Other OEM Windows 7 versions (for instance, Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Home Premium) do not include downgrade rights.Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate temporarily includes downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, or Windows XP 圆4 Edition.Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate include downgrade rights to Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate.Only certain OEM versions of Windows 7 include downgrade rights: OEM Versions of Windows 7 Eligible for Downgrade Please note that Microsoft does not provide a full product key in this scenario.Īlso see the Step-by-Step Guide and FAQ for Windows 7 for customers. When it is determined that the end user has an eligible Windows license, the customer service representative will provide a single-use activation code to activate the software. Call the number and explain the circumstances. In this case, the appropriate local Activation Support phone number will be displayed. If the software was previously activated, you will not be able to activate it online. Insert Windows XP Professional or Tablet PC Edition media in the CD drive and follow the installation instructions.Additionally an end user, who is licensed separately through Microsoft Volume Licensing (VL) programs, may provide their VL media and key to their system builder to use to facilitate the downgrade on only their systems. The media should come from a prior legally licensed version from the OEM or Retail channels. Obtain genuine Windows XP Professional or Tablet PC Edition and a corresponding product key.So without Windows.old folder you can’t downgrade to Vista from Windows 7.

We use Windows.old folderto restore Windows Vista from Windows 7. Perform the downgrade or authorize an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to perform it.įollow these steps to downgrade to a previous version of Windows: Open your Windows 7 drive and make sure that you have Windows.old in the root of the drive.Accept the Windows 7 Software License Terms.Purchase a PC preinstalled with Windows 7.Once complete, you can then download and re-install the recommended driver. In this case, follow the same steps that you previously used to uninstall your driver. When you installed your current driver, if you first uninstalled the previous driver you won’t be able to roll back. Windows 7: Click System and Security and then System. Windows Vista: Click System and Maintenance and then System or simply System (in Classic view).Windows Vista or Windows 7 steps to roll back your driver:

Click Performance and Maintenance and then System (in Category view) or System (in Classic view).

Windows XP steps to roll back your driver: If you installed your current driver without first uninstalling the previous version, you can simply roll back your driver to the previous version using these steps:

Option 1: Roll Back To Your Previous Driver:

Downgrading to windows vista from 7