Resolved Exchange Win10 for Win 7 ???

I just built a new machine & got Win 10 Home x64 for the OS.

I was surprised & pleased by the quick setup time. Then everything went to hell.
The interface is so confusing & foreign looking. I do not want to have to interpret graphics to find something.
It was bad enough with Win 7 changing the start menu, but at least you can find your way around.

I installed the OS into a 500 Mb partition during setup on a 2 Tb hard drive. It took me a just under an hour to find where they hid the command. Then when I went to set up the un-allocated space on the drive, I was informed they used a new method, called GPT, to format the drive & it was not compatible with the old MBR format.

Win10 would not let me format the rest of the drive in the MBR format. Then to pour salt into the wound, I find the only way you can repair this is to buy for another program to make the repair.

I have not yet set it up to access the internet. I read lynn1102 post about cortana. I do not plan on setting up an account with MS, nor do I want their store pestering me. This OS has not been activated.

I tried following your instructions to remove the garbage apps. All I got Win10 refusing to remove the applets. All the responses were in red.

The part that convinced me to get rid of this OS is the calendar.
Inviting me to play & explore X-BOX. I have never been close to a game console.
Offering a Skype preview and/or office preview. I have no use for either program.
But the clock & calendar were 24 hours, 1 day ahead. When I clicked on the icon, all I got was how to set up an agenda. I had to go into the MB bios to correct the date & time.

I apologize for the rant.

Now the question is, how do I go about getting MS to downgrade this to Win 7.

Any help will be greatly appreciated....

 

If you have a W7 product key (legit) Windows 10 Questions and Answers you need to know before upgrading
How to Make Windows 10 Look and Feel Like Windows 7
You do not have to use Xbox or any of the Apps you do not want. Note that support will end for W7 and you will face the choice of W10, Linux or Apple.

 

Thank you for the quick response,

I have a 5 yr old machine with Win 7 Pro x 64. Fully legit. This Win 10 edition has not been activated yet. This version was just purchased.

Win 7 expires in 2020 & Win 10 expires in 2025. MS will probably aggravate me to death before Win 7 expires.

I was making the attempt to use Win 10 by following Aries' suggestions & the links. Remove Modern apps from win 10. When I got to the Remove-AppxPackage command, windows produced errors & did not remove anything. It related there were too many dependencies on other services.

Attached is a file copy of the PowerShell errors..

When I tried removing the user section "User <username> ", this produced an error stating " < > " were reserved for future use.

It took me less than a day to build the new machine & two days to get to this point. I do not want to spend the few remaining years that I have trying to learn word association with pictures describing an OS.

And I do not want to be connected to MS every time I want to look up or access a file. That is like trying to play any of the new games. You cannot access the game without logging into steam, even if you do not go online.

File folders & names work just fine.... In four years, who knows.

I just want to downgrade Win10 to Win 7.....

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet
My thoughts are that you may be able to do more with W10 if you Activate it and get all the updates installed. The cumulative updates have brought changes to the Desktop presentation from user/insider Feedback. An OS without Activation will not have FULL operational ability. When you go Start > Settings > Update and Security > Activation - What does it say about activation?
Settings is the gear wheel symbol just above Power symbol.

 

I have to agree with retiredlearner on his statement.

OldGreyGhost. Go with the change.

 

All right,

You guys convinced me. It should keep me busy & out of trouble.

I did go online & it automatically activated & updated itself. The only thing it didn't do was update Defender. I had to do that manually.

I'll work thru some of the suggestions in Evans' tutorial to mold the OS into something I can recognize & utilize.

The problem is just finding where they moved (hid) all the relevant working parts.

At least if I run into any trouble, I know where to go. Thank you both for your input....

 

Windows Defender will update itself everyday. It will also scan by itself.

Thanks for going with the flow. It isn't that bad.

 

If you have the latest build, you will find it more user friendly in the Desktop view. You can remove/disable/uninstall the Tiling if you don't like/have no use for.

 

As far as I know Build 14393 has me up to date.

Evans' tutorial has managed to make it somewhat recognizable. I found the trick for the tiling & the apps. Uninstall doesn't seem to work too well. Just un-pinning & burying them makes the UI manageable.

I retried removing the AppXPackage. Still got the errors listed in the previous attachment, but I got rid of the X-box, Zune & some other Apps. Still others were disabled.

I am now working on blocking the video ads & pop-ups. One small program did exactly what I wanted, but caused a problem with the edge browser. So am still searching for now.

Thanks again for your support......

 

Have you tried AdBlock Plus? Works good for me. I have had a couple of sites that I went to that don't like it and won't let you look unless you disable it or allow that site. Adblock Plus - Surf the web without annoying ads!

 

No. It gave me a problem. When I tried to download it, I was redirected to the MS store to D/L an app.
We should not have to pay to repair this products anomalies.

Search was successful. I found an article to on how to stop the ads & banners.

All it required was accessing the "hosts " file {no extension} in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ directory using notepad with Administrator rights.
Downloading a text file with a list of ad vendors & merging it into the "hosts " file & saving your work. This was problematic as the text file was not in a format that the "hosts " file would accept. {255 characters per line & over 100 lines of text listings}.

My son came thru with the answer while he was visiting. Using the same technique with the "hosts " file & it was all set up with a batch file.

He directed me to this website: How To: Update the HOSTS file in Windows 7 to D/L the file "hosts.zip ". {Extensive instructions & explanation on the page}
Extract the files & run the "mvps.bat" file w/ admin privileges. It also make a B/U of your original file.

Simple, neat & best of all it is free.

A really useful program over time will have me pushing the donate button. {Not a one or two week try & forced to buy}. And forget pre-release funding for development.
Purchase comes with trust for inclusion into my utility toolbox....

Bottom line is, I am starting to feel a little more comfortable with this OS.