Can I downgrade Win 7 Ultimate for Win 7 Pro?

[Replacement]

Someone came to me asking if I could put Win 7 Pro on their comp that has Win 7 Ultimate. The reason is that they were sold a fake key for win 7 ultimate and have since acquired a win 7 pro key. They have info on the computer and don't want to loose it. Is there a way to safely do this and keep all of their current files and programs in place?

 

[Realee]

If you wanted to downgrade you would need to reinstall from scratch.

You could try changing the serial key from the Computer Properties (Down the bottom) but if that's not available as an option it's reinstall time.

Your best bet is to reload anyway - no telling what's happened with the Ultimate install being a fake key (I also guess the DVD was downloaded - unless it's from microsoft.com get rid of it)

Outside of that - it's going to lead to piracy options which aren't something discussed on the OC forums - you'd have to research that on your own.

 

[Replacement]

If I have to reinstall, how do I go about keeping all of my files and programs? I was hoping for an easy fix, sounds like this my be fairly involved.

 

[Realee]

Best bet would be to backup the files to an external drive and start fresh.

I'm not a fan of in-place re-installs and don't recommend them but there MIGHT be a way of doing it (Although, when you try the Windows 7 Pro installation, it will likely detect the version currently installed)

I really suggest backing up anything important (Including software installations downloaded) then re-install fresh.

If you have a spare hard drive around you could install to that, copy the files and what not you need then clone it to the original drive but that's a lot of work if you're not experienced in cloning and/or changing components.

 

[Replacement]

Ok, I did some looking on this and found out that someone has done it and he made it sound easy. Here is what he said to do, here is the link http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/9416-Expert-Opinions-Needed-Downgrade-Win7-Version

My problem is that I don't know where to go to change the info. Is anyone able to help me out and give me a step by step that is more descriptive?

It is possible and I have done it. I went from x64 RC (Ultimate) to x64 Professional RTM, from there to Ultimate via Anytime Upgrade now I am back to Professional. Don't ask me why I upgraded to Ultimate in the first place

Here's how I did it: You need your RTM files with the usual suspects (ei.cfg either removed or modified with the version you want to install, in cversion.ini file the minversion edited to sth lower than the current version, i have put 7000 there).
Then in the registry go to local_machine -> software -> microsoft -> windows nt -> currentversion and set currentbuild and currentbuildnumber to 7100. Replace "Ultimate" in EditionID and ProductName with "Professional" (or whatever you wanna install or the name of a SKU lower than that).

Now you can start the Win7 Setup and chose upgrade.
This way it is possible to "downgrade" your version of Windows 7 without the need to reinstall everything again!
And please no posts about how bad this is and a reinstall would be much better bla bla, don't care

Have fun!

 

[TollhouseFrank]

the registry part you will have to do a regedit at the command prompt (make sure you right click on the link in the start menu and click on 'run as administrator' first). then just follow the registry keys as layed out to do that part.

The other part, the RTM files? I'm not sure on.