Windows Downgrade issue with OEM key.

[CChardwareup]

Hey all,

I recently wanted to upgrade my parent's old computer that they've been using for a while as a daily driver, as it was stupidly slow. I bought a cheap GPU, a new CPU, and threw a new hard-drive into the computer, and got a fresh install of Windows 10. Although, the computer had some issues running it as it had come originally with Windows 7, and the GPU isn't compatible with the O/S. Sadly though, windows aren't letting me return to windows 7 through the recovery screen as the 10 days have passed. I tried downloading windows 7 onto a USB drive using the original OEM product key that was on the case, but it simply said to contact HP. I connected the old hard-drive and 'windows.old' IS still on the drive, so I'm not sure if I can use that. 

Thank you for your help! 

(Currently on windows 10 64 bit.)

[jwreno]

Windows 7 has many different version and the keys only work with certain ones.

You’d need an OEM Windows 7 install CD/ISO or the original HP recovery media cd.

It’s been a while since I’ve used Windows 7, but if I remember rightly, you might need the right Windows 7 service pack for the key to work. If you’ve lost the discs, I think you can get the official recovery media from here. 

This article explains how to create your own, but I doubt it will be useful unless you have access to Windows 7 PC. (and it might have to be a HP branded one at that, but I’m not sure because I stopped using Win7 around 8 years ago)

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @CChardwareup 

I have posted the link to the W7 Home Premium 64 bit ISO file download.

The download will be good for 24 hours from the time of this reply.

https://download.microsoft.com/download/E/A/8/EA804D86-C3DF-4719-9966-6A66C9306598/7601.24214.180801...

I have zipped up and attached below, the microsoft utility you can use that will transfer the ISO file to a DVD or USB flash drive, so that it is bootable, or you can use a different utility.

What GPU did you install that isn't working on W10?

There may be a way you can manually install whatever the latest driver was for it and have it work on W10.