Windows 7 and Opera 96 & Beyond
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bbildman last edited by
Will I be able to download and update my Opera 95 to Opera 96 with a Windows 7 laptop - and if so, will the Opera 96 still run, albeit without security protections? Or will Opera 96 simply not install on a Windows 7 machine??
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by leocg
@bbildman See https://blogs.opera.com/desktop/2023/01/opera-windows-7-8/
Opera 95 is the last one with support for Windows 7 and 8.1.
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bbildman last edited by leocg
@leocg said in Windows 7 and Opera 96 & Beyond:
@bbildman See https://blogs.opera.com/desktop/2023/01/opera-windows-7-8/
Opera 95 is the last one with support for Windows 7 and 8.1.
Thanks, Leo, for the reply...but the answer from you and Opera is ambiguous. Does that mean if you download it on your own, it will install (or not)?? Or does that mean if you can update after 95, Opera 96 and after, it simply means that it will install except it will not have the kind of security it had before 96?
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bbildman last edited by
@leocg said in Windows 7 and Opera 96 & Beyond:
@bbildman As far as I know, Opera 96 will not work in Windows versions before 10.
So I assume this means that the auto-update function will not work and I won't have to worry about Opera inadvertently trying to update it on my system??
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by burnout426
@bbildman That's the plan.
If you're worried though, you can disable updates and manually update to a new v95 build when one comes out. That way, after the last 95 build, you don't have to worry about any mishaps on Opera's part breaking your installation.
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plinthmarvin last edited by
This may be considered off-topic (if so, sorry), but: Are you sure you want to keep using such an old Windows version? I Googled "Windows 7" and "security", and saw a lot of warnings about how insecure Win 7 is now considered, as MS stopped updating it in 2000.
I thought Windows had reached its peak with 7 and 8, and was quite hesitant to move up to Win 10. But I can confidently say, it was quite worth the trouble.
Or you could switch to Linux (and continue using the Linux version of Opera, of course!). There are Linux distributions now that are quite "friendly", with polished GUI utilities rivaling those of Windows or iOS. (I've tried several; Linux Mint was my personal favourite.)
Anyway, just some ideas, for whatever they're worth. Cheers!
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bbildman last edited by bbildman
@burnout426 said in Windows 7 and Opera 96 & Beyond:
@bbildman That's the plan.
If you're worried though, you can disable updates and manually update to a new v95 build when one comes out. That way, after the last 95 build, you don't have to worry about any mishaps on Opera's part breaking your installation.
Appreciate your help/insight, Burnout. I always make a backup of my Opera profile directory each time there is an update so I will always be able to - at least download the last working Opera and use that backed up profile directory.
However, as a curious soul, I am looking forward as to how Opera 96 will either update (or not) my Opera 95 on my Windows 7 system. And also if by chance Opera 96 does somehow work on Win 7, to see how it performs...same with Chrome 110.
There are some of us Window 7 users who have found a manual way to continue updating Windows 7 even after Microsoft told us that they would no longer send out updates automatically - been doing that for at least 1-2 years now and it has worked perfectly.
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sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer last edited by
@plinthmarvin Microsoft only released Windows 7 in about 2003, so no. Not recommending keeping an old OS by any means, but check your research.
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by burnout426
@bbildman If you download the installer manually, what will probably happen (eventually) is that the 96+ installer will show a message that Win7 and 8.1 are no longer supported where the installer will then exit without letting you install/upgrade. Vivaldi just did this to their installer (in the latest snapshot so far at least).
Then, if you were to extract the files (or copy the installation from Win 10 or Win 11) and try to run Opera, you'll get errors like this one. As to whether you can work around those errors, it remains to be seen. Even if you can get kernel32.dll from Win 10/11 to run with your Win7 dlls without any errors, you'll probably encounter more dependency errors than just that one. As in, Chromium is really going to use functions that aren't available in Win 7 and Win 8. And, browsers are going to remove any workarounds for Win7 and Win8 functionality that's no longer needed. So, it's unlikely you're going to have any luck.
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bbildman last edited by leocg
@burnout426 Ok, understood, and what I was expecting.
On another note (coming from someone who has had zero dealings with any Windows 10 computer), does W10 have an appdata folder where the Opera profile resides in like in W7??
Asking this because, I do not like using synchronization to import Opera's settings etc to a new install...I prefer simply to install Opera, delete the contents of the newly installed profile folder and copy the old contents from a external USB drive to the emptied profile folder. That way all my Opera settings/bookmarks/passwords etc are in there and when Opera boots from that new install (with previous profile data in emptied one) everything is as before.
I'm hoping that when I do a W10 in place update - up the road - that Opera will be copied over...but if not, I would want to just do a new install and do the "copy old profile data to new profile directory."
Which is why I ask what directory the Opera profile resides in on W10 and hoping my method as described above will work to restore my Opera on W10 to what it was on W7. That is unless Opera on W10 has different settings etc in a W10 Opera profile directory that are specific to W10.
Appreciate the help, and if you can help me with above, I would appreciates it. Moving/upgrading from one Windows version to a newer one has always been taxing, to say the least, especially when trying to get previous applications to move over.
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blackbird71 last edited by blackbird71@bbildman said in Windows 7 and Opera 96 & Beyond:
... I'm hoping that when I do a W10 in place update - up the road - ...
I'd consider doing the free update to Win10 sooner rather than later. As the EOL for Win10 approaches (2025), the old 'free' upgrade path for Win7 users may become problematic. It was originally scheduled to terminate in 2017, but Microsoft has still kept it alive thus far (though a few Win7 users have reported having issues with it working). And that said, Win10 is the only pathway to Microsoft's free upgrade to Win11 (assuming your machine's hardware is compatible).
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by
Yes, Win 10's folder heirarchy is the same as Win 7's.
You can copy your profile files from Win 7 to Win 10 just like you can from one Win 7 install to another Win 7 install. However, just like the latter, since Opera protects some things based on the Windows install and user account you're using, some things won't be accessible by Opera on the new Windows 10 install. Extensions and passwords are 2 of those things at least. I forget what else is protected.
So, you will have to reinstall all your extensions and you will have to export your passwords before and import them on the new Windows or sync your passwords before and after. Also, for your "Login Data" (passwords) file in your profile folder, you should delete that on the new Windows install so that Opera creates a new one that it can import and save to correctly.
As for upgrading to Win 7 to Win 10, if you're lucky, you'll retain your passwords and extensions etc. since you'll be using the same user account etc. However, export your passwords just in case since the upgrade is technically a big change to the system. It might also be good to save your opened tabs as a speed dial folder just in case your session gets messed up.
Assuming everything is fine with your Sync data, starting with a fresh Opera profile on a new Windows and syncing everything might actually better. Just don't rely on it and have your exported passwords and old profile files just in case. But, since opened tabs and speed dials don't sync directly, you'll have to use the
opera://activiityandopera://bookmarkspages respectively to open tabs from the other device and copy speed dials over from the other device. -
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bbildman last edited by bbildman
@leocg said in Windows 7 and Opera 96 & Beyond:
@bbildman For saved passwords you will need to use Sync to transfer to a different Opera installation. Another option would to export the passwords and import them in the new Opera
I would much prefer doing the export/import method, unless of course I could just copy my old profile data folder into the new one (emptied after install), in which case all passwords would simply be in there.
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plinthmarvin last edited by
@sgunhouse said in Windows 7 and Opera 96 & Beyond:
Microsoft only released Windows 7 in about 2003, so no. Not recommending keeping an old OS by any means, but check your research.
Sorry, that was a typo—they stopped supporting it in 2020. (Three years isn't enough, though...?)
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sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer last edited by
@bbildman If you could do an upgrade (of Windows) it might work, but not a new computer. Passwords, cookies and other secure data is encrypted to your OS user account, the encryption key is randomly assigned when you create your account on the device. As such the odds of a new account having the same key are trillions to one.
You can export your passwords from your old system then import them into the new one, or you could use Sync (though judging by what I see in the forums that doesn't always work out).
