If you have upgraded your PC to Windows 7 from XP and now you feel like downgrading the OS to the good old XP, there is a solution. But the solution is little tiresome and needs some commands to be implemented.
Requirements: You shouldn’t have deleted the Windows.old folder that you have created while installing Windows 7 on XP DRIVE. Without the help of Windows.old folder you will not be able to downgrade to XP from Windows 7.
Source: How to Downgrade from Windows 7 to XP ( Step by Step)
I will briefly detail the steps. If you are interested in detailed screenshots, you can check the source.
1. Check the size of Windows.old folder size.
The free space on the Windows 7 drive should be more than two times the size of Windows.old folder. In other words, Windows.old folder size should be less than 2 times the amount of free space available on Windows 7 drive.
2. Please note the Windows 7 drive letter and DVD drive letter.
3. Insert Windows 7 DVD installation disc and re-boot your PC.
4. In the Install Windows screen, select Repair your computer to open System Recovery options.
5. Select your Windows 7 OS and remember the drive letter.
6. Select Command Prompt in order to downgrade your PC from Windows 7 to XP.
8. Type the following commands in the command prompt window and press Enter after each command.
D: ( Your Windows 7 Drive letter)
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"
9. Next type the following commands and press Enter after each command.
move /y d:\Windows.old\Windows d:\
move /y "d:\Windows.old\Program Files" d:\
move /y "d:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings" d:\
10. The following command will restore the boot sector.
E:\boot\bootsect /nt52 D:
( where E is the DVD drive letter and D is OS drive letter)
11. Finally, restore the boot.ini file by typing the following commands.
Attrib –h –s –r boot.ini.saved
Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini
12. Type exit and re-boot your PC. You are now in XP and can use it again. You can delete the Win7 folder, to regain some disk space in the root of your XP drive.
Enjoy the post!