Many people who were overwhelmed at the thought of installing a new OS with new features and installed Windows 8 are now searching for ways to uninstall it. It is especially common among people who don’t use touch-enabled devices. Windows 8 is designed for use on touch-enabled devices and so it isn’t fully functional on desktops and other devices which are not touch-enabled. Installing Windows 8 is a piece of cake, but uninstalling it really takes time. Microsoft has taken all the measures needed to make it a difficult task for users. Therefore, if by any chance you haven’t yet installed Windows 8, install it on a partition drive or if you’re not sure, opt out of it. Another option you have is installing it over Windows 7 or any other OS you might be currently using. However, it is risky because if you want to get back your old OS, it is going to be a difficult job.

Before uninstalling it, you will need to back up all your files from the disks because if Murphy’s Law chooses to work on you, you will lose all your information in the process of wiping out Windows 8. Windows Vista, Windows 7 and 8 use boot loader architecture to boot the operating system. The boot loader architecture includes the boot configuration data database and three components namely bootmgr.exe, winload.exe and winresume.exe. Bootmgr.exe is the windows boot manager, winload.exe is the windows operating system loader and winresume.exe is the windows resume loader. Let’s see how to uninstall Windows 8 if you’ve installed it alongside Windows 7 in a partition drive.

1. Open the MSCONFIG program by booting Windows 7 using the Run command from the Start menu.
2. Click on the Boot tab and highlight the Windows 8 boot option and choose Delete.
3. You will now have to set Windows 7 as your default OS by highlighting it and choosing it as Set as Default.
4. Close the MSCONFIG program. (Shouldn’t be restarted at this point)
5. Click on Start-> Control Panel-> Administrative Tools-> Computer Management
6. Open Disk Management found in the left pane by double clicking on it.
7. You will find the virtual hard disks that you have created for running different operating systems. Find the one that has Windows 8 and right click on it. Select Delete Volume from the list that pops up.
8. The virtual disk will still be visible and now you will have to merge it with the other drive. To merge it, right click on it and choose Shrink Volume to integrate it with the primary drive.
9. Check if the C: Drive has Primary Partition as the default setting.
10. Reboot the system after closing the module.

For those who have installed Windows 8 over Windows7, it is going to be an uphill struggle. Brace up yourself and start with backing up all your files running on Windows 8. Double check to ensure that not even a single file is left from the backup because you will lose it forever when you’re uninstalling Windows 8. Once you are done with the backup, reinstall Windows 7 from a DVD or a USB drive.

1. Download Microsoft’s download tool to your USB drive.
2. When you download it, it will leave a shortcut on your desktop. Insert the USB drive and run the tool.
3. Select the ISO file to be installed to the USB drive. Click on the Next button in the dialog box.
4. Choose the media type as USB if you are using a USB drive or DVD if you want to burn it to a DVD
5. Select the USB drive you want to use and click Begin Copying. Your USB drive will now be ready to install.
6. Open the drive using Windows Explorer and delete the ei.cfg file so that Windows 7 starts to install when you reboot it.

Done! You can now let go of your worry wrinkles as you’ve gotten back Windows 7.

This is a guest post by Mark Bennett of OnlineComcast.com, a site that offers savings and current information on comcast cable and internet.