Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Downgrading Versions of Windows 7

Have you ever needed to downgrade a version in Windows 7? Let's say you have installed Windows 7 Professional (or Ultimate?) on a system, only to grab the key and realize it is a key for a lesser version of the OS (say, Windows 7 Home Premium.) I ran into this very situation today. And downgrading to a less-fully featured version can be difficult to figure out without some help. Thankfully I found just the right hack I needed to make it work, and it is a relatively simple and painless process. I borrow shamelessly from aquasystems :


here is a “simple” hack which allows you to embed the downgrade procedure in Windows 7.

Click Start.
In the Search Box, type regedit and press Enter.
Navigate to this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\CurrentVersion

In the right pane, click EditionID and ProductName and give them the value which corresponds to a lower Windows 7 edition. Here is an example:

Windows 7 Home Premium (downgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 7 Home Premium)
EditionID: HomePremium
ProductName: Windows 7 HomePremium


Start your Windows 7 installation by inserting your Windows 7 Disc.
Now, Select Upgrade as type of installation. Follow the instruction on the screen.
Reactivate your operating system.


Voila! I give you, the Windows 7 downgrade. It worked like a charm. Thanks aqua!

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