Question best way to run win7 on a win10 laptop?

[luv2liv]

i have some old programs that refuses to work on win10. these programs can only work with win7. is VirtualBox the way to go? what's the most easiest way? create an ISO/IMG of the win7 machine and that should work right? what software should i use?

 

[TheELF]

An image of a working win7 system will have a bunch of drivers that will probably cause problems.
Also a normal laptop will lose a lot of resources to run a VM, especially ram and disk will cause the VM to be pretty slow.

If you want to try with the working system, the way to go is to use imagex to create a disk image and then add that image to the disk management from windows, and give the VM (VMware or virtualbox) access to that whole disk.
You can search for standalone imagex on google if you don't want to create a bootablePE (pre installed) environment.

But the real way to go would be to just boot into a .vhd file with win 7 on it from the boot menu, that way 7 will run on the real hardware.

Boot to a virtual hard disk: Add a VHDX or VHD to the boot menu

Boot to a virtual hard disk: Add a VHDX or VHD to the boot menu

docs.microsoft.com

 

[luv2liv]

But the real way to go would be to just boot into a .vhd file with win 7 on it from the boot menu, that way 7 will run on the real hardware.

Boot to a virtual hard disk: Add a VHDX or VHD to the boot menu

Boot to a virtual hard disk: Add a VHDX or VHD to the boot menu

docs.microsoft.com

i did not know this is possible. so when i boot up the win10 laptop, it will give me the option to boot to win7 or win10 from a menu??? i will have to try this. thanks!

 

[Raizinman]

I have need for some Window 7 machines. I purchase Window 10 machines, reformat the hard drive and then load Windows 7. Why make it more difficult than this?

 

[mxnerd]

Make older apps or programs compatible with Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to get older apps or programs to run on Windows 10 or Windows 11 by adjusting compatibility settings.

support.microsoft.com

 

[luv2liv]

Make older apps or programs compatible with Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to get older apps or programs to run on Windows 10 or Windows 11 by adjusting compatibility settings.

support.microsoft.com

doesn't always work unfortunately

 

[luv2liv]

I have need for some Window 7 machines. I purchase Window 10 machines, reformat the hard drive and then load Windows 7. Why make it more difficult than this?

i dont have the win7 license anymore. i can make an ISO of the machine though.

 

[mxnerd]

No virtual technology will make the license requirement suddenly disappear.

Buy an old machine that comes with Windows 7 license to run these old softwares.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have need for some Window 7 machines. I purchase Window 10 machines, reformat the hard drive and then load Windows 7. Why make it more difficult than this?

Hardware compatibility. For instance, I recently replaced my motherboard with identically the same make and model, but I upgraded the processor from Skylake to Kaby Lake.

This was a dual-boot system, something I would recommend to the OP but with some caveats about convenience. After the hardware changes, I made a point of testing the system's behavior with Windows 7 as well as Windows 10. I hadn't used Windows 7 in the dual-boot configuration for as much as a year.

It boots into Windows 7 OK, but it keeps reminding me that it doesn't recognize the processor and that the processor upgrade reveals the age of the OS and MS's choice to no longer keep it current with successive Intel generations.

I have a lot of Win 7 software I run under Windows 10, and I know what it can be like to find out that this or that program or version won't work under the newer OS. Perhaps the biggest sense of outrage I felt occurred a long time ago when I invested $250 in the computer version of the Oxford English Dictionary. A change in operating system from Win XP to Windows 7 made it impossible to use that software, which was a very elegant computer presentation of the famous unabridged dictionary. The OED publishers never even offered an easy upgrade path, and -- in fact -- there was no upgrade. They just naturally assumed that since they'd provided the OED online, nobody would need (or want) the software for a single, local PC. [A**holes!]

Otherwise, moving from Win 7 to Win 10 I have been pretty lucky. I am still annoyed by pop-ups from this or that software developer asking if I want to upgrade to a newer version for north of $100 or more. This is a world I never imagined in the days when I'd write my own software to do complex statistical analyses, or provide an interactive program accessing a carefully-designed database.

Now, for the OP, I could suggest a dual-boot Windows configuration, so that boot time enters a presentation of both OS options selectable by choosing this or that box with the mouse. You either boot to Windows 10, or boot to Windows 7. You would have the different OSes installed on different drive volumes, and ideally, they would use different drive volumes and partitions, except perhaps some data disk with mutually accessible files.

The problem with that is the inconvenience of having to reboot in order to bring up the other operating system for such usage. So I would guess there is a solution with VM or something similar, and someone has already suggested an option.

 

[Mahzinho]

Just don't. Windows 10 is way better, stable, secure and a lot of newer resources packed into a single licensed system. Microsoft is doing a marvelous service in my concern and their support is superb! With Windows 7 you will lose things like the new drivers management that will come with 21H2 with a newer folder only for drivers, giving more stability, confidence and security, even if you don't trust a brand for AV, Windows Defender is pretty cool, decent, but I also believe it's good to maintain a McAfee Total license && if you had or have some problem, don't hesitate to contact support by phone or chat and let them remotely help me, they did with me and helped a lot, very trustful, fast and prestative support. If you use a mechanical HDD, change that for a great SSD, and if possible increase your RAM setup.