Windows 7 x64 issues to watch out for?

[Krusty]

I'm currently running win7 x64 on my rig. I've ordered parts to upgrade. This one was put together in 2011. I future-proofed it as much as I could but with the sales I decided to get some new parts.

I'm planning to load Win7 x64 on it, but something happened along the way last time that cause me some issues through various updates and patches. I could NEVER install updated MSIE. I was stuck on 8. Every possible patch or fix from MS themselves failed and it wasn't possible. There was a later problem where the VCC files got seriously hosed by MS's VCC redist changes. There were a few problems that were basically making me need to reinstall or repair install but not wanting to deal with that at the moment.

Now that I'm building a fresh machine I have to reinstall anyway, but I haven't been making notes about incompatibilities or bad patches or just things I should watch out for or avoid as I bring this version of Win7 up to speed.

[Bizman]

One simple trick is to uncheck "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates" in Windows Update settings. That will keep most of the unwanted stuff away.

[Skuzzy]

What CPU are you going with?  You are aware Skylake was the last Intel CPU which is supported?  Motherboard drivers are also an issue.  Intel is not providing support for Windows 7 in its newer chipsets.

AMD is not supporting Windows 7 either.

I am pretty much on my last computer build until I can switch out the operating system to Linux.

[Krusty]

It's a coffee lake chip.

 

I do recall the discussion about chipsets and windows 7. However the motherboard chosen is an ASRock z370 Extreme4, which had apparently circulated Win7 x64 drivers recently. Seems they may have taken them down but more than a few folks installed Win7 x64 with newer chipsets. I was hoping to do the same. Depends on if I can find those drivers.

[Skuzzy]

Just make sure you can grab all the drivers you need before plunking down the cash for any hardware.

[Krusty]

Much as I loathe Win10 and prefer Win7, I will get Win10 if I need to. Part of the build is the capability to run a 3d headset eventually and depending on my choices at that time it may require Win10.

If I have to I'll figure a way to dual-boot linux and win10. I figure I'll grab a copy if I need to because I'll still have the current machine until this one's up and running. Won't be a rush.

[Skuzzy]

Any of the Microsoft AR headsets (from Samsung, HP, Dell, Acer,...) all require Windows 10.

The only VR headsets working with Windows 7 are the Rift and the Vive.  Maybe others, but those are the only two which are worth considering for Windows 7.