If you used the Win10 built-in "reversion" it is quite likely you will never get Win7 to work again properly until you re-install Win7 from scratch. Here is how to do that:
Win10 back to Win7
Copy your data off first. If you can not boot your system, remove the hard drive and put it into a USB external drive housing. Connect to a working PC, copy the data off.
Always check to ensure the hard drive you are about to rebuild is actually sound from a hardware perspective. Download and run your hard drive manufacturer’s drive testing software.
Read Woody Leonhard’s advice first, to see if you can complete the restoration without a re-install. http://www.infoworld.com/article/3033806/microsoft-windows/how-to-roll-back-your-windows-10-upgrade.html
However, if you are unable to make the reversion back to Windows 7. You should do a complete re-install. The only absolutely sure way to have a perfectly clean system. In the install process, it is called a “Custom” install.
You will need a Win7 install disk. You will need a legal product code and the win7 disk must match the edition of the code and its bitness (32 or 64). If you do not have the original Windows 7 install disk, borrow one from a friend. If that disk has SP1 (Service Pack 1) on it, it will save you many hours.
BEFORE you start the re-install, download (32 or 64 bit versions) KB3083710 and KB3102810 in advance, and store on a USB stick, Note: When you search for the 64 bit version of these KB’s specify 64 bit. The 32 bit versions do not say which version they are.
NEVER install anything but Windows Updates until your system is up to date. Once you have the update list, install all of them together. Installing updates in batches will not speed the process or make it better.
Boot your system to the Windows 7 install disk. When it asks where to store the system, click Advanced. Delete all partitions. Proceed with the install until you get your new desktop.
- Change Windows Update setting to Never check for updates
- BEFORE the newly installed system can go online for the first time, disconnectthe computer from the Internet. This timing is critical.
- Manually install KB3083710 and restart.
- Manually install KB3102810 and restart.
- Restore the Internet connection and launch Windows Update as normal.
- After a few minutes, you should have plenty of updates to download and install.
After Windows 7, system drivers and all updates are installed and any stable applications like Microsoft Office are installed and updated, and before any data or dynamic applications are installed such as antivirus software, create a system image. It will take 3 or 6 DVD ***+***Rs (not -Rs) and about an hour. When you are done you will have a very nice bit of insurance. Should you ever again need to re-build a corrupted system or replace a hard drive, you will have a precise duplicate of your system as it was at time you made this image. You can restore that image to a hard drive in about 20 minutes. Creation of System Image is found in your menu under Maintenance, Backup and Restore.
Another great feature about using the image is that you do not need an install disk or a product key to do the re-install the next time.
I emphasize the need for PLUS R DVD blanks. Do not use the more common MINUS R DVD blanks.
Prevent Windows 10
If you do not want Windows 10 and wish to prevent it from being installed on your computer, follow this exactly as laid out.
Once you have followed the procedure below, and set Windows update to NEVER, once a month, start Windows Update manually, check for updates. When you get the list of “important” updates, right-click and choose hide on EVERY update in the Windows grouping that does not describe itself as Security. Allow the Malicious software removal tool or any C++ updates. Do not use ANY optional updates or place a checkmark in any unchecked updates. Proceed to update.
You must adopt a protective stance to prevent your Windows 7 system from becoming something you do not want.
Change the Windows Update Setting to Never check for updates. Once a month, about 2 days after the 2nd Tuesday, they receive an email from me advising to manually start WU and then hide every update except for ones specifically labeled Security. In other words, only security updates will be applied. In all of 2015 and since, there was not a single update that improved Windows 7.
Some may feel uncomfortable with the setting — NEVER. Well you needn’t be. Never means you are never giving Microsoft a chance to decide what you download and install. It should NOT mean you will never update. The difference is that now you take control and the responsibility of updating of Windows and Office.
Read Woody Leonhard (one of the most respected writers in the trade) http://www.infoworld.com/article/2983777/microsoft-windows/how-to-clean-the-windows-10-crapware-off-your-windows-7-or-81-pc.html?nsdr=true Woody calls the Windows 10 download “crapware.” Woody’s advice is that if you have Windows 7, keep it, you are better off by far.
First download and run GWX Control panel. http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/
It will allow you to prevent any future operating system upgrades and delete downloaded Win10 files, but it will not remove all of Microsoft’s spyware that is already installed on your computer.
The following process will remove those features which you do not need.
This process works, but it only works if you do all the steps and do them in order.
- Take Windows Update off automatic — Never check for updates
- Windows Update, Installed updates, WAIT a long time till you see the green bar complete its long trip to the right
- Now, search for each of the listed updates, uninstall them. You must wait until the list is re-created each time. You need to wait till you see the number at the bottom of the search window exceed a few hundred.
- If there are others you want to uninstall, click Later
- Then, clear the search box and after the list is again displayed (the number at the bottom again exceeds several hundred), enter another KB number.
- Restart the PC. It may take a long time to process this.
If you choose “check for updates, but let me choose whether to download and install them”, Microsoft will download “important” updates like KB3035583 to your computer. It will be pre-checked — selected. Unless you check Windows Update (WU) and discover this BEFORE you shut down, it will install it during the shut-down process.
List of updates that if already installed should be removed:
KB3035583
KB2952664
KB2977759
KB3021917
KB3075249
KB3080149
KB3083710
KB3083324
KB3090045
KB3112343
KB3123862
KB3022345
KB3068708