I don't agree here. The only mobos I have bricked (and recovered) were a couple of asus flashed using the EZbios function. People who bricked using windows usually had HW problems or attempted to flash with tools unsupported by the OS. Usually tool meant for XP used under Vista Sp0
I have fresh windows install acronis image takes about 3 minutes to to get clean windows on. You cannot tell me you can reinstall windows in that time. Anyway this thread has gone haywire to much false or misleading information being posted. If loader had been used originally then how was it possible when it will not install on unsupported partition table, if motherboard had full slic 2.1 even via bios mod then windows 7 activation would not have been lost on roll back I know that for a fact I have rolled back two of my machines and never lost activation.
3 mins ? I have mentioned I dont care for those image tools. I have said I'd rather do a fresh install and install all my apps again. Never mentioned I wanted to do it fast. If this thread is to out of controll, delete all I put and close it !
When you installed W10 update the key for W7 was ran through an algorithm which converted it to a key for W10, unique to your computer, so unless you have recorded your original W7 key you cannot go back. If your W7 was an OEM version then you should be able to get a new serial from elsewhere on this forum. good luck
@ Fred64, read topic we are talking about rolling back from windows 10. You should not even need to enter key your original windows is stored in folder called windows.old that is copied back over so all registration details e.t.c. are still there. As for oem keys on this forum i,e, oem:slp they are useless without matching manufacturer certificate and slic string in bios.
negative on the algorithm changing a key to another and no there is nothing unique about any keys either. Win10 uses hardware ID that has been created with an algorithm in conjunction with many pieces of hardware and possibly installation ID. The hardware ID is your new unique "key" for Win10. This is why there is no need to enter a key during a clean install of Win10 after the initial upgrade from Win7/8. IF you originally bought a retail key for Win7, you should have your documentation and or the key safely tucked away. Uninstall Win10, do a fresh install of Win7 with your retail key and it will continue to work.
out of curiosity tonight I upgraded again to win 10 all went fine set up stuff.went to activation status it said win 10 pro,activated.then tried update.no new updates.has the loader disappeared or is it still there?not restarted yet but logged off twice..
once Win10 is installed, it has wiped loader from the MBR since it changes the MBR to suit its needs during install.
sorry never really understood what you meant on post 34.ive still not restarted yet.can you give me any advice before I restart.because last time I had no usb working.bit scared to restart incase it happens again.thanks bob..
All I was saying is mbr ( master boot record ) is overwritten when windows 10 is installed so that would overwrite loader code if it was there.
Why have you not re-started ? What are you expecting to happen ? from your post #70 you say you have installed Windows 10 again and it is activated. That's good, is it not. Have you chosen to keep Win 10 and not install Win 7 ?
hi again.i restarted win 10.as I expected my usb didnt work.no keyboard no mouse.so I went for clean install from the os options.it failed.innacsessable boot drive error on reboot.so dl clean image of off net done a proper clean install from usb.im glad to say now working fine.fully activated win 10 pro.thank everyone for a your help.
I just reverted to Win 7 from a Win 7 upgrade and it went smoothly. Took about 10 minutes and my Win 7 is still activated (it was Slic 2.1 OEM Activated). Don't like Windows 10. Had two upgrades from Win 7 to Window 10 totally and unfixable (at least by me) crash. I foresee a lot of unhappy upgraders in the near future. WEB