Valve has announced steam Support for older versions of the Windows operating system will stop next year.
The latest Steam update announced the end of support.
This means that if your system is running Windows 7/8/8.1to run the Steam client, you need to update to Windows 10 or 11. You have plenty of time to do this, as the new policy won’t go into effect until January 1, 2024.
The reason, according to Valve, is that Steam’s latest features rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer works on older versions of Windows.
Additionally, future versions of Steam will require Windows feature and security updates that only exist in Windows 10 and later.
For users of these older versions of Windows, it is still possible to upgrade from Windows 7/8/8.1 to Windows 10 with a free digital license. This is because your key is already included. Before you hit the upgrade button in Windows Update, there are a few things you need to do first.
Before you do anything, you’ll want to back up your data files, photos, important files, game saves, and more. Better to use the cloud or an external hard drive, or even both as I do because I worry about losing something. You can back up your complete system to an external hard drive by creating a system image. And don’t forget to disconnect the external hard drive, flash drive or any other device connected to your PC or laptop after all backups are done.
After this, you will need to uninstall your security software as it may interfere with your upgrade. You can always reinstall the software later. After doing this, check for any new driver updates for network and storage. You should also download and install any newer BIOS updates, especially if your system is a 2017 or earlier model like mine was.
Once done, make sure your copy of Windows is activated. When you select the option to update to a new version, you will be asked to enter your product key for your current version of Windows. If you can’t find your box (who keeps those?), you can use the command prompt to find your key. Just type “cmd” into the Windows desktop search box, right-click on the command line result, select “Run as administrator” from the menu, and type this command at the prompt: wmic path software licensing service get OA3xOriginalProductKey. This should work and is the easiest way to find the key.
Once this step is complete, it’s time to upgrade. Just go to Microsoft’s software download page and follow the instructions.
