Anyone still running Windows 7?

Hey everyone!
So, I just slapped a 32-bit version of Windows 7 onto my old laptop, and man, things are already going sideways.
I went the "pirate" route—installed this custom modded version called Extreme Edition R1 by Amit—and honestly, the install and activation went smooth enough. But here’s the kicker: I can’t get my resolution set right. On Windows XP, I was rocking a crisp 1280x800, but now Windows 7 is capping me out at a pathetic 1024x768. To make matters worse, the screen looks super dim and blurry, and everything feels sluggish—like it’s crawling through molasses because the drivers aren't kicking in or the OS just doesn't recognize my GPU. I tried running the old XP drivers for my integrated Radeon Xpress 1100, but I just get an error message immediately. I figured with Windows 7 you wouldn't need to mess around with manual driver installs or DirectX since 9.0c is baked in, but clearly, I was wrong. Any advice or pro tips to get this thing running properly?

Everything’s looking good now—finally managed to get those Vista drivers installed, and man, what a difference... the whole UI actually looks decent for once.

Watch your step when you mention piracy; this place (officially) isn't the venue for it, and the mods don't show much mercy on that front 😉

Samuel Smith4 said:Hey everyone!
I just installed the 32-bit version of Windows 7 on an old laptop, and things are already going sideways.
I used a pirated version (Extreme Edition R1 by Amit—some kind of modded build), and while the installation and activation went smoothly enough, I can't hit my old resolution from the Windows XP days. It was 1280x800, but now the max it offers is 1024x768. On top of that, the screen looks dim and blurry, and everything feels sluggish, almost as if the drivers aren't even there or the system isn't recognizing my GPU. I tried running the graphics drivers meant for Windows XP (integrated Radeon Xpress 1100), but I just get an error immediately. I assumed Windows 7 wouldn't need manual driver installs or DirectX since 9.0c is built-in, but clearly, something is broken. Any advice or tips?

How much RAM does that old laptop actually have?

How do I set up Windows 7 so that when I launch an app, like a game, I can play it across two monitors?? I feel like this was easier in previous versions of Windows..

Hey there! Is there any way to roll Windows back to an earlier restore point? When I try to run the recovery, it only gives me two options—and both of them are dated today. I'm really looking to revert everything to how it was about a week ago.

feralsailor72 said:hey! Is there any way to roll back Windows to an earlier restore point? Every time I try to run a system restore, it just gives me two options and they're both from today... I really need to get back to somewhere around a week ago.

Look, you should see an option for an advanced or specific restore, or something along those lines. You can manually punch in whatever date you actually want for the system restore there.🙂

mistytiger37 said:how do I get Windows 7 to let me run an app—like a game—across two monitors at once?? I swear you could do this in older versions of Windows...

just hit the Windows key and "p" at the same time

that should pop up a menu for your displays. just look for the "extend" option or whatever... think it might say "duplicate" if you want them to show the same thing, but yeah, check there.

Douglas Garcia52 said:There should be an option for an advanced or specific restore—something like that—where you can manually input the exact date you want for the system restore point. 🙂

Hmm, I'm not seeing an "advanced" or "specific restore" option anywhere :S

feralsailor72 said:hmm, I don't see an advanced or specific restore option anywhere :S

Do you have this option?


If you just hit the shortcut there, it should show you all the available system restore points.

Douglas Garcia52 said:just hit the Windows key and "P" at the same time

That should pop up the display menu so you can check the settings—I think you probably have it set to "duplicate."

I didn't mean I had the exact same image on both; I just meant my desktop is split right down the middle between the two monitors.

One way to handle that is by using the extend setting.
But when it comes to gaming, I suspect the game itself needs to support multiple displays. You won't be able to pull that off with just any random title.

Keith Bennett38 said:Do you actually see this option?


Just hit that shortcut—it should pull up all the available system points for you.

I have it, and I tried that—but it just keeps showing those same two points.

So, here's the deal. I've got a PC running a pirated version of Windows 7, but I just picked up an official, licensed copy of Windows 7. I was wondering, do I really need to wipe the whole system and reinstall everything from scratch, or is there some other way—maybe a faster way—to get this new licensed version installed? thanks!

So, you can actually head over to the Control Panel under System settings to swap out the product key, but honestly? Who knows what kind of mess was made when those current Windows files were activated in the first place. It might just be easier—and way less of a headache—to just wipe everything and go for a clean installation.

I honestly don't get the big push to jump from 32-bit Windows 7 over to 64-bit... I actually made the switch once—went from 32-bit to 64-bit—and all my HD movies just started stuttering and acting up. So, I ended up reverting back to the 32-bit version, and now everything runs perfectly fine... Plus, for what it's worth, the security feels identical to me since the antivirus and firewall installed on the machine are the same regardless of the architecture. I can't wrap my head around why my HD playback hits a wall on 64-bit but works flawlessly on 32-bit, especially since I have a 64-bit dual-core processor that really should be performing better on the 64-bit system... though in reality, it doesn't feel much faster on 32-bit either...

Kyle Perez50 said:It's out already? 😂
Just a beta version 🙄

Oh, give me a break! I’m running Windows 7 Ultimate right here, and that screenshot you're showing is clearly just Vista.
Seriously, whatever you guys have convinced yourselves of is just plain wrong.
Look, even if the OS is technically "new," it handles thousands of tasks simultaneously without breaking a sweat, whereas XP can barely juggle a hundred before it starts choking.
Bottom line: 7 blows XP out of the water; everything runs smoother and faster. I’m constantly downloading stuff from the web, so I’ve got all those disc images ready for alcohol 120%. I can kick off an installation with the first image and immediately queue up the next one—total wait time is like fifteen seconds tops. So please, spare me the nonsense about a "new" OS coming out; you guys are totally full of it. My buddies have been using this Windows 7 Ultimate for over a year now, so...

Raymond Peterson65 said:I honestly don't get why anyone would bother switching from 32-bit Windows 7 over to 64-bit?? I tried it myself—went from 32-bit to 64-bit and suddenly every single one of my HD movies started lagging and stuttering like crazy, so I just jumped right back to the 32-bit version and now my PC is running smooth as silk again. Plus, you're getting the same level of security anyway since the antivirus and firewall you've got installed don't care about bits... I just can't wrap my head around why my HD playback was such a mess on 64-bit when it works perfectly on 32-bit, especially since I've got a 64-bit dual-core processor that really should be crushing it on a 64-bit system, but honestly, it feels like it runs just as well, if not better, on the 32-bit setup.

Look, man, 32-bit is basically just for machines with tiny amounts of RAM. Personally, I'm running 64-bit Windows 7 on my laptop and I can stream everything in HD without breaking a sweat, so maybe the issue is just that your specific media player or whatever software you're using doesn't actually support 64-bit architecture yet.

On my Windows 7 setup, I’ve got two separate accounts: one administrator account and one standard user account.

Everything works perfectly fine when I'm logged into the admin account and want to install something. However, whenever I try to run an installer from the standard user account, I get that classic prompt asking, "Would you like to allow this app to make changes to your device...?" which then asks for the administrator password. Now, that part is totally normal behavior, but here’s where things fall apart: once I type in the admin password, absolutely nothing happens. Sometimes, the program I'm trying to update—like MSN Messenger, for instance—just hangs there indefinitely. No matter how long I sit around waiting, the installation never actually finishes.

I realize that I should be able to complete an installation from a standard user account without any hiccups, provided I have the right credentials, but on my version of Windows 7 (which is fully licensed, by the way), it just refuses to cooperate.