[Question]: Can I download win7 x86?

[tiagodurante]

Question

I checked the code for a PLATFORM property, but when I change it to x86, an error occurs when downloading the win7 iso.

[kroese]

That PLATFORM variable has a whole different purpose, its so that I can sync the code with the ARM64 container more easily. It has nothing to do with Win7 x86 vs Win7 x64.

For Windows XP, I added both versions, you can select the x86 one with xp and the x64 one with xp64.

For Windows 7 I did not do that, as the target audience will be very small. And I want to make the list of mirrors for each ISO as big as possible, and for Win7 x86 that is harder because many sites have only the x64 ISO's.

But ofcourse you can run the x86 version, you just have to supply the URL to the ISO in the VERSION variable, and make sure its a supported edition (Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise), and it will run just fine I think.

[kroese]

Nevermind, even with a custom ISO it won't work. Because I didnt include the VirtIO x86 drivers for Win7 to save some space, the answer files have not been made, etc.

Is there any good reason why you want to run the x86 version of Win7? Because if the only reason is: "just for fun", then it will be too much effort for me to add it.

[kroese]

Closing because of no response.

[tiagodurante]

@kroese Forgive me for not responding earlier. I opened this question because I needed to make a machine that could install Windows 7 x86 and run legacy software. In my case, it is software for a device that performs blood analysis. I have a clinical analysis lab.

[tiagodurante]

@kroese The new cpus do not allow installing systems that do not have uefi. My device is "new", but the software does not work on x64 systems. The last compatible version was Windows 7 x86

[kroese]

Okay, I added support for Win7 x86 in v3.11 of the container.

You can just set it in your compose file like this:

  environment:
    VERSION: "win7x86"

and it should download and install Win7 x86 automaticly.

[tiagodurante]

@kroese, I'll try to install this version next weekend. I will return to show you my test.