# W8 downgrade to W7



## Cest Moi (Jan 23, 2011)

Brand new Asus X551c laptop with Windows 8 on and I am trying to downgrade to W7.

However, the install crashes at the "starting windows" screen every time.

As a school we have an EES agreement so I have tried W7 installation discs from standard through to pro and created new DVD's (in case images were corrupted).

Any ideas how I can get the install to complete?

Or even why it won't?

I can successfully do clean installs of W8


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## bassfisher6522 (Jul 22, 2012)

What is the particular reason you're wanting to down grade from windows 8? 

If you're looking for the familiarity of windows 7, you can try Classic Shell or Stardock's Start8 ($4.99 - 30 day trial). I use Start8 on my personal laptop. You get the familiarity of windows 7 but with all the great features of windows 8.


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## Cest Moi (Jan 23, 2011)

The other Workstations/Laptops are all W7 and I have a standard image that I will restore to the Laptop once W7 is installed


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Computers that come with Windows 8 oftentimes do not have manufacturers' driver support for Windows 7. However, the X551Ca seems to have Win 7 drivers.

https://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/X551CA/HelpDesk_Download/


You may have to slipstream the drivers into a Windows 7 install disk to get them to work though.

How to Speed Up Windows 7 Installs With Slipstreaming and USB | PCWorld

I'd not worry about this though. There is really no good reason to Downgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 7. In fact, you should upgrade it to Windows 8.1 as support for Win 8 ends in two years.

As stated above, Start 8 will get you back the look and feel of Windows 7 while allowing you the benefits of Windows 8, which are less crashes, faster loading, a better file manager, a better browser, better anti-malware software integration and an increasing number of store apps, among others.

I've had computers with almost every version of Windows since back in the 80s when it was just another GUI that ran over DOS. In my opinion, Windows 8.1 is the best version yet as long as you also use Start8.


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