can I just do this?

I got my Thinkpad Yoga and absolutely hated Windows 8 it's a pile mess, and I don't have the time to reinstall windows 7 and redownload and configure all my programs and settings.

Can I just pull the SSD out of my X200T, then format the Yoga's SSD, and clone the X200T SSD to the Yoga's SSD using cloning software and put it back into the Yoga? Will Yoga run just like it did on the Thinkpad X200T? Will there be hardware issues?

 

Due to different hardware, there could be an issue. In any case, you will definitely need to disable Secure Boot and probably enable Legacy (as opposed to UEFI) mode in your Yoga BIOS.

 

If I clean install with Windows 7, will I still need to mess with the BIOS?

 

Yes. You'll have to enable Legacy boot, which will take you all of 30 seconds...

 

So, um I'm in the process of making a bootable USB with W7 on it.

Do I configure BIOS now or after W7 installation?

 

Now is the time to do it.

 

I have three options, UEFI only, Legacy only or both?

 

Both...this way you've covered all the grounds for any possible tweaks in the future.

 

Should I disable Secure Boot as djembe mentioned?

Also, there are four partitions at the moment, I'm still on W8.

Recovery partition 1000MB
EFI system partition 260MB
Recovery partition 9.29GB
and boot, page file, crash dump primary partition 227.83gb

Can I delete any of these partitions?

 

Yes.

You'll have to wait for someone else to chime in on this, I don't use W8.x...

 

If you are serious about switching to Windows 7, then you can delete every single partition and reformat your entire drive into one partition. Just know that you would need a product key to install Windows 7 on your Yoga. You can't use the one on the other ThinkPad.

 

err, I think I F#$cked it up.

I formatted my primary partition, and when I try to install W7, I got error

''Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style. ''

Now I have no OS on the drive and can not install a OS.

help...

 

You need to wipe the entire drive and then install W7...the best way of doing it would be through Disk Management of another PC running W7.

 

If I remember correctly, all you need to do is delete all the partitions in Windows 7 setup, and then create a new one, accept default size, and click OK. It'll warn you that it'll create extra partitions for system functions, click OK. I think there is a way to do this with diskpart as well (you can open command prompt from the win7 setup DVD to do this).

 

@livebriand did all that, didn't work

@aj

basically I did that using this method

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQf9YqbD8WI

Now all my partitions are gone. I wished you or someone had warn me about this GPT thing.

I lost all lenovo recovery stuff, will I be able to get it back?

 

OK blame it on the ones who were trying to help you.

No you won't and on that note I'm out of this thread.

Good luck.

 

The GPT thing is why you changed the BIOS entry from UEFI Only to Both. UEFI boot requires GPT (global unique identifier partition table) & Legacy boot (which you'll want to use to install Windows 7) uses MBR (master boot record). When you install Windows 7 to a "clean" hard drive (as they say in the video you linked), it will create an MBR for you.

Although you lost the recovery partition, all the drivers and software for your computer can be found on Lenovo's website. And you can use the Rescue and Recovery software to create a backup of your system either on your hard drive, on a second drive attached to the system, or on an external drive connected via USB. Basically, you lost the ability to restore your system to "factory," but as you're changing the default operating system from the one it shipped with, you really don't want to restore to factory settings anyway - you want to restore to what you've got now! And you can do that by setting up Rescue & Recovery. So you didn't really lose anything important, in my opinion.

 

Thanks djembe

So basically, the GPT error is unavoidable for anyone who want to downgrade from W8 machine they bought to a W7?

 

Keep in mind that if you ever wanted to go back to Windows 8/8.1, all you need to do is get a disc of that, and it'll fetch the license key from your BIOS/UEFI. Then, download the drivers from Lenovo's site. For simplicity's sake, don't use an 8.1 disc if the machine shipped with 8, and vise versa. (There is a way around this, but it might get confusing. Basically, install with a trial key, and then use slmgr -ipk to put in the correct key.) Don't use recovery media, just a clean install disc - for example, if a friend bought a copy to install on their own machine. In my case, I got a Win8.1 laptop, downgraded to 7, and later opted to go back to 8.1. I used my dreamspark Win8.1 pro ISO, and it automatically used the non-pro key from BIOS/UEFI. (I have UEFI enabled and secure boot disabled, so the latter seems to not be a requirement to retrieve the key.)

And yes, assuming the Windows 8 machine was setup with UEFI (which is a requirement to certify a machine for win8 but optional to actually run it), you will run into this issue if you downgrade to 7.

 

There may be a slim chance of recovering the original Lenovo partition, you could try Partition Wizard Bootable Disc which assuming you haven't done further data destruction could potentially restore the once lost partition back on the disk drive and its free to use.

I was sceptical at first but when I carelessly lost one of my sister's partition when fiddling the disk management (full of work and personal stuff) I didn't have much to lose and tried it out. I was amazed when it found the missing partition and restored it back up as if nothing had happened. It saved my bacon and now permanantly resides in my disk catalogue for future use, plus it taught me a lesson not to go crazy with disk management again!

 

Here's an alternative method.

Download and write one of the popular Linux live disks to a USB stick. Arch, ubuntu, debian, etc will come with the partitioning tools you need to get rid of GPT and revert your drive to MBR. If you choose this route, I can facilitate.

Sent from my mobile device

 

This happen to me once on another laptop. You would need to take the HDD/SSD out and plug it into another computer. Use a program like Paragon Back Up and Recover Free to delete all the partition on the drive and reformat it as a MBR. I used my T440s w/ Windows 8.1 to do it. After converting to a MBR, I stopped receiving the error.

 

regarding to Windows 7 license key, I read on the internet that we have a downgrade right, and we can use our windows 8 key for windows 7, is that true? If so where can I get windows 8 key?

 

As long as you had the Pro version of Windows 8 originally installed on your system, you can downgrade to Windows 7 Pro. For documentation, see here: Understanding downgrade rights

Assuming that is true and your system did ship with a Pro version, then after you install Windows 7 to the drive, ***and make sure to delay activation until after you've already done all this*** use the program here to look up your original Windows 8 activation key. Then enter the retrieved key into activation and activate. You will probably need to call Microsoft and explain that you are downgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 7. They will then give you a very long string of letters and numbers to enter, which will activate Windows and you'll be set!

 

why is it called

Windows 9 Product Key Viewer?

 

I can't seem to find the product key.

Anyways I called up Microsoft, they say that I need to contact Lenovo since the downgrade right is for OEM only.

 

https://www.piriform.com/speccy tells you the Windows key - works for me on 8.1. However, it won't help people who already reformatted the machine and installed another OS - you'll need a different tool if you want to read the key out of the BIOS/UEFI. That said, the stock install uses that key, and any clean install you do of the same OS as what the machine shipped with (8/8.1) will retrieve and use that key from the BIOS/UEFI.

 

I just removed MS activation technology lol