Installing older version of Windows

[Mimikyu]

Please read the full post before replying many people read the first sentence and just reply without knowing the whole thing

So I use a gaming PC and I use Windows 10 on it, then I have my laptop which uses Windows 10.
I use my laptop only for watching anime, I don't need a lot from it so I wanted to go back to Windows 7 (or even XP) to download some nice 3rd party themes as windows 7 and XP have a better selection of these themes.

Right so I have my laptop which came preloaded with Windows 8.1. It is a Aspire E-511.
I want to install Windows 7 on it or Windows XP. I realise Windows XP is most likely not possible as my BIOS shows only one SATA (AHCI) and it ends up with a blue screen of death upon installation.

Now I installed Windows Vista today to test things with a older OS and found that obviously none of the drivers worked, to the point my usb ports did not work. I don't know if the issue of this may be that I accidentally installed 32-bit on a 64 bit machine, but yeah, I downloaded drivers on my other computer for my laptop and transferred them using a CD disc.
The USB ports don't work so no wireless adapter, and the Ethernet port also stopped working. This never happened in Windows 10. Yes I resetted the USB stack.
I launched the setup for the drivers for Acer Aspire E-511 to get the wireless drivers to be able to connect to the internet and was met with the message that the OS is too old.

Now my question is, is there a way to roll back to Windows 7 or any other older OS and have Wi-Fi and working USB ports?
Weirdly the touchpad works, and usually when reinstalling Windows 10 I need to download drivers for the touchpad but Vista seems to support my touchpad right away.

 

[Samaratin]

why you would rationally go to xp or vista is mindboggling.... most browsers don't even support those operating systems anymore... additionally, windows 10 performs BETTER than all previous windows versions.

 

[USAFRet]

You can't "roll back". You can only install new.

Create a bootable DVD or USB.
The fact that you installed Vista should not, in theory, impact booting from a USB port. That booting happens long before Vista gets its grubby mitts in there and screws things up.

 

[Mimikyu]

@Samaratin I already described why I want to roll back in my opening thread so please read it if you wish to know.

@USAFRet out of curiosity how do people roll back then? I mean I seen many people with new laptops in the starting days of windows 8 rolling back to Windows 7 with their new laptops that came with Windows 8.

 

[Samaratin]

So... you want to make your laptop perform worse, be unstable, as well as a willing victim to viruses... all so it can have a pretty theme? hmmm... how about some of them stick on bling rhinestones for it too It's like you're asking if you can use square wheels on your car... Windows 10 lets you change all sorts of color theme settings and what not... hmmmm... just had a thought... would any of these themes work in 'compatibility mode' in windows 10?

 

[USAFRet]

@Samaratin I already described why I want to roll back in my opening thread so please read it if you wish to know.

@USAFRet out of curiosity how do people roll back then? I mean I seen many people with new laptops in the starting days of windows 8 rolling back to Windows 7 with their new laptops that came with Windows 8.

By buying a Windows 7 license and install, and installing that over what it came with.

By 'roll back' I was thinking you meant somehow retrieving the old Win 7 or 8.1 that was there before you installed Vista.
You can't undo that.
You'd need to do a clean install of a new OS.

 

[Mimikyu]

@USAFRet ah no sorry I meant a clean install of Windows 7 on a laptop that originally came with Windows 8.1. My worry is that the drivers for my laptop are all for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, so I am wondering if there is a way to get some older drivers that would work on Windows 7 on my Aspire E-511 and give me things like access to the internet, as right now each time I try and install the wireless drivers for my laptop it just says the OS isn't compatible.
I mean somehow people must have done it with new laptops , since there was a bunch of people doing it because they hated windows 8.

@Samaratin no they do not work in compatibility mode.

 

[USAFRet]

@USAFRet ah no sorry I meant a clean install of Windows 7 on a laptop that originally came with Windows 8.1. My worry is that the drivers for my laptop are all for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, so I am wondering if there is a way to get some older drivers that would work on Windows 7 on my Aspire E-511 and give me things like access to the internet, as right now each time I try and install the wireless drivers for my laptop it just says the OS isn't compatible.
I mean somehow people must have done it with new laptops , since there was a bunch of people doing it because they hated windows 8.

@Samaratin no they do not work in compatibility mode.

For some laptops and PCs'...yes. Especially right when WIn 8/8.1 was released. There still existed Win 7 compatible drivers for those systems.

But if no Win 7 drivers were created by the manufacturer, you're mostly out of luck.
Possibility - Look up the actual LAN/WiFI hardware. RealTek or whoever.
Find the specific hardware part number, and see if they have the relevant Win 7 drivers, instead of going through who made the laptop.

 

[Samaratin]

when consumers backlashed about the changes from 7 to 8, many OEM computer makers offered windows 7 rollbacks... i'm not sure if this was a limited time frame deal or not, you'd have to look at the website for your specific model, or perhaps documentation that may have come with your laptop when you purchased it.

 

[Mimikyu]

Okay thank you for the advice , I did find a website that offers windows 7 drivers for my laptop however it looks too good to be true so I will research it more.

Hopefully another site than Acer will have the right drivers. Thanks for the help!

Sorry the website won't let me choose two solutions as the best ones :x