Microsoft’s Windows 10 is definitely an improvement compared to Windows 8, from small tweaks to major new features such as Cortana and flawless support for cloud services among others. While the company did place a lot of effort into encouraging users to make the switch to Windows 10 and the results speak for themselves, not everything is perfect.
For example, the Redmond-based tech giant decided their classic games (Minesweeper, Â Freecell, Solitaire and so on) should become freemium apps which require a 10$ yearly subscription for their add-free versions.
Some might consider these games as completely outdated especially when looking at the plethora of titles that keep popping up every year, some with ridiculous system requirements thanks to their complexity and rich graphics. Nevertheless, the classic Microsoft games have helped millions of users pass their free time and it’s completely understandable you’d actually want these games back, exactly as they were in Windows 7.
Below, I’ll show you a quick and easy way to bring back these staples at no cost whatsoever.
How to get back Solitaire, Minesweeper, Freecell, Hearts and other classic Microsoft games on Windows 8 and 10
The guys at WinAero have been generous enough to share an archive containing all the Microsoft games that were bundled in Windows 7, and you need to download the pack from the link below (select ‘Download through your browser’) to get started.
Windows 7 games archive – Free download
To continue, extract the contents of the archive and run the executable file called “Win7GamesForWin10-Setup“.
In the setup window, select your language and follow the install wizard. It will prompt you to choose the games you want to install.
As you can see, the pack includes all the classic Microsoft games, including those you can play online.
You can also change the installation folder although leaving the default setting is absolutely fine and you can simply hit the Next button until the setup is complete.
From then on, your freshly installed classic Microsoft games can be found in the Start menu under a new Games section.
