Downgrading Windows 10 to 7 on Laptop

[Bonkrood]

I'm looking to downgrade a Laptop that comes pre-installed with Windows 10 to Windows 7.
The laptop in question is an Asus F555UA-EH71 series X555UA, which the Asus website only has driver downloads for Windows 10.
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/X555UA/HelpDesk_Download/

Despite the lack of drivers, is there any way I can downgrade to Windows 7?

 

[FALC0N]

Yes. Windows 10 and windows 7 are different versions of the same OS. As such, driver cross-compatibility is very high. Also, it's likely that windows 7 specific drivers can be had elsewhere. It's not like that hardware has never been used with windows 7 before.

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, there's not, unless you own a license for Windows 7 that's not in use on another machine, and even if you do, the lack of driver support is likely to make some if not all of the hardware and hardware features, unusable. Plus, there is really no reason to go backwards. Support for Windows 7 is ending before long and almost all of the new hardware being released from this point forward will only have support for Windows 10 and in some cases Linux. Vendors don't want to support old operating systems on new hardware because it's too much effort to develop drivers for things that won't work right anyhow.

If there is something you don't like about windows 10, like the start menu or desktop, you can add a custom shell that will make it look and act like Windows 7 or XP, like Classic shell or Startisback.

If privacy is your concern, then you can install Spybot Anti-beacon, which allows you to turn off all of the reporting telemetry.

Aside from those two concerns, there is really no reason to not like Win10. It's more stable, has better features and runs faster than any previous version of Windows that I've used, at least now that the majority of the bugs have been worked out.

 

[Darkbreeze]

It's not like that hardware has never been used with windows 7 before.

Huh? His laptop is less than a year old, so his hardware is as well. Windows 7 was released in 2009, and the last year it was officially THE current operating system was 2012, so yes, there is a lot of hardware that was not designed for, nor will it run, on Windows 7, without some kind of custom driver. While there are some cases where those are available, and while some drivers ARE compatible between the two, most of them are forwards compatible, not backwards.

Windows 7 and 10 have entirely different Windows driver framework versions, and just as there were a good many older devices that wouldn't work after the transition to Windows 8, there are even more that won't work with Windows 10 because the manufacturers refuse to develop new drivers that will make that hardware compatible or even functional. There are lists of laptops that the OEM's have flatly stated won't be getting Windows 10 support in regard to drivers and both Microsoft and Intel have made it clear that they have no intent to support new hardware on the older operating systems. Solutions will be limited and will likely have to be custom in a lot of cases.

 

[USAFRet]

Why, specifically, are you wanting to go from Win 10 back to Win 7?
On a device you purchased with Win 10)

 

[Jurgen Teuwen]

No, there's not, unless you own a license for Windows 7 that's not in use on another machine, and even if you do, the lack of driver support is likely to make some if not all of the hardware and hardware features, unusable. Plus, there is really no reason to go backwards. Support for Windows 7 is ending before long and almost all of the new hardware being released from this point forward will only have support for Windows 10 and in some cases Linux. Vendors don't want to support old operating systems on new hardware because it's too much effort to develop drivers for things that won't work right anyhow.

If there is something you don't like about windows 10, like the start menu or desktop, you can add a custom shell that will make it look and act like Windows 7 or XP, like Classic shell or Startisback.

If privacy is your concern, then you can install Spybot Anti-beacon, which allows you to turn off all of the reporting telemetry.

Aside from those two concerns, there is really no reason to not like Win10. It's more stable, has better features and runs faster than any previous version of Windows that I've used, at least now that the majority of the bugs have been worked out.

Why not accept Windows 10?
Let me count the reasons:
After foolishly agreeing to "upgrade" following the nagging prompts, my perfectly reliable and manageable Win 7 notebook, Win 10, without even a hint of a warning,
- uninstalled (deleted) a number of shortcuts from my Desktop,
- irretrievably trashed important spreadsheet files and other accounting data,
- reset my email client (Thunderbird) and trashed thousands of emails that I use for my small home business, as well as multiple email accounts. The messages going back several years are gone and cannot be restored.
- even as Administrator, locked me out of most folders on my hard drive with no way to gain access,
- took between 12 and 24 hours to restart after a shut down,
I finally gave up and re-installed Win 7 only to find that Win 10 had trashed my WIFI connection.

After spending days dealing with these problems, I am ready to join a class action lawsuit against MS to compensate for the malicious destruction of my data and the time spent trying to regain productive use of my computer.

Windows 10? Never again!
My next OS will be Unix.

 

[wpgwpg]

Unlike desktops, most parts on laptops are proprietary. That means that you will likely run into things like touchpad and WiFi problems due to lack of drivers. There are other ways you could have problems as well. The "telemetry" in Windows 10 can be turned off via the Settings -> Privacy app, whereas in 7 you can't turn them off so easy (MS has recently installed Windows updates for telemetry in 7 and 8). All my stuff works well with 10, although the only games I play are Solitaire and Spider Solitaire.

Good luck.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Windows 10? Never again!
My next OS will be Unix.

Been hearing the Unix/Linux argument since Windows 95. It never happens, and it won't in your case either. There are simply too many things that are not, and probably never will be, supported in those OS's and folks who cry about one thing in the forums when it comes to Windows will just cry about those things in the forums when it comes to Linux. If you aren't doing anything that can't be run on one of those systems, then perhaps that's what you should do.