Remember when

Have you made the jump from Windows 7 (or XP, or Vista, the forgotten operating system) to a modern version of Windows? 

Do you miss the old games and the old way of doing things? Read on to find out how you can party like it’s 1999. 

Play Windows 7 games on Windows 10 and Windows 8

After my January 25 column, I heard from several readers about a way to play Windows 7 games on Windows 10. Turns out those games work on Windows 8.1 as well. Everyone invited my attention to the folks at Winaero who link to a file with the games. 

Yes! Once again you can play Solitaire, Hearts, and The-Best-On-Hold-Endlessly game on earth: Mahjong Titans. Download the file, extract it, and run the installer. Choose the games you want. Once the installer is finished, you’ll find the games on the Start menu under Games.

But wait, there’s more. I found something else totally great from the past. Remember the 3D Space Cadet game that ran on Windows XP? You can get that, too. Visit this site and download the file. You don’t have to extract it, just double-click to run the installer. When you’re through, you’ll find Pinball in the Games list along with the other Windows 7 games. 

A note of caution: I checked VirusTotal, and it showed one bad hit out of 66. I downloaded the file anyway, scanned it with Bitdefender and Malwarebytes, and neither complained. If you want to take a chance, go for it, go Full Screen, and be sure to turn down the sound if you’re not alone in the office.

Thank you to faithful reader Don (among others) who wrote me about the Windows 7 games. My productivity has decreased in proportion to the increase in my gratitude.

More blasts from the past

After my column last month about a couple of beloved older programs, I received several interesting suggestions to add to the list. 

Convert, from Josh Madison, is a great little utility that converts a measure of anything into different measure of that thing. I know Google can do this, and, accordingly, I got out of the habit of using Convert. So when long-time reader Richard sent me the link, I was delighted to see that the program has been updated for (or at least tested) Windows 10. I believe I first started using it on Windows 98.

Another list of recommendations showed up from Steve, a reader/customer who recommends WinPatrol (I love it, use it, recommend it), a note-taking program called Memento (I’m not sure, though, whether it will run on modern versions of Windows), Chameleon Clock which I think I might have actually used for awhile, and Email Stripper, which is not an invitation from an exotic dancer, but a program to remove junk characters from your email. Remember when we all had to do that?

Thank you, gentlemen, for the stroll down memory lane.

The truth is out there

I’ve never watched the original X-Files, and am not going to have time to binge-watch all 202 episodes before the new season gets away from me. If you’re in the same boat, you’ll be happy to hear that you can find the highlights in Every Episode of The X-Files, Ranked From Worst to Best. Be sure to check the sidebar for a link to The X-Files Timeline, which is kind of funny when you think about it.

What do you miss in your current version of Windows? Have you found a replacement?

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along.

Links

Little technical riddles 

Get Windows 7 games for Windows 10 

Windows 7, 8 and 10: Install the Classic 3D Pinball Space Cadet Game 

I Still Like These 

Convert  

WinPatrol  

Memento 

Chameleon Clock 

Email Stripper  

Every Episode of The X-Files Ranked from Worst to Best 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.