Electrum 4.2.0 not supporting Windows 7

[Charles-Tim]

To be sincere, I am surprised that some people have not upgraded their Windows OS since many years ago, from Windows 7. First, Windows ended support for Windows 7 since January 2020. Which means for the safety of device, Windows users need to have upgraded to a version Windows are still releasing updates for. Also support for Windows 8 ended since 2016. Using such outdated OS makes your PC to be vulnerable to online attacks. Best to use the latest version of OS.

There has been several complaints on this forum from Windows 7 users when Electrum version 4.2.0 was released, about error after updating to Electrum version 4.2.0. This is a release note about incompatibility of Windows 7 with Electrum 4.2.0.

https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/RELEASE-NOTES
 

Code:

Windows: we are dropping support for Windows 7. (#7728)
     Version 4.2.0 already unintentionally broke compatibility with
     Win7 and there is no easy way to restore and maintain support.
     Existing users can keep using version 4.1.5 for now, but should
     consider upgrading or changing their OS.
     Win8.1 still works but only Win10 is regularly tested.
   - bump bundled Python version (win, mac, appimage) to 3.9.11,
     (android) to 3.8.13 (1bb7ef92, #7721)
     (note these include a fix to an openssl DOS-vector CVE-2022-0778)
   - windows: bump pyinstaller to 4.10 and wine to 7.0 (#7721)

I posted this on this thread for more people to see this before deciding to updrage to Electrum version 4.2.0. If you are not using Windows 8.1, 10, 10 Pro or 11. Consider to upgrade your Windows OS, or use any other lastest desktop OS Electrum is supporting

Not that I am recommenimg Windows, it is close source, a reason some bitcoin enthusiasts may not use it. But for just Windows users to know about this before updating their Electrum wallet to version 4.2.0

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[coupable]

Not that I am recommenimg Windows, it is close source, a reason some bitcoin enthusiasts may not use it. But for just Windows users to know about this before updating their Electrum wallet to version 4.2.0

I can understand your concern here because almost most of users are using windows over other OSs for the reasons we all know. Thank you for sharing the info.
Based on what you mentioned, i have two questions :
1. I have an old cell phone i bought it on 2019. I installed electrum at that time and didn't update it since then (can't tell if the updates was done automatically) and then i left that cell phone since 2020. Last January i re-opened Electrum in that mobile , i found that i am not able to create a new seed (i have already three previous wallets). Anyone has an explanation?
2. An old laptop i use since 2019 as a cold storage. The device has windows 7 installed but never updated and an old version of electrum (can't remember the version). Should i upgrade Electrum if i want to keep using the same laptop without upgrading the OS version?

[Charles-Tim]

1. I have an old cell phone i bought it on 2019. I installed electrum at that time and didn't update it since then (can't tell if the updates was done automatically) and then i left that cell phone since 2020. Last January i re-opened Electrum in that mobile , i found that i am not able to create a new seed (i have already three previous wallets). Anyone has an explanation?

Check where you backup your seed phrases, make sure they are correct. Delete, reinstall Electrum and import your seed phrases. Probably this should work.

2. An old laptop i use since 2019 as a cold storage. The device has windows 7 installed but never updated and an old version of electrum (can't remember the version). Should i upgrade Electrum if i want to keep using the same laptop without upgrading the OS version?

Windows 7 would still support Electrum version 4.1.5, but won't support version 4.2.0 which is the latest Electrum version.

[BitMaxz]

I can understand your concern here because almost most of users are using windows over other OSs for the reasons we all know. Thank you for sharing the info.
Based on what you mentioned, i have two questions :
1. I have an old cell phone i bought it on 2019. I installed electrum at that time and didn't update it since then (can't tell if the updates was done automatically) and then i left that cell phone since 2020. Last January i re-opened Electrum in that mobile , i found that i am not able to create a new seed (i have already three previous wallets). Anyone has an explanation?
2. An old laptop i use since 2019 as a cold storage. The device has windows 7 installed but never updated and an old version of electrum (can't remember the version). Should i upgrade Electrum if i want to keep using the same laptop without upgrading the OS version?

If you bought your phone year 2019 you will need to upgrade the Electrum app your Electrum version might be lower than 3.3.4 it is no longer supported due to vulnerability to phishing attacks. Unless you installed a higher version than 3.3.4 it should be work fine but if it can't able to create a new seed you might need to reinstall the Electrum app make sure you have a backup seed phrase to recover your old wallet.
You can download the same version here https://download.electrum.org/ or download the latest one if you don't want to connect it to the internet you can use an SD card to transfer the downloaded Electrum apk from PC to your phone.

About your 2nd question if it's cold storage you don't need to upgrade it will work just fine.

[khaled0111]

1. I have an old cell phone i bought it on 2019. I installed electrum at that time and didn't update it since then (can't tell if the updates was done automatically) and then i left that cell phone since 2020. Last January i re-opened Electrum in that mobile , i found that i am not able to create a new seed (i have already three previous wallets). Anyone has an explanation?

What version are you using? You can find Electrum version  by clicking on the three horizental dots on the top right corner then clicking on About.
What error message do you get when you try to create a new wallet and are you able to load your old wallets?

2. An old laptop i use since 2019 as a cold storage. The device has windows 7 installed but never updated and an old version of electrum (can't remember the version). Should i upgrade Electrum if i want to keep using the same laptop without upgrading the OS version?

No, don't do that. The latest versions of Electrum 4.2.0 and 4.2.1 will not work on windows7

[Chikito]

~

Maybe that update I got the error

Usually, that problem can be fixed after installing VC_redist x86, but I got the same error after installing it. But no problem, it's just my experiment on my old PC.

2. An old laptop i use since 2019 as a cold storage. The device has windows 7 installed but never updated and an old version of electrum (can't remember the version). Should i upgrade Electrum if i want to keep using the same laptop without upgrading the OS version?

If I were you I will upgrade electrum before 4.2.0, which means the 4.1.5 version.
Or If you have more hard disk space, make a Linux beside windows 7 (dual boots). then move all wallets to the new OS, and you will also be available to upgrade all versions of electrum 4.2.0 and 4.2.1 without worry.

Tails OS is the solution also.

[ABCbits]

I posted this on this thread for more people to see this before deciding to updrage to Electrum version 4.2.0. If you are not using Windows 8.1, 10 or 10 Pro. Consider to upgrade your Windows OS, or use any other lastest desktop OS Electrum is supporting

Windows 8.1 only supported until Jan 10, 2023[1] though (about 9 months left). IMO upgrade directly to Windows 10 is better option unless you bother reinstall OS more frequently where you also need to reinstall all software, relogin to all online account and move your personal files. Of course moving to linux is better from security and privacy point view.

[1] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-81

[Lucius]

I used the W7 until it was officially announced that support would cease, and then I started using the W10 with my new computer. The reason many still use old OS today is probably that they think the W10 is something significantly different from the W7, but it’s more or less the same thing (at least visually). The second thing is the price, which again is not so significant that most can not afford it, and once purchased a license can be used indefinitely.

Maybe this move from Electrum will influence some to finally start using the new OS, which is only logical if they want to continue using new versions of any program, not to mention the security risks of using outdated OS and using crypto wallets on such computer.

[BitMaxz]

I used the W7 until it was officially announced that support would cease, and then I started using the W10 with my new computer. The reason many still use old OS today is probably that they think the W10 is something significantly different from the W7, but it’s more or less the same thing (at least visually). The second thing is the price, which again is not so significant that most can not afford it, and once purchased a license can be used indefinitely.

Same here I'm using Windows 7 on my Laptop until I bought a new PC installed with W10 the only problem with using Windows 10 in my experience using it is that the appearance is totally different and I have experience trying to look for a control panel and I can't find it on the settings, unlike W7 you can easily find the control panel.

About the price of W10, you can use it for free but limited feature unless if you want to use any software that you want from Microsoft? Like Microsoft Office?
The free one is fine you can download the OS directly on Microsoft and it's totally free all software is working except for any Microsoft product.

[pooya87]

The reason many still use old OS today is probably that they think the W10 is something significantly different from the W7,

One of the biggest reasons for some people is the controversies surrounding Win10 such as the anti-privacy hazards and backdoors Microsoft inserted in it. Which is why people decided to stick to the old OS instead.
I've personally been migrating to Ubuntu for some time now but I keep coming back to Windows only because of Visual Studio.

[Abdussamad]

Not that I am recommenimg Windows, it is close source, a reason some bitcoin enthusiasts may not use it. But for just Windows users to know about this before updating their Electrum wallet to version 4.2.0

I can understand your concern here because almost most of users are using windows over other OSs for the reasons we all know. Thank you for sharing the info.
Based on what you mentioned, i have two questions :
1. I have an old cell phone i bought it on 2019. I installed electrum at that time and didn't update it since then (can't tell if the updates was done automatically) and then i left that cell phone since 2020. Last January i re-opened Electrum in that mobile , i found that i am not able to create a new seed (i have already three previous wallets). Anyone has an explanation?

To generate a new seed you have to create a new wallet file. Go to the 3 dots icon in the top right and choose wallets. Then tap new. Enter a unique filename and it'll take you to the new wallet creation wizard. Choose 'standard wallet' in the first step and 'create a new seed' in the second.

[Pmalek]

1. I have an old cell phone i bought it on 2019. I installed electrum at that time and didn't update it since then (can't tell if the updates was done automatically) and then i left that cell phone since 2020. Last January i re-opened Electrum in that mobile , i found that i am not able to create a new seed (i have already three previous wallets). Anyone has an explanation?

I installed the mobile version of Electrum on my phone some time ago. I just checked the version and it is 4.1.5. Since version 2.0 is already out, it's safe to assume that Electrum doesn't get updated automatically. I don't remember whether or not there was an option to adjust update settings during the installation process. I don't have automatic updates turned on in Google Play Store because I handpick the apps that I want to update and when I want to do it. It might be different for people who have automatic updates on. 

[Lucius]

Same here I'm using Windows 7 on my Laptop until I bought a new PC installed with W10 the only problem with using Windows 10 in my experience using it is that the appearance is totally different and I have experience trying to look for a control panel and I can't find it on the settings, unlike W7 you can easily find the control panel.

For me, the transition was quite easy, everything I could not find directly I simply found using the search option located next to the start button. I'm not sure if there are any differences in the W10 versions and if they come with different visual settings, but unlike the new OS, a much better user experience brought me a new computer with twice as much RAM and a much better processor.

One of the biggest reasons for some people is the controversies surrounding Win10 such as the anti-privacy hazards and backdoors Microsoft inserted in it.

It is possible that there are such users, but I believe that most do not value their privacy to the extent that they would choose an outdated OS with which that privacy would allegedly be less compromised. But there is no doubt that the W10 is a real spy compared to its older brothers because if it can be used for free, the company charges for it in some other way.

[NotATether]

The reason why people are stuck on Windows 7 is because later versions are full of bloat and obtrusiveness in your working (computer collecting data about you without your consent, updating without your permission etc.)

It is likely that MS will never change their present ways so until somebody makes Linux bearable enough for Average Joe to use on the desktop - this includes improving gfx cards support and changing the OS so that an abnormal shutdown doesn't mount your filesystem in read-only mode forcing you to fsck it for eternity - there will always be people who will be hurt by the loss of Win7 compatibility.

Win7 is the new Windows XP. As least we finally got people off that ancient system, though.

[NeuroticFish]

The reason why people are stuck on Windows 7 is because later versions are full of bloat and obtrusiveness in your working (computer collecting data about you without your consent, updating without your permission etc.)

Also some use Win7 because the newer Windoze is bigger and bigger, and not too nice with old hardware.

The laptop I've used for my kid's online courses is old, with only 2 GB ram and HDD (no SSD) and Windows 10 was a nightmare. I expect most people keep Win7 on such devices.
I've moved to Linux Mint and I can tell it works nicely and it's also much safer. And it's pretty much like Windows too 
... I'd say it's an option worth considering on old devices.

[NotATether]

The reason why people are stuck on Windows 7 is because later versions are full of bloat and obtrusiveness in your working (computer collecting data about you without your consent, updating without your permission etc.)

Also some use Win7 because the newer Windoze is bigger and bigger, and not too nice with old hardware.

The laptop I've used for my kid's online courses is old, with only 2 GB ram and HDD (no SSD) and Windows 10 was a nightmare. I expect most people keep Win7 on such devices.
I've moved to Linux Mint and I can tell it works nicely and it's also much safer. And it's pretty much like Windows too  
... I'd say it's an option worth considering on old devices.

I know this is off-topic, but how old is the HDD?

Because the ~10-15 year old HDD on my Xubuntu box has a bad sector which occasionally corrupts the file system. I had to make a dual-boot on it just to run fsck quickly to repair the errors.

Strangely, CentOS is having none of these errors (or at least not any that I can see).

[NeuroticFish]

I know this is off-topic, but how old is the HDD?

Because the ~10-15 year old HDD on my Xubuntu box has a bad sector which occasionally corrupts the file system. I had to make a dual-boot on it just to run fsck quickly to repair the errors.

Strangely, CentOS is having none of these errors (or at least not any that I can see).

If my memory serves me right, the HDD is some 13-14 years old, so at the middle
But I didn't get any bad sectors yet there.
However, wouldn't a proper formatting (the slow one, with marking the bad sectors) handle this? Or is the number of bad sectors slowly increasing?

[Charles-Tim]

it's safe to assume that Electrum doesn't get updated automatically. I don't remember whether or not there was an option to adjust update settings during the installation process. I don't have automatic updates turned on in Google Play Store because I handpick the apps that I want to update and when I want to do it. It might be different for people who have automatic updates on. 

Electrum do not update automatically. Although, on Android, if it is downloaded from playstore (which is not recommended as there are fake apps on playstore as usual), apps are updated automatically on Android devices if enabled, also it can be set in a way Android can bring up a notification of available apps to download. But updating it manually is the best and also verifying the PGP key to make sure the site is never compromised before the new update, this which is safe.

[NeuroticFish]

Although, on Android, if it is downloaded from playstore (which is not recommended as there are fake apps on playstore as usual)

Actually the Electrum website contains a link to the correct "variant" of Electrum on Google Play Store and that can be used.
I know that the website can be hacked/spoofed too, but it's still safer than relying on searching for Electrum on Google or Play Store.
It's clearly not the safest solution, but for those who cannot install and APK after verifying it, it could do.

[ABCbits]

I checked recent discussion at GitHub[1] and found out it's possible Windows 7 will be supported again if there's contributor willing to do it. What do you think?

Because the ~10-15 year old HDD on my Xubuntu box has a bad sector which occasionally corrupts the file system. I had to make a dual-boot on it just to run fsck quickly to repair the errors.

First of all, why do you use HDD with bad sector to store the OS (and important files)?

Strangely, CentOS is having none of these errors (or at least not any that I can see).

Some distro configure fsck to perform file check on boot and perform repair when needed. I don't know if CentOS have such behavior, but it wouldn't be surprising since it's useful for server. You also can configure it easily by modifying systemd-fsck[2].

[1] https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/7728#issuecomment-1077646292
[2] https://manpages.debian.org/experimental/systemd/systemd-fsck@.service.8.en.html

[NotATether]

However, wouldn't a proper formatting (the slow one, with marking the bad sectors) handle this? Or is the number of bad sectors slowly increasing?

Maybe, I've never tried that.

First of all, why do you use HDD with bad sector to store the OS (and important files)?

It's temporary until I get the logistics to ship more hardware to my area.

[coupable]

1. I have an old cell phone i bought it on 2019. I installed electrum at that time and didn't update it since then (can't tell if the updates was done automatically) and then i left that cell phone since 2020. Last January i re-opened Electrum in that mobile , i found that i am not able to create a new seed (i have already three previous wallets). Anyone has an explanation?

I installed the mobile version of Electrum on my phone some time ago. I just checked the version and it is 4.1.5. Since version 2.0 is already out, it's safe to assume that Electrum doesn't get updated automatically. I don't remember whether or not there was an option to adjust update settings during the installation process. I don't have automatic updates turned on in Google Play Store because I handpick the apps that I want to update and when I want to do it. It might be different for people who have automatic updates on.  

The app i have installed is automatically updated and i can see changes since then. However, i can't find an explanation why the feature of creating a new seed doesn't work anymore. It's not a big issue though and i can use my old seed in another device with an updated version but i am looking for an explanation why/how this could happen.
Note that i am using a mobile version (Android) outdated and it could be different than the version designed for desktops. I can't tell that it's the same situation with IOS version as i made a long research to check if the issue is related to the mobile OP which is also outdated or it's a bug in the outdated wallet version.

[khaled0111]

i can't find an explanation why the feature of creating a new seed doesn't work anymore. It's not a big issue though and i can use my old seed in another device with an updated version but i am looking for an explanation why/how this could happen.

It works, but you have to open one of your old wallets and enter your password first.
After opening your wallet, you can create a new one and generate a new seed by tapping on the three vertical dots -> wallets -> new.

In older versions it was possible to create a new wallet right after starting the app even if you have existing wallets. But this is no longer possible since version 4.1.0 due to the implementation of the Password unification feature.

[Chikito]

i can't find an explanation why the feature of creating a new seed doesn't work anymore.

It works, but you have to select one of your old wallets and enter your password to open it first.

I think it is not necessary, we don't need to enter a password. Just click create a new wallet below. After that, > create a wallet name > standard wallet > create a new seed.

[nc50lc]

I think it is not necessary, we don't need to enter a password. Just click create a new wallet below. After that, > create a wallet name > standard wallet > create a new seed.
-snip-

They are talking about mobile Electrum which is the Android version.
Its GUI looks and works different than the desktop counterpart.

[khaled0111]

...

This is true for desktop versions but as nc50lc pointed out I was talking about the mobile version. As I said, the problem is caused by Password unification which for some reason was implemented on the mobile versions only.

* Password unification (Android only):...

In fact, this is not really a problem or a bug but this exactly how it's supposed to work (for safety reasons, you have to enter the password to confirm you know it first since it will be used to encrypt any new wallet you create).