KiCAD 8.0.8 On Windows 7 - Easy Install Script! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: The Doktor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2025, 11:44:42 pm
content: This is an update to my earlier KiCAD 8.0.7 release, now with the proper patch files for version 8.0.8. Please note that the patching can only be done on the exact version the files were written for.There are two DLL files used in this release, the wrapper for _eeschema.dll (Required for the schematic editor) comes fromhttps://github.com/j0t/kicad87and was written by another member of this forum called j0t. The file api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is also needed for KiCAD to run, and the version I've included comes fromhttps://github.com/nalexandru/api-ms-win-core-path-HACK. I have used other versions of this file in the past this, but at the suggestion of j0t I am trying to use only stuff where I can show the source, in case anybody wants to check it out on their own.Much thanks to a member named “j0t”, he created the loader _eeschema.dll, which fixes the missing function which was preventing the schematic editor from loading. I had no success doing this myself, without his work, this would not be possible.The only things really needed to get KiCAD 8.x are the _eeschema.dll file and the api-ms-win-core-file-l1-2-0.dll, both of which were produced by somebody else. What I have done is create a nice, easy to use script which not only ads those files, but handles a lot of other issues to make KiCAD function as if it belongs on Windows 7 :-)PS these instructions appear in the patch package as How_To.txt.1. You will need 7-zip for this installation, if you don't already have it installed, get it herehttps://7-zip.org/download.html2. Create folder C:\Program Files\KiCad\8.03. Download the installer for KiCAD 8.0.8, then use 7-zip to extract all files from the installer to C:\Program Files\KiCad\8.04. Download the file kicad_8.08_patch_all.zip from this post and extract all the files to C:\Program Files\KiCad\8.04. Go into the folder C:\Program Files\KiCad\8.0 and run “patch_all.bat”. This will patch all files to eliminate the “unsupported operating system” warning message, install a few files needed to make the programs run, install registry entries to associate files with the proper programs, add a program folder and links to the start menu, and clean up all of the files we no longer need after patching.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2025, 11:41:32 am
content: The previous V8.0.7 thread:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/kicad/kicad-8-0-7-on-windows-7-easy-install-script!/

author: Anthem
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2025, 08:52:37 am
content: Thanks to the Doktor and j0t I got KiCAD 9.0.1 working on Windows 7.I already asked the Doktor if he had an update for 9.0.1 on another thread to stop the complaint every time I start KiCAD 9.0.1 that it is not supported. Other than that it works well. I have a had a little difficulty in the Net naming from eeshema to pcbnew not producing a Net Assigment list like it did before, but I don't think that has anything to do with Win 7 but rather just the way KiCAD 9.0.1 works at the moment. Not sure till I try it on another machine with Win 10/11 or Linux.

author: Anthem
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 05:56:56 pm
content: Just an update to say I have been running KiCAD 9.01 on Windows 7 for a while now and I am happy that it works.Some days it takes a long time to switch from Schematic to PCB while loading the libraries, but it seems to be faster now.Thanks for the DLL files that got it working in the first place. Now I am downloading v 9.0.3 . Hopefully it will fire up and work well too.Thanks to nalexandru, j0t and the doctor.

author: Karel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 06:52:17 pm
content: You are only delaying the inevitable. Maybe, with the time spent on trying to get KiCadrunning on an unsupported version of windows, you could have installed and learned how to use Linux.But I guess you already knew that...

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2025, 03:46:45 pm
content: Tried to switch. Linux doesn't have many of the 200+ apps I use and enjoy. Just one - dopus - is a killer that nothing on Linux even vaguely approaches.