📎 AI Summary:
The forum thread discusses how to completely remove residual Windows 10 files and issues after installing and then reverting back to Windows 7. The original poster experiences persistent quirks, possibly due to leftover files or driver issues, but others confirm that a proper clean install of Windows 7 should eliminate Windows 10 traces. Experts suggest verifying driver installations and resetting BIOS settings as potential solutions, implying that a thorough format and clean reinstall typically resolves such issues.
rhett1449

rhett1449

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Thread Author #1
Hello all. I am in quite a predicament here. I recently installed Win 10 because it was time to reformat and I figured that an upgrade from win 7 was a good idea. After installing and using win 10 for a few days I decided it was not for me and used the system reset function on win 10 to wipe the hard drive. After the wipe was finished, instead of letting win 10 install itself again, I booted from a win 7 disc instead and reinstalled win 7. Things seem fine now but there are certain quirks (such as screen resolution restrictions) that are lying dormant from win 10 still existing on the hard drive. TLDR: How can I completely wipe all traces of win 10 from my hard drive using win 7? Initially the boot menu gave me the option to use win 10 or win 7 but now it does not so I am a bit confused. Any help is appreciated. Thanks very much for reading.
 

Solution
Neemobeer
If you did a clean install, then the hard drive was formatted and no there wouldn't be anything left of Windows 10. Even if there was, one OS doesn't really interact with each other in any way except that the files would be visible to each OS provided they are both Windows recognized filesystems. As @zirkoni pointed out, you are most likely missing drivers. Look in Device Manager and verify there are no yellow ! and that you have non-generic drivers in use for the graphics and any other components you are having issues with.
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rhett1449

rhett1449

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kemical said:
This may also help:
How to Reinstall Windows 7 From Scratch
Click to expand...
Yeah I changed the boot order in order to install win 7. After doing that win 10 was no longer on the boot menu. That said I am still experiencing some issues that were not present before installing win 10. Is there any specific place where any win 10 files may be located after installing win 7? Thanks for replying
 

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zirkoni

zirkoni

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#5
If you really did a clean install of Windows 7 then the operating system doesn't necessarily find all the device drivers automatically. Since you mentioned screen resolution restrictions in your first post I'm guessing you're missing the GPU drivers?
 

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Neemobeer

Neemobeer

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#6
If you did a clean install, then the hard drive was formatted and no there wouldn't be anything left of Windows 10. Even if there was, one OS doesn't really interact with each other in any way except that the files would be visible to each OS provided they are both Windows recognized filesystems. As @zirkoni pointed out, you are most likely missing drivers. Look in Device Manager and verify there are no yellow ! and that you have non-generic drivers in use for the graphics and any other components you are having issues with.
 

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Solution
RichM

RichM

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#7
This is a bit of a puzzle because again as already said there should be no trace of Windows 7 after formatting. However it is also possible changes were made to the bios by the install so you might want to reset bios to optimum default settings.
 

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