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20 Jun 17
22:09
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Date Joined:
14 Sep 04
Good evening, everyone.
I have just been given an ASUS laptop which originally had Windows 7 pre-installed. At some point this was upgraded to Windows 10; no idea if this was via the free Microsoft online download or another installation disc, but it was at least two years ago.
Due to application conflicts with certain software I am now keen to restore the computer to its original Windows 7 Professional 64 bit operating system, the problem being that a simple 'recovery' option is out of the question due to the upgrade being well past the thirty-day time limit. Google directed me to the Microsoft website and a free 'downgrade' looked promising, but when asked for the original product key (found on the computer's base) it was rejected with the error message "this product key is invalid as it was pre-installed on a machine." This accusation is true, of course, but why it should invalidate matters is beyond me.
So, a little advice would be much appreciated, please. Should I simply purchase a new copy of Windows 7 Professional 64 bit with product key from eBay for about £15? And if I do so, can I expect any issues trying to install it over the current Windows 10?
All advice greatly received.
I have just been given an ASUS laptop which originally had Windows 7 pre-installed. At some point this was upgraded to Windows 10; no idea if this was via the free Microsoft online download or another installation disc, but it was at least two years ago.
Due to application conflicts with certain software I am now keen to restore the computer to its original Windows 7 Professional 64 bit operating system, the problem being that a simple 'recovery' option is out of the question due to the upgrade being well past the thirty-day time limit. Google directed me to the Microsoft website and a free 'downgrade' looked promising, but when asked for the original product key (found on the computer's base) it was rejected with the error message "this product key is invalid as it was pre-installed on a machine." This accusation is true, of course, but why it should invalidate matters is beyond me.
So, a little advice would be much appreciated, please. Should I simply purchase a new copy of Windows 7 Professional 64 bit with product key from eBay for about £15? And if I do so, can I expect any issues trying to install it over the current Windows 10?
All advice greatly received.
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Some more modern laptops etc can ship with a code embedded in the bios that identifies it with microsoft. Is it a wipe or reinstall over?
Ahh wait a minute. You may have installed the retail verison of windows 7 when you need an OEM version? |
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i bought a disc ten years ago from ebay - £5 hirem recovery programs. very useful for reinstalling operating systems. I regularly blank out my hard drive and reinstall xp or vista. pc slows up. it has a mini xp startup feature. i format the drive, then put in the windows disc.it recognizes it and within a couple of hours - all done.
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ARe you trying to install the EXACT same version of windows - be careful about that. If it's a wipe, you can install anyway without a key then you have X days to use it. You could try than and activate later. If automatic fails and you have a nice telephone manner you can then call asus or microsft and try and get it sorted over the phone.
Those cheap ones over ebay are a bit .. odd. Do they not do something like sell you a used license that's allocated to a dead PC or something? |
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Sincere thanks for replying, JC.
You must forgive my ignorance, sir, as I'm very much a novice in this area (I even had to look up what OEM stood for just then). All I can tell you is that the laptop is currently running Windows 10, but I would like to downgrade to Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. |
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Thank you, Zorro.
It doesn't have to be the exact version of Windows 7 that was originally on the computer (stored as WINDOWS OLD I believe). Any copy of Windows 7 Professional 64 bit will suffice. Regards buying a copy from eBay, you are right, they sell you the disc (brand new with hologram and product key) along with a battered old motherboard to conform with the rules. |
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Also a lot of laptops don't ship with disks as they have a recovery partition with windows 7 on it to reinstall. Do you think you have that?
I think for ASUS try hit F9 at boot or something? I'd be wary of doing all this without backing up just in case, if you have important data. Playing with a blank disk isn't risky, this kind of is! Look up Asus recovery partition etc see if that helps. If it has it it'll have the w7 it came with. |
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I am quite happy to wipe everything from the hard drive beforehand if necessary, including the Windows 10, the only problem being I am not quite sure how to go about it.
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Where do I look to find out if my laptop has a recovery partition with Windows 7 on it, JC?
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Well quick answer I think is type disk management into windows search to get the disk managemetn tool (w7 has it I'm guessing windows 10 will) and see what partions you have on disk 0. You probably have one like 100mb in size, and a big one that's your drive C: and if there's a recovery it'll be .. not sure ghow big.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-i-know-if-my-laptop-has-an-inbuilt-recovery/e1d73e63-eab7-4074-8118-9e6e038d9498 Guy there says 8-16gb. If you do that what are the partition sizes for disc 0? I assume you have only one HD? |
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Thank you, JC.
There doesn't appear to be a search function in Windows 10, but I have managed to eventually find the disk management. Disk 0 has four partitions: 19.53 GB Healthy (primary partition) OS (C:) 78.03 GB NTFS Healthy (system boot, page file, active, crash dump, primary partition) 450 MB Healthy (recovery partition) DATA (D:) 204.87 GB NTFS Healthy (logical drive) |
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Even though it says 450 MB, I don't think there is actually anything in the recovery partition. When one right clicks over the other partitions a load of options become available, including OPEN. Right clicking over the recovery partition just brings up a HELP option. :(
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Can I just wipe everything off the hard drive and start again with a Windows 7 installation disc?
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you need to get to fdisk command. ? i'm old school maybe there is a work around with the more up to date OS.
do you just put your OS disc in and ask it to over write everything. or is it gonna stall halfway through like usual? |
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Im no computer buff ,but how about returning to factory settings? If w7 was preinstalled why wounldnt that restore it?
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I have done the same thing with a laptop last month, i got the same version of windows 7 from ebay ( it doesn't really come with a motherboard or any hardware ).
You get the option of formatting your hard drive at the start of the installation. Just go into your BIOS settings and change it to boot from your cd/dvd drive first, then put the windows 7 cd in the drive and re-start your pc. And it validated ok with Micro$oft after installation too  |
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Smar Tarse, can you tell me who on ebay you got the win 7 installation from, please?
I had a windows 7 laptop and when the windows 10 offered me a free update I took it. Big mistake  It updated fine, but I soon realised that my poker sites would not happily play with it as win 10 had just come out. So I took the decision, like Pokermonster, to go back to win7. However, in the going back process something happened and it rendered my laptop useless. I have since put demo programs on it and it works fine but only for a month. I don't want to pay for win 10 as I have my desk top, but it would be useful to have the laptop as backup when my old desktop crashes whilst in the middle of a game. I have seen them on offer, but like you, I was a bit dubious about the validation process with microsoft, but you say it was fine. |
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Annie, it was seller: activeit_force. They have got a lot of negative feedback
 , but for just a tenner i took the risk. The installation went without any problems, same with the validation and subsequent updates, all ok. |
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You can format the hard drive in windows explorer. Start - my computer or this pc depending upon operating system, then right click on the c: drive and select format. Don't format it until you have the means to re-install an alternative!
I have had no issues buying & installing operating systems on ebay. Check the seller has a decent number of & near 100% +ve feedback. |
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The one that sells a license key for £15.25 implies you have to download the software from microsoft (probably as an iso file that you write to create a cd) then you use the supplied code. This being the case,
Windows 7 Professional Win 7 Pro 32/64 Bits Product Key direkt Versand OEM from net.up can be had for £3.04  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Windows-7-Professional-Win-7-Pro-32-64-Bits-Product-Key-direkt-Versand-OEM/182480231267?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D44884%26meid%3D745137251f0240549d15e9748cd9da9a%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D262939557472 I presume that you'd pick your language as the operating system installs |
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Instructions here :-
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7 |
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control panel - system to check whether you have a 64 or 32 bit system
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Why are you purchasing new products keys? If you look at the bottom of your laptop (or sometimes underneath the battery), you'll find a sticker with your OS and license key on there, as said above you can download your version of Windows 7 ISO for free, use Windows USB/DVD Download Tool to pop it on a USB stick and install it right over whatever windows you are already using, no need to faff about with partitions. If you need to keep files , just drag and drop them onto another USB stick. It's very simple to do.
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Thanks for the help
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