Dell w/ Win 7 to Gateway w/ Win 8

[sbclark]

Hi anybody who might be able to help me!

I saw certain posts that kind of hit on this topic about downgrading but not one specifically about my issue.

Is it possible to do the following without fouling everything up? I am not liking Windows 8 (talk about not intuitive!). I previously owned a Dell and it came with a Windows 7 disk (which of course says it can only be used with a Dell). Can I use that disk and install it on my new Gateway that currently is running Windows 8?


Any help you give will be very much appreciated!


Thank you,


Susan

[Salmon Trout]

I previously owned a Dell and it came with a Windows 7 disk (which of course says it can only be used with a Dell). Can I use that disk and install it on my new Gateway that currently is running Windows 8?

No. The Dell disk is tied to the Dell machine by the OEM license. An OEM copy of Windows is permanently tied to the first computer that it was activated on, and can never be activated on any other computer afterwards. The Gateway motherboard and other hardware will not be recognised and Windows Activation will fail.

[SuperDave]

Hi Susan, you can configure Windows 8 to appear just like Windows 7. The first thing you will probably want is the Start menu. You can find information about that here.
Here's a screenshot of my desktop. After that it's just a matter of creating your shortcuts to your favourite programs.Of course, your apps are still there but I never use them.

[Computer_Commando]

This is new?
Windows 8.1 is supposed to have the option of doing some of the same.  It is being released this month (Oct., 2013) as a free upgrade to Win8.

I would recommend performing a full image backup before installing 8.1.