Steam ends support for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 on January 1, 2024

[Brink]

As of January 1 2024, Steam will officially stop supporting the Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems. After that date, the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of Windows. In order to continue running Steam and any games or other products purchased through Steam, users will need to update to a more recent version of Windows.

This change is required as core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of Windows. In addition, future versions of Steam will require Windows feature and security updates only present in Windows 10 and above.

Although support won't end until 2024, we strongly encourage all Windows 7/8/8.1 users to update sooner rather than later. Microsoft ended security updates and technical support for Windows 7 in January 2020 and for Windows 8.1 in January 2023. Computers running these operating systems, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to new malware and other exploits which will not be patched. That malware can cause your PC, Steam and games to perform poorly or crash. That malware can also be used to steal the credentials for your Steam account or other services.

Source: Steam Support :: Windows 7 and Windows 8 Support

 

[file3456]

Computers running these operating systems, when connected to the internet, are susceptible to new malware and other exploits which will not be patched.

Both the Steam program and Spotify program are coded like crap! Why piggy back on Google? i.e Chromium? Customize your stuff. Use C, C#, C++ and be creative! No? Too much time and money? Too rich to do that?


They (the idiots that insist you must use the latest and greatest) always spew that one liner I quoted above and the people (consumers) lap it up like the layman consumers they are.

"You have to update! You have to update! Make sure you have updates! Oh my God, you don't use updates?! What are you thinking!"

Nothing could be further from the truth if you know your way around a computer and how to use the Internet. I'm a very good perfect example because I never paid homage to the Microsoft patch Tuesday God since Windows 98se and only use a handful of updates needed for software and hardware. Despite that there has been no malware or encountering a black hoodie wearing hacker wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. I actually have two computers sitting here on the desk running Windows 7 that are connected to the Internet. So long as I don't use those like a low IQ chimp I'm fine. In my opinion this is like the anti-virus software market that does nothing but give the layman a warm and fuzzy feeling all the while the anti-virus software steals your telemetry. Speaking of which. There was an anti-virus product that actually installed a cryptominer into your computer! Yeah, totally need that for the protecting of a computer...

My point here is that you can run a computer with an old OS and not have to worry so long as you have an above understanding of computers and cybersecurity. But to those that don't, then by all means patch away. Just know some of those "updates" come packed with bullshit telemetry which I found out one day after installing an update in Windows 7. I saw it because I monitor the network and prior to installing the update I had no connections to an Akamai server while my computer was idle. Now I do. Akamai... stupid name... It's Polynesian for "clever." Clever alright, because the ESP in me smells shenanigans... Oracle is no better if not worse. One day this telemetry business will get even more clever, I kid you not.

The powers that be know people can't continue to use Windows 7. And the powers that be are constantly getting away with dirty BS that encompasses privacy theft via the OS and software for the sake of monetization and stock padding on behalf of the stock holder all on this assumption you MUST use the "latest and greatest." Besides, I already got that felling Steamy pill of crap Steam was using Chromium. All the "cool kids" rely on Google nowadays! Especially Google's web components that many websites are using that run like shit in a niche browser like Pale Moon. We have a couple problems in this the present day world: Right to chose what software and or OS you want to use, and the right to repair is being chiselled away as well. Again, it's about padding that stock and satisfying the greed head stock holders. Nothing wrong with making money, but you're having to rape and beat the consumer to do so. And besides, Capitalism while great in its own right is an inherit double edged sword...

On the software side of things with the OS, I can see having to use a "better" OS as technology moves along. But is it really? Is it really a better OS? It's not. They took baseline code, added fluff BS (it really is) and called it Windows 10/11. I personally get constant search engine hits to my website from users using the search term, "why is Windows 10 a POS?" I know not because I use Google analytics, but because I see the referrer from where the user came from and what page they viewed on my website. In this case a long running topic on Windows 10's BS. Then you have people bitch at you because you chose not to use Windows this version or another. It was like that with Windows 8. "Oh, get Windows 8! It's lighter, has a smaller footprint, It's just skittles and unicorns!" These fan boys are cannon fodder for a product that has a severe lack of QC (Quality Control) and turns the consumer into the Redmond cash cow. One day ALL will be required to install software via the Microsoft Play Store. The play store.... THEY play you. Google et al... For Android I try to use F-Droid.



Anyway, this diatribe is brought to you by the makers of your much needed tier 3 drug. Ask your doctor if Astrocaucus is right for you. Don't take Astrocaucus if you're allergic to Astrocaucus. Side effects may include the overwhelming desire to sniff your carpet and hire the Peevish & Puke law firm...

Gesh, I'm 42 years old and already sound like a crazy ass 70 year old! (no offense to crazy ass 70 year olds) LOL! It's just I've seen so much change - from good to worse. It's like one step forward and two steps back if you ask me. Long live Windows XP. I personally had very little issue with it (very true), and for whatever its issues it could have been patched. But nope! Lets reinvent the freaking wheel with a product that looks like cotton candy but is in fact covered in diarrhea.

Yours truly,

Not a Copper Top.

 

[originaljgf]

Steam itself is an exploit that needs to be patched.

 

[Unknown scout91]

I am pretty sure Windows 7 Users and Windows 8.1 Users will get a working version of Steam after 2024 Ban Afterall windows xp and windows vista Users have a working version of Steam after the 2019 Ban and is still working I just hope that day will come when windows 7,8.1 get it done
I have Purchased Garrys mod on the steam market and i play garrys mod everyday when i have free time it makes me tear up that garrys mod will not work in my laptop and uprgarding to windows 10 will make things worse i used to get 30-40 fps when i used to run windows 10 right now i am getting 60-140 fps when i "uprgraded" to windows 7

 

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

Ways to prevent steam updating to block win7 (maybe?)

I've done some things to prevent steam from updating the client to newer versions for now. I don't know how effective that will be in the long term, but steam didn't start "including EOL" aspects in the patches for the client, until after 3/24/2023 and i happened to Backup-clone my drive on that day.

4/26/2023 is when the new patches to punish users for using windows 7 came in. 'warning' us about steam EOL on win7. But also possibly including what i call kill-switch software to use for its planned obsolescence of steam on 1/1/2024.

Here is a Haphazard list of things i have done, to prevent further updates affecting my ghost-image of steam.

UNDERSTAND THIS: this is a 'mess', not tidy, and not advised for anyone but elite superusers to poke around at!!!
WHAT THIS WILL DO:

A) Well so-far, it has disabled and prevented steam from doing -any- sort of updates to the client. Its also pretty much ruined access to the store page and pretty much anything relateing to steam client chromium access..

B) %Path2Steam%\Steam\logs\bootstrap_log.txt seems to be bloating up constantly with failed attempts to download/install the patches its looking for. My only fix for this is to have the file Open (In usage-lock) when steam tries to access it, so that it cant alter it. This file came in handy for seeing where steam was getting downloaded patches from. so i could Block them using c:/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts (explained below)

C) While all of this is to block prevent and keep Steam in Offline mode, i WAS actually able to continue logging in, as is, for now. I guess ill find out in 2024, if it's a pheasable fix to remain using win7 with steam next year. (But i doubt it)

D) you can chose "Go Online" from the steam menu after steam has started up. But all of this is to assure it -starts- in offline mode and cant initiate any DL's of patches to change anything During Steam Restarts.

E) Games do still update, and i can "Go Online" mode and play things but not -everything- works with this setup. The game "Core Keeper" I was not able to friend-invite or even connect with code, to my Boyfriends pc with this same setup between us. The game "Grounded" would not move past the login screen as it's a MicrosoftGames or MicrosoftPlay game or something or other. But i was able to run "Star Wars Squadrons" an EA game (the steam version) with Reshade.me (helps bypass DirectX12 requirement for windows7 users), and connect to online dogfights and such. so Your Mileage May Vary.

F) I wouldn't advise installing new steam games with the below processes in-place. or even DLC.. i mean maybe you can. i have not tried to yet... i guess it could work?? i just. cant see any store pages in steam to do so with all this.. so ... um, maybe buy through your local web browser? Firefox? Chrome? That'll be for you guys to test and report back on. Im not buying any more through steam at ALL till they make sure windows 7 users can still play and buy and access normally. (So mad at you right now steam! So mad!)

~~The LIST:~~

NOTE For This LIST: I did ALL these things listed below, -before- booting up steam even once after 3-24-2023. Piece-mail this list at your own risk!

[1] Backup your WHOLE STEAM FOLDER (minus maybe %Path2Steam%/steam/steamapps/common ) before proceeding, so you can replace anything later.

[2] the file " %Path2Steam%\Steam\logs\bootstrap_log.txt " was helpful for me to locate items to remove before each steam restart.

I searched for package updates after 3/25/2023 and wrote a batch to automatically remove them if they are downloaded to the folder.
I put the batch file i created in this folder %Path2Steam%\Steam\ and named it DelPost3-25-2023.bat

here are the contents of "DelPost3-25-2023.bat"

for /f "tokens=*" %%a IN ('C:\Windows\System32\xcopy *.* /d:3-25-2023 /L /I null') do if exist "%%~nxa" del "%%~nxa"

I made sure i had a copy of it in a different folder, or a zip file, as it deletes itself as well when its run.
It simply looks for anything with a modified date after 3-25-2023 and deletes it from The Folder Its Run Within. (So don't run it from anyplace else! That's Your Warning!)

I then used powershell to change the modified date of "DelPost3-25-2023.bat" to 3-34-2023 00:01:00.

So it would not delete itself any more. But you don't need to go that far. if you WANT to however, heres the powershell line i used:
Windows key: Type "Powershell" in the search, right click and Run As Administrator:

(Get-Item "%Path2Steam%\Steam\package\DelPost3-25-2023.bat").CreationTime=("24 March 2023 00:01:00")
(Get-Item "%Path2Steam%\Steam\package\DelPost3-25-2023.bat").LastWriteTime=("24 March 2023 00:01:00")
(Get-Item "%Path2Steam%\Steam\package\DelPost3-25-2023.bat").LastAccessTime=("24 March 2023 00:01:00")

Obviously you understand by now """%Path2Steam%""" means YOUR path to steam. usually "C:\Program Files" for most people. But im not most people...
The power-shell stuff above is not really necessary for the batch file, there is definitely other better ways of cleaning out the folder of items after the 3-24-2023 date. this was just My way.

Then before i run/open/execute steam, i make sure i run the "DelPost3-25-2023.bat" file. Ill probably set it on a loop or something automatic eventually.

Keep an eye on %Path2Steam%\Steam\logs\bootstrap_log.txt now with those files it wants to patch with missing, this bootstrap_log will get BIG. BIG BIG, with missing file errors later when we finally run steam!

Moving on down the list to other things that may or may not be necessary....

[3] continuing with all of this, i felt it best to prevent updates for steam client getting into my pc at all, this way:
i edited C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
and added these lines

127.0.0.1 cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com
127.0.0.1 client-update.akamai.steamstatic.com
127.0.0.1 client-download.steampowered.com
127.0.0.1 media.steampowered.com

This just points all the sites i know of, that download steam client updates to your pc, from being accessed BY your pc. It just loops the requests back. There will probably be more sites steam tries to get the files from in the future, but these are the ones i noticed in the %Path2Steam%\Steam\logs\bootstrap_log.txt file, so it was pretty clear these are the ones to prevent for now. at least for me, in NY state. obviously check your bootstrap_log for others and share them here! ?Teamwork makes the Dream work!!?

[4] Next i proceeded to Regedit and monkeyed around. BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY before throwing in wrenches like i did! :
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Valve\Steam
D-WORD 32 create or set "Offline" from 0 to 1 to stay in offline mode.
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Valve\Steam
D-WORD 32 create or set "Offline" from 0 to 1 to stay in offline mode.

I don't even know if the above were Necessary. probably not!? but i was just being 'safe' about it.

[5] I then proceeded to change all my steam desktop shortcuts (or where ever you shortcut to steam from! Alter the target as follows!)

%Path2Steam%\Steam\Steam.exe -console -offline -noverifyfiles -nobootstrapupdate -skipinitialbootstrap -norepairfiles -overridepackageurl

And don't be a noob and put in %Path2Steam% in the above line you should know by now %Path2Steam% means YOUR path. like C:\Program Files\ or whatever.

[6] ---Disable Steam client updates from Services:-----
I went into the control panel and opened Administrative Tools>Services. (no. i lie.. i just held the Win-key, pressed R, and typed services.msc.)
then i found and I right-clicked Steam Client Services and selected Properties.
I set Client Downloads to Disabled from Manual. ~i think the names here are a little off but close enough to nuke from orbit. ?nod?Normally steam wants it as "Automatic" but i never let it's ego inflate that far.

[7] ---Disable Steam client updates in the steam folder-----
in: C:\Games\utilities\Steam create a file Steam.cfg in that file add just this line:

BootStrapperInhibitAll=Enable

[8] Pray?

~~~~~That's it. that's where im at with my steam as of now 4-28-2023.

I get no warnings nagging me about EOL for steam on windows7and i get no steam client updates at all.

I do gota come up with a plan for that %Path2Steam%\Steam\logs\bootstrap_log.txt file that keeps inflating with patch missing errors..

maybe ill think of something later and add it to this post in EDIT later. it doesn't worry me too much right now. Just that its eating up a SSD with rewrites... GURR!

Im looking for others to weigh in on my procedure, what was needed? what wasn't? are there easier ways? what unforeseeable problems will i have to find solutions for???

Talk about it! Hope some of what i researched and did helps others and myself in the coming years! Windows 7 Forever!

~ThumpieBunnyEve

 

[file3456]

That's great research on your part and may help for the short term, but long term, as I believe you indicated is out. Steamy pile of crap (is what I called it circa 2006 and now) is going to one day throw a hissy fit about not being updated just to play a damn game YOU PURCHASED. I would have to read over the ToS, but I gotta wonder if it mentions anything about being screwed over because you as a consumer don't want to run x OS what ever, ya know?

Kinda bears resemblance to this 'right to repair' mantra out there. How Apple and all the other shit bags get away with what they're doing makes me wonder why those in Congress haven't done anything about it. You have any idea where cobalt comes from and who mines it? These companies are pathetic to the max, man. The UN members states, the Chinese apologists, et al need to have their souls - their actually F-ing SOULS mined in hell for a very long time to come.

 

[originaljgf]

I've done some things to prevent steam from updating the client to.....~ThumpieBunnyEve

Ah, but that is not the issue for me. I find Steam's marketing paradigm abhorrent, so by merely purchasing a game from them I am supporting something i detest. Thus as long as they demand I download anything at all other than the game itself they will never get a penny from me.

For the same reason I no longer buy from EA/Origin nor Ubi.

 

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

I hear, and understand. But i've tried to offer solutions, not just rub in the realizations that everything is bad and it will all fall down and burn. There is plenty of that to find. Rare is the attempt of anyone to lend aid to the suffrage.

 

[Night Hawk]

What would be sad here isn't seeing Steam Boil Over but the 3rd party Developer mods downloaded that work with the Steam/Half Life 2 engine with some of these outside mods even better at times then a game you bought! The one snare is actually trying to get Steam onto W11! already having seen working results on the 64bit W10 Pro as well as on both 64bit editions of 7 I have been running for now almost reaching the 15yr mark in 2024 but first having run the Steam engine on Vista.

The one thing I often find more of an annoyance is the Steam Updating allgoryrythm seen when Windows is first reaching the desktop whether firing the desktop up or rebooting around the Presently remaining Dual Boot but briefly Triple Boot but wanting the new version on a larger drive as opted for both 7 and 10 many moons ago!
Try running Steam games on a VM if you think Steam updates are going to be rough however! You won't even be able to login while the best gaming there is with the stand alones without live web interactions! Unfortunately someone having misplaced? one of my software cases with the installation and must run with disk in drive games(not Steam with Live Library online titles) prevents seeing a fresh install of the game titles needed just to be able to sign in on the Steam account!

One likely solution for the long term 7, 8.0, 8.1 gaming? "SELECTIVE STARTUP" with the MSConfig utility to disable by unchecking the Steam item preventing that from starting up with Windows thus putting a halt on the auto update process seen when Steam first starts up! Setting it to remain in the Offline Mode will only work when you are still able to log into your Steam account however. That's where problems came to the front not in 10 or 7 but SURPRISE! W11! No wonder I will be keeping a 7VHD around in order to run any Steam titles! :roflmao:

 

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

Above in one of my posts, i outline some ways to prevent steam from updating, by blocking the sites it would try to contact. Vie the hosts file.

I am -still- using the march 24'th version of steam, and can no longer use steam friends-list now in September 2023 due to this. but for now i am still able to log into steam and play multiplayer games with others with mixed mileage.
This is due to some games being only co-op if you receive a friend invite on that machine. (I can still use my phone to respond to message and friend requests using the steam app. But of course can not accept invites to play, from my Phone.

Of course there is the fact that game companies are dropping their support for win 7 piece by piece. No-Mans-Sky forbids win7 users from accessing the online play options completely.
Conan Exiles broke win-7 support with the age of sorc patch. and after repeatedly writing them about it their stance is.
"We here at Funcom don't care. Go ask the forums, and get chastised and bullied for sticking with the OS the game was bought and created on."
Everspace 2 stopped caring to support win7. Though with some poking and prodding you can make it work there.
The Persistence did the same, and you can opt into an 'old' beta that isn't updated any more, in order to bypass the new win10 restriction.

Yes win7 is slowly becoming non viable, as steam forcibly updates games who follow the peer-pressure/contractual-obligation to not develop or bug fix or run in any way, anything related to win7.
But it feels less about our security, or steams security, or even developer security. and more about microsofts security for themselves and their wallet. Through constant collection and auction of your personal data.

In conclusion;
I know come January 2024. I will likely be blocking ALL updates that relate to products on steam, not just the steam client sites.
That's -all- developers. and cleaning my windows firewall of ALL entries related to games.
Because from the way it looks,
jan1,2024 is the day steam will move up from simply pressuring all devs to mandatorily set win10 as a min requirement,
to a stance of, pressure onto developers to actively forbid use of -dx11 launch parameters.
And prevent access to users who had perfectly able pc's with os'es their content was paid for on, from access to said licensed content.

This sort of atrocious disregard for the rights of the paying customer is WHY piracy exists and thrives.

 

[Night Hawk]

AGGRAMENTALITY FUNDA MENTALS? The only Multi Player anything these days hasn't been Steam Driven to begin with but Chess online or AI opponents? They have a background noise making it sound like you are playing before a live gathering in a tournament but how you can exit and come back hours later and nothing has changed? MEMORY! not PC Memory but Android App memory! No Steam found there!

The further things go along the more you have to rely on the PlayStation platform over the PC 1st shooter type of gaming for the Single Player. I've been running into this just trying to find a way to get logged into Steam on the latest Windows let alone trying to keep things going on both 7 and 10 generally to follow the tech as well as OS trends. As for Steam or other gaming platforms dependent on creation and maintaining online accounts in order to run games that were supposed installed locally on your system? but found in an online Library list? when the engine goes down you find yourself locked out of the games that are found not to be "Stand Alone" afterall despite the Offline Mode?

Likewise with a number of the old Legacy titles by various manufacturers due to the small capacities of hard drives let alone OS drives going back to the mid to late 90s and early 2000s for example most game installers saw a limited amount of files and folders unpacked onto the drive where the softwares were to be installed "C"unless seeing the option for custom installs and you kept the software disk in the drive following the prior 5.25" onto 3 1/2" floppy days!
Afterall the first real home user OS started off with ROM cartridges and tape drives before the desktop and updated self operated laptops replaced the early notebooks! I found that out after one company dumped some 70 Epson HX-20 Museum Pieces even at the time on the school I was at and asked to go through them to see which ones could be handed out to students in good working order? Then following the following 3.0, 3.1 days MS starting adding solitaire card games into each newer version as the gaming industry grew which lead to the internet having been opened up for commercial and private interests!

The concepts of having individual online accounts stems from opening up Cloud space in order to market games and other softwares then starting to see large capacity requirements in order to meet the needs of the many? in a sense Graphics in your favorite single and/or online Multiple Player game designs take up more space!
And just as you look at each new ad for some new mobile service the marketing of newer games with more intense game designs reflects on more involved minimum requirements. You have to get the new ____ in order to get the new 5G, 10G VPN for mobile platforms. In retrospect for the PC platform which continues to see more involved program designs you then are expected to move forward with both hardware and software namely OS requirements that can support the more demanding game designs is being seen with Steam. Likewise for each gaming platform to grow and expand that means something has to go!

The attached image here shows the list of games with several HL2 Steam Driven Developers mods also run on a few Insider Builds in years past. The number of those has shrunk down lacking anything Steam driven for the latest version with 7 soon to face this as well.

 

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

The big fuss for me is that I've collected nearly 1200 games.
And I've played maybe 38% of them.

The rest I'd love to get around to. on my win7 platform, which they were for, when i bought them.
in say 2025/2026 and so on.

So for now, I've used a script to download, and validate, EVERY game i own, install it to C: and then Move it (vie Junction), to i: my Backup drive.
Steam 'thinks' those games are on C: because it's a Junction.
because it's a Junction, updates to those games pass through to i:
....Yeah i: is pretty big. 12TB.
but i do have an Archive of that backup too, on... another 12TB.

when the evil 1/1/2024 happens. I will at least have all my games on 2 different drives.
then it will be a lot of forum searching, for mention of steam.api.dll alterations, so i can keep playin.

 

[Night Hawk]

The Steam titles plus Developer mods for Half Life 2 with some almost good enough to have seen a Half Life 3 and 4 being the larger multi levels mods are on 10 as well as having been put on multiple versions of 7 originally running the Insider followed by the 32bit Home edition and onto the Pro x64 and Ultimate x64 later 10 Pro x64 builds followed the 8 builds looked over but skipped 8 and 8.1 entirely back then!

The dropping of 7 however doesn't come as any big surprise since Vista already came and went. Disabling the constant immediate check for updates when Steam is enabled to start up with 7 has to go while still remains in 10. Following Vista we hear you! 7 still seems to remain the "GAMER'S CHOICE" having come out of the "BLOATED OS" rep the previous version earned with that Light and Fluffy faster performance feeling 7 gives you! And believe it or not after now having examined the following three versions it will still be sad seeing Steam drop 7 entirely! :banghead:

 

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

In general, "Dropping support" needs to stop. Having to buy or change OS'es, just to keep using/playing what you've already paid for.... They say you should backup what you love. What is the point of doing any sort of backup and recovery, or developing fancy ghosting options to viral protect and restore a whole system, if were just forced off it faster and faster.

who controls how fast the need to drop an os occurs? If it's the company that makes that OS? we are in big trouble! Inflation in the last decade has increasted the price of everything almost 300%, and now they want us to change OS every 4 years? Losing capability we paid for. Oh the promise everything will work is there sure. until its time to hold some one accountable such as the company that is feeding you that line of bull.

None of your software works on that 64 bit system, sorry! I wonder if 128 bit processing will be the -next- gimic to push everyone to a new os. Not that anything ever needs a full 64 bit instruction space, But if they go there, well we will -have to- follow as the hype machine steam rolls ever forward.

At least with a linuix lowest level, you won't -have to- change everything. just whatever image of windows/wine VM you'd have to swap between on it. Maintaining stability is quickly becoming impossible. Weve moved past the golden age of computers its now the dark age of corperate interest, shilling For corporate interest. And the restriction of user control, so the illusion of control can be sold back to you in teeny tiny avenues that guarantee advertisement and data mining done at/to you.

There is more licencing agreements then there is software to attach them to.

The PC wizardry age is over. Its now:
https://y.yarn.co/219beae2-ced6-43a5-9696-301bd8f8064b_text.gif
or nothing for you.



And the shillers facetiously ask us, why we would want to preserve the capability and control of our 'antiquated' win7 systems.
as a 7 user, i enjoy a life without an licencing agreed ad thrust in my face on every left-click. It took tweaking to do so, and i don't want to sacrifice that QoL experience.

When steam stops letting win7 users log in. Ill consider a steam deck. but Not, a win10 os. as that is in the same EOL boat, by jan 2025. and 25% of my present lib' won't play on win11 at all.
If getting with the times, means a far more interrupted and annoying ad and licencing-agreement focused existence with no right to control or filter?...
you know that adage about jumping off a bridge??
it needs modification, "If everyone else was lining up for castration, would you do it too?"
companies have crossed lines drawn in the sand and are literally punishing their user base for their loyalty.
Piracy will see new hights like never before.

and along the way? IF i have to change os, im going with a VM version of AtlasOS.net on linuix. and taking all the Corporate, out of Microsoft OS'es once and for all.

TLDR: windows super-users should be using AtlasOS.net going forward.

 

[file3456]

Atlas looks interesting. I'll have to give it a go in VMware and then on a spare HDD one day.

Does full GPU virtualization even exist in a VM?

 

[Unknown scout91]

I found a way to get steam back on windows 7,8,8.1 forever!

Hello everyone this is unknown_scout 91
and today i have found how to get steam running on windows 7,8,8.1 (may or may not work on windows vista or windows xp)

i made a youtube video about it: How to get steam working on windows 7,8,8.1 after January 1st 2024 Unsupport - YouTube

However if you dont want to watch the video i will mention all the steps here

First: Steam files are on this MEGA link: https://mega.nz/file/WM0ADDLC#WCIGipS1VLO1EFPJRfJfZIyZY3UupRYwfX-MfoemL1o
Steam.cfg Files are also mentioned on this different MEGA link: https://mega.nz/file/SMtGFKSb#6e4ZbEiBsf_Lj7uiC7-5TgXI40ul7FoGn_RaHEuo2r0

Second: Extract the files and make sure to move the steam.cfg to the steam directory folder and make sure to move the osver.ini to the C:\Windows

Third: After that open steam from the steam directory folder and then sign up or sign in to your account

Fourth: To get friend chat back, download this friend list patch on github (Latest version is 1.2.0): Release Patch Release v1.2.0 . TiberiumFusion/FixedSteamFriendsUI . GitHub

Fifth: Extract the file and run the .exe file (make sure steam is closed and not running in the background)

Sixth: After this the friend list chat will be back running as normal

If you are stuck on a problem or didnt understand a step, i recommend watching the video i made

 

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

YES THIS! unknown_scout91 ! You! scout91 r a HERO!
I haven't even Tied your method yet, but from what i can see, this is what we need!
THANK YOU for putting this out there for us! omfg TY you wizard!

I currently have been daily enduring steam friend chat problem. making excuses for it, and trying to use steam protocol -around- the problem.
i am -still- using steam march 24'th just before the possible 1/1/2024 nag/kill code rumors were confirmed.
this very day, i was planning on duping my C: and then finally letting steam update one more time, so I'd get files that might at least let me use my friend list that i could poke through.
(as well as peek and check to see for myself if there is in fact kill-code in the current steam for win7. instead of just believing the redditers propaganda.)
I may still follow my action, but then im going to do yours after. once i have at least 3 copies of steam-client to rely on through the win7 steamocolypse.

scout91 Knight! <3 <3

Ill start poking at these options Saturday! tonight i have a 7d2d server party to host. on... you guessed it Windows7! and it runs beautifully!


EDIT:

my Steam client: Win7 64bit
Version: 7.94.58.87
Build Time: Fri Mar 24 13:11:50 2023 EST
Packaged: Mar 24 2023, at 10:12:43 PDT
Steam package version: 1679680416
Steam API: v020

annnnd files i used from what you offered above:
steam.cfg
and
QuickPatcher_Patch_v1.2.0.zip

result, Success! on 2 different 7 machines! an i7, and an amd!

 

[file3456]

I think that perhaps the biggest reason as to why Steam is dropping support for a now "outdated" OS is because Steam is using the Chromium engine and that in of its self is not only crap, but it needs Windows 10 or higher to function. Without the user using an OS that supports Google's BS, the Steam Devs can't update their core code for things.

So it is this: Google is controlling this. Everything! Google is what makes it so your website shows up in the search results, websites are using Google code so now you have to use a browser that can render that website. Google developed Chromium and thus a lot of companies use it because they're lazy. Steam, Spotify, you name it. All use Chromium in one facet or another.

Google OWNS you, and the Internet. And the Devs of software whether it be Steam, Spotify your browser, etc all depend and pay homage to Google, and Google knows it. It's a monopoly that the old geysers in Congress can't understand, or are lobbied to look the other way.

 

[ThumpieBunnyEve]

On chrome & google::
if you just freeze your present instillation of chrome, all it does is warn you its out of date & _Not_ let you install new (or older) versions of plugins for it. I've been running on google portable apps for years, just so my other plugins im happy with don't slip out of date or get expunged, or google changes in such a way as to pander to ad sites allowing them through some back door, or circumvent the hosts-file to connect to sites or downloads i don't want them to. Sooo if i can keep running the softwares without updating. I'd assume the same would be true for not Updating-Steam.

Unknown_scout91 in an above post details how to get the 2023/1/1 (or thereabouts) version of steam and isolate it from accessing any updates, much the same as a chrome-portable app. Mine is a bit after that point in history, but still safe so far as i can see.

Version: 7.94.58.87Build Time: Fri Mar 24 13:11:50 2023

I run the steam exe shortcut with this: "C:\Games\utilities\Steam\Steam.exe" -console -nofriendsui -nochatui -noverifyfiles -nobootstrapupdate -skipinitialbootstrap -norepairfiles -overridepackageurl

it is the version that was ongoing -at- the time the media leaked announcements about Steams decision to end support for win7 users. So to my understanding, the very -next- release was going to include a nagging reminder (and maybe hidden kill code?) that support would terminate 2024-1-1. I've not ever seen the nag reminder myself. just in other peoples videos.

So i did a C: backup immediately, and snipped and cut myself that 'state' of the steamClientBrowser. I think this 'state' of it has more bug fixes then the one scout91 points us to. I don't know if i can share it though because its state, likely has a lot of my own credential files involved, even if i do skip the steamapps and workshop folders. Still if you can FIND a march 24'th 2023 version of steam, i recommend going with that. (Or some one can maybe teach ME how to depersonalize my 7.94.58.87 Version? Then i could make it public-accessible.)

BUT! I really want to say, That updater for the friends list scout91 re-posted, DID work for my steam friends version! WOO HOO! (Credit to lighttwo & TiberiumFusion)

@Unknown scout91
You could stream-line that video of yours a bunch more succinctly. perhaps script it out to read as you address key points for yourself so you keep on track and don't run-over so many small inconsistencies.
I still downloaded a copy to my sys anyway just to help keep it alive in case youtube policy gets MORE stupid.

 

[file3456]

I use UnGoogled Chromium in addition to other browsers...