PageMaker 7.0 and Windows 10

[jerry_ls46071124]

I have a partially completed book using PageMaker 7.0 and running it fairly well with Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.   Will PageMaker 7.0 run with Windows 10 pro 64 bit? 

[Steve Werner]

According to Wikipedia, Pagemaker 7 was released in July 2001.

I'd guess that's it's pretty unlikely that it will run on an operating system developed 14 years later. Prove me wrong: Try to install it an let us know.

[jerry_ls46071124]

Steve: Thx for the reply. I think you're correct. When I was forced to upgrade to Win 7, I started to encounter a series of lies from software providers. First, Microsoft told me that Adobe had a 'patch' or something similar, that would make Win 7 work with PM 7. That was a TOTAL LIE. Adobe didn't have anything, and all they tried to do was force m to buy something MUCH more expensive. I have succeeded in making Win 7 work with PM 7, and fairly well, but ....it was a long, LONELY progression because Adobe is an extremely arrogant outfit....almost as arrogant as Microsoft. I really came to the tolerable situation that I'm in, by my own devices. So, my opinion of Adobe as a company is minus 99 out of a possible +100 and Microsoft is in that same category. If I were a bit younger I'd do as my two professional children have done: go to Apple. They are very happy with their Apple OS systems...been there now for several years.

[Peter Spier]

For the record, I've never had a problem running PM7 on Windows 7 (not that I need to do it often), and no special patch was required. Here on the forum we see countless problems posted by users who upgrade their Apple operating systems, too -- nobody is immune to progress, and Apple has far less interest than Microsoft in assuring backward compatibility with older programs. As far as I know, PM can't even be installed on any recent Mac.

[PulkitKrishna00]

Windows 10 1907

Adobe PageMaker 7.0

[BobLevine]

This is an InDesign forum but if you visit the PM forum you will find countless others that couldn’t even install PM on Windows 7. Don’t push your luck.

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

Some exceptionally strong recommendations:

(1)    If you have a project to complete using PageMaker 7, don't convert your system from Windows 7 to Windows 10 until you have reached a point where you don't need to use PageMaker 7 anymore. Simply assume that PageMaker won't work on Windows 10 and you will be safe. Adobe never officially supported PageMaker on Windows 7 or Windows 8.x, much less Windows 10!!!!

(2)    Many professionals familiar with Windows 7, Windows 8.x, and Windows 10 are advising existing Windows 7 users to wait. Windows 8.x users have a tremendous amount to gain from migrating to Windows 10. That is not at all true for Windows 7 users. Windows 7 is one of the most secure and reliable Microsoft offerings in many, many years! Let others deal with the Windows 10 initial bugs first!

(3)    PageMaker is truly a dead product that as Steve Werner points out hasn't had a major update since 2001 and only a patch a few years later. Well over 10 years ago Adobe announced product end-of-life for PageMaker and encouraged PageMaker users to move to InDesign. You should most seriously consider your current project to be your last PageMaker project.

[jerry_ls46071124]

My current project IS my last PageMaker project; it is in fact my last ever project with any Adobe product. I have found Adobe to be arrogant and inherently nasty in treatment of owners of their products. I will never buy another software product from them...just despicable people. JLS

[BobLevine]

I am loving Windows 10. I did an in place upgrade from Windows 8.1 with the expectation that I would follow it with a clean install. There's simply no need right now for that. Everything runs beautifully. MSFT did a great  job with this. Not so sure going from Win 7 will be quite as successful so be prepared.

[Joyful_magnificence16B8]

I have installed Pagemaker 7.0 onto a new Dell PC running Windows 10 64bit. I had kept a PM 7.0 Upgrade DVD, and a note of the serial number of my previous version of Pagemaker, which was 6.5

It appears to have installed OK, and I have not found anything wrong yet.

I accept the comments made earlier about the risk of continuing to use software which is no longer supported, in that files may eventually be unreadable, so there is a need to be cautious. However, so far, so good.

[markr7370102]

Having 'googled' the above issue and come to this forum, it's only right to confirm my solution is as above.

Using PM7.0 upgrade disc with 6.5 S/N loaded into Win10 Pro without a hitch, and works as before in Win7.

As regards some of the other comments it's all horses for.., regardless of badge open them up they are all the same.
MS used to spend in R&D what Apple made in revenue - may still be the same
Formally working in IT, what I'd say is know what you need to achieve, the best software you can afford, then buy the platform it was primarily intended for.

Seeing this is for my Father who should have retired years ago but still does a few funeral sheets and has always used PM since the last millennium, somehow updating now isn't an option..

[thomasa75564609]

hey there you still around? and did the pagemaker 7 work on win 10? thanks

[billbled]

Hi Thomas,

FWIW, I am just now (July 2020) rebuilding a computer and installing Win 10, 64 bit, update 2004. I just tried to install PM7, and while it DID install and look ok - when I tried to launch the application it crashed every time. So I just finished uninstalling it. So I suppose at this point, unless you have a Win7 machine (or older) around, PM is gone as far as Windows 10 - which makes me sad. I do have older computers that I can run PM on, but just from a convenience standpoint, it'd be nice to be able to run everything from my main workstation. 

[drjohnramrod]

I had same problem with PM6.5 and Win10-64.
I solved it as follows:
1. Create a shortcut to PMxx.EXE.
2. Edit shortcut properties.
3. Under "Compatibilty", select "Run this program in compatibility mode
for" "Windows 7'.

[billbled]

Thanks - I'll try that!

[billbled]

Just re-installed it per your suggestions about compatibility on the exe - it worked!

Thanks much - it's helpful for me to have PM7 on this computer!

[Sanayaima5DF0]

I have a pc of windows 10 64 bit and i apply same procees you mentioned here to install the adobe pagemaker 7.0 but it is not succeed in my system. How to solve this problem?

[David in Garland]

Not sure if this matters but the way I installed it was to copy the
contents of the CD containing the installation files from the CD to my
laptop and then clicked the Pagemaker .exe file in the folder on the laptop
to install. Also my Pagemaker 7 was an upgrade from Pagemaker 6.5 but I
only used the Pagemaker 7 upgrade .exe when installing.

[Jay--Kay]

It is entirely unhelpful to simply call PageMaker a dead product, when many books and other pubications were produced using PM. All that work millions of hours and hundreds of thousands of art concepts and layouts are now digitally inaccessible, although we were under the impression digital was a "forever" archiving mechanism. All my work from between 1989 and 2003 has been wiped out and is now totally inaccessible. Not even readable or convertable into a PDF or similar. I really do think Adobe has failed in its duty of care. Like many others, I have not bought a single Adobe product since, because their business model is truly reprehensible. 

[BobLevine]

Feel better now? Good!

Your rant is complete BS. There are plenty of ancient computers for sale on eBay. Buy one and install PM using the disks that I am sure you safely secured in case you ever needed to reinstall it.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

This is an old thread, but complaining that Adobe is not supporting a [almost] 20-year old program is like complaining that the local Ford dealer does not stock parts for my Model T.

[Willi Adelberger]

IF you expe ct to work in future Years on the same project, e. g.  for an actualized second edition, stop immediately working on PageMaker, subscribe to CC, install CS6, convert this (and other projects you need to keep), and work on with the current version of InDesign. Otherwise you will loose any access to your digital work in very short time, as any possibility to convert PageMaker files is gone.

[Guest]

Hi All

Faced the same problems a few years ago:  namely how to get PM65 (installed on XP) to work on Win 7.

Answer: Don't try installing the software. It won't.

1. Just copy the entire \pm65 directory under 'Program Files' in XP to the 32-bit directory in Win7 C:\Program Files (x86).

2. Create a shortcut on the desktop with the correct starting dir.

3.  There is a small file in the PM dir that can be clicked on and it places info into the registry. It has a .reg name.

     Start the program first using the shortcut and if it doesn't work, double click this and it will automatically be enetered into the registry.

     By the way, the small file can be edited (or just looked at) with a simple text editor.

4.  Now start the program.

It should work perfectly. Reads old files, makes new ones, etc. I've been using it for some time now.

Although PM65 may be old, the paradigm of moving through the book horizontally is far superior to anything else.

Making PDFs. I first installed the latest 'black background' Acrobat 10 I think. Hard to use. Difficult to see.

Deleted it and now use Acrobat 8 which does everything I need it to do. ie. print to Adobe PDF.

Have been happily creating books using the software. Won't upgrade to Win10 because I can't be bothered with the enormous disruption for no gain at all.

ADDED EXTRA. many programs that won't re-install on Win7, 8 or 10 could very well work using a similar method of transfer. Occasionally you might need to tweak the registry.

[Jay--Kay]

Thank you for sharing your positive experience. I'm grasping straws just now and you have given me some hope! Just checking... You do have 64 bit hardware? I have been told PM will only function on a 32 bit machine, regardless of the OP. Thanks.

[floydhacker]

PageMaker 6.0 (yes, version 6.0, © 1985-1995) definitely would not run under Windows 7 Pro (32) on my system. However, it seems to work quite well under Windows 10 Pro, including file and print operations. Some apps, such as the Microsoft Edge browser, may cause PM6 to hang when starting or closing (just exit the offending app to recover), so close whatever other apps you don't need before using PageMaker 6.0. Because the ancient PM6 application actually runs under Windows 10, there would seem to be a high probability that later versions such as PageMaker 6.5 and 7.0 may also perform decently. Also remember that you can revert from Windows 10 to back to your earlier Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 system for up to one month after upgrading.