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So you have installed Windows 10 on your system and regret that you did it, what now? What can you do? The first thing is to decide how you installed it? Have you installed it as primary operating system or have you installed it as a dual-boot operating system. Let’s hope for you, that you did that last one. This article helps you when you did not use dual-boot
Windows 10 is currently in a very early stage of preview and consumers should in my opinion avoid installing this version on their primary system.
Please continue reading at the heading that corresponds to your situation.
[symple_box color=”red” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””] It goes without saying that before you execute any step in this guide that you should make sure that you have all important files safely secured on a external storage drive or on a online cloud service.[/symple_box]
Primary Operating System: I have no other operating system left on the system
This is the most difficult situation since we are left with only two options, restoring your old Windows version (if possible) or reinstalling your entire system. Please note that when you are just a basic computer user without technical knowledge about Command Prompt and the Recovery Environment I strongly recommend you to reinstall your entire system if all possible.
Option 1: I’ve upgraded from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10
This is good news, since only a Windows Update has been applied to the system which can be easily removed again.
1. Open Start and type View Installed Updates
2. Look for Update for Microsoft Windows (KB2990214)
3. Right-click Update for Microsoft Windows (KB2990214) and choose Uninstall.
4. Reboot your system and your old version of Windows should boot again.
Option 2: I’ve formatted my drive or installed Windows Clean | Reinstalling your Operating System
To execute these steps you need to have access to an installation medium of Windows. As soon as you have that plug the USB in your system or put the DVD in the drive and boot from that medium then follow all steps to reinstall Windows on your system.
If you have lost your Windows 8 installation medium but do have a license key then read this: Download a Windows 8 ISO
Option 3: I’ve replaced my old operating System but I still have a Windows.old folder on my system
This is good news however don’t get too excited just yet, the steps for recovering these files and use them to boot your system again are very technical and I suggest you only do these if you’re very sure that you have the required knowledge.
[symple_box color=”red” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””] Only execute these steps if your previous Windows was Windows 7 or 8. This method is not perfect and some old programs might have issues and Windows could be unstable, however in most cases everything works like it did before.[/symple_box]
1. Enter the Windows Recovery Environment and start Command Prompt
2. Then type all of these commands one at a time in the box and hit enter after each one.
c:
ren Windows Windows.copy
ren "Program Files" "Program Files.copy"
ren "Users" "Users.copy"
move /y c:\windows.old\windows c:\
move /y "c:\windows.old\program files" c:\
3. Reboot the device and you should be able to boot into the old Windows again.
Secondary Operating System: I have installed Windows 10 as Dual-Boot
This is actually good news, since removing the dual-boot installation is relatively easy.
1. Boot your system and wait for the boot menu to appear.
2. Now choose Change defaults or choose other options. (1)
3. Now choose Troubleshoot (2)
4. Now choose Uninstall Preview Updates (3)
5. Follow the steps on the screen after the reboot, the dual-boot should be gone
