Returning to W7 outside 30 day limit

A few months ago i decided to try out 10 on my 'reserve'/backup PC in order to decide whether or not to upgrade my main machine to 10. I have now with about 6 weeks of free upgrade to go decided its time to upgrade it. However whilst i want my main machine to havw 10 i would prefer to have 7 on the backup PC just in case i have problems. The problem is i am now well outside the 30 day cutoff for restoring 7 to that machine.

 

I did find a trick on another advice website which involved the hidden restoration files for 7 and remaming them so that they did not get removed after the 30 days were up. Whilst i was still within the 30 days i did try this, however today when i decided to restore 7 i renamed the hidden restoration files back to their original names and tried to restore 7. No good. 10 is apparently not that easily fooled and told me the files had been removed and sorry you cant restore windows 7 now (despite the files needed still physically being on the machine). Clearly either i have dont something wrong or the trick for getting around the 30 day limit does not work.

 

Heres the page i used. There are other so called help pages that refer to this method as well.

 

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/rollback-windows-10-after-30-days

 

Any way i can make this work or will i have to do a clean install?

 

Of course if i upgrade my other PC and it doesnt work i will have the option of returning it to 7 within the normal 30 days, but realy i am hoping this wont be the case. It would just be nice to have a backup machine running 7 in case i find something doesnt work with 10 in the future.

This is the first time I've seen that article.  However, perhaps I should draw your attention to the following sentence at the end of the article...

This should work – but I cannot guarantee that it will, since I have not tried it! Let us know if this works for you or not.

To me, it's pretty obvious that you won't find a roll-back option in the Settings app even if you tricked Windows by renaming the folders in question.  I may be wrong, but I believe your only option is to reinstall Windows 7, that is, unless you made a backup before upgrading.

I would back up all of your stuff that you need on Windows 10 and just install Windows 7 again. Do you have the disc and the product key by chance?

We do frequent reverts at work and have found that the more use a system has seen before updating to W10 and the longer you stay with W10 before reverting - the more likely it is that the revert will fail.

We now advise customers of this, and get consent in advance for us to backup, wipe and reinstall Windows if necessary.

 

There's no harm at trying the revert - but if it fails, you may be left with a system that doesn't work.
As such, it's advisable to:

- find your W7 product key

- obtain W7 recovery media

- backup your data

- capture your W10 product key (just in case)

- ensure that the W10 installation is permanently activated (run "slmgr /xpr" (without the quotes) from a command prompt)

This will tell you if your copy of W10 is permanently activated on Microsoft's servers for that particular hardware.

Edited by usasma, 12 May 2016 - 05:42 AM.

 According to what I've read on the Microsoft forums, your Windows 7 license is invalidated 30 days after you upgrade to 10.  You can probably reinstall 7, but I don't know if you will be able to activate it.  I read some months ago that your license would be inactivated after 30 days, but the info in the November update FAQ says you CAN do it if your computer's manufacturer provided the means to go back to factory settings or an install disc.  Here's the link to that FAQ:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/upgrade-to-windows-10-faq .  Nothing like getting clear info from MS is there!  

 

 Good luck.

Edited by Niweg, 12 May 2016 - 02:00 PM.

 According to what I've read on the Microsoft forums, your Windows 7 license is invalidated 30 days after you upgrade to 10.

Really?  I would like to see where it says so.  If I follow the link in your post, this is one of the FAQs...

 

 

Furthermore, if I follow the highlighted link in the screenshot above it takes me to another set of FAQs.  Again, one of those FAQs is highlighted below...

 

 

While I do agree that Microsoft can sometimes be clear as mud, the above statements couldn't be more clear.  Specifically, if the "go back" option isn't available, the only requirements are a product key and installation media to reinstall your previous version of Windows.

 

Once again, I would like to see an official statement that says your Windows 7 or 8 license is invalidated.

The easiest and smartest way to be able to go back any time is to make a disk image of your system prior to upgrading to Windows 10. Anytime in the future you could easily reinstall the disk image and be back to your previous operating system!

 I saw it in the insider forum for Windows 10 some time ago, many months ago.  I don't know if it's still there or not.  Be my guest if you want to do the search through here:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp?auth=1   . 

Edited by Niweg, 14 May 2016 - 12:22 PM.

Okay, I did a quick search and came up with these FAQs written by one Andre Da Costa, MVP, Insider.  This is one of those FAQs...

When I upgrade a preinstalled (OEM) or retail version of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 license to Windows 10, does that license remain OEM or become a retail license?

If you upgrade from a OEM or retail version of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 to the free Windows 10 upgrade this summer, the license is consumed into it. Because the free upgrade is derived from the base qualifying license, Windows 10 will carry that licensing too.

 

If you upgrade from a retail version, it carries the rights of a retail version.

If you upgrade from a OEM version, it carries the rights of a OEM version.

 

Full version (Retail):

- Includes transfer rights to another computer.

- Doesn't require a previous qualifying version of Windows.

- Expensive

 

Upgrade version (Retail):

- Includes transfer rights to another computer.

- require a previous qualifying version of Windows.

- Expensive, but cheaper than full version

 

OEM :

OEM versions of Windows are identical to Full License Retail versions except for the following:

- OEM versions do not offer any free Microsoft direct support from Microsoft support personnel

- OEM licenses are tied to the very first computer you install and activate it on

- OEM versions allow all hardware upgrades except for an upgrade to a different model motherboard

- OEM versions cannot be used to directly upgrade from an older Windows operating system

As you can see, Mr Da Costa says the license is "consumed".  Oh, great.  BTW, where is the supporting evidence for this particular FAQ?  I see he has linked to supporting documentation elsewhere but not for this particular question and answer.

 

IMHO, Andre Da Costa might be an MVP and an Insider but that does not mean he speaks for Microsoft.  Anybody, including MVPs, are free to say or write anything they want.  If I were to believe everything I read, whether on Microsoft's forums or elsewhere, I am sure I would be led astray very quickly.

Sorry haven't replied before. Looks like it will have to be a reinstall of W7 if I want to go back. Unfortunately I don't have a backed up system image from before the upgrade. That would do it if I had one? I do have recovery discs from when 7 was last reinstalled on the machine plus I should have the licence code that came with the machine. None of these will preserve data though will it?

Incidentally I am about to finally upgrade my Packard Bell desktop to 10. I have some reservations but I have made sure everything is backed up including windows and the system is as 'clean' as I can get it so fingers crossed!

I have a Dell laptop purchased in 2011 that came with OEM Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.  About six months ago I did an in-place upgrade to Win10.  Then I wiped the computer with Killdisk, and did a clean install of Win10.  Then I again wiped the computer and installed Linux Mint.  Then I again wiped the computer and reinstalled Win7 from the Restore Disks I created when the laptop was new.  There were some problems with this, but they were unrelated to licensing and, in the end, Win7 is now up-and-running on that machine.  At no point in the reinstall of Win7 was I asked for the product key.

 

So I can testify that you can in fact reinstall Win7 after 30 days of Win10 without licensing issues.

 

If you run into problems using the Restore Disks you can read my thread http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/614694/errors-0xc000000e-0x4001100200001012-installing-win7/?p=4005312

Agouti,

 

         I believe that the "consumed" comment was meant to indicate that you cannot be running the previously licensed version of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 at the same time as you are running the Windows 10 installation that came from upgrading.

 

         I cannot count how many posts I've seen where people seem to think that it's A-OK to dual boot Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 where the Windows 10 is the direct result of an upgrade.

 

         It's not that you can't dual boot Win 7 or Win 8 with Win 10 if you so choose, but you have to have bought a license for one independent of the other.

 

         I don't know of a straightforward way for someone to say:  yes, you can roll back to a previous Windows 7 or 8.1 installation using a system image on a system you upgraded to Windows 10 using that previous version but only if you wipe out Windows 10 entirely as part of the process.

 

         Microsoft may be giving free upgrades through the end of July, but they're certainly not giving away free legal licenses for two OS installations for "the price of one."

My understanding (and it's a very basic layman's one) is that you have your licence for 7 or 8.1 and when you upgrade that license converts to a 10 license. That's why you can't have 10 and 7 operating on the one machine without purchasing a second license (I think we discussed this a while ago). Can't see why if you exercise the option to go back to 7 or reinstall the original OS, that the original license shouldn't still be valid. Microsoft in their infinite wisdom might have other ideas, but this seems the logical explanation.

My understanding (and it's a very basic layman's one) is that you have your licence for 7 or 8.1 and when you upgrade that license converts to a 10 license. That's why you can't have 10 and 7 operating on the one machine without purchasing a second license (I think we discussed this a while ago). Can't see why if you exercise the option to go back to 7 or reinstall the original OS, that the original license shouldn't still be valid. Microsoft in their infinite wisdom might have other ideas, but this seems the logical explanation.

 

That's essentially it.  You cannot have a Windows 10 and earlier Windows dual boot if and only if the Windows 10 license on the machine has come about as the result of an upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.  If you do that, you still have the option to buy a legal copy and license for Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and install it along with Windows 10.

 

The other way you could go at that is to buy a license for Windows 10 and set up your system to dual boot using your existing earlier version of Windows and the newly purchased Windows 10.

 

As far as I can tell, and also based on what's been said and shown here, is that if you upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8.1 that does not "invalidate" your existing license, per se, but it would be illegal (even if technically possible) to use that license if you are also running an instance of Win10 that was licensed by "consuming" the earlier Windows license as part of an upgrade.   If you later decide to downgrade, say, by restoring an earlier Windows system image you took there is no problem because the earlier license is valid and remains valid provided you are not also running an instance of Win10 which has a license that was created during the upgrade.   In theory you could change your mind an infinite number of times and bounce back and forth between Windows 10 and your earlier version so long as only one is installed and running at any one time on a given machine.

Richardf77,

 

        The way to preserve your data, presuming you did an upgrade with the "keep my files" option as most do, is to make a backup to an external drive of your personal data files before you do the Windows 7 reinstall, then copy them back to the locations you want them in after the Windows 7 reinstall is complete.

 

        If you didn't use the "keep my files" option, and you're past the 30 day rollback and the Windows.old file is gone, so are your personal data files.

 

        One should never, ever, do an in-place upgrade without having backed up one's own data at the bare minimum, even if one is keeping it as part of the upgrade.  The far preferable thing to do is to have a system image backup and separate data backup before doing an in-place upgrade in case disaster should strike.

Edited by britechguy, 02 June 2016 - 03:39 PM.