Windows 10 to 7 downgrade has resulted in blue screen

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Windows 10 to 7 downgrade has resulted in blue screen

Okay so I was on Win 7 bootcamp for quite a while, and lately my computer has been pestering me to do the free upgrade to Win 10. Being the naive person I am I figured that it must be compatible if it's being suggested, and didn't realise there is no Win 10 support for 17" models.

Downloaded and installed windows 10 - and it worked but the special keys didn't work and the screen looked a little dull/blurry. Really wasn't happy with this so I decided to downgrade back to Win 7 (through windows settings) which seemed to work fine but when I subsequently started up Windows it got to the little coloured flag loading point and then had a quick blue screen and promptly shut down.

I've tried Startup repair a couple of times, but it keeps saying that it's a problem that can't be fixed automatically.

I can access the bootcamp partition via OSX so I've made a backup of all the important things. I guess it's not super important that I can fix this, and I'll reinstall Win if all else fails - so just if there is a way of fixing it I'd appreciate not having to clean reinstall.

Fingers crossed!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), Windows 7 Profession Legit Copy

Posted on Dec 8, 2015 6:12 PM

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Answer 1

Loner T

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Dec 8, 2015 7:08 PM in response to iAmEros

Can you boot into Windows Safe mode?

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Answer 2

iAmEros Author

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Dec 8, 2015 8:42 PM in response to Loner T

Hey Loner T!

I can too.. What next?

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Answer 3

iAmEros Author

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Dec 9, 2015 12:52 AM in response to iAmEros

I can boot into safe mode with networking too. I tried msconfig - selective startup and unchecked load all startup items, and also in services I checked hide all microsoft services and disabled everything else => restarted in normal but got blue screen again. (I've since undone those changes)

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Answer 4

Loner T

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Dec 9, 2015 4:26 AM in response to iAmEros

It would be very helpful to see the BSOD/Blue screen, if possible.

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Answer 5

iAmEros Author

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Dec 9, 2015 11:29 AM in response to Loner T

Managed to get a pic of it 🙂

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Answer 6

Loner T

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Dec 9, 2015 11:58 AM in response to iAmEros

In most cases, this is related to a device driver. It is likely that the rollback from W10 to W7 has left some drivers in a mixed W7/W10 state. If Safe allows you boot (try it a couple of times), then a Startup Repair using a W7 Installer is the best method to fix this issue.

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Answer 7

iAmEros Author

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Dec 9, 2015 1:08 PM in response to Loner T

Okay, so I can boot into safe mode as much as my heart desires. I put in the installer disc, and restarted => booted from disc, pressed 'repair this computer', chose bootcamp volume, and even the disc found nothing to repair. I did try to restart into windows normally afterward but got BSOD. I suppose I've probably missed something.. 🙂

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Answer 8

Loner T

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Dec 9, 2015 1:11 PM in response to iAmEros

Can you get to Command Prompt using the Repair disk?

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Answer 9

iAmEros Author

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Dec 9, 2015 1:20 PM in response to Loner T

Yeah I believe so, what should I put?

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Answer 10

Loner T

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Dec 9, 2015 1:22 PM in response to iAmEros

You need to be able to run Bootrec.exe. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/927392

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Answer 11

iAmEros Author

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Dec 9, 2015 2:33 PM in response to Loner T

Okay I got Bootrec working, and tried /fixboot - restarted but still BSOD. Went back and tried /FixMbr - restarted and again BSOD. Now though I cannot find any windows installations on my hdd in startup repair.. Think I broke it 😕 if you think a clean reinstall would be best I'll just do that..

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Answer 12

Loner T

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Dec 9, 2015 2:37 PM in response to iAmEros

Can you try Bootrec /scanOS?

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Answer 13

iAmEros Author

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Dec 9, 2015 2:41 PM in response to Loner T

It said installations of windows on this computer = 0

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Answer 14

Loner T

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Dec 9, 2015 3:05 PM in response to iAmEros

Try it on C:. You may be checking the X: Repair drive.

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Answer 15

iAmEros Author

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Dec 9, 2015 9:08 PM in response to Loner T

I tried to access C: but got the message that it is corrupted and unreadable, from what I can see on other answers for this result I need to clean reinstall. I think I'll save you the hassle and just do that 🙂 thanks for your help though, appreciate it.

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