superleiw

Weirdly enough, it seems it's not necessary to have a valid Windows key to enroll into the ESU program. So one way or another you should be fine as long as you get the ESU activation screen to show up.

About Internet Explorer 11, I believe Microsoft did not properly communicate about it back in 2022. Because support for IE11 only ended for some OSs ! IE11 is actually still supported on OSs with ESU, on Windows 10 LTSB/LTSC editions and on Windows Server 2022 it's all the way until until Oct 14, 2031 ! Here is an up-to-date list : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/internet-explorer-microsoft-edge Further clarification by Microsoft : While Microsoft has announced retirement of the Internet Explorer 11 application on certain platforms and the Microsoft Edge Legacy application is deprecated, the underlying MSHTML, EdgeHTML, and scripting platforms are still supported. The MSHTML platform is used by Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge as well as other applications through WebBrowser control. The EdgeHTML platform is used by WebView and some UWP applications. The scripting platforms are used by MSHTML and EdgeHTML but can also be used by other legacy applications. Updates to address vulnerabilities in the MSHTML platform and scripting engine are included in the IE Cumulative Updates; EdgeHTML and Chakra changes are not applicable to those platforms.

Potentially yes. https://www.itnews.com.au/news/windows-server-sql-server-get-six-year-support-extension-444429 According to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/extended-security-updates?culture=en-us&country=us Does this offer replace Premium Assurance? Premium Assurance is no longer available, but we will honor the terms of Premium Assurance for customers who already purchased it. So if at least one company out there purchased Server 2012 (R2) Premium Assurance between March 2017 and July 2018 (while it was available) Microsoft should continue to provide Monthly Rollup Updates on the Microsoft Update Catalog accessible to everyone until 2029.

Mozilla extended ESR v115 for 6 more months. Further extensions are also possible. https://msfn.org/board/topic/181987-list-of-software-that-doesnt-support-windows-7/page/34/#findComment-1281886

About the DirectX files on Server 2012 (R2) , I should have added that even if you install the DirectX redist package from Microsoft, they will not be added. These 3 files are considered part of the OS and Microsoft removed them from the Server installation completely. This is not a problem on the Client version and why they can be copied from there.

Some older games might also require Windows Media Player (+Media Foundation) which can be re-enabled by installing the Desktop Experience Feature. On Server 2016 and higher, this is not required because installing the OS with Desktop Experience automatically installs the Media Foundation Feature as well.

Not sure about Server 2008 (R2) but on Server 2012 and 2012 R2 some DirectX functionality got intentionally removed by Microsoft. Both of those OS are lacking the following files : XAudio2_8.dll , XInput1_4.dll , XInput9_1_0.dll This may affect games/emulators and also some applications. Thankfully it's possible to just copy these files from their Client counterpart into the system32 and syswow64 folder on Server !

Sadly it seems not all HD4000 are equal, some only support 4.0 while others support up to 4.4 To get the official Minecraft to run, it requires OPENGL 4.4, which one do you have? Also, you could try the last version of the graphics driver for HD4000 if you don't have that version already : https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18606/intel-graphics-driver-for-windows-15-33.html

It seems that the latest Monthly Rollups (July and August of 2025) cannot be installed to Client or Embedded editions anymore (even with the *ahem* Bypass *ahem*) Microsoft intentionally restricted it to work for Server 2012 only. Well it had a good run anyway, the fact that Updates could be installed for free until Octobre 2023 was already a pleasant surprise.

I think Unofficial Windows 7 Service Pack 2 is also better name because when Microsoft released the Windows 7 SP1 Convenience Rollup, most people already considered it kinda like a SP2 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/convenience-rollup-update-for-windows-7-sp1-and-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1-da9b2435-2a1c-e7fa-43f5-6bfb34767d65 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-obtain-and-install-windows-7-sp2/c2c7009f-3a10-4199-9c89-48e1e883051e

Have you tried putting the graphics card into another computer to see if it has the same issue? If it is getting worse your card may be dying or maybe some other hardware is failing...

It is a known bug by Nvidia that can happen regardless of OS. It might only be fixed in newer W10/W11 drivers R570 or higher. As an alternative solution, have you tried DDU to completely reset your settings and remove any leftover files ? https://www.guru3d.com/download/display-driver-uninstaller-download/

Ah true, for a moment I put Intel and Microsoft in the same bag.

I have 2 computers with 9th Gen Intel CPUs still on 23H2 that all of sudden are not compatible with W11 24H2 and higher anymore? Or is this affecting only new OEM sales ? Looks like I'll be "upgrading" to W10 LTSC instead then because I just can't be bothered to use workarounds.

joop, people could think you are trolling winver clearly shows Version 6.2 (9200) so yes -> W8.0 anyway , thanks for the info about FF ESR 115