(Round 8:) Win7 "Not connected, No connections are available"

Thanks. I've been busy today (elsewhere). However, I was able to install Bitdefender (Free) and my printer.

FYI (only):

A couple of days ago I viewed this YouTube video after you initially mentioned Snappy Driver. Apparently, there are two versions of this. Watching the video probably will not offer you anything but do read the first few comments.

YouTube video: Install Any Driver in Windows Easily!! - YouTube

This version is the ad-free version, "Origin": Snappy Driver Installer Origin – The original driver installation tool for Windows. (snappy-driver-installer.org) This, according to the comments, is the preferred option.

This is the version that people found troublesome/annoying/regretful: Snappy Driver Installer - Install and Update Drivers for Free (sdi-tool.org)

I haven't done anything with these yet. I am a "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." sort of guy. My gut feeling about my drivers is to leave well-enough, alone. But, I haven't ruled that out. I guess I'll do it sometime. I really have to get my email going again; tomorrow's project. (It seems as though the "portable" / smaller option is the one to use.... ?)

I've been researching third-party email clients; (Mozilla) Thunderbird seems very well regarded. It's a little tricky to install operationally within my specific email provider's service. I'll have to study the details before I install it.

- - - Updated - - -

I decided to download and install the Thunderbird email client. (I currently use this OE Classic client which I really like but it will not further support Win7 in the near future.) Installation of Thunderbird wasn't too bad, but trying to organize mail with it was terribly cumbersome. So I decide to download Windows Essentials, which includes Live Mail (which I like and the reason I went with OE Classic in Win10; very similar). Well, the Essentials download went OK, but I got an error notice when installing it saying I needed to install "WLDCore.dll. I closed that window out and went to search with DuckDuckGo for info and that software. DuckDuckGo reported that it couldn't connect! Windows Edge had no connection either. Neither did the default MSM web site. The device manager noted that both the Ethernet and Wireless drivers were there and that my associated hardware devices were working. So, I thought maybe I'd reboot Win7. Guess what I got when I did that? A black screen with only the cursor! BSODWC

So, I'm back to my Win10, with its bugs. I think I'm pretty much done fighting this Win7 installation. I don't know, except right now I'm so tired and frustrated with all this. I might just reformate my SSD and start the installation of Win7 over again (the only option now); at least I know what I have to do to get it going. (Maybe I'll wait for Win12 and get a new computer.... )

Of course, torchwood, I appreciate all the time and advice you provided, and I feel kind of bad about bailing out, but my interest in figuring Win7 only goes so far (I'm not much of a tech guy; just a simple guy lost in the woods), especially knowing it could blow up again at any time in the future (like it did today). (Well, I shouldn't have tried to install that old Essentials.) I'm going back over to the TenForums and ask about using the recovery program that I saved on a flash drive. I have no idea how that works and what the results would be. Thanks again, torchwood (really).

My immediate goal is to reinstall Win7 and then officially uninstall it so that the installation process can be done on a different computer, either by myself or with, perhaps, someone I might sell it to, sometime in the future. I was able to reinstall it on the same SSD. Previously, in order to move drivers to the Win7 installation I had to fire up Win10, find the appropriate drivers, download them, copy them to my external HDD. From there, I mostly copied these to Win7. So, after reinstalling Win7 (after the fatal black screen crash I mentioned previously) I thought I'd simply set up a flash drive with the essential drivers and general driver update program (Simplex) on it; I think I was planning to include the old Edge program, too. Anyway, after formatting a small flash drive, I attempted to copy (via mouse click) one of those few things from my Win10 downloads to the flash drive. (This is my Win10 that I'm using....) As soon as I right-clicked on the .exe file, my screen went to that black with only a cursor, total freeze; the same as what happened in Win7. I just about had a stroke! (Recall that even after rebooting Win7, nothing changed, that the installation of Win7 was irreversibly crippled.) With no other choice, however, I forced the computer off and then restarted -- all seems well; I was lucky. It seems as though one of those .exe files had a flaw or perhaps a Trojan horse that created this havoc. I'm just too reluctant to experiment and narrow down the exact cause & effect. (I thought this was somewhat interesting, hence my posting here.) As soon as I'm positive about how to officially uninstall Win7 (for future reinstallation) I'll do that. While the seeming fragility of Win7 is off-putting (making me reluctant to use it long-term), I could not find a third-party email client that I liked. Nothing comes close to the OE Classic that I've been using the past few years. I wrote to the owner/POC asking if his program was compatible with Win7, and he replied that it was currently, but not much longer. He advised me to go with Win11 -- it's the way things will generally go in the future. I've read that Win10 is still more in use than Win11 by about a 2-to-1 ratio, so I'm not very concerned about Win10 support by third parties falling off the cliff anytime soon. So staying with Win10 allows me to use this email client, which I really, really like/need....

People are slowly moving to Windows 11 as they buy new computers and retire old ones. I expect by this time next year that more people will be using Windows 11 than Windows 10.

I am not surprised that Windows 7 is used by so few people now. That is probably why there is so little activity on this forum now.

It seems some people stay with a particular version of Windows because the software they use. The software only works or works best with a particular version of Windows.

Worldwide
Windows 10: 58.7%
Windows 11: 38.13%
Windows 7: 2.3%
Windows XP: 0.29%
Windows 8: 0.22%

United States
Windows 10: 56.04%
Windows 11: 41.51%
Windows 7: 1.43%
Windows XP: 0.5%
Windows 8: 0.15%

Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide
Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats

I have a number of computers with various versions of Windows. I usually use Windows 11 but not far behind is Windows 10. I rarely use Windows 7 nowadays.

Several of my computers have Windows 10. I haven't decided if I will upgrade any of them to Windows 11. There is no reason to do so any time soon.

Computers still in use

Desktops:
#1: Windows 11 Pro
#2: Windows 10 Pro/Windows 7 Home
#3: Windows 10 Home/Windows 7 Pro

Laptops:
#1: Windows 11 Pro
#2: Windows 10 Pro

Computers no longer in use

Desktops:
#1: Windows XP Pro
#2: Windows XP Pro

Laptops:
#1: Windows 7 Pro/Windows XP Tablet Ed. *
* Tried Windows 10 Pro but computer too slow with it