KiCad 7.0.5 On Windows 7 - No VM - Easy! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: The Doktor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2023, 06:56:46 pm
content: I know the topic of running newer versions of KiCAD on Windows 7 has come up before, I have never seen a good solution. Well, if anybody here is interested, I now present you with one. As this is unsupported, you do it at your own risk, but it seems to work fine for me.I am not interested in a discussion about running old operating systems, nor about trashing the writers of Python or KiCAD for not supporting those older operating systems. I know many people have strong opinions on this, and it has been discussed before. I will not be continuing those discussions on either side of the issue. This post is simply to tell you how this can be accomplished, if you have a desire to do it.As far as I can tell, the only thing preventing you from running KiCAD on Windows 7 is that it requires a newer version of Python. These newer versions of Python are not supported under Windows 7, and without them KiCAD will not run. It also requires a file which is not present in Windows 7, api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll ( required by python as well). I recently discovered that some clever third parties have released a version oF that dll that can be used under Windows 7, and somebody has used it to produce newer versions of Python which can also work under Windows 7. Could my solution be this easy? Apparently it could!The first thing you need to do is get a newer version of python running. I chose version 3.11.2 64-bit, as I am running a 64-bit version of Windows. If you are running 32-bit, I will let you figure out the changes you need to make. Download the appropriate version here:https://github.com/adang1345/PythonWin7and install it. you need to make sure Windows knows where python is located, go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System, select "Advanced system settings", select "Environment Variables", and in the bottom window "System Variables" edit the path statement so it includes the paths to your Python installation. On my system this is "C:\Users\Ed\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python311;C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python311\Scripts;" , your paths will be different depending on your username and whether or not you installed to the default location. You need to include the paths for both the Python root directory and the scripts directory. If you also have an older version of Python installed, the new version will need to be listed before the old one in the path statement. If you have scripts that run with an older version of python, this may cause difficulty, not sure how to fix that.OK, hard part done. Now we need to install KiCAD. You cannot install KiCAD 7 on Windows 7, it will not allow it. You can, however, install it quite easily on Windows 10. The Windows 10 you install it on should be either 32 or 64-bit to match the Windows 7 installation that you want to run on. It can be a real machine, or a virtual machine, works either way. It can also be a Windows 10 machine you are currently running KiCAD on already. Now that you've got it installed on a Windows 10 machine, go into the "program files" directory and copy the entire KiCAD directory over to the Windows 7 machines "program files" directory. There are also kICAD directories in the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local and C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local folders, copy those as well (don't overwrite files from older KiCAD install).One last step. You need to copy api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll from the C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python311 directory to C:\Program Files\KiCad\7.0\bin or wherever your KiCAD.exe is located.All doneDouble-click the KiCAD.exe and it should run. Each time you start it, you will get a message that KiCAD is not supported on this operating system , but it runs just fine. A few of the sub apps will give you this same message each time you open them, they also work fine. One small annoyance, you can't check which version you are running, it just says unsupported.If you have an older version installed, you will get the option of importing the settings. That works fine if you wish to do it. when the 7.0.6 update arrives, you will also not be able to install that on Windows 7. Just install it on Windows 10 and then copy the KiCAD directory from program files again, that's all you need to do.KiCAD 7 is actually running better on the Windows 7 machine then what version 5 did. It seems to be a bit more Snappy and responsive, have not had a crash yet. If you have any problems doing this, post about it here, I will do my best to help you. No promises, but I will try.

author: qu1ck
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2023, 02:35:23 am
content: Tip: 7-zip can extract the files from the installer, this should help you skip the "install on win10" step.

author: 1847123212
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 07, 2023, 06:48:36 am
content: really great solution！

author: krzysssztof
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2023, 09:59:35 am
content: Oh seriously?I've just updated my system to run the newet KiCAD ...Thanks for guidethrugh, though!

author: fionut
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 10, 2023, 06:43:41 pm
content: HelloThank you for the good workI did tried your way but..The pcb opens , schematic does not._eeschema dll not foundPoint to note :I have took the dll by following instructions here :https://forum.kicad.info/t/kicad-7-on-windows-7/42893- this instructs to download python-3.9.16-embed-amd64.zip and take the dll from the archiveWith this dll, kicad project files can be opened, pcb files can be opened, schematic can not.when I installed python, I have chosen instal python for all users , so my PATH system environment variable looks like :C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Python311-32\C:\Program Files (x86)\Python311-32\Scripts\After reading your post again, I have took dll from C:\Program Files (x86)\Python311-32- which was installed by downloading the filepython-3.11.2-full.exe from the link you provided - and put it to kicad7.0/binNow nothing can be opened anymore....the application can not start correctly 0b0.. somethingI have uninstalled python because that exe seemed to have installed 32 bit version;I have downloaded 64 bit version from file python-3.11.2-amd64-full.exe ;I have took the dll from 64 bit python folder and put it to kicad.exe folder and I put new paths to env. sys. variablesC:\Program Files\Python311\Scripts\;C:\Program Files\Python311\;but now I have returned to first behaviour (can open only pcb)I have again installed python to the default location where it wanted itself to be installedC:\Users\work\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python311\but only pcb can be opened.Could anyone else confirm this procedure works ?

author: The Doktor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2023, 10:46:42 pm
content: Sorry I'm slow to reply, just saw your post. Your problem appears to be a file named _eeschema.dll is missing. It should be in the /bin directory. You can also be unable to open schematics if you have REALLY weak GPU, but the message will indicate this. Try to download & extract a fresh copy, put the .dll in the correct place. If you've got 1 of the programs working, they should all work.I updated the procedure for 7.0.6 (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/kicad/kicad-7-0-6-on-windows-7-no-os-warnings-clickable-links-easier-install-too!/), you don't actually have to do any of the Python setup, just put 1 .dll in the proper place. I have designed a few circuit boards in 7.0.6 on Windows 7 without issue, and have been using 7.0.7 for the last few hours. I also tested on a fresh Win 7 install on a VM, it definitely works, hardware permitting.One caveat, some optional plugins, freerouting for example, I haven't got working on Windows 7. Haven't tried very hard, but they definitely don't "just work" like the main KiCad package.Post if you have any further trouble.

author: PitD
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 12, 2024, 09:27:50 pm
content: In version 7.11 everything works OK.I have the same problem as fionut but in version 8.02Failed to load library 'C:\Program Files\KiCad\8.0\bin\_eeschema.dll'. (error 127: The specified procedure could not be found.)Unable to load KIFACE library 'C:\Program Files\KiCad\8.0\bin\_eeschema.dll'.Error loading editor.The _eeschema.dll file is in the bin folder.Everything except the schematic editor works

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2024, 11:30:51 pm
content: Why hijack an old thread on 7.0 for your grievances on 8.0?Pure noise and not helpful, sorry. Start a new thread instead.