Microsoft to Windows 8 downgraders: The bits stop here

Earlier this week I posted detailed instructions on how to “downgrade” (I use the term advisedly) a Windows 8 Pro machine to Windows 7 Professional. Microsoft explicitly gives permission for this downgrade. The steps are lengthy, but not particularly difficult for an experienced Windows user who’s accustomed to clean installs. There is, however, one sticking point: Where do you get a “genuine” copy of the Win7 Professional bits?

If you’re working with a corporate PC that’s under a volume license, Microsoft’s Volume Licensing Service Center has the bits. The problem lies with Win8 Pro PCs that aren’t covered with a VL.

It’s relatively easy for many people to beg, borrow, or steal a Windows 7 Professional DVD or download an ISO image from one of many sources online. More reputable sites include Microsoft’s own subscription-only TechNet and MSDN, or the Microsoft student edition fulfillment service at Digital River. But “easy” doesn’t mean “legal.”

Fifteen months ago, Microsoft MVP and forum moderator Andre Da Costa tackled the specific question of Digital River downloads on the Microsoft Answers forum. Here’s what he said:

Since it is being download directly from Digital River servers, as long as you own a genuine license… then you are free to download it. The way I see it, the license takes precedence over the medium… The persons these Digital River downloads would be most suitable for… are persons with OEM preloads who might have lost their recovery partitions or media and can’t bother with the process of obtaining recovery media. Same applies to retail discs, the process of ordering, shipping, nominal fee.

That strikes me as a very reasonable approach to the problem of downloading “genuine” Windows 7, although the folks at Digital Media may not appreciate having their bandwidth bumped.

Following up on an inquiry from a reader (thanks, SH!), I contacted Microsoft and specifically asked about how Windows 8 Pro customers — who are allowed to downgrade, no question — should go about acquiring a genuine copy of Windows 7 Professional. A Microsoft spokesperson sent me this response:

PCs with Windows 8 Pro will have the option to downgrade either to Windows 7 Professional or Windows Vista Business. People wishing to downgrade should contact the source where they originally purchased Windows 8 to get media to help with the downgrade process, whether it was pre-installed on their PCs, purchased separately at retail, or via volume licensing.

When asked to clarify the statement, Microsoft assured me that, for example, people who bought a Windows 8 Pro machine from Hewlett-Packard should ask HP for a free copy of Windows 7 Professional; if it was bought at Best Buy, the customer should contact Best Buy, and similarly for other hardware manufacturers. If the customer bought Windows 8 Pro directly from Microsoft (presumably that includes the online upgrades), they should contact Microsoft for a Windows 7 Professional DVD.

I’m not sure how you would fare, but I figure my chances of walking into Best Buy saying, “Hey, Microsoft tells me you’ll give me a Win7 Professional DVD for free,” and coming away with anything more than a belly laugh are pretty slim.

It’s just silly. Microsoft explicitly grants downgrade rights in the Win8 Pro EULA, but it doesn’t provide any way to acquire reliably “genuine” media. Most legal, paying Win8 Pro customers are forced to find a less-than-legal source for their bits.

Microsoft SBS MVP Susan Bradley says there’s a similar problem with downgrade rights on Windows Server 2012 Essentials:

Even in the server world we’re told to go down a dubious path to get a downgrade to an OEM server. As noted on the SBS Blog, we’re instructed to use media from the Technet eval site and use a product key for a different product in order to get downgrade rights in the OEM server channels. You only find the instructions to do this on a blog; it’s not in any end user license agreement. The whole process makes me feel like I’m engaging in an illegal backroom transaction for something that is fully in my rights as a buyer of the product.

I looked all over the Internet and couldn’t find many hardware manufacturers with straightforward instructions for ordering a Win7 Professional downgrade DVD. There’s a lot of confusion and bad experiences (Dell and HP) as a general rule. By contrast, Lenovo has a complete write-up; Lenovo actively supports Think-branded notebooks and desktops for downgrades “on all but a few select new touch systems where the Windows 7 touch experience would not be as good.”

Try a little experiment: Pretend you bought a boxed copy of Windows 8 Pro from the Microsoft Store and you want to downgrade. Can you find instructions for acquiring a free Win7 Professional downgrade DVD on the Internet?

Once you have the Windows 7 Professional installation media — by hook or by crook — you may have difficulty following Microsoft’s downgrade installation instructions, particularly if your new Win8 Pro machine shipped with a BIOS-enabled activation key. Microsoft’s instructions say, “The product key associated with the original Windows [8] software should be used for activation.” If your new computer doesn’t have a “birth certificate” COA sticker on the outside of the case, with a Windows activation code on it, the key has been burned into your computer’s BIOS and nothing short of a Vulcan BIOS mind meld or trip through Belarc Advisor will divulge the Win8 key.

Fortunately, that isn’t a show stopper. Go ahead and perform a clean install of Win7 Pro and bypass the screen that asks for an activation key. You’ll then have 30 days to call the Windows activation center and plead your case for a valid downgrade key — a process that should be quite straightforward.

But you might want to practice that conversation before calling the activation center. Try to avoid an exchange that goes something like this:

Win8 Customer: “I just downgraded Win8 Pro to Win7 Professional. I need an activation code.”

Microsoft: “Where did you get the Win7 bits?”

Customer: “My mother-in-law. She subscribes to MSDN.”

Microsoft: “I’m sorry, you don’t qualify.”

If Windows 8 were outrageously popular, this would be a tiny problem destined to go away quickly. Unfortunately, it isn’t.

This story, “Microsoft to Windows 8 downgraders: The bits stop here,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.