Right now, Windows 10 and Windows 11 are duking it out as the main Windows operating system of choice for users. Yet while some of their modern features are great, it’s no secret that many users still long for the days of older Windows versions.
And Windows 7 remains one of the most popular and most fondly remembered versions of the operating system to this day.
Wish you could go back to Windows 7? A user named Come on Windows made a comprehensive YouTube video tutorial that shows how you can convert Windows 10 to Windows 7 in about half an hour.
How Windows 10 becomes Windows 7
The transformation from Windows 10 to a version that’s strikingly similar to Windows 7 looks quite easy in the video. That’s because the user is obviously familiar with Windows and modding.
On the one hand, he uses special apps like AME Wizard and Revert8Plus to tweak some bits; on the other hand, he dives into the Windows Registry and deletes certain files. The end result is that he successfully makes Windows 10 look and feel like Windows 7.
And the resulting Windows 7 modification appears to be fully functional. However, we can’t just from the video alone whether all software on your system will run smoothly afterwards.
Should you try this yourself?
The modder’s experiment shows that it’s entirely possible to conjure up an older version of Windows from a modern one with relative ease, without installing a different operating system.
However, we don’t advise trying this yourself unless you’re willing to accept the very real risk of bricking your computer. There’s a non-zero chance that your computer could experience limited functionality and/or be unable to be reset back to Windows 10 proper.
That said, if you want to give this a shot, you could do it safely on a virtual PC, for example by using VMware Workstation Pro (which is now free).
Learn more: How to set up virtual PCs with VMware Workstation Pro
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
Author: Laura Pippig, Staff Writer, PC-WELT
Laura is an enthusiastic gamer as well as a movie and TV fan. After studying communication science, she went straight into a job at PCMagazin and Connect Living. Since then, she has been writing about everything to do with PCs and technology topics, and has been a permanent editor at our German sister site PC-WELT since May 2024.