Downgrade from Windows 10 to 8

[Jahzara]

Oh really? That's great to know! I'll try getting the key with that program as well, just in case. Now I just need to get Windows 8 to install onto my USB drive...

 

[Jahzara]

I was finally able to get Windows 8 installed on a USB drive and got it to boot up. The installation screen came up and gave me two options; Upgrade or Custom. I tried to do custom first, to which it asked me where I wanted to install it. It gave me about 8 different options of places, all of which it said it couldn't install on cause there wasn't enough room... Any ideas on what to do?

 

[pete.i]

I was finally able to get Windows 8 installed on a USB drive and got it to boot up. The installation screen came up and gave me two options; Upgrade or Custom. I tried to do custom first, to which it asked me where I wanted to install it. It gave me about 8 different options of places, all of which it said it couldn't install on cause there wasn't enough room... Any ideas on what to do?

Can you list those options specifically the top 2 and the sizes that are listed. I would expect one of those options to be 300 to 500Gb at least and that should be the option you choose to install Windows. They are the places that the computer manufacturer puts his recovery partition and other junk, and I mean junk. I usually delete all the partitions so that I only have one left. One of those partitions (options) usually the first one, should be your "C" drive which is your working drive and that should be large enough to take Windows and other stuff. It already has that stuff on it from your previous install. Custom is the correct option to use after booting from your USB drive.

 

[Jahzara]

Here's the list of partitions. I'm guessing Drive 0 Partition 4 would be the best place install on?

Drive 0 Partition 1: WINRE_DRV Type: Recovery
Drive 0 Partition 2: SYSTEM_DRV Type: System
Drive 0 Partition 3 Type: MSR (Reserved)
Drive 0 Partition 4: WINDOWS8_OS Type: Primary
Drive 0 Partition 5 Type: Recovery
Drive 0 Partition 6: LENOVO_RECOVERY Type: Recovery
Drive 1 Partition 1 Type: OEM (Reserved)
Drive 1 Partition 2 Type: OEM (Reserved)

I think that the Drive 0 is my computer's regular Hard drive & Drive 1 is my solid state drive, as it has both. Not sure why there are so many partitions in Drive 0. Some of it looks like it's Lenovo's partition for its software though.
I was slightly frazzled with trying to figure out how to get the USB drive to work for over an hour, so I didn't see it originally. But there are options to format and delete partitions, even extend it.
What's the best way to go about doing a clean install? Should I just delete everything?

 

[pete.i]

The drive 0 partitions are your primary drive. The drive 1 partitions are a different drive as you have pointed out so forget that one. Drive 0 Parition 4 is your primary partition and that appears to have Windows 8 OS on it so that is the one to install Windows on to. I would delete all the other partitions because you will not need lenovo's junk back on your computer. If any of thos partitions are "protected" then you will not be able to delete them easily so best to leave them as is. After you have deleted all you can you should left with a partition that is called "unallocated" it should be quite big, certainly big enough to install Windows on to. If you are not happy doing this then just install on to partion 4. There is a slight downside to deleting everything in as much that if everything goes totally pear shaped at the moment you could use the lenovo recovery partition to get back to stage one. Once you have deleted all the partitions you will not have that option. So bearing in mind my warning what I would do is delete all the partitions on drive 0 and then install Windows from your USB drive on to the unallocated partition that is left. I woulld also go for Windows 10 as well rather than Win 8. Microsoft are going to, virtually, force you to have Win 10 sometime this year from what I have read on the net so you may as well go for it. It's not too bad. Certainly way way better than Win 8.1 and only marginally worse than Win 7.

 

[cb600fshornet]

Sorry to butt in, but if the laptop originally came with Windows 8 and the OP has upgraded it to Windows 10, isn't there a recovery solution within Windows 10 to allow you to downgrade back to Windows 8 without recovery media?

Plus, if you directly try to reinstall Windows 8, surely the key is now invalid as it's already been converted to a Windows 10 key?

EDIT:
Okay scratch that, the downgrade option is only available for up to one month after your upgrade from Windows 8 to 10: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-downgrade-windows-10-windows-8-1-7-1513612

 

[pete.i]

Sorry to butt in, but if the laptop originally came with Windows 8 and the OP has upgraded it to Windows 10, isn't there a recovery solution within Windows 10 to allow you to downgrade back to Windows 8 without recovery media?

Plus, if you directly try to reinstall Windows 8, surely the key is now invalid as it's already been converted to a Windows 10 key?

EDIT:
Okay scratch that, the downgrade option is only available for up to one month after your upgrade from Windows 8 to 10: How to downgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 or 7

I realise you scratched that but essentially you are right although as you have found out that downgrade option only lasts for 30 days. Having said that Microsoft do, now, supply a "Media Creation Tool" for Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. You can also get media for Windows 7 from Microsoft but that isn't quite so visible as the others. Once the Product number has been registered with Microsoft for either Win 7 or 8 that product number is then used for Win 10. It doesn't change to a Win 10 number. There are no product numbers supplied with Windows 10. Problems can arise if your computer is using UEFI rather than standard BIOS. Then the product number is embedded and isn't shown on a little blue sticker like the old days. Having said that Belarc or a similar program will display the product number but you shouldn't need it as during the Windows 10 installation process it should pick the number up automatically. Problems have arisen where an update hasn't been recieved and the product number hasn't been registerd then Windows wont activate then you have to contact Microsoft to sort it out. That is an experience in itself LOL.

I also suspect that somwhere along the line things have got mucked up anyway so possibly the only option is a clean install anyway. This is, by far, the better option anyway. Doing the upgrade from Win 8 or whatever drags all the crap along with it from the old intall. OOHH lots of anyways in there sorry LOL.

 

[Jahzara]

Since there are recovery partitions still on my computer, couldn't I theoretically access them to get Windows 8 back on my computer without using my USB drive?

I haven't had the issues of windows telling me there is a critical error which forces me to restart, like what I initially posted. It's been resolved somehow with updates. But I still can't use my touchscreen and would like to, that's why I want to downgrade to Win8.

 

[pete.i]

Yes you can. There should be instructions somewhere that came originally with your computer on how to do a "factory reset." You should be able to use your touch screen, though, with Windows 10. To be honest I have never used a touch screen so what I am about to say is purely speculation but I would assume that there is a driver that is associated with touch screen technology. If it isn't working then I would guess that that particular driver has either not transferred when you upgraded or has become corrupted. I cannot see it being in Microsoft's interest to develop an operating system to take advantage of touch screen technology and then, almost straight away, bring out an operating system that doesn't work with touch screen technology. But as I say, as I don't use touch screen, that is speculation on my part.

Back to you original question, you should be able to do factory restore in Windows 10. If you go to "settings" and then choose "recovery" there are various options to recover your computer. This will only recover back to Windows 10 though as I think you have gone past the 30 day period that would have allowed you to recover back to Windows 8. You would need to mash some keys when the computer starts up to get to the Lenovo ( I think that was the make of your pc) to activate the Lenovo recovery procedure. It might also be that you would have had to make recovery DVD when you got your pc. Most computers do prompt you to do that but most users ignore that. Post the manufacturer and model number of your computer and I will have a look. You could try that as well. Just Google it but it should be in your user manual somewhere.

 

[cb600fshornet]

I realise you scratched that but essentially you are right although as you have found out that downgrade option only lasts for 30 days. Having said that Microsoft do, now, supply a "Media Creation Tool" for Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. You can also get media for Windows 7 from Microsoft but that isn't quite so visible as the others. Once the Product number has been registered with Microsoft for either Win 7 or 8 that product number is then used for Win 10. It doesn't change to a Win 10 number. There are no product numbers supplied with Windows 10. Problems can arise if your computer is using UEFI rather than standard BIOS. Then the product number is embedded and isn't shown on a little blue sticker like the old days. Having said that Belarc or a similar program will display the product number but you shouldn't need it as during the Windows 10 installation process it should pick the number up automatically. Problems have arisen where an update hasn't been recieved and the product number hasn't been registerd then Windows wont activate then you have to contact Microsoft to sort it out. That is an experience in itself LOL.

I also suspect that somwhere along the line things have got mucked up anyway so possibly the only option is a clean install anyway. This is, by far, the better option anyway. Doing the upgrade from Win 8 or whatever drags all the crap along with it from the old intall. OOHH lots of anyways in there sorry LOL.

That's been resolved with the latest builds of Windows 10. You can now enter your old Windows 7 or Windows 8 key into Windows 10 (if you've installed it fresh, meaning your digital signature wasn't registered during upgrade), and it should activate successfully.

When I upgraded to Windows 10 from 8.1 I had to run the upgrade (in order to register the key) and then reinstall fresh using the USB stick I created. I used the .iso download from MSDN though and made my own bootable USB rather than use the Microsoft tool.

What I meant was: Once you've upgraded your computer to Windows 10, has anyone tried doing a clean (not inbuilt downgrade) install back to the previous operating system (e.g. Windows 7) using the original product key? Or is that key now associated digitally now with Windows 10?