Steam, Windows 7 - 2025

[Master.Constructor]

We're almost finished 2024 and we've had several Steam client updates as well as Windows 7 updates via UpdatePack7. So far Windows 7 seems to be running well and will carry me into 2025 at the very least.

I've been running Windows 7 since transitioning from XP after bypassing (and watching the fallout from) Vista. So far so good aside from DirectX12 and some driver restrictions.

I closely followed the roll-out of Win8, 8.1 and 10 waiting for a good time to transition to a newer OS, testing a few other options while I've been waiting (Linux, Windows Server, Tiny/Lite Windows). So far I haven't found anything that seems to worth the effort or privacy risks / compromise.

Windows 7 SP2/3?

In 2021 I found UpdatePack7 which is a monthly security pack for all editions of Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008R2 (seems to be in development since 2013) and have had very good results with it. There is a small ~1MB downloader program (v1.5.0.0) which will download and/or verify the update pack (~800MB). The latest release was three days ago (24.6.12) and no issues to report. It's a significant saving of bandwidth, time and drive space and I am very grateful for it's consistent and diligent development. It is essentially the SP3 that Win7 users were always waiting for.

If you're having issues on Windows 7 SP1, try running the following from CMD (as administrator) and post your results here.
chkdsk
sfc /verifyonly

Hint:
I find starting Steam offline is much faster and smoother. Here's my steps to starting Steam Offline:
1 - edit the file loginusers.vdf
... mine was located here: \Steam\config\loginusers.vdf
2 - change "WantsOfflineMode" from 0 to 1
3 - save and set file [Properties] to [Read-only]
4 - start steam to check

Also, to remove the red banner at the top I added this to my steam.exe shortcut:
-pretendeol-w10


Updates
=======
UpdatePack7 25.4.10 (Windows 6.1.7601.27666)
- Added KB5055561-x64 with disabling telemetry and checking processors (replaces KB5053620-x64)
- Added KB5056456-x64 (replaces KB5050681-x64)

UpdatePack7 25.3.12 (Windows 6.1.7601.27615)
UpdatePack7 25.2.12 (Windows 6.1.7601.27566)
UpdatePack7 25.1.15 (Windows 6.1.7601.27520)
UpdatePack7 24.12.12 (Windows 6.1.7601.27412)

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1730853000
Steam Client Build Date: Thu, Nov 7 7:55 PM UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date: Wed, Oct 9 5:44 PM UTC -08:00
Steam API Version: SteamClient021

- UpdatePack7 2024.10.10 (Windows 6.1.7601.27366)
- Steam Version: 1726604483 (Tue, Sep 17, 2024)

[xBCxRangers]

Another month has gone by, and our brilliant young folks continue to burn the midnight oil to continue to have our Win 7 on our Steam.

And i thank them

[bidulless]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย xBCxRangers:

Another month has gone by, and our brilliant young folks continue to burn the midnight oil to continue to have our Win 7 on our Steam.

And i thank them

hello
we can't do anything about steam , when time will come it will cease to work because it need a link to a website

[Princess Luna]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย xBCxRangers:

Another month has gone by, and our brilliant young folks continue to burn the midnight oil to continue to have our Win 7 on our Steam.

And i thank them

our Steam? Are you Valve?

[MonkehMaster]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย HIVEmind:

I 100 percent reduce to use a neglected and discontinued os. im gonna sit on win11. go ahead and play abandoned wares. gog.com will be your software source.

I'm sitting on win 11 playing old games, so not sure how win 7 and playing old games equates.

also, while saying I'm a win 11 user, I still find it crap compared to win 7, along with the disaster that win 10 was and currently still is before they dump support lol.

that said, most of these new games aren't very good anyway, the older games are much better, but I'll add that lots of indies studios are pushing some great games as well, loving me some great looking pixel art without all the nonsense you get from "AAA" and self proclaimed "AAAA" studios.

anywho, they aren't missing out anything special considering new games, aside from not being lured into spending furtunes on games focused on keep the customers pockets free of money

[Ontrix_Kitsune]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bidulless:

updatepack does not need a key to install update because it does not use windows update nor the msu package and the tool associated to it but dism ....

That doesn't change the fact that it is completely illegal to install the Windows Server updates from Server 2008 into a normal consumer version of Windows 7.

[HIVEmind]

windows xp edition 2022

get Microsoft to release this for free to the public. everyone is happy

[bidulless]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Ontrix_Kitsune:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bidulless:

updatepack does not need a key to install update because it does not use windows update nor the msu package and the tool associated to it but dism ....

That doesn't change the fact that it is completely illegal to install the Windows Server updates from Server 2008 into a normal consumer version of Windows 7.

hello
rofl xd
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/6725643788915522918/?ctp=89#c640179446900327334
https://i.postimg.cc/j2JP6BZP/Capture.jpg
so i do not really understand why do you care about it when it "install and update nothing on windows 7" from what you said here ...
aye may be because it's easier to troll than prove what your said i guess .
- i have too often loosing my precious time explaining how thing are working, so please :
prove us it does not work , would you and not by posting screenshot of mikeysoft catalogu or link from the last update (applies to ) but from a real os like a vm and using this tool ?
else i guess you know the song , stf....or continue to make us laugh

[Ontrix_Kitsune]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bidulless:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Ontrix_Kitsune:

That doesn't change the fact that it is completely illegal to install the Windows Server updates from Server 2008 into a normal consumer version of Windows 7.

hello
rofl xd
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/6725643788915522918/?ctp=89#c640179446900327334
https://i.postimg.cc/j2JP6BZP/Capture.jpg
so i do not really understand why do you care about it when it "install and update nothing on windows 7" from what you said here ...
aye may be because it's easier to troll than prove what your said i guess .
- i have too often loosing my precious time explaining how thing are working, so please :
prove us it does not work , would you and not by posting screenshot of mikeysoft catalogu or link from the last update (applies to ) but from a real os like a vm and using this tool ?
else i guess you know the song , stf....or continue to make us laugh

There is nothing to prove to you or anyone else. They are not updates for Windows 7 so obviously they do not update windows 7. Anyone with eyes can read the website and see that it says the updates are for Windows Server and NOT for Windows 7.

When are you some day going to understand that you can't update Windows 7? Why do you keep going on and on with this false and fake information you know is false and fake? Why do you make up nonsense? I don't understand you.

[Master.Constructor]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย HIVEmind:

its supposed to update the server kernel which we know is different to the home/business kernel. it does the install process, but does it patch? no one knows or can test. for all I care, its a dud.

my opinion. he just wants the attention and a long thread of Jerry springer.

this thread should be locked and deleted.

My prime concern is the reduction in ignorance regarding the functionality and security of Windows 7 for the people who are using it. Windows 7 is not dead and monthly security updates are available as of this month.

You can check and verify the updates for yourself. The updates and signed by Microsoft and their contents unchanged. The system files that are updated are numerous but I don't have an exact count, something over a hundred? I usually check these common system files in these directories for the Properties / Details after installing UpdatePack7 just for fun.

C:\Windows\System32\
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\

hal.dll
kernel32.dll
ntdll.dll
ntfs.sys
processr.sys
wow64cpu.dll

[Master.Constructor]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bidulless:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Master.Constructor:

I certainly have learned some things here and I thank you for your continued contribution. Thanks!

hello
me too along my tests do not worry because windows part wasn't my domain of expertise first

and a good end by applying max available update on my vm just to see how it goes after i updated it to the same level of my w7 home premium :
- from 7601..25545 to 7601.27615
https://i.postimg.cc/KYyBwrNh/Capture.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/rsgfFZf4/Capture.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/mrtkdcxW/eCapture.jpg
xd

Thanks for reporting your findings. I've recently setup some new Win7 SP1 PCs and found that the WinSXS dir is quite compact (~9.5GB) compared to what I've been experiencing in the last decade or so. I'm always looking for ways to keep the OS lean and improving performance / functionality as I'm sensitive to lag / responsiveness.

It also looks like the current version of Windows 7 2025.3.12 is 6.1.7601.27615? Thank you! I haven't gotten around to checking yet. Will update the OP now. ;)

[Master.Constructor]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Insignia:

Why are you still posting updates for windows server 2008 R2?
It's time for everyone to move on. Windows 7 is gone and no longer gets updates. Windows server has less than a year left.

Support for Windows Server 2008 R2 will end in January 2026

Windows Server 2008 R2 Premium Assurance will end on January 13, 2026.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Extended Security Updates (ESU) ended on January 10, 2023. Additionally, Extended Security Updates on Azure only support ended on January 9, 2024.

Hey, thanks for stopping by and providing the info! I'm happy to use Windows 7 on all our PC's daily as my primary OS (home, office, work) though I have started to dabble with Win10 (ick). I've been using it daily since ~2009 and have been interested in updates / upgrades since the rollout of Windows 8, but this is all in the OP so you probably already know that.

Long live Windows 7, etc, etc, etc ... :)

[bidulless]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Master.Constructor:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bidulless:

hello
me too along my tests do not worry because windows part wasn't my domain of expertise first

and a good end by applying max available update on my vm just to see how it goes after i updated it to the same level of my w7 home premium :
- from 7601..25545 to 7601.27615
https://i.postimg.cc/KYyBwrNh/Capture.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/rsgfFZf4/Capture.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/mrtkdcxW/eCapture.jpg
xd

Thanks for reporting your findings. I've recently setup some new Win7 SP1 PCs and found that the WinSXS dir is quite compact (~9.5GB) compared to what I've been experiencing in the last decade or so. I'm always looking for ways to keep the OS lean and improving performance / functionality as I'm sensitive to lag / responsiveness.

It also looks like the current version of Windows 7 2025.3.12 is 6.1.7601.27615? Thank you! I haven't gotten around to checking yet. Will update the OP now. ;)

hello
true, i got the same result also when in my current os i have 16go xd
easier to use powershell to get the windows release number

[KalGimpa]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Ontrix_Kitsune:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Lixire:

Both are software piracy at the end.

All references to UpdatePack7 and anyone who writes comments about it should be removed from the forums by the moderators. Discussing UpdatePack7 is supposed to be a violation of the illegal software piracy / illegal activity rule on the forums. Unfortunately the moderators either don't understand or won't act on it.

https://app.opencve.io/cve/?product=windows_7&vendor=microsoft&page=1

cannot forget all the vulnerabilities that are still showing up for 7

i actually like people using the dead os'

but people may/seem to be getting the wrong impression with that thing

even if someone found a way to wrap some updates in a way that 7 can see and use it

because they share a core structure or whatever the case may be

it would not update everything, just that core

all those little side programs are sitting open and ready to be attacked

not that the savvy user cannot avoid the traps

jsut that people should be told outright what they are getting

[bidulless]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย KalCuey:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Ontrix_Kitsune:

All references to UpdatePack7 and anyone who writes comments about it should be removed from the forums by the moderators. Discussing UpdatePack7 is supposed to be a violation of the illegal software piracy / illegal activity rule on the forums. Unfortunately the moderators either don't understand or won't act on it.

https://app.opencve.io/cve/?product=windows_7&vendor=microsoft&page=1

cannot forget all the vulnerabilities that are still showing up for 7

i actually like people using the dead os'

but people may/seem to be getting the wrong impression with that thing

even if someone found a way to wrap some updates in a way that 7 can see and use it

because they share a core structure or whatever the case may be

it would not update everything, just that core

all those little side programs are sitting open and ready to be attacked

not that the savvy user cannot avoid the traps

jsut that people should be told outright what they are getting

hello

sadly your link does not work, too many bad third party script linked to google ...
( i got it working by copy/past not clinking on it)

/--------------------
most are linked to ie but who is using ie nowaday ???
at least the 7 first one
/-----------------------

and it's the purpose of updatepack , to close the cve that are affecting the os and imo it's not that important and i guess i am a good or bad exemple as the last "quality update" i've received was in 2020 and guess what happen since this date ?
- NOTHING
and imo before agitating the fear demon, you should take time to read cve and understand them like this one :
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2022-38005
or this one
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2022-38006
what a ♥♥♥♥ web site for cve anyway

[Princess Luna]

Not like Win 11 is free of vulnerabilities
But at least W7 is not being worsened by MS

10 bugs still haunt Windows 11 24H2 despite multiple patches
https://www.zdnet.com/article/10-bugs-still-haunt-windows-11-24h2-despite-multiple-patches/