Win8 is not easy to use? Simple way to help you restore your previous system

This article shows you how to manually restore a previously installed Windows to replace Windows 8.

Step 1: Determine if the Windows.old folder exists and if there is enough free space on the hard disk

1. Double-click “Computer”, right-click the Local Disk (C:) & rdquo; folder, select Properties, and view the available space for “Local Disk (C:)”.

2. In the "Hard Disk" area, double-click “Local Disk(C:)” and determine if the Windows.old folder exists.

Note: If the Windows.old folder does not exist, you cannot follow the steps in this article to restore a previously installed Windows on that computer.

3. Right-click on the “Windows.old” folder and view the size of the folder.

4. Determine if the Windows.old folder is smaller than the amount of free space on the local disk (C:) & rdquo;.

Note: If the size of the Windows.old folder is twice the free space of the "local disk (C:)" option, you may not be able to restore your previous Windows installation.

Step 2: Start the Windows recovery environment.

1. Insert the Windows 8/Windows 7 CD-ROM into your DVD drive and restart your computer.

2. Press any key while prompted to restart from the CD.

3. In the "Install Windows" window, select the language, time, currency, keyboard input method or other input method, then click “Next”.

4. In the "Install Windows" window, click “Repair Computer”.

5. In the System Recovery Options window, click the version of the Windows 8 operating system you want to repair, and then click “Next”.

6. In the <;System Recovery Options" window, click “Command Prompt”.

Step 3: Move the Windows 8 folder to the new Win8 folder

Note When you type one or more of the commands described in the following steps at the command prompt and press ENTER If you receive the following message: The system cannot find the file specified.

Please check if the input is the same as the one provided in this article. You can go to the next command with the same order. Please retype it.

Type the following commands and press Enter after each command:

C:

Md Win8

Move Windows Win8Windows

Move "Program Files" "Win8Program Files"

Move Users Win8Users

Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData

Move ProgramData Win8ProgramData

Rd "Documents and Settings"

Step 4: Move the Windows.old folder to the system disk

Note that when you type one or more of the steps described in the following steps at the command prompt After pressing the command and pressing Enter, if you receive the following message: The system cannot find the file specified.

Please check if the input is the same as the one provided in this article. You can go to the next command with the same order. Please retype it.

Type the following commands and press Enter after each command:

move /yc:Windows.oldWindows c:

move /y "c:Windows.oldProgram Files" c:

move /yc:Windows.oldProgramData c:

move /yc:Windows.oldUsers c:

move /y "c:Windows.oldDocuments And Settings" c:

Step 5: Restore the boot sector of a previously installed Windows

Depending on the operating system you need to recover, at the command prompt, select the following command to type.

Note: In the following commands, D: stands for DVD drive. If the DVD drive on your computer is represented by a different drive letter (for example, E:), use the

drive letter in the command.

If you previously installed Windows 7 or Windows Vista

, type the following command and then hit Enter:

D:bootbootsect /nt60 c:

If you previously installed Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000

, type the following command and press Enter:

D:bootbootsect /nt52 c:

Step 6 : Restoring a previously installed Windows XP or Windows 2000 Boot.ini file

Note: This step is required only for Windows XP or Windows 2000

Type the following command and press Enter after each command :

Attrib –h –s –r boot.ini.saved

Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini

Step 7: Close the command prompt Window, then click “restart"

1. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then tap Enter:

exit

2. Click “Restart” to restart your computer.

Note: After verifying that Windows is working properly, if the C:Win8 folder is not needed for data recovery, you can remove it.