The Win7 vs Win8 battle continues :)

monkey44 wrote:

powderman426 wrote:
I don't understand win7 vs win8. Are you trying to figure out with one is worse?

First, I'll answer this - NO, I like Win7, and dislike Win8 A LOT, so I bought a new LT without knowing about Win8 and how it interacted and messed up my data frequently ... so, we, on here, went through a few threads trying to help me. But I finally figured I don't have the tech knowledge to install Win7 on this Win8 LT - so, instead went one by one and found all the bloat (still doing it actually) and dumped it in the trash can. Now, I'm having some luck with this Win8, at least enough so my programs work and my data stays the way it should.

We're on the road, and traveling, so it's difficult to find a shop that can help me unwind this quickly - each one says, oh,oh, a couple weeks, leave it. I plan to be 500 miles from here in two weeks, and want my LT with me ... :( Bummer ...

It's been a hard ride these past few months too, and beyond the operating problems, learning, etc - it kept eating my hotspot and then Verizon overcharges me because the bloat is updating constantly and eating my allowance. That's over .. finally ... found a little at a time, figured out what it is, and dumped more in the trash than I kept - and saves half my hotspot allotment without all the unnecessary updates it plugs thru every two seconds, it seems.

I think I can help, but you may not like the answer. First, if you really do want to go back to win 7, you need to do a clean install. With a laptop there are a few risks with this. Most significant is that some laptops use drivers that are too new to be included in the "in box" drivers that are on the Win 7 disks. I had this happen with a Dell laptop and the network driver was not in the install disk collection. The only way to get to the Internet (or even your own network) is to use another computer, go to the manufacturer's web site, find the driver, write it to a CD, and then manually install it on the Win 7 box. Once you have that, you can go directly to the manufacturer's site from the LT and download and install all the other stuff.

Knowing that, if you want to go to Win 7, insert the Win 7 install DVD in the DVD player. Restart the computer. If it is properly set up, the machine will boot from the DVD and you can do a clean install. This means you choose to format the disk before the install. If the machine doesn't boot from the DVD, restart again. Hit the key(s) needed to go to the setup menu. At that menu, change the boot order so that the machine boots from the cd/dvd first, then goes to the hard disk. Restart and you can install.

I worked in Redmond at the time of the Win 7 and 8 releases. I had the early betas of both. I just bought a new laptop and selected win 8 professional for it. I don't like the tiles, but the desktop works perfectly. The tiled screen (start screen) is exactly the same as your old start button. If you want to find something. Just start typing. No need to enter it in a box.

Personally, I don't use betas because they almost always require a clean install of the final release. Way more work than I want to do on my own time. Win 8 has a lot of annoying changes. However, it boots super fast and is far more stable than Win 7. I have no use for the so-called "apps", but I do like the efficient way it manages system resources.

Bear in mind that a laptop is a complete system. Most new laptop drivers work on win 7. However, if you bought the system with Win 8, you take some risks installing the older OS. My new Lenovo Thinkpad has Win 8 and the good points outweigh the bad. I love the speed, especially how fast it boots. Win 8 has been around long enough that the applications I use have been optimized for it. I also love Win 7 and will not upgrade my desktop which has Win 7 Ultimate.

If you aren't comfortable with upgrading drivers and other manufacturer software, don't upgrade.

In terms of annoying bloatware, you can easily handle that yourself. Go to the Control Panel and go to uninstall software. If you see stuff you know is not what you want, uninstall it. If you see mysterious looking programs you don't recognize, Google the name of the program. You will find out what it is and you can decide whether to keep it or not.

Last, you no longer need to pay for antivirus and firewall software. Windows Defender is free from Microsoft and does a great job.