Question from Sara A.: The screen went bad in my laptop so I’m looking for a new one. I’ve been to all the local stores, and all of laptops they have come with Windows 10.
I’m used to Windows 7 and I’ve heard that Windows 10 is a lot different. If I buy a laptop with Windows 10 on it will I be able to install Windows 7 if I don’t like it? I have the Windows 7 CD that came with my old laptop.
Rick’s answer: Sara, you would indeed be able to replace the Windows 10 installation on your new laptop with Windows 7, but you won’t be able to do it for free because the Windows 7 license that came with your old laptop isn’t transferable to a different machine.
You do have a couple of options however:
1 – Buy a refurbished laptop with Windows 7 already on it. Click here
2 – Buy a laptop with Windows 10 on it, then buy a copy of Windows 7 (#ad) later to install on it should you find that you don’t like Windows 10.
Important: Be aware that installing Windows 7 on a machine that was built to run Windows 10 might leave you struggling with driver issues if there are no Windows 7 drivers available for your laptop’s newer hardware devices.
For that reason, I strongly recommend choosing option 1 if you really don’t think you’ll be happy with Windows 10.
All of the above being said, I happen to like Windows 10 myself, and most of the people I know who are using it seem to like it as well.
My ultimate recommendation is to simply move on from Windows 7 and buy a new laptop with Windows 10 on it. After all, the future of Windows lies in Windows 10, not Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
I hope this helps Sara. Good luck!
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