Читать книгу Windows 10 All-in-One For Dummies - Ciprian Adrian Rusen, Woody Leonhard - Страница 40

Before digging into an examination of the new nooks and crannies in Windows 10, I’d like to pause for a second and let you know about an option you may or may not have.

If you upgraded from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 in the past 30 days, and you don’t like Windows 10, you can roll back to your old version. This works for only 30 days because a scheduled program comes in and wipes out the backup after 30 days. But if you’re in under the wire and want to roll back, here’s how. Note that this technique is only for upgraders; it doesn’t apply to new Windows 10 systems or computers in which you installed Windows 10 by wiping out the hard drive. If you love Windows 10 or don’t qualify for the rollback, jump down to the next section.

The method for moving back is easy:

1 Make sure you have your old password.If your original Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 system had login IDs with passwords, you’ll need those passwords to log in to the original accounts. If you changed the password while in Windows 10 (local account), you need your old password, not your new one. If you created a new account while in Windows 10, you have to delete it before reverting to the earlier version of Windows.

2 Make a backup.Before you change any operating system, it’s a good idea to make a full system backup. Many people recommend Acronis for the job, but Windows 10 has a good system image program that is identical to the Windows 7 version. However, the program is hard to find. To get to the system image program, in the Windows 10 search box, type Windows Backup, press Enter, and click Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Then, click Create a System Image (on the left) and follow the directions.

3 Run the reset. Click the Start icon and then the Settings icon.Click Update & Security, and then click Recovery. You see an entry to Go Back to Windows 7 or Go Back to Windows 8.1, depending on the version of Windows from whence you came.Click the Get Started button for Back to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, depending on the version of Windows from whence you came.If asked why you are going back, choose a reason and click or tap Next (see Figure 2-1).FIGURE 2-1: When you roll back to Windows 7 or 8.1, you are asked why you want to go back.If you don’t see the Get Started button and are using an administrator account, you’ve likely fallen victim to one of the many gotchas that surround the upgrade. See the next part of this section, but don’t get your hopes up.

4 Revert to Windows 7 or Windows 8.Finally, click Go back to Windows 7 or Go back to Windows 8, and your PC reboots and starts the rollback process. During this time, you see the message: “Restore your previous version of Windows.” After a while (many minutes, sometimes hours), you arrive back at the Windows 7 (or 8.1) login screen.

5 Click the user you want to use and enter the password.You’re ready to go with your old Windows version.

In the Windows 10 May 2020 update, I found that Windows 10 no longer asks users whether they want to keep their files and apps during the rollback. The rollback process automatically restores apps (programs) and settings to their original state and settings (the ones that existed when you upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10). Any modifications made to those programs (for example, installing security updates to Office programs) while using Windows 10 are not applied when you return to Windows 7; you have to apply them again.

On the other hand, changes made to your regular files while working in Windows 10 — edits made to Office documents, for example, or to new files created while working with Windows 10 — may or may not make it back to Windows 7. I had no problems with files stored in My Documents; edits made to those documents persisted when Windows 10 rolled back to Windows 7. But files stored in other locations (specifically, in the \Public\Documents folder or on the desktop) didn’t always make it back: Sometimes, Word documents created in Windows 10 disappeared when rolling back to Windows 7, even though they were on the desktop or in the Public Documents folder.

One oddity may prove useful: If you upgrade to Windows 10, create or edit documents in a strange location, and then roll back to Windows 7 (or 8.1), those documents may not make the transition. Amazingly, if you then upgrade again to Windows 10, the documents may reappear. You can retrieve the “lost” documents, stick them in a convenient place (such as on a USB drive or in the cloud), roll back to Windows 7, and pull the files back again.

Important lesson: Back up your data files before you revert to an earlier version of Windows.

If you can’t get Windows to roll back and detest Windows 10, you’re up against a tough choice. The only option I’ve found that works reliably is to reinstall the original version of Windows from scratch. On some machines, the old recovery partition still exists. You can bring back your old version of Windows by going through the standard recovery partition technique (which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer), commonly called a factory restore. More frequently, you get to start all over with a fresh install of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.