"Upgrade" Seven to Vista?

No this is not a trick question or typo. I'm wondering if I can use my OEM Vista disc to revert Windows 7 back to Vista. As if doing an upgrade, but actually doing a downgrade. I did this to reinstall 7 recently over a poorly-functioning 7. You know, you choose "upgrade" and then just reinstall 7, in effect fooling Windows into thinking you're upgrading when you're just reinstalling, so you don't lose any files. Perfectly OK as long as you have a valid key, which I do. but in this case, I would be fooling it into thinking I was "upgrading" to Vista, not 7. And keep all my files and programs. The reason? I'm tired of fighting Microsoft, who is determined to force W10 onto my computer. I want no part of it, and would like to go back to vista. It still has a year and a half of life in it, and when it EOLS I will have become expert enough at Linux that I can say bye bye to Microsoft. Sorry if his offends anyone, but my computer is my computer. forcing stuff onto it that I don't want is equivalent to malware. If I can't do it this way, I'll just fresh install vista and copy everything over. Tedious, but I'll be free of worrying every update session about what new crap MS is trying to sneak onto my computer.

This is not possible. The only way to go from Windows 7 to Vista is a clean install.

Installing Windows 7 over Windows 7 isn't fooling Windows. It was designed for this. Attempting to "upgrade" Windows 7 to Vista is another matter entirely. The Vista installer obviously knows nothing of Windows 7 (it didn't exist when Vista was released) and has no of knowing how to proceed. It will do the only reasonable thing and fail the attempt.

mdiemer said:

The reason? I'm tired of fighting Microsoft, who is determined to force W10 onto my computer...If I can't do it this way, I'll just fresh install vista and copy everything over.

Click to expand...

Rather than surrendering the fight, it might be possible to win it: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080351

Since the Windows 10 upgrade cycle began, obtaining Windows updates for Vista has become a much slower process (see http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/303992-windows-update-just-seems-hang-while-checking.html - however the issue wasn't as severe in September as it was in August). Under these circumstances, installing 8 years of Vista updates is a frightful prospect. Of course if you had a fairly up-to-date Vista image that you could restore from, that might be a reasonable thing to do.

I was pretty sure it wasn't possible, thought it was worth checking anyway. I thought I had an image or two of Vista, but can't seem to find it. I'm just not organized enough, I guess. But yes, installing all the Vista updates, plus 2 SP's, just to get 1.5 years of supported service, is a bit extreme, and I probably won't do it. I'll probably just continue using Zorin 90% of the time, and use Seven only if absolutely necessary. but I'm done updating it. Not playing that game anymore.