How to Restore a Windows 7-Based Computer to a Previous Windows Installation by Using the Windows
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How to restore a Windows 7-based computer to a previous Windows installati instal lation on by using the Windows.old folder Article ID: 971760 - View products that this article applies to.
INTRODUCTION In certain scenarios you may need to restore your Windows 7 Computer back to the previous installation of Windows. This article walks you through the steps to manually restore your computer back to the previous version of Windows. Note: To do this, you must use the command prompt, and you must type specific commands at the command prompt to rename and to move folders Note: To between the different versions of Windows. Note: If you currently have Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 installed, the uninstall steps are the same as with Windows 7 without any service packs installed. If Note: If you are restoring back to a a previous Windows Windows 7 installation installation,, you may need to Install Ins tall Windows Windo ws 7 Service Service Pack 1 to that installation. i nstallation.
This article is intended for a beginning to intermediate intermediate computer computer user.
MORE INFORMATION To resolve this issue, follow the steps listed below to restore your computer back to a previous version of Windows using the Windows.OLD folder. TIP:: You may find it easier to follow the steps if you print this article first. TIP
Step 1: Determine whether there is a Windows.o Windows.old ld folder and whether there is sufficient free space on the Windows hard disk
1. 2. 3. 4.
Click Start , and then click Computer Computer.. On the View View menu, menu, click Details Details.. In the Free Space column, Space column, note how much space is available for Local Disk (C:) under (C:) under the Hard Disk Drives area. Drives area. In the Hard Disk Drives area, Drives area, double-click Local Disk (C:), (C:), and then determine whether the Windows.old folder exists. Important If the Windows.old folder does not exist, you cannot follow the steps in this article to restore the previous Windows installation to this Important If computer. You must backup and restore or transfer your files to the previous operating system.
5. Right-click the Windows.old Windows.old folder. folder. 6. Windows 7 w will ill determine determine the size of the folder after sever al seconds. Determine whether the Windows.old folder is smaller than the free space that is available for Local Disk (C:) in (C:) in step 1.2. Note If the Windows.old folder is two times as large as the free space that is available for the Local Disk (C:) entry, Note If (C:) entry, you may be unable to restore the previous Windows installation.
Step 2: Start the Windows Recovery Environment 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Put the the Windows 7 installation disc in the DVD drive, and then restart the computer. Press a key when when you are pro mpted to restart from the disc. In the Install Windows window, Windows window, select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard input method or other input method, and then click Next Next.. In the Install Windows window, Windows window, click Repair your computer. computer. In the System Recovery Options window, Options window, click the version of the Windows 7 operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next Next.. In the System Recovery Options window, Options window, click Command Prompt. Prompt.
The Command Prompt window opens, and it displays the command prompt. The command prompt is where you will type the commands that are described in the following steps.
Step 3: Move the Windows 7 folders to a new Win7 folder Note When you type one or more of the commands at the command prompt in the following steps and press ENTER, you may receive the following Note When message: The system cannot find the file specified. If you receive this message, go to the next step in this section, and then type the command in that next step. Type the following commands and press ENTER after each command: C: Md Win7 Move Windows Win7\Windows
Move "Program Files" "Win7\Program Files" Move Users Win7\Users Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData Move ProgramData Win7\ProgramData Rd "Documents and Settings"
Step 4: Copy the contents or move the contents of the Windows.old folder Note When you type one or more of the commands at the command prompt in the following steps and press ENTER, you may receive the following Note When message: The system cannot find the file specified. If you receive this message, go to the next step in this section, and then type the command in the next step. Type the following commands and press ENTER after each command: move /y c:\Windows.old\Windows c:\ move /y "c:\Windows.old\Program Files" c:\ move /y c:\Windows.old\ProgramData c:\ move /y c:\Windows.old\Users c:\ move /y "c:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings" c:\
Step 5: Restore the boot sector for the previous Windows installation Type one of the following commands at the command prompt, as appropriate for your situation. Note In the following commands, D: represents the DVD drive. If the DVD drive on the computer is represented by a different letter, such as Note In in the command. When the previous Windows installation was Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000 Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
E:,
use that letter
D: \boot\bootsect
/nt52 c:
When the previous Windows installation was Windows Vista Type the following command, and then press ENTER: D: \boot\bootsect /nt60 c:
Step 6: Restore the Boot.ini file for the previous Windows installation of Windows XP or of Windows 2000 Note Follow Note Follow these steps only when the previous installation is Windows XP or Windows 2000. Type the following commands and press ENTER after each command: Attrib Attr ib –h –s –r boot.ini.saved Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini
Step 7: Close the Command Prompt window, and then click Restart 1. Type the following following command at the command pro mpt, and then then press ENT ER: exit 2. Click Restart Restart to to restart your computer. Note After Note After you have verified that Windows XP is functional, you can remove the C:\Win7 folder if it is not needed for data recovery.
Additional resources Installing and reinstalling Windows 7 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Installing-and-reinstalling-Windows-7 (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Installing-and-reinstallingWindows-7)
Installing Windows 7: frequently asked questions: Can I uninstall Windows 7? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Installing-Windows-7-frequently-asked-questions (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/InstallingWindows-7-frequently-asked-questions)
Properties Article ID: 971760 - Last Review: October 25, 2011 - Revision: 6.0
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How to restore a Windows 7-based computer to a previous Windows installati instal lation on by using the Windows.old folder Article ID: 971760 - View products that this article applies to.
INTRODUCTION In certain scenarios you may need to restore your Windows 7 Computer back to the previous installation of Windows. This article walks you through the steps to manually restore your computer back to the previous version of Windows. Note: To do this, you must use the command prompt, and you must type specific commands at the command prompt to rename and to move folders Note: To between the different versions of Windows. Note: If you currently have Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 installed, the uninstall steps are the same as with Windows 7 without any service packs installed. If Note: If you are restoring back to a a previous Windows Windows 7 installation installation,, you may need to Install Ins tall Windows Windo ws 7 Service Service Pack 1 to that installation. i nstallation.
This article is intended for a beginning to intermediate intermediate computer computer user.
MORE INFORMATION To resolve this issue, follow the steps listed below to restore your computer back to a previous version of Windows using the Windows.OLD folder. TIP:: You may find it easier to follow the steps if you print this article first. TIP
Step 1: Determine whether there is a Windows.o Windows.old ld folder and whether there is sufficient free space on the Windows hard disk
1. 2. 3. 4.
Click Start , and then click Computer Computer.. On the View View menu, menu, click Details Details.. In the Free Space column, Space column, note how much space is available for Local Disk (C:) under (C:) under the Hard Disk Drives area. Drives area. In the Hard Disk Drives area, Drives area, double-click Local Disk (C:), (C:), and then determine whether the Windows.old folder exists. Important If the Windows.old folder does not exist, you cannot follow the steps in this article to restore the previous Windows installation to this Important If computer. You must backup and restore or transfer your files to the previous operating system.
5. Right-click the Windows.old Windows.old folder. folder. 6. Windows 7 w will ill determine determine the size of the folder after sever al seconds. Determine whether the Windows.old folder is smaller than the free space that is available for Local Disk (C:) in (C:) in step 1.2. Note If the Windows.old folder is two times as large as the free space that is available for the Local Disk (C:) entry, Note If (C:) entry, you may be unable to restore the previous Windows installation.
Step 2: Start the Windows Recovery Environment 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Put the the Windows 7 installation disc in the DVD drive, and then restart the computer. Press a key when when you are pro mpted to restart from the disc. In the Install Windows window, Windows window, select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard input method or other input method, and then click Next Next.. In the Install Windows window, Windows window, click Repair your computer. computer. In the System Recovery Options window, Options window, click the version of the Windows 7 operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next Next.. In the System Recovery Options window, Options window, click Command Prompt. Prompt.
The Command Prompt window opens, and it displays the command prompt. The command prompt is where you will type the commands that are described in the following steps.
Step 3: Move the Windows 7 folders to a new Win7 folder Note When you type one or more of the commands at the command prompt in the following steps and press ENTER, you may receive the following Note When message: The system cannot find the file specified. If you receive this message, go to the next step in this section, and then type the command in that next step. Type the following commands and press ENTER after each command: C: Md Win7 Move Windows Win7\Windows
Move "Program Files" "Win7\Program Files" Move Users Win7\Users Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData Move ProgramData Win7\ProgramData Rd "Documents and Settings"
Step 4: Copy the contents or move the contents of the Windows.old folder Note When you type one or more of the commands at the command prompt in the following steps and press ENTER, you may receive the following Note When message: The system cannot find the file specified. If you receive this message, go to the next step in this section, and then type the command in the next step. Type the following commands and press ENTER after each command: move /y c:\Windows.old\Windows c:\ move /y "c:\Windows.old\Program Files" c:\ move /y c:\Windows.old\ProgramData c:\ move /y c:\Windows.old\Users c:\ move /y "c:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings" c:\
Step 5: Restore the boot sector for the previous Windows installation Type one of the following commands at the command prompt, as appropriate for your situation. Note In the following commands, D: represents the DVD drive. If the DVD drive on the computer is represented by a different letter, such as Note In in the command. When the previous Windows installation was Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000 Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
E:,
use that letter
D: \boot\bootsect
/nt52 c:
When the previous Windows installation was Windows Vista Type the following command, and then press ENTER: D: \boot\bootsect /nt60 c:
Step 6: Restore the Boot.ini file for the previous Windows installation of Windows XP or of Windows 2000 Note Follow Note Follow these steps only when the previous installation is Windows XP or Windows 2000. Type the following commands and press ENTER after each command: Attrib Attr ib –h –s –r boot.ini.saved Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini
Step 7: Close the Command Prompt window, and then click Restart 1. Type the following following command at the command pro mpt, and then then press ENT ER: exit 2. Click Restart Restart to to restart your computer. Note After Note After you have verified that Windows XP is functional, you can remove the C:\Win7 folder if it is not needed for data recovery.
Additional resources Installing and reinstalling Windows 7 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Installing-and-reinstalling-Windows-7 (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Installing-and-reinstallingWindows-7)
Installing Windows 7: frequently asked questions: Can I uninstall Windows 7? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Installing-Windows-7-frequently-asked-questions (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/InstallingWindows-7-frequently-asked-questions)
Properties Article ID: 971760 - Last Review: October 25, 2011 - Revision: 6.0
