HP recovery manager Data loss chances

[AlyJAZ]

Hello there,

I bought my HP notebook PC back in 2013 and it came with windows 7. I also created recovery media on DVDs using HP recovery manager. When windows 10 rollout I upgraded it and now it has become very slow as well as it doesn't detect my home network, though it detect other wifi signals but not mine. 

However, I am now thinking about downgrading it back to windows 7 but I am afraid of data loss in my other drives. 

My question is this: If I restore my PC using the DVDs i created would the data in my other drives will be lost? I just want to downgrade to windows 7 and don't want to lose any data stored in other drives.

[WAWood]

@AlyJAZ 

Your fears are well-grounded because the factory reset function starts by erasing the ENTIRE drive -- all the data on it will be lost.

Also, it's not "downgrading" because that implies the OS is changed but everything else is left intact when, in fact, everything is erased in the process.

[AlyJAZ]

Thanks for the reply, now what to do to save the data and also move to windows 7

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@AlyJAZ 

In terms of the data, the only stuff you can save is your personal files and folders. You can't reuse your settings because they are different in Win7, nor can you save or reuse your applications -- you will have to reinstall them all from scratch.

In terms of Win7, if the recovery media does not work, that is a major issue because MS no longer provides Win7 downloads, nor does HP provide Win7 Recovery Media.  So, I have no idea where you're going to get an OS image in order to install Win7 at this late date.

Also, I would download and run this utility and make a record of the Windows Product Key -- which you might have to enter manually to install and activate Win7:  ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Forums