Going back to Windows 7 from 10: how?

[zedd151]

What Opera ver are you using?

93.0.4585.37

apparently their  latest. It always checks for, and installs updates. Have'nt found the setting to turn off automatic updates.

[greenozon]

I see..I was wrong
latest opera is just "repainted" chromium under the hood

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Opera_web_browser#Opera_2022

[NoCforMe]

OK, OP checking in here. Just want to let y'all know that I've been running fine on my new old Windows 7 machine for more than a month now, with no real problems. I guess you just have to half beat to death first, then it lies down and starts behaving.

Actually, I have a crackpot theory why it's working well. I took (someone's, forget exactly who) advice and installed that backup program, dism, and started making backup images. Since doing that I've had no problems. My theory is that the threat of having a valid backup has scared the gremlins away, and they haven't bothered me since.

I even found a kinda-sorta solution to that fuzzy-text problem I was having. I put in a call to SetProcessDPIAware() to make my code "high-DPI aware" (tried it in my editor). Well, it works, with some issues. The text is, overall, much clearer, though there are still weird artifacts seen depending on which font one uses. The main problem was with the text in the RichEdit control, which was definitely fuzzy or blurry. Now it's sharper, but there are still strange things, like the top or bottom line of the equal sign disappearing. (The best font I found for monospaced text is something called "Monospac821 BT", which I think came from an old Corel disc I had from a couple decades ago.)

The other thing is that right after calling that function, the size of everything in the program changed! But I found that just choosing a new font for the edit control pretty much fixed that. I still have no idea how this whole "DPI-aware" thing works.

No blue screens. The only crashes are from running the programs I write, which is to be expected. (Not really crashes, just the program dies. No big deal.)

Regarding the text issue: I am still completely mystified why it is that I have so much trouble with some software (like my own programs, or older software for Win2000 or XP), but absolutely no problems with, say, Opera: everything in my browser windows is rendered perfectly. Clear and sharp. By the way, I've had no other issues at all with Opera, which makes those reports I read about it in this thread somewhat baffling. I did have that certificate issue after reinstalling W7, but after applying that patch that someone here posted everything's been fine.

Like I say, you just have to wave a torch in the face of those gremlins, scare them off ...

[jj2007]

My theory is that the threat of having a valid backup has scared the gremlins away, and they haven't bothered me since.

As a former engineer, when something seems broken I take a big hammer, approach slowly with a grim face and... voilà, it starts working again

I even found a kinda-sorta solution to that fuzzy-text problem I was having. I put in a call to SetProcessDPIAware() to make my code "high-DPI aware" (tried it in my editor). Well, it works

Interesting. I'll have to test that on my stuff, although I never had these font problems

[NoCforMe]

Not in the MASM32 library, so you'll have to use LoadLibrary() and GetProcAddress() (it's in User32.dll).

[daydreamer]

Seem lots of users went on revert to win7 bandwagon
Is that combined with lots of poor europeans cant afford new computer that runs win11 because high energy prices that caused ms to fire 10k employees?

[greenozon]

Any ideas how to live longer after Chrome 109 on old good W7, gentlmen? :)

https://prnt.sc/b4Jfjgi2r-u6

[jj2007]

You don't get updates any more, that's all. Get used to your current version

[greenozon]

I protest your honor!
it is illegal and degrades my human dignity

[jj2007]

I work 99% on my trusty old Win7-64 machine, but yesterday I played with my brand new (14 months) Win10 notebook. At a certain point, it asks me for a password to connect to the Win7 machine. Oops. So I started searching for that password (I have a hidden place where I store that stuff), but no luck. Apparently I forgot to register this one

Control Panel, network, HOME group, all these awful places where Micros**t makes you run in circles without ever solving any problem.

Next: Google. Why does my PC tell me that it cannot create a HOME group? For no reason, apparently.

After two hours wasted, I had the bright idea to reboot the Win10 machine. Guess what? It no longer wants a password.

If Bill Gates had to pay for all the hours wasted chasing Windows bugs, he would be the poorest person on the Planet.

But then, bug chasing has become a hobby in its own right. Confess: how would you feel if your software just ran smoothly on three different Windows versions? Deprived! There is this short moment of happiness when you found a bug and fixed it, but then boredom creeps in, a new feature will make you happy... no, it's not the feature, it's the new bug that makes you happy. It's the bug that gives your life a purpose. Thank you, Bill Gates, you deserve being the richest man on the Planet.

[hutch--]

It seems to be the case that once you know where everything is, Win10 works OK and surprisingly enough, once Win 11 hit the deck, Win 10 is not being stuffed around with like it used to be. I feel sorry for those who jumped on the Win 11 bandwaggon, only to have to suffer years of Microsoft having to fix it.

I am blessed in that none of my boxes will run Win 11 so they cannot try and force an upgrade onto you by stealth like they tried to do with Win 7 some years ago. I tend to build a computer for a specific OS version and the last thing I want is some half arsed upgrade forced on you.

My Win 7 64 Ultimate retail version cost me over $400 AU and I was phuked if I was going to let it be updated to a broken crapheap. I started using Win 10 with a new box I built for it, my trusty old monster that I thrashed the guts out of for 6 years and now that it is a retired senior, it still runs perfectly if I ever need it. It has a 14 core Xeon in it now so its useful enough but the latest 18 core Xeon has more grunt again.

[jj2007]

It seems to be the case that once you know where everything is, Win10 works OK

It works ok for the average user, maybe. I just discovered that one of my proggies is broken because the Win10 version of msftedit.dll handles the EN_LINK notification differently. That was a very rare event in the chain Win3.1->Win7.