Am I screwed in terms of going back to Windows 7?

[CosmicJoshotron]

I really want to go back to windows 7, because none of the games I play support windows 10, however, they make i reallly hard to go back and I just decided to go to the website and download an official ISO, but the product key on the bottom of my computer is rubbed off. Does this mean I'm stuck with windows 10 forever because the backup wont work either.

 

[Ubrales]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/1235b5b0-bf94-4b77-9cbd-1c1a8337070c/going-back-to-windows-7-or-windows-8.1

Try this.

 

[WildCard999]

When did you upgrade to Win10? If your within 30 days then the link Ubrales posted will work, if not and your outside of that 30 day window then your stuck with it.

When you upgraded did you upgrade via Windows Update or a clean install via USB? I had issues with my games (screen flicker, driver issues) when I updated through Windows update but when I did the clean install everything works perfectly.

 

[CosmicJoshotron]

When did you upgrade to Win10? If your within 30 days then the link Ubrales posted will work, if not and your outside of that 30 day window then your stuck with it.

When you upgraded did you upgrade via Windows Update or a clean install via USB? I had issues with my games (screen flicker, driver issues) when I updated through Windows update but when I did the clean install everything works perfectly.

I upgraded almost a year ago, however, I've been trying to get rid of it since December, it just hadn't affected gaming until now which is why I want to go back to windows 7 even more now.

 

[CosmicJoshotron]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/1235b5b0-bf94-4b77-9cbd-1c1a8337070c/going-back-to-windows-7-or-windows-8.1

Try this.

Go to Settings > Update & security > Recovery > Reset this PC > Get started and look for Restore factory settings when I go to reset this PC, I don't see restore to factory settings, I reset my PC last night as well.

 

[Ubrales]

When did you upgrade to Win10? If your within 30 days then the link Ubrales posted will work, if not and your outside of that 30 day window then your stuck with it.

When you upgraded did you upgrade via Windows Update or a clean install via USB? I had issues with my games (screen flicker, driver issues) when I updated through Windows update but when I did the clean install everything works perfectly.

I upgraded almost a year ago, however, I've been trying to get rid of it since December, it just hadn't affected gaming until now which is why I want to go back to windows 7 even more now.

At this point you cannot even re-install Win 7 by using the original disks because the license is now associated with Win 10. You can try calling Microsoft Support and explaining your situation, but that is a slim chance. Try it anyway.

 

[CosmicJoshotron]

When did you upgrade to Win10? If your within 30 days then the link Ubrales posted will work, if not and your outside of that 30 day window then your stuck with it.

When you upgraded did you upgrade via Windows Update or a clean install via USB? I had issues with my games (screen flicker, driver issues) when I updated through Windows update but when I did the clean install everything works perfectly.

I upgraded almost a year ago, however, I've been trying to get rid of it since December, it just hadn't affected gaming until now which is why I want to go back to windows 7 even more now.

At this point you cannot even re-install Win 7 by using the original disks because the license is now associated with Win 10. You can try calling Microsoft Support and explaining your situation, but that is a slim chance. Try it anyway.

So they're holding me hostage on something that I don't want anymore?

 

[WildCard999]

Not necessarily, if you had the key you could always try to call MS and have them reactivate it with Win7. Then you could do a clean install via USB (or CD if you have it) and be all set. But without that key I doubt there's much they can do to help you.