thanks

Oh no, what a terrible problem to have, having to give up a nearly 15 year old OS?

@OP - I am guessing that Galaxy never updated games that you had installed and were running fine on Windows 7?

Changing to a new HD and not copying those games over, would mean Galaxy would need to download and install from scratch, which for you means newer versions of the games, and many won't run on Windows 7 anymore.

So even ditching Galaxy and just using the Offline Installers likely won't help, unless you have been wise and backed up the games in older versions to an external drive. NOTE - This after all is what GOG and DRM-Free are all about, and if you have been using GOG properly you should be fine. Properly, means downloading the Offline Installer files and not using Galaxy in its default download & install mode. Galaxy can also download the Offline Installers, if you don't want to use your browser or a third party program like gogcli.exe or gogrepo.py etc.

Failing that, if you still have access to your original HD, just copy the games over to your new HD. Most should still work. If however, we are talking a new OS drive, then some may not work due to dependencies like Registry entries now missing, etc.

Best of luck.

How on earth did you get Win7 on a new HD anyway?!
Is it a clone of your previous HD? Is it, honest to god, a fresh new install of Win7 ? Give some more details.

You do not have to use Galaxy to play your games.

If you want to use it - what do you mean ''will not work'' - what kind of error does it display? Or will it not even launch?
If the Solution Cadaver747 posted does not work - you can try to use the old 1.2 version. Achievements and game tracking should still be available there.

Link to 1.2v

(Galaxy 2.067 works just fine on my Win7 machine)

Ohh? Really? What a surprise! (Attention: This is clearly ironical or even satiric).

MS is usually only supporting the newest OS, all the other will be "dropped" at some point, especially "consumer versions".

Indeed you may be able to freely upgrade to a "new version", however, be aware that many of the old games can be broken if done this way. So, a new install have to be made for every single game. I recommend never to "upgrade" to another OS, as it can break a lot of stuff. A OS simply will need to be installed completely fresh but if you already got a old OS you obviously do not want to install a new OS. MS policy is messy and they should cleary support a old OS for way longer than just a few years.

Sometimes, even a simple OS update (not a OS switch) can break some games... so there is some people that may even enjoy a OS without updates anymore.

However, a OS have to be compatible with a certain hardware. So, dependable on the hardware Win 11 can even cause a lot of issues or even not work at all. Yet, if you use a new Intel processor or AMD hybrid processors (all the stuff that got differently specced cores inside the same CPU package) a old OS may not even work properly on those CPUs and MS is not updating the old OS anymore. Simply a lot of messy stuff and compatibility is critical, it will allow for a stable and good performing system. Generally, for old Win 7 systems, a Win 10 upgrade is usually possible... but i would be careful with Win 11.

I'm sorry. Did I offend you?

I can only be offended by "lack of love"; lack of intellect can hit everyone else, including me... although usually i am not a dimwit.

Did you mean Windows 10? Windows 8 reached the end of its extended support lifespan this past January.
But even 10 wouldn't be much better in that regard -- its extended support ends in January 2025, or just under a year and a half from now.

That was an upgrade to Win 10 they were pushing (unless there was an earlier case I never heard of where they did it for 8, too).
I think that was back when Microsoft were still thinking that 10 would be the last version of Windows, and it would just be Apple-style version updates from there on out, so they wanted to get as many existing Windows users on board as they could, any (pushy, underhanded) way they could.

Wasn't aware of that change from Apple. I assume they're still free updates for existing users, though? That's the main difference with Microsoft's new editions of Windows (apart from the heavy-handed free update push for Win 10) that I was trying to draw attention to. But yeah, otherwise, marketing fluff all the way down. I was just trying to put it in the context of the marketing fluff of that time. :)

MS does not want Win 10 to last long... this is the reason why:

https:/.../www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcafzHL8iBQ

Or in other words: Win 11 is DRM...

What he is trying to say, MS is using some sort of encryption (by default, MS is calling it "TPM" in a innocent way)... and the key for this encryption is stored on their cloud. Hahahaha! Either you must be loving Steam in order to feel good about or... you do not love your data.

So yeah... Win 10 could be my last Win OS, the next one is probably some sort of Linux with Win-Emulation. But this will be a huge step for me which is almost impossible to be prevented for my "next PC" in about 5+ years.

And yeah, usually MS was supporting their "old OS" longer than what we currently see on Win 10. As far as i can tell (because we lack a official statement about the true reason) MS want to "boot" their Win along with all the data "control" toward the Cloud. Win 10 is not designed for it, nor its hardware... so MS want to get ride of it rather quick. The even older OS are same issue but they are out of support even sooner.

Win 12 could be even more "cloud control" but by that time i will most likely use Linux already and trying to make my Win stuff work doing so.

Windows 10 is also DRM just as much. MS literally stores everyone's hardware IDs on their servers with Windows 10, and also sends back telemetry data to their servers too.

So your implications that Windows 10 is somehow "not" DRM, but yet Windows 11 is, are quite incorrect.

TPM has existed long before Windows 11 did, and it's a legit thing with valid security applications (but your post seems to be implying it isn't).

The video you linked to is also very biased and one-sided. He does make some good points, but he also neglects important points that contradict the arguments he is trying to advocate for. Like for example, he ignores the reasons for why TPM was invented to add security for the user, and he says things like it's a bad thing that people who make apps for iOS have to go through Apple before they can list anything on the Apple app store.

But contrary to what he says, that's actually a very good thing for consumers, because Apple acting as the gatekeeper is the only thing that stops the Apple app store from being full of viruses and malware.

No it is not "DRM just as much" because there is no TPM requirement and no secure boot requirement. It does not even protect from ransomware. All what Apple is doing is demanding a digital signature (for example if i have a high grade redundancy check, this is comparable to this), so if a Virus is inside, it will be detected without a "usual scan". The same stuff MS is doing already... nothing new or nothing extraordinary. Of course Apple or MS can even use this signature in order to lock away any "forbidden" software... for whatever reason and without much troubles as it is pretty much "automated".

Gatekeeper is a really nice word for "App control"... which can control almost anything, even the "good stuff"... in the users eyes, not in the eye of a company.

Ultimately, the issue is: Yes it is able to provide more security but it will also decrease your freedom and in the worst case even make you unable to use or access your own software. So this is a double edged blade which can cut in both ways.

Anyway, the reason why to switch to Win 10 is not because you will have much longer support with but it will allow you play the newest DX 12 and other games that may have difficulty to work with a older Windows. So far, every single game can be played on Win 10 and someday if that is not possible anymore, i think Linux will be ready to emulate the entire Win-OS environment in a hopefully "good enough"-condition. I will surely test out Linux in the next few years on a "research-PC" and if i succeed bringing over my old archive to this build, then i will most likely even make my next high-end system Linux based.

Yep, free updates. That wasn't always the case though. Updates used to be paid, and not cheap either (at least $100), but they reduced the price and eventually went free somewhere around 10.6 I think.