Melon's Guide to setting up a Windows 7 system!

[Melooon]

Windows 7 Guide! 

Hello this is my guide to getting setup with Windows 7 in 2024 and beyond! A lot of the info here has been gathered from around the web, particularly the windows 7 subreddit, but I wanted to archive it all here!

Firstly, Why Windows 7??

The software you use defines your experience of any form of digital creation, be that websites, games, drawings - anything! Every OS has a cultural, aesthetic and practical mix of attributes that define who you become as you use it. Iv picked Windows 7 as a focal point because it sits as a really weird mix of modern and old - its from the last moment of the 00s, yet it runs all the way up to the 20s - in a way it holds a candle of early computing values that are lost in later versions, while still having a lot of the functionally and software from both eras. Having a Windows 7 setup is like holding onto a moment in time, and having a magic box of digital tools that no one can take away from you. No update can break it, no subscription can end it and it can be your secret space for years to come! Think of it like a box of art supplies for the digital craftier, one that you can count on year after year to stay the same and free from the whims of the world.

Getting your hands on a Windows 7 computer!

There are lots of ways to get an old computer, maybe you can find a used one from someone you know, maybe you'd like to build one using older parts - the best way I recommenced is to find an old workstation PC, they are usually cheap and very powerful.

Tips for finding Windows 7 hardware: (Iv listed lots so if you don't understand one you can use others)

• Look for parts made between 2012 - 2017 for best compatibility.
• Between 8 - 32GB of ram is great - your system may come with less, but old ram is super cheap to upgrade
• Systems that use DDR3 ram are the best option.
• An Nvidia Geforce 670/770 would be great for Windows 7 era games.
• An Nvidia Quadro M2000 is a great GPU for 3d modeling (and lower end gaming)
• Sandy Bridge LGA1155 or LGA2011 are a perfect generation of CPU/motherboard to aim for
• Put an SSD in your Windows 7 system, its worth it!
• Lenovo ThinkStation and DELL Precision are good desktop workstations to search for.
• Lenovo Thinkpads are a good type of laptop to look for.
• Some Workstations will have legacy PCI slots that allow you to use much older SoundBlaster sound cards (Audigy, X-Fi) - just for fun
• Look for the "Supports Windows 7" sticker on the case (Even if it says its got Windows 10+ installed)
• Look up the systems manual in order to check what parts its compatible with.
• Precision T3600, HP Z620 and ThinkStation E31 systems can be found on eBay for around euro/$100 and should be great!
• Parts are super cheap, so you can always swap things around and tinker as you use your computer.
• You can install Win 7 on Macs made between 2010 and 2014 and they work great, however you may need to downgrade to a lower macOS version (10.10 for example) becouse they removed the Windows 7 Bootcamp option in later versions - you can upgrade mac again once Win7 is installed in bootcamp
• Don't pay more than $50 for any part of your Windows 7 computer
• Don't overpay for Windows 7 hardware, keep your whole budget under $200

Picking your screen! - Note Windows 7 does not support scaling well at all, so 1080p screens are the best option!

NOTE: The hardware you are getting will be old, and possibly well used! It may be worth looking up how to replace the thermal compound and de-dust your system, this will ensure it has a good long life.

NOTE: Its worth inspecting the hardware you get for any setup mistakes, AND inspecting the BIOS settings for weird configurations. For example the PC I received had its PCI-E bandwidth set to 64bit, but my GPU was 128bit, meaning I was getting slightly worse performance than I otherwise should; also the ram was incorrectly installed, making it a tiny bit slower. These are small things, but if you know how to fix them its worth it!

Installing Windows 7 on ur computer!

First you'll need to get a copy of Windows 7! There is a version that was released in 2018 that includes 10 years worth of updates up to that point and its the de facto one to grab!

• Here is a download link on archive.org (if the link is broken search for "7601.24214.180801-1700.win7sp1_ldr_escrow_") - You'll see a list of files, and a selection of .iso files. You have three options to pick "HOMEPREMIUM" "PROFESSIONAL" and "ULTIMATE". If you're computer has a Windows serial key printed on its box, download the one that matches your key! (If not don't worry, just pick ULTIMATE).
• Use Rufus to make a USB installer key (you'll need a 16+GB usb stick or external ssd)
• Stick your USB stick into a USB2.0 port (it must be a USB2.0 port, if you only have USB3 on your computer you can still install, but you'll need to do some junk to include USB3 drivers on your installer and its a pain) (its ok if your USB stick is USB3, as long as the port you plug it into is USB2) - You may need to select it as a boot device using F12 or Delete
• Install Windows 7 using the usual process (I'm sure you can find other guides if needed)

Getting things Setup!

First you'll need to get the drivers for your system, if its a Dell, Lenovo or other big brand you should just be able to search on the company website and pick Windows 7 drivers!

If its a Dell you can check the BIOS to get your Service Tag in order to get the exact drivers!
If you are installing on an old Mac, you can find all the drivers on this page!

• Open the Start Menu and search Device Manager, look for anything on the device list with a yellow alert triangle, then keep installing drivers until the yellow triangles go away!
• Run Windows Update! You may need to run it a few times, but eventually it will say "Your system is up to date" - at this point, completely disable windows updates because there will never be any more!

SoundBlaster Setup - if you have one!

If you installed an old SoundBlaster Audigy or X-Fi card - the Daniel_K's fan made drivers are here.
To install, select Properties on the setup.exe - then enable Compatibility Mode for Windows 7 - then run the setup!
After its working, you can use Vista Midi to tell windows to play midi files using the hardware wave tables on your soundblaster!

[close]

You should now have all your drivers installed, and be up to date! But there are some extra housekeeping steps I recommend.

• Run this script to remove buggy updates an telemetry updates added in the Windows 10 era. (save the raw page as a .cmd)
• Install 8 Gadget Pack - it resolves some security issues in the included gadgets.
• Install the Pale Moon or Basilisk browser (An updated Firefox fork that uses the old UI)
• If you don't have a Windows 7 Serial Key on your case, get "Windows 7 Loader v2.2.2" (just search online) to fully activate your install. Otherwise don't forget to enter your key to activate!
• Download an Antivirus - Panda is not perfect, but its free and still supports XP and 7!
• Grab Winaero Tweaker (I don't use it a lot, but you might enjoy exploration its options)
• Check settings to make sure the firewall is on and stays on!

Software Notes!

OK so the software you pick is really up to you, I'll list some recommendations and tips though!

Office - you can find Microsoft Office 2007 on archive.org, Office 2010 is also a good choice, but I like the UI in 2007 more! You will find serials very easily with a search on the web! Both versions support .docx format files just fine. I do not recommend you use Outlook 2007 as its too old!

Adobe (Photo editing, Video production etc) - CS6 is the best version for Windows 7, this software is no longer sold, but you can find "CS6 Master" Suit collections with crack files on P2P sites with names that are very "1337". If you are downloading from P2P sites I recommend you do it on a more modern system and virus scan it before you move it to Windows 7. I also recommenced you use a VPN when accessing such sites. (This applies to any other software you might need from P2P sites, and it also applies to archive.org although archive tends to be a lot safer!)

Check the cool 3D software thread for 3d software.
Blender - the last official Windows 7 version is 2.92! - There are also unofficial builds of the latest blender version that have been compiled for Windows 7.

Geany - by far the nicest website/code editor on Windows 7

Games - The best way to get games is from GOG (obvs pick games that you know are old enough to run) - I think Steam will just about still install as of writing, but I've not tested it and I'm not sure how long it'll work.

If you wanna play our Minecraft Server, you can install an older Prism version then follow the regular guide.
First download the Visual C++ Library x64 and the x86 version - Then install Prism 7.2 Legacy Edition.

Other good things to install; Notepad++ (Code edits), K-Lite Codecs (For playing videos), Winrar (I like it more than 7zip ok!), Seamonkey (alternate browser), Thunderbird (email client), WACUP (A fan update of WinAmp), XMPlay (Another cool music player that's great for mods and tracker music!)

If you happen to use 1Password, the new 8 version does not work, but you can download version 7 and it still works! (I don't know how long this will last!)

Final Notes!

Is it safe to use Windows 7 online? Yes its fine, particularly if you are only visiting smaller indie spaces. Just make sure you have your firewall on and you act sensibly. I dunno how long Windows 7 will be usable online more generally, prob a few years, but for now it works fine!

Good luck and enjoy Windows 7!

[Memory]

And Win7 certainly will be enjoyed, considering what followed afterwards!

2 GB (of RAM) is enough for a fine Windows 7. And while SSDs boost the speed significantly, Windows 7 was still capable of running on mechanical HDDs as well, without choking all the time. Just saying, as an upgrade SSD problably costs more than the machine itself.

Much cheaper are desktops compared to laptops, as they have fallen out of fashion for home use.

There just have to be Windows 7 drivers available for the chosen machine. Sometimes, even newer computers have drivers for Windows 7.

Windows 7 is a chatty chap by itself. It improves performance, if the home firewall cuts all traffic to Microsoft. Using the local Hosts file doesn't work, as Microsoft domains are whitelisted.

Call me paranoid, but I feel that one day, the final killer update will be deployed, when Microsoft destroys all active Windows 7 installations... that's why I'd turn updates off. And half of the other so called "services" under Run -> msconfig.

[Melooon]

an upgrade SSD problably costs more than the machine itself

I got pretty lucky, I ordered a Dell Precision T3600 from eBay (Sent from Germany) - all in it had a 500GB SSD, a 1TB HDD, 32GB of ECC ram, 2 lower-end Quadro gpus, and a quad core xenon CPU - all in it was 99 euro! A lot of them seem to have SSDs already, I dunno how worn out they are, but if you keep backups its not a huge issue - Though admittedly I was targeting my build for doing 3D work, so I wanted it to be very robust, a lighter workload could get away with lower specs, but at such a low price its kinda like "why not get the best"

And half of the other so called "services" under Run -> msconfig

Yeap, there's a whole bunch of edits you can do in here, but I decided to leave that out since its not showstopping stuff an a lot of it can be done in Winaero Tweaker (I'm also not enough of an expert to say exactly what ones are needed!) - but suggestions are welcome!

[PurpleHello98]

I second this! Typing this from my Windows 7 computer:)

Other notes: Microsoft Security Essentials is a good antivirus that still gets definition updates to this day, though you have to download them manually. Since it's more integrated into the system as well, it's very lightweight---even with it installed on an HDD, my computer boots up in maybe a minute. Also, Pale Moon is my browser of choice---it feels more "era-accurate" to Windows 7, and anyhow I've always preferred its interface---and I use Waterfox whenever Pale Moon doesn't support something.

Some unique Windows 7 features I appreciate that were removed in later versions:

• The classic theme! I don't really use it, but it's nice to have.
• Actual theming abilities without having to dig deep---plus, it's not butt-ugly!
• I really like using libraries to have my document, photos, etc., from many different places assembled together.
• It's much more lightweight---even with only 6GB of RAM and a spinning HDD, my computer rarely freezes up or anything. (The one thing that slows it down is if I have Discord and a lot of other things open. Discord is just a resource hog, I guess.)

I foresee Windows 7 being usable on-line, at the very least for my purposes, for a long time to come---I mean, even Windows XP is still rather usable on-line, what with MyPal and everything!

[Melooon]

The one thing that slows it down is if I have Discord and a lot of other things open. Discord is just a resource hog, I guess.

Ripcord is a super lightweight alternative Discord client that runs on Win 7! It has not been updated in a while, but I tested it quickly and it still seems to work!

[petrichoran]

i just downloaded win 7 on my old win 8.1 laptop! i had been trying to get xp on there for over a year but i eventually got as far as i could in the installation process. i had issues with the f6 driver compatibility and couldn't get 3rd party ones to work.

my issue currently is that i have a usb of all of the files from the snappy driver torrent, but my now win 7 laptop doesn't come with drivers to recognize 3.0 usb, so it won't receive it. the cd drive works, but i don't have a great way to burn discs because my newer computers don't have dvd drives. i might end up getting an external drive if i don't find a computer with one! i have an old, water damaged win 10 laptop that has one, and i'm hoping it might turn on for long enough to burn a disc? i'd try to get the usb drivers from there and then proceed, or maybe put wifi drivers on there and just download it from the online snappy driver installer.

thanks for the guide! super neat to have this info out there when it's especially relevant to me

[syrupnx]

ive been rocking windows 7 on an older computer for a week or two now (writing this post from it !) and i wanted to find a .beat gadget. i did some digging and managed to find an old download link from the Windows Live Gallery that was archived by the wayback machin e !! 



i have the .gadget file attached, but for the sake of preservation, here is the internet archive link

[sokil]

this is a really neat guide, thank you for putting it together!!! i might give it a try with my old laptop sometime!

Games - The best way to get games is from GOG (obvs pick games that you know are old enough to run) - I think Steam will just about still install as of writing, but I've not tested it and I'm not sure how long it'll work.

as far as i know with steam and win7, some games like battleblock theatre will still run without issue but some newer games like lethal company or vrchat run into problems/won't launch. i don't know if anyone ever made a comprehensive list or anything of games that will still run, but based on my friend's experiences there are a lot of problems that quickly appear since steam recently dropped support for anything under win10. they were still able to install newer games and even played a bit of vrchat with me and other friends at one point, but i think something happened with the anticheat that valve put into the game and it stopped the game from launching entirely :<

if i see anything that has more info on stuff like this, i'll gladly edit my post so everyone knows what's up ^^