Version compatibility with Windows 7?

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
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You’re not providing specific enough info here for me (or anyone) to understand exactly what happened. Next time, take a screen shot of the error message. :innocent: If you broke something project-specific, then uninstalling/reinstalling the software will make no difference–the project will still be broken.

But–

It really doesn’t matter. Uninstalling/reinstalling will work fine. Proceed in whatever way makes you most comfortable, and if you have any issues, come back here with specifics and we’ll try to help you fix them. :nerd_face:

The one thing I strongly recommend is that you go through the tutorial at least one time. (Help > Interactive Tutorial) You’ll learn the names of things in Scrivener, get an idea of the feature set, and undoubtedly save you some frustration with project navigation. My other recommendation is that you read the BACKUPS section of this post I wrote a while back for another user. It’s for v1 Scrivener, so some menu options may have changed, but the principles remain the same.

Best,
Jim

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You are welcome. :+1:

File > Show Application Support Folder
In my case it points to C:\Users\MyName\AppData\Local\LiteratureAndLatte\Scrivener

To redirect this path to another physical location, I use a Symlink, aka Symbolic Link.

You’ll find tons of guides on the web, here’s an intro:

It works for every Windows version, symlinks have been around forever, for as long as I can think back. The procedures have not changed over the decades.

Various tools out there to create a symlink easily, without the need to understand what’s going on under the hood. My file manager (XYExplorer) has a built-in feature to create symlinks, simply by drag and drop, and that’s how I do it.

Result: Even though I work from different machines, all my Scrivener installations use/rely on the same settings folder. Same applies to my data/project files, ofc.

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Thanks so much for the info & explanation!

Jim

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Thanks for the specific Backup post you recommended Jim. Appreciated :+1:

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Hi Velo,

Scrivener’s native functionality is fine with Windows 7. The problem is that the framework for Paddle, our current licensing vendor, requires Windows 8 or above. Given that Windows itself is no longer servicing Windows 7, you can’t really blame them.

Anyway, this means that you may not be able to register the program when your free trial is up. Sometimes this looks like a complete inability to register (inability to connect to licensing servers or erroring out every attempt) and sometimes this looks like the registration getting “lost” and having to re-register every time you launch the program. Some people don’t have any problems at all.

So, you won’t really know until you register with your license and see if you’re lucky or not. The Paddle framework in the same on both of the versions you mentioned, so it won’t matter if you’re using an older or newer version, so you might as well use the newer version which has bug fixes.

One thing for all Windows 7 users to keep in mind is that Scrivener does connect to the internet in order to verify registration and Windows 7 is not receiving security patches anymore, so any internet browsing is more vulnerable on Windows 7 computers.

Best,
Jen

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  • "One thing for all Windows 7 users to keep in mind is that Scrivener does connect to the internet in order to verify registration and Windows 7 is not receiving security patches anymore, so any internet browsing is more vulnerable on Windows 7 computers. "
    ===

Thanks for the comprehensive clarification Jen.
I will be upgrading to Win10 at some point in the new year, so that should ensure all demands are met and would cover me for the next 2 years,

Windows 7 - I do periodically still receive Msft updates. Not sure why they keep doing that after publicising to all: ‘That’s your lot. No more security patches’.

Everything still runs fine. I do see the Avast antivirus kicking in more these days though, shutting down invasive and spurious links.

However, I do accept I must at some point return to Big Brother, comply, and stand in line shuffling forward with everyone else if I want to keep playing their game by buying suitable new computers all over again - when they command so.

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Those updates you see could be for MS Office if you have that installed since that is still supported on Windows 7 (Win7 and Office).

I understand the hesitancy to keep updating Windows, but since Windows 10 support ends on 14 Oct 2025, wouldn’t you be better off migrating to Windows 11 in 2023?

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Hi BClarke,

Win11?

  • I was advised Win10 would be the best option for my aging desktop & laptop hardware as WIN11 demands significant hardware upgrades to those of yesteryear.

Hoping to spin it all out until they’re talking of Win12 :blush: as at some point it’s going to have to be new hardware to accommodate the evolving platform upgrades.

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Paddle again? I better not get into a rant of the problems they caused me. And it had nothing to do with Win7, not even with Scrivener, so it doesn’t really belong here.

Anyway, thanks a ton @JenT , for pointing this out. I really appreciate it.

Does this mean the connection to Paddle might be unsafe or open backdoors for intruders?
I am asking because I have no protection installed on my writing computer. Not even a browser, I don’t use it for anything else but writing, to rule out distractions. The only times it goes online, is to re-activate via Paddle. I hope this does not put me at risk?

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The connection to Paddle isn’t particularly unsafe, but any time your computer connects to the internet in any way, there is some vulnerability. Open ports can be targeted, but, of course, if your writing computer doesn’t have any information on it that would harm you if compromised (bank data or your social security number, for example), then it’s not something to be overly concerned about. On a standard primary computer, the average person has a lot of personal data they don’t want being compromised (passwords, payment info, personal records, etc.).

Windows computers ship with firewall enabled, so unless you’ve turned that off, your computer does have some protection. Windows Defender also runs by default on Windows 10 and 11.

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Thank you. :+1: I really appreciate it.
Will try to keep an eye on open ports. I think I might even have a monitoring tool somewhere.

Wish there was a way to indirectly activate via another machine, by means of transferring a file back and forth that is uniquely generated on the hardware where Scrivener is installed. But alas, Paddle does not offer this option.

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Old topic, I know, but I thought if I asked my question here instead of starting a new thread at least people who have experience with this issue would be alerted.

I am currently using a Scrivener free trial on my husband’s Win 11 laptop. I am using version 3.1.4 64-bit. I have gotten a lot of work done during the trial and want to migrate everything back to my own laptop and purchase the license.

My own laptop is an x200 ThinkPad bought new in 2008. It has been upgraded with a 3T SSD, 8 mb RAM, and now runs on Win7, which is the optimal OS for this machine, as it has a dual core processor, which cannot be upgraded.

Because of the dual core processor, upgrading to Win10 isn’t optimal, and upgrading to Win11 is probably impossible.

I use this machine just for writing. I have tried buying newer laptops so that I can stay current with the OS, however I am in a small subset of the population that finds the newer graphics cards hurt my eyes and give me such a bad headache, it is impossible to look at the screen for long (Intel has been notified by numerous people but refuses to acknowledge there is a problem). I do all my internet research and web browsing on a tablet using Android. This setup has worked great for me and I really would prefer to not change it. (Also, as fellow writers, you no doubt understand the attachment to particular tools.) So I have had to return those new laptops–I think I tried about four different kinds of graphics cards, all with the same result.

I am doing the trial period of Scrivener on the older Win 11 machine because I was told Scrivener is incompatible with Win 7. But now I am seeing in this fairly contemporary thread that some people do use it with Win 7.

My plan had been to try upgrading my ThinkPad to Win10, knowing it might not work very well. However, if it is at all possible to use Scrivener with Win 7, that would vastly be my preference.

Can anyone here advise me as to how to proceed with purchasing the same version of Scrivener I am using on trial and putting it on the ThinkPad running Win 7?

My only other option if that fails is to install a dual boot of Linux Mint on the ThinkPad (also an optimal OS for that machine). I am running Office 2016 in Win 7, however, and Word 2016 is my preferred non-Scrivener word processor, and I dislike the Linux word processor, so if Scrivener can run flawlessly with Linux Mint that would be the only reason I would install it.

Sorry for being so long-winded but thought I’d head off any dead-end suggestions.

To summarize:
First preference: run Scrivener on Win7-- what are the steps?
Second preference: run Scrivener on Win10 (assuming it will run on my machine without causing problems like slowness or overheating)
Third preference: run Scrivener on Linux Mint (assuming they will run together without issues)

Thank you!!

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Hi @pique,

Yes, this is noted at the download page:

image

It probably won’t run, but can’t hurt to try.

Go to the download page, download the software to your Win7 PC, and try to install it.

If it doesn’t install, there’s your answer.

If it does install, that’s good, but doesn’t mean it will work well.

You should get a 30-day trial on the Win7 PC. I suggest you first open the Tutorial project and have at it. Give Scrivener a good long test. Particularly, try to compile. Check for anything that doesn’t seem to work or causes the software to crash.

If everything runs well, then try a test with your actual data. On your Win11 PC, open one of your projects in Scrivener. Select File > Back Up > Back Up Now to create a zip file of your project. Email it to yourself or otherwise transfer the zip file to your Win7 PC. Unzip the project. Open the .scriv project folder and double-click on the .scrivx project file.

Have at it. If you like, you can actually do real writing with it, but remember that your changes will only be on your Win7 PC.

If it works well on the Win7 PC, awesome. If it were me, I’d be sure to take frequent backups, because you’re running on an unsupported OS.

I don’t have any other suggestions. If this doesn’t work, I guess you could try upgrading Win7 to Win10? Or purchasing a used Win10 PC?

Best,
Jim

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Upthread, I explained that Paddle, our licensing vendor, is no longer compatible with Windows 7. So with that, you can run the free trial on a Windows 7 machine, but once you actually purchase the license and have to activate it, that’s when you interact with the Paddle framework and encounter issues.

However, since I wrote that in December of 22, we upgraded Scrivener 3 for Windows to Qt 6 which increased the operating system requirement from Windows 8 to Windows 10.

The current version requires a 64-bit system, so you’d likely need to run a legacy version of the software and even then you run the gamble of simply not being able to activate the license on Windows 7 (not to mention the security concerns I’ve previously expressed given that Windows is no longer putting out security patches for that OS)

You also might be able to run Scrivener on Linux but that’s not a use-case we directly support. We do have Linux users in the forum you can connect with to chat more about that.

Our recommendation as noted by our compatibility requirements and Release Notes is 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11.

I hope this helps and that you’re able to find a writing setup that works for your eyeballs. Perhaps you can try some dictation tools to give them a break from the screen from time to time? Dark mode can also help with eye strain.

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Thanks JenT
I am running a 64-bit system.
The issue I’m having with the graphics hardware can’t be fixed with dark mode, and I don’t write with dictation tools. I write longhand on a SuperNote, which translates it almost flawlessly into text. I am in editiing mode mostly while using Scrivener, so dictating won’t help. I need my eyes.

I’m also concerned that I’m going to have problems with Scrivener once Win10 is no longer supported. Or would I be grandfathered in? In other words, once you are past the Paddle gatekeeper, can you use whichever OS you want? And how does that work if you need to put Scrivener on an OS Paddle doesn’t support later, once you have gotten the license?

If so,what would happen if I license Scrivener while using the Win11 laptop–thereby satisfying Paddle’s requirements, but then went to download it on the ThinkPad using Win7, and simply entered my licence key? Could that be a workaround?

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Thanks, Jim. I appreciate the detailed instructions.

Part of my problem is that I despise the computer tech aspects of all of this and I get frustrated by making changes that then have unexpected consequences. Getting my ThinkPad upgraded from Vista Business to Win7 was very time consuming and fraught–and that’s with a compatible OS. I want to be doing my work, not dredging through all this crap.

The only reason I’m even sticking my neck out to try Scrivener is because I am tired of my old manual paper/scissors/tape method that I have used going back to the stone age when I was still writing on a manual typewriter (early 1980s). I just can’t face printing out hundreds of pages, clearing miles of desk space, and trying to hold everything in my brain–my brain simply can’t even do that any more. So I need this software.

I suppose my other option, as you suggested, is to find a used Win10 or Win11 machine with an older graphics chip that doesn’t hurt my eyes. I could even buy my husband a new laptop and keep his. But I adore the keyboard on the ThinkPad and how, unlike newer laptops, there is no planned obsolescence–you can keep replacing all the parts as they wear out forever. There is one later iteration of the ThinkPad that has the same keyboard. I don’t know if it will run Win 11 but I shall look into that next.

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Yeah, having the right keyboard is important. I can’t remember the last time I used a laptop with a really nice keyboard.

Not trying to open a rabbit hole here, but have you considered using the Win11 PC with an external bluetooth keyboard and a monitor or two? The rabbit hole would be trying out mechanical keyboards until you find one that you like as well as your Thinkpad’s.

Best,
Jim

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Thanks, Jim,
I do have a bluetooth keyboard and monitor I use with my ThinkPad when I plug it into its docking station. But that won’t work for travel. And within the next year I will be traveling extensively and need to be able to work on my project while on the road.

FYI–there are still ThinkPad x200 series laptops for sale on eBay. Best keyboard ever. But then you’d be in the same predicament I’m in.

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I was suggesting you use an external keyboard & monitor for your Win11 PC, because you mentioned you didn’t like the Win11 keyboard as much as the Win7 keyboard.

But you are correct, that won’t help you while traveling.

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I’ll try to clarify the licensing questions to the best of my ability.

When you purchase Scrivener, you are purchasing a license for its use from Literature and Latte as the creators of the software. Paddle, the licensing vendor, issues a specific license key to you on Literature and Latte’s behalf and handles things like license authentication/verification when you activate the software.

There are a couple of factors when it comes to the operating system compatibility: what Paddle’s framework is compatible with and then what the actual Scrivener program is compatible with. The issue of Windows 7 was previously a Paddle framework issue. The jump from Windows 8 to 10 is a Scrivener compatibility change due to updates to Scrivener.

You can read the full End User License Agreement here, but here’s the bit that I think pertains to your questions about future-proofing:

In the event that: (i) the Software does not comply with the express terms of this licence
agreement; (ii) the usability of the Software is affected severely and sustainably; or (iii) any
bug or severe anomaly could not be detected during the use of the free trial version then the
Licensor may, at any time up to six months from the date of purchase, at its sole and
absolute discretion either replace the Software free of charge to you or refund the purchase
price.

This seems to indicate that if at the time of purchase the minimum requirement is Windows 10 and that requirement changes in a way that makes you unable to continue using the software within 6 months of purchase, you could pursue a refund.

I probably should clarify here that I am a Literature and Latte employee but I do not own or have a stake in this company, did not write the EULA, am not a lawyer, and am therefore not making any guarantees on behalf of the company. This is simply my understanding. You could send an inquiry to our support queue to be escalated if that explanation doesn’t satisfy you.

If it helps, we don’t change the requirements often at all. The program code is pretty stable and operating systems for Windows don’t change nearly as often as they do for Macs.

This would not work as the program has to be activated on each machine it is installed on, so you would be able to activate it on the Windows 10 machine and not on the Windows 7 machine.

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