decided to downgrade my asus n61j from windows 8 back to windows 7. first i tried using the 5-disc restoration set, two rounds of ‘ghosting’ and it didn’t work. so the next thing to do is to do a clean installation. but asus does not provide the licensed windows 7 home premium installation discs! luckily, microsoft is kind enough to provide them for free download online:
Windows 7 Home Premium x86 with SP1 (bootable): http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-24208.iso
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with SP1 (bootable)
http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-24209.iso
(credit source: Microsoft TechNet)
a next problem may hit you if you have installed an SSD to replace your existing HDD. luckily x2, microsoft has offered the steps:
1.Boot up Windows 7 disc.
2.When the welcome screen comes up on Windows Setup, press Shift + F10, which will display a command prompt.
3.Type “diskpart” (no quotes) and press enter.
4.Type “list disk” and press enter.
5.Hopefully you can see your SSD in the list. You should see a number identifying it. Now type “select disk X” (where X is the number identifying your SSD) and press enter.
6.Type “clean” and press enter. This will write a blank MBR, YOU WILL LOSE ANY DATA ON THE SSD if you did have anything on it.
(credit source: microsoft coummnity)
after step 6, you may need to REBOOT the system and start the installation again for the SSD to be properly detected. and things should work well from here, assuming you have your original windows product key (usually located at the back of your laptop) of cos (:
photo source & acknowledgement: