Windows 7 Compatibility Fixes (WIP)

The majority of compatibility issues in Windows 7 are caused by simple version checks designed to preemptively inhibit use out of a worry future features might break compatibility later on. This is not the fault of developers, but rather fearmongering from Microsoft causing them to assume maintaining legacy support would be a monumental task.
In other cases it is due to simple API extensions which could have been easily backported in an update
For now, there are a handful of easy workarounds which should get software up and running

CreateFile2 Error

This tends to be a problem in DX12 games (notably Unreal Engine titles)

• Step 1:
  Download Explorer Suite so you can edit the .exe
  https://ntcore.com/?page_id=388
• Step 2:
  Drag your .exe into CFF Explorer
  (For Unreal games this should be in /Binaries/Win64)
  If it asks you to load only the first 40mb select NO
• Step 3:
  Navigate to Import Directory => KERNEL32.dll => Createfile2
  Change CreateFile2 to CreateFileW
  Save
  
• Your program should now be working!
  

DX12-only Games

In addition to using the fix above, some titles are DirectX12 exclusive will have to be tricked into using the Vulkan renderer

• Step 1:
  Download and extract dxvk-2.2.tar.gz from https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases/tag/v2.2
• Step 2:
  Copy all files from the /x64 folder and paste them into the /Binaries/Win64 folder of your game (Or equivalent .dll Binaries folder)

api-ms-win Error

This is common on applications which require a newer version of Python (3.0+) such as Blender

• Step 1:
  Download and extract https://github.com/nalexandru/api-ms-win-core-path-HACK/releases/tag/0.3.1
• Step 2:
  Copy the x86 dll into C:\Windows\SysWOW64 and the x64 dll into C:\Windows\System32
  Restart your Computer

Version Blocks/Anything Else

VxKex is essentially 'forward compatibility' which allows you to spoof your system to appear as Windows 10 to a program and/or utilize W10+ exclusive .dll extensions to get programs running

• Step 1: Download KexSetup_x64Rel.exe from https://github.com/vxiiduu/VxKex/releases/tag/Version0.0.0.3
  Complete the installer and restart your computer
• Step 2:
  Right click and open properties on any executable, navigate to the VxKex tab
  Select whether you want VxKex .dll extensions, W10 spoofing, or both and apply
  
  Note: VxKex is experimental, enabling VxKex extensions may create new errors on programs that might work without needing it