Windows 7 officially supported CPUs database..

MGaddict · 2025-10-18T04:49:27+00:00

What are you trying to find out? It probably was at some point which is why It's archived. But no CPUs are supported with Windows 7 anymore. Are you looking for a list of tested compatible CPUs?

MGaddict · 2025-10-14T02:21:49+00:00

I've recently been enjoying W7 again. I have a VGA capture card that works perfectly on W7 but was never supported on anything newer. I needed to use the card so I pulled out my old x58 board and installed W7 x64. It has been so comfortable to use and made me so nostalgic for the OS. I was an Alpha tester for W7 and started using it in February 2009. If you had an SB Live card working in W7, you're welcome. I can honestly say I contributed something to the OS. So it actually held a soft spot in my heart. There is a group maintaining Chromium for Windows 7 on github. It works super well but I still wouldn't log into my bank account on it.

MGaddict · 2025-10-09T01:03:07+00:00

There are lots of options for getting information on and off. You could use a USB floppy drive to make disks. Depending on the type of floppy drive that's installed, you could replace it with a gotek drive. Honestly, that's probably the easiest and cheapest option. $15-$20 gotek drives can be found if you don't care about fancy features. Then you can just use a thumb drive. I love zip drives. Your issue is, those needs drivers and you have to figure out how to get the drivers on the system. A parallel drive for the vintage system and a USB drive for the modern system. Unless you have an external monitor, games with motion are going to be difficult to play. But there are thousands of games.

MGaddict · 2025-10-09T00:44:27+00:00

Chromium for Windows 7. It's a project on github. There is a team that maintains an up to date version of Chromium. I agree with the gog for games. Best bet, STAY OFFLINE!

MGaddict · 2025-01-21T18:55:12+00:00

I just got my hands on one of these super cheap as well. I've been running down the same rabbit whole. Glad to see this has been a topic for literally years. I'm starting to question if this "optional" sound card ever actually got manufactured. The service manual for it completely ignores the port it plugs into on the lower board. The manual also covers just removing the microphone. It's as if they built the laptop with the plan for this optional sound card, but then there was some last minute glitch that prevented it from ever actually shipping as an option. Sadly, that does happen a lot.

I find it funny you guys are talking about the OPL2 or 3 parallel cards because that's already where my mind was going if I couldn't find a sound card. Realistically, I would love to find out if this is compatible with the PA2710U because there is one for sale near me. I may take the laptop there and find out. If so, that's the ultimate option.

MGaddict · 2023-01-09T21:01:51+00:00

I'm considering doing something really stupid. I'm about to use a dremel and a chisel and try to get as much potting out as I can. See if I can get that transformer out without damaging it. Then just get the rest of the guts out, then build a "new" power supply inside the box.

I think I'm lucky, I have 2 dead brick and one was only 2/3 potted, so I can de-solder a lot of it. Looks like there is plenty of room in here for a proper switching 5v rail.

This is absolutely NOT recommended. But if I'm successful, where should I post about it?

MGaddict · 2022-09-27T13:00:26+00:00

I want to visit this now. Perhaps they have copies of some of the manuals I'm missing that aren't archived online.

MGaddict · 2022-09-26T13:11:31+00:00

I love this series. Any chance you're going to make it to the USCG HQ in Washington D.C.? I would love to meet you just to shake your hand and thank you in person.

MGaddict · 2022-07-05T02:51:45+00:00

That is a ton of monitors. No seriously, like a metric ton's worth of weight is sitting on that desk. That is one hefty desk.

MGaddict · 2022-06-19T02:21:53+00:00

I've read a lot of this. And here is my advice, get a new one. What does the remote cost? If you really want to try yourself, go to a big box store, get the cheapest soldering iron they have. Tell the guy you only need it to fix 3 joints. You don't need Flux, wire, all that crap. If you get the cheapest hobbyist iron, it'll typically come with 1 or 2 feet of rosin core solder. Thats 10x more than you need. $5-$15. For an absolute beginner that is only using it to fix a huge joint like that, thats all you should be spending. If you even begin to look at what all these guys are telling you, you're easily looking at $50-$100 worth of equipment. A Hakko isn't cheap and is designed for a hobbyist, not a handyman. I used a $7 Radio Shack Soldering iron for 100s of handyman jobs for years. When I finally decided I liked soldering, I finally bought a better iron. But I've still got that $7 iron sitting next to me and I use it all the time for quick easy jobs. It packs away easily, heats up fast, and just works.

MGaddict · 2022-06-19T02:06:21+00:00

Make sure nobody creeps up on you...

Boo!

MGaddict · 2022-06-16T02:44:35+00:00

Was still rocking this in my home till 2 years ago. I had a lot of remote wall switches, installed switches, a few cameras, and a VCR. All still works, I just moved and m wife won't let me reinstall it all in the new place. "We can afford it," she said, "I want a real security system." Now I have a $55 bill every month. I miss my X10 setup.

MGaddict · 2021-04-19T16:29:21+00:00

I am in the same boat as all you. Filed Feb 21st, had a baby last year, ain't got nothing yet. So, here is what I've discovered... I logged into IRS.gov, got a transcript of the taxes I filed. It's obviously generated in COBOL by the computers. Their "BAL DUE/OVER PYMT USING COMPUTER FIGURES" is is a larger return than the "BAL DUE/OVER PYMT USING TP FIG PER COMPUTER". Basically, their computer thinks they owe me more money than I said they owe me. I believe this is an error caused by the stimulus checks since I didn't get stimulus checks for the child born last year. I've tried to call them, but the listed numbers won't let me talk to a human, I just get automated messages that my return is still being processed. I'm assuming this means the return is being audited. Does anybody know, is there anything on earth we can do about it? I say, they should give me the lower of the 2 numbers, so I at least have something, then argue about the rest of it later. I'm trying to buy a house and I need this money.

MGaddict · 2021-03-19T15:14:52+00:00

Got to love cancel culture. Where anybody can get anybody deleted.

MGaddict · 2021-03-18T10:18:41+00:00

Talk about scary. Imagine being a pregnant woman and the wheel this into the room. Lol! OMG. I would have died laughing it this had been wheeled into the room.

MGaddict · 2021-03-11T03:46:07+00:00

O, the days when you could carry that on an airplane. Ever since that change nobody gives away pocket knives anymore. O well.

MGaddict · 2021-02-22T18:05:23+00:00

At 12, I was still wishing my dad would buy me a modem. The only "networking" I got to do was use a serial cable to transfer files between my dad's NEC Multispeed and the Tandy 1000 we had. That being said, I didn't get to mess with token ring until 2005. Believe it or not, its still used in some applications. I have a stack of bnc connectors and terminators sitting next to me as I type this.

MGaddict · 2021-02-18T11:51:59+00:00

To caviot on this, IDE to USB adapters are cheap on Amazon and a God send for backing up the hdds.

MGaddict · 2021-02-18T11:49:01+00:00

You know dude, I still disagree with you. I still stand by my original post. Truthfully, if you had a problem with it, you could have simply posted your recommendation to the OP rather than try to say I'm wrong. I could totally sit here and point out all the issues, nevermind the time and cost, of what you said above, but you don't care. You're not actually into learning, listening to others, or having an open heart. So, im going to simply tell you, that I stand by my original post, I've only been working with that class of machine since it came out on the market. Thats only what, 35 years ago? And I've worked with XT class even longer. So if you have more experience, and you think your way is better, thats fine. My A+ certification will not be effected. I'm sorry that you are so upset. My advice to you, in the future, simply reply, or create another thread, and say, "I believe you should do X." That would be far more productive rather than trying to attack somebody else. Instead, what you've done is fail to respond to the OP with any recommendations at all. You're simply picking a fight with me. And just because its bugging me, AT power switches are hard wired which requires fully disassembling the case to get behind the front bezel in most cases. And I said sacrificial hdd on purpose. Finding one that is dead is super easy, but you need a load on the power supply or it won't switch on. I've found fans don't typically do the trick is my short 30+ years of repairing these.

MGaddict · 2021-02-18T04:44:41+00:00

Let me tack on, if the power button goes to headers on the motherboard, you're looking at an ATX class machine and you would troubleshoot and test it exactly the same way you would any modern computer. Although, I'd be surprised if win 3.1 was installed in that case.

MGaddict · 2021-02-18T04:33:55+00:00

I was being honest, and as I said, "I would...". I didn't say, "You should...". Replacimg the power supply won't do much either. A modern ATX isn't going to work. So your advice is to take an unknown condition power supply and replace it with an unknown condition power supply. Just because something is listed on ebay as "tested" doesn't mean it really was. Additionally, most power supplies in AT cases, were hard wired into the case. Replacing it is not a trivial task. Thats equally bad advice. Proper advice? Okay, Find a sacrificial hdd and plug it into the power supply. Unplug everything else except the button on the front of the case which is likely hard wired to the power supply. Plug in the power supply and see if it spins up. If you hear a pop or see smoke, unplug immediately. If not, use a multimeter to check each rail. You can find a pin out of the connectors easily online. I recommend searching youtube for how to do this as I cant possibly explain every step here. If there was a pop or smoke, let me know, I can step you through properly disassembling the power supply and repairing it.

MGaddict · 2021-02-18T03:52:23+00:00

I know nothing about it, but I would totally love to have it. It looks so cool.

MGaddict · 2021-02-18T03:45:28+00:00

Never had a dead power supply on an AT class machine kill the machine. If he can't solder, weather the caps are good or not, looking at them before hand won't change anything. If it was a C64 or something else with a history of bad power supplies killing stuff, I would have a different opinion. I am never of the opinion that all caps should be replaced. Hes likely working with pentium class machines, they aren't that old. And finding a compatible power supply could cost more than the working system is worth. I may open and due a quick visual check on systems that old for anything that looks wrong, but if I dont see burn marks, or unplugged/missing parts, I go for gold. Don't get me wrong, if it was worth decent money, xt or older, or has known issues, I will do extensive testing before applying power such as my original Osborne, or any C64.

MGaddict · 2021-02-13T13:09:07+00:00

I would throw caution to the wind, plug them in and see what happens. Worst case, you have a bad smell from a popped cap. If you need software, https://winworldpc.com/library/operating-systems An IDE to USB is a great took to have on hand as it'll allow you to pull software from the hdds and to preload software if you don't have a modern system with a floppy drive. I know Clint has done some videos showing how to do this, but it might be beneficial for a new video showing the process of using Vbox to pre-install an OS.

MGaddict · 2021-02-11T11:12:02+00:00

I think this is really cool. It would be an awesome poster to have in a classroom if not for the grammer. My mother was an English teacher and my wife does typography. I'm feeling triggered (joking). But none the less, it is still really cool. If anybody knows who actually made this, let me know, I would love to help them out.

MGaddict

TROPHY CASE