Second System: The Ultimate System DLL Replacer for Windows Vista x64
Added 2025-06-11 21:36:14 +0000 UTCSecond System is the successor to the "Vista Extended Kernel" and it allows the following applications to work: -Firefox 128 ESR -Chromium 1
Second System is the successor to the "Vista Extended Kernel" and it allows the following applications to work:
-Firefox 128 ESR
-Chromium 139
-Signal Electron App
How do I install and use it?
Download "SecondSystem.zip". Run the "InstallSecondSystem.cmd" batch script as an administrator. Then select your desired path to place Second System (or use the local Program Files directory by default).
And then when you want to run an application, right-click on the application icon and select "Run with Enhanced Compatibility" from the context menu.
What about Windows 7/8.x?
Windows Vista through 11 are all targetted by Second System. However, unforeseen platform-specific issues were found on Windows 7 that could not be resolved in time for this release. Future releases will support Windows 7 and above.
What about Windows XP or earlier?
Windows XP/Server 2003 and below execute applications differently from Windows Vista and up, which means that extensive work will be required to make a version of Second System tailored to these systems, and will only be done if there is sufficient demand.
I am a Windows 10/11 user who has application compatibility issues. Can this tool help?
Yes! Please consult me directly for any legacy applications that have issues on newer versions of Windows.
Comments
"- It would be nice if there was a way to remember which programs need to have the compatibility patch to work. For example, you cannot open a pdf file from explorer using SumatraPDF, as it will try to open the program with the default Vista APIs instead of the enhanced SecondSystem ones;" Future releases will configure the shell to start up through Second System. This will allow all applications to launch through Second System by default, including startup applications. The application preferences (Win7, Win81, Win10, Win11, Disabled, etc) are retained in the registry. "- SecondSystem does not work with programs that require Admin rights. Whenever I tried to run any installer, or even Steam, it would crash the program and trigger a DEP exception;" The next release of Second System will also be able to run applications with elevated privileges. However, the crashing installers and 32 bit applications are due to a difference in the Windows Vista and Windows 7 WOW64 syscall formats. Separate releases will be made available for each platform to ensure that there are no issues of this calibre. "- There's currently no way to uninstall this compatibility layer without manually removing the registry files it creates. Would be nice if it came with an uninstall script;" This is also planned for the next release. "- qBittorrent 5.2.1 does not work and throws an error stating that CreateDXGIFactory2 doesn't exist. This probably happens with any QT6 program, though I haven't been able to test further." Earlier QT6 applications may be fine (up to 6.3). But I did see dependencies on D3D12 and DXGI!CreateDXGIFactory2 in some later ones. A combination of D3D12on7 and a custom DXGI (WineD3D or my own version) may be doable in the short term once some GDI32 wrapper issues are resolved. Unless there are some features being used that fall out of the scope of D3D12on7 (which I hope is not the case in a torrent client), in which case the win32 subsystem (dxgkrnl, win32k, gdi32, user32, etc) needs to be fully replaced to run modern Windows 10 graphics drivers.
win32
2025-08-02 23:29:02 +0000 UTCI just tested SecondSystem with Windows Vista on a Dell workstation laptop with a 3rd gen Intel Core i7 and an AMD GPU roughly equivalent to the HD 7870M, and here's some of my observations: - The linked version of SecondSystem did not work and every program crashed on kernel33.dll. On the other hand, the one version you linked later here designed for Windows 7 did work. - It would be nice if there was a way to remember which programs need to have the compatibility patch to work. For example, you cannot open a pdf file from explorer using SumatraPDF, as it will try to open the program with the default Vista APIs instead of the enhanced SecondSystem ones; - SecondSystem does not work with programs that require Admin rights. Whenever I tried to run any installer, or even Steam, it would crash the program and trigger a DEP exception; - There's currently no way to uninstall this compatibility layer without manually removing the registry files it creates. Would be nice if it came with an uninstall script; - qBittorrent 5.2.1 does not work and throws an error stating that CreateDXGIFactory2 doesn't exist. This probably happens with any QT6 program, though I haven't been able to test further.
John Smith
2025-08-02 11:07:40 +0000 UTCA NT 4/5.x-compatible version of Second System is now planned. Most if not all of the necessary APIs should be available in these releases of Windows. However, some development time will be needed to replace NT 6/10-specific customs with NT 4/5 ones. I have contributed to ReactOS by implementing a variation of the Implicit Thread Local Storage code originally written to allow Supermium to run on Windows XP. When it is integrated to ReactOS (target is version 0.4.16), it will allow many newer applications to run on the operating system.
win32
2025-07-15 07:38:48 +0000 UTCI would like to advocate that Second System comes to Windows XP/Server 2003 (both x86-32 and x86-64 versions). (Hoping XP/Server 2003 x64 is easier for you since they are both 5.2.3790, as opposed to XP x86 being 5.1.2600 and Server 2k3 being 5.2.3790.) As great as OneCore API can be, it can certainly lack in polish, unlike whereas your projects, like Supermium have brought more than enough polish and stability to an older operating system like Windows XP. I hope this message sees you well, and I encourage you to keep going! You have my support until the end! ^-^ And If I also may request, and this is entirely up to you since you're asking for donations for this software, if you can open-source the SecondSystem project, so others may contribute to it, and bring support to even older OSes (like 2000, and maybe even older! Hell maybe even making Wine and ReactOS more compatible), this would be greatly appreciated. Your software is the reason why I'm continuing to have fun with these older operating systems (and projects), and continues to push me into doing some things of my own. (What I do will never equate to what you accomplish though, haha. You are extremely talented.)
Tyler
2025-07-14 22:34:29 +0000 UTCI use windows xp as my main os on my home computer i5 3rd gen. i would appreciate running 2nd system on xp. how can i help?
b'stard
2025-07-02 10:36:26 +0000 UTCJust wanted to let you know that I'd really appreciate a Version for Windows XP (especially x64). I've given up on OneCoreAPI ever running on real hardware.
mynamejeff420_69
2025-06-16 19:18:37 +0000 UTCI'm using WinXP 32-bit and Win7 64-bit, personally. :p
Templayer
2025-06-11 22:10:22 +0000 UTC
