Ok, my laptop is 5 yrs old. Intel celeron 2gb ram etc. I installed windows 10 from Windows 7 couple months ago but has since gof slower and slower. So today I tried to take it back to a restore point but couldn’t find it, cue what I thought would be a good idea and installed the recovery disc which promptly wiped everything I mean everything but installed windows 7. I can’t do much now as all drivers gone, files etc. Plus I can’t restore back to Windows 10 even though I can see the file but it won’t restore.

Before I have to buy another laptop is there anything I can do.

Restore from the backup you made before updating to windows 10 or trying to take it back to windows 7?

Define “recovery disc” and “can’t do much.” Be specific. What did you actually do? A proper recovery disc should have all the drivers you need included, and you’ve given no indication as to what the current problems are.

Ok bare with me. Windows 10 installed I couldn’t find anywhere a backup or restore point to take it back to Windows 7, I put the Samsung recovery disc in which installed windows 7. Now I have no programs just windows 7. To go on the Internet I have to use an Ethernet cable. I can’t find a way to turn on the wireless connection it just doesn’t recognise it’s there. The Internet connection is extremely slow on the laptop now even though I have 70mb speed at home. Obviously I could download stuff like adobe etc but that isn’t going well either. So I checked my files and there is a restore point from today so I tried to restore it back but it hadn’t done anything since it went to system restore initialization for hours and hours just stuck there.

Have I fubard it entirely?.

No. You can’t break hardware with software(*).

I put the Samsung recovery disc in

This is a disc supplied with the laptop?

Presumably it’s done a factory reset then, which should be how it was when it was new. If it’s not working from there then either it’s some random disc you’ve acquired or there’s an underlying hardware issue which is what caused it to get “slower and slower” in the first place.

Don’t get hung up on ‘restore points’ – they’re something different and are unlikely to help here.

If you switch it on and mash F8, do you get a boot menu with a ‘repair’ option on it? Try that, and do a factory refresh / reset from there.

(* – for all practical purposes anyway.)

Thanks cougar will give it a go tomorrow morning. Spent hours on it today. The disc came with the laptop from new. Will start from scratch again tomorrow.

Do you have anything on your laptop worth saving?

If no and you’re happy to wipe the laptop, then hopefully the Windows 10 server recorded your serial and registered your laptop.

Download any program to find your windows 10 key. Write it down.

Then download the correct version (of Windows 10 e.g. Pro 64) of 10 from Microsoft onto a USB key..

Use USB key and reinstall 10 fresh not by repair.

Make sure laptop boots by USB on bios.

If you wNt to stick with 7, Ethernet cable and Windows update for your drivers.

Or go to laptop manufacturer and download the correct wifi drivers etc.

Do you have anything on your laptop worth saving?

Bit late for that.

hopefully the Windows 10 server recorded your serial and registered your laptop.

Doesn’t matter any more, the latest build of W10 will accept W7/W8 serials.

Then download the correct version (of Windows 10 e.g. Pro 64) of 10 from Microsoft onto a USB key..

If you are going to go down this route, use the media creator tool. I’d choose the 32-bit version, ‘Pro’ etc is irrelevant.