!

Thank you in advance!

:)

 

Downgrade back to win 7.

I want to downgrade back to win 7, however that option is not available, its been over 30 days since i installed from the get win 10 icon. I have a external backup connected to my computer so all my files are backed up. I need help to go back to win 7. What
are the steps? Just don't like Win 10.

The option to go back has gone from the recovery option.

Bob Hen

 

Downgrading back to Windows 8 after 30 days

You are welcome.

 

Hi FemMorpheus,

Welcome to the 10forums.

Please read the tutorial for creating installation media for windows 8 / 8.1.
Via this way you should be able to return back to windows 8 / 8.1.

 

Hopefully you still have the license number for your Windows 8 written down somewhere, and then you can use the link that axe0 provided in order to create an ISO disc.

 

It is a laptop, the key is embedded in the BIOS so it should be detected with the installation so the OP can skip the license part if it is asked

 

If you do clean install Windows 8.1, make sure you backup your data first or you will lose it.

 

If it was my laptop, I'd try a clean install of Windows 10. If it ran 8.1 well but not 10, then the upgrade probably didn't install properly.

One downside to that is you won't restore any software that was pre-installed by the factory.

If you insist on reverting to 8.1, you may be able to acquire a restore disk from Toshiba:

Repair & Parts Support | Toshiba

(You'll need your serial number.)

I don't know that it's free, but I doubt that it's expensive. Good luck.

Please do yourself a favor: never do an OS upgrade again without making an image of the OS partition first. (An external USB hard drive would be the usual way to do it, but I got a 128GB USB flash drive on sale a couple of months ago for about $30US. I still need the HD to image the data drive, though.)

 

If you need to downgrade to your past operating system and Windows 10's rollback option is gone, your last option is to install Windows 8 in a virtual machine on your Windows 10 system—if you can get your hands on a product key and the older system discs. It’s a pain, but a VM will work surprisingly well for those times.

 

Installing in a VM requires a Windows 8 or 8.1 key. A Clean Install will use the key embedded in BIOS.

 

Hi, have you checked any possible causes for your laggy response?
When I first upgraded from 8, I had to do 2 or 3 things to get CPU use down and was initially disconcerted with a 'sticky' mouse pointer.

Please post a screenshot of your task manager (Details) ordered by CPU use and also disk use so we can see what's happening. I note you make no comment on these.

Ideas:
1. Check the graphics driver details. Try using an older graphics driver.
- after my upgrade I had a basic MS graphics driver- things improved some hours later when an Nvidia driver was downloaded automatically.
2. What AV are you using? If none, Windows Defender may be using a lot of CPU uselessly, and in Win 10 takes installation of another AV or special action to disable it completely.
3. Turn off customer experience completely (scheduled tasks). This also used a lot of CPU time.
Obviously (2&3) are irrelevant if your CPU use is low.
4. How does your PC behave in Safe Mode? If ok, then try a clean boot and see if your delays are related to some incompatible startup program. Having upgraded, what happens if you do a clean boot and disable any startups that you can? You might have an incompatible program.

 

You could order a recovery disc from here: : : Find Restore Disk : :

Cost is $26.99 according to their site:





I've used them before and never had a problem.

Forget it, all they have is Windows 7, sorry.