UPDATED ON: 2023-11-23
¶ ESSENTIAL INTRODUCTION Finally I get up all one’s courage to compile and publish essential stuff regarding Windows 7 optimization. Note that full version of the guide will be released somewhere around early 2023. Check the warm place to stay on the edge. And now….Let’s dive into the tweaking process!
All console commands should be executed from command line with with administrative privileges. Most of mentioned tweaks could be done via control panel, to enter it in a fast way just type in command line or execute Start Run:
UPDATED ON: 2023-12-02
You may already noticed [list of system tweakers]
in Windows 7 header section. Just wanted to describe process a bit with the help of plain words and some png pictures for crispy clearness and buttery smooth understanding of the process.
FAQ ver 0.1b
▓ PREFACE This comprehensive guide will be handy for those of you who can’t figure out why hp printer is not detected by windows using usb connection and for those of you who are asking himself/herself “why do i need to do usb plug to setup device for wireless work?”
hp is notoriously known in terms of really s#cky printer drivers. During all my career of system administrator i’ve constantly ran into driver related problems with hp devices.
By default software forbids execution when you are using classic desktop and aero is not enabled.
However, there is a nice workaround. By adding –no-dwm-warning switch to starting shortcut you can avoid internal restriction.
"C:\Program Files\Affinity\Photo\Photo.exe" --no-dwm-warning NOTE: with some graphical drivers you may experience visual artifacts and not so precise image rendering.
UPDATED ON: 2023-02-15 Secure Boot now supported [officially]
!
▒ HARDWARE Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra BIOS: F34 [F35b breaks compatibility with Windows 7]
I think that guide will be useful due to nightmarish non-ergonomic structure of Gigabyte’s BIOS menus.
▒ UEFI vs MBR Windows 7 supports UEFI only partially, there is no native handling of this modern tech. I don’t see any reason to use UEFI, only if you want to boot from drive which is larger than 2TB.
Authoritative member of Win-Raid community [Canonkong]
confirmed that x570s chipset is fully operational under Windows 7. In terms of overall compatibility he recommends MSI boards. Please note that [Asrock motherboards are not compatible with Windows 7]
anymore because of notable BIOS changes. You’ll encounter A5/7E BSOD screens on random basis. The most distinctive feature of x570s chipset compared to x570 is absence of active cooling. Also it will support upcoming [Ryzen 5950XT]
CPU with larger 192Mb L3 v-cache.
UPDATED ON: 2025-05-26
I use these automation on daily basis to improve my workflow. All batch files are tested under Windows 7 x64.
► SHUTDOWN PUTER AND CLEAN TMP FOLDER @echo off
echo Cleaning up temporary files in %TEMP% folder...
echo.
set "tempfolder=%TEMP%"
cd /d "%tempfolder%"
:: Delete all files and folders in TEMP (including read-only and hidden)
del /q /f /s *.* >nul 2>&1
for /d %%x in (*) do rd /s /q "%%x" >nul 2>&1
echo.
Some really quick software lists with information on which version of application is a last one to run on Windows 98/2000/XP/7.
[Windows 98SE Gold]
[Windows 98SE KeX]
[Windows 2000 SP4]
[Windows XP SP3]
As for Windows 7 SP2 ESU i maintain my [personal list of trusted’n’latest software]
. Coz Seven is my daily driver system. So Windws 7 list will be constantly updated!
Don’t forget about my [dedicated WINDOWS 98/2000/XP/7 support page]
UPDATED ON: 2023-02-12 ► Added info on 2.93.15 LTS & 3.0 Final Make sure to check [newer post]
regarding refreshed information about modern Blender and Windows 7 compatibility
As we all know that last official Blender build to support Windows 7 is 2.92. Next version requires Python 3.9.x, which is not an option for Windows 7. However, there is a possibility to run new 2.93 version via [DLL HACK]
, which could be applied even to the newest 2.
UPDATED ON: 2025-11-17 NOTE: list will be updated in the future [final renewal is planned somewhere around 2028]. List of essential software needed for smooth and hassle free system performance. I use these applications on a daily basis. Selection is really private, but nevertheless of this fact I want to share my knowledge with you. List doesn’t contain any microsoft or adobe products. Sorted by usage frequency.
Also i’ll do my best to provide final Windows 7 compatible versions of software.
DON'T EVEN THINK THAT WINDOWS 7 IS DEAD!
Official extended support for Windows 7 operating system [ended on January 14, 2020]
. Home users can’t extend support for the operating system while business and enterprise customers may extend support by up to three years [till January 14, 2023]
, to be precise. This is done by joining the ESU program which is available per machine [business] or per user [enterprise].
Here is a short breakdown of the most frequently used commands, which could be launched from the START menu. [WIN] + R ► START ► RUN ► …. CONTROL PANEL control panel LAN CONNECTIONS ncpa.cpl REMOTE DESKTOP mstsc SYSTEM SERVICES services.msc USER CONTROL PANEL control userpasswords2 MICROSOFT CONFIG TOOL msconfig DIRECTX DIAGNOSTICS TOOL dxdiag SYSTEM INFORMATION msinfo32 REGISTRY EDITOR regedit TASK SCHEDULER taskschd.msc GROUP POLICY EDITOR gpedit.msc
Note: Don’t worry, your eye sight is ok. I’m just testing CRT-emulation mode via CSS-magic. To remove FX click on any other page.
Back in Pentium 66Mhz days I was a follower of minimal design and always turned off all fancy graphical beauties, for the sake of performance of course. However, today we are not limited to 8Megs of RAM anymore. Therefore, I have decided to transform my Windows 7 installation into Windows Vista.
UPDATED: 2021-10-05
Some good old-school sites regarding ‘puters and technology. I will update this post when stumble upon something very cool.
[Razorback95]
► cool guy doing retro stuff [DXZeff]
► small vintage computer forum, also guy has pretty neat YT channel [Retro revival blog]
► excellent selection of vintage software [Vogons forum]
► the most important place for old school gamers [Old-games.ru portal]
► very vibrant old games Russian community
Software is not perfect. Windows, Linux or any other OS. It doesn’t really matter. In this quick note, I will talk about Windows operating system.
For basic deleting of stucked files big chance that you are already using utility like Unlocker or smth. However, some time ago Unlocker was caught in spreading malware, so no trust to this application anymore. As for me, I prefer [Lock Hunter]
instead.
And what about frozen processes?
Even mighty Windows 7 comes with preinstalled junk. Yeah, you can’t go wrong with Microsoft.
In this posting I’ll point you out some bloated stuff, that don’t need regular home user on normal basis.
All of these should be removed to save your disk space and improve system performance.
Quick breakdown of the most powerful AMD-based cards for legacy operating systems.
[X850XT PE]
► WINDOWS 98 [official drivers]
/ Omega drivers
] [HD 3870 X 2]
► WINDOWS 2000 [official drivers]
plus some INF tinkering, will review that one later on [HD 5970]
► WINDOWS 2000 [Blackwingcat hacks]
[R9 270X]
► WINDOWS XP [official drivers]
[6950XT]
► WINDOWS 7 [official drivers]
◄ currently rocking on that one under Windows 7 wing.
Of course you run into situations when you would like to copy “non-standard” files to your Android smartphone and dumb MTP protocol showed up window like this one:
And this torture repeated after every new file type copied. Such imbecility can be removed by following command in admin console:
regsvr32 /u wpdshext.dll That’s all, limitation is gone.
Another hint, which potentially can help to overcome weird design of MTP protocol.
UPDATED ON: 2023-08-12 Added microsoft hosts, fixed errors. If you have any suggestions or I’ve missed something [please drop me a line]
.
► SOME PREFACE WORDS THE MOST COMPLETE LIST OF MALWARE UPDATES FROM MICROSOFT GROUPED BY CATEGORIES.
List of updates without links to original ms site due to deletion. KB prefix removed. 454826
971033
2922324
2976987
3012973
3014460
3015249
3022345
3068707
3074677
3090045
3102812
4012218 UNINFORMED ABOUT PRIVACY STARTER PACK FUN FACT: microsoft already not only hiding, but deleting important information regarding “bad updates” from search engines like google.
Just a simple list of the most important services of Windows 7.
Whatever happens - don’t disable them.
Services are programs, which are automatically loading into memory of your computer during start-up time.
Services are always hanging around in computer’s RAM in background mode. Alternative name: resident programs.
That is why it is so important to cut most of them to free valuable memory up for your personal applications.
Described issue related to Windows 7 and modern AMD-based GPU’s. Some users on Reddit [have reported]
,that there is a problem with modern Radeon cards. Core of the problem: sometimes monitor can’t wake up from sleep state and shows up no signal message, despite the fact that computer continues to operate. Keyboard input, sound output are working normally though.
Of course you can set Windows power management not to turn off monitor completely, but this will be quite a waste of energy.
UPDATED ON: 2024-09-12
For those of you, who are wondering about the future of Windows 7 operating system here is a brief chart showing precise timings.
END OF ….
Windows 7 SP1 Mainstream Support
2015/1/13
Windows 7 SP1 Extended Support
2020/01/14
Windows Embedded POSReady 7 Support
2021/10/12
Windows 7 SP1 ESU Support
2023/01/10
► WE ARE APPROXIMATEL1Y HERE ◄
Windows Embedded POSReady 7 ESU Support
2024/10/08
Premium Server Assurance Support 2026/01/13
I don’t quite understand why people are using horizontal top [MacOS] or horizontal bottom [Windows] taskbars and not vertical one. Most of us are exploiting 16:9, 16:10 or even 21:9 displays. So basic logic confirms that we have more pixels in horizontal plane and less in vertical. So it’s better to save vertical space [pixels], but not horizontal ones. GUI of complex programs like to “eat” vertical space soooo much.
To check system hard drive and fix errors:
chkdsk c: /f To check system hard drive, fix errors, locate and mark bad sectors:
chkdsk c: /r Very basic command to check integrity of system files:
sfc /scannow If sfc can’t help you try DISM.
Check system health for any corruption presence:
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth Check system health for store corruption presence:
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth Finally, repair command:
UPDATED ON: 2022-05-17 Added latest AIDA64 FPU benchmark to show supremacy over 12900K
UPDATED ON: 2022-05-04 This is the most powerful configuration, which runs Windows 7 without any issues or side effects. Threadripper 3XXX is possible, but micro freezes and stuttering are present, so it is not a viable option for smooth experience.
UPDATED ON: 2021-08-19 Added some benchmarks for more clearness.
Internet is swarming with [amateurish articles about “incompatibility”]
of modern hardware with legacy Windows 7 operating system.