electrum do not work with windows vista

[AngelTs]

electrum 3.1.3 do not work with windows vista SP2, even after installation of KB2999226 update!

[SomberNight]

what error message are you getting?

[AngelTs]

This application failed to start because it could not find or load the QT platform plugin "windows" in "".
Available platform plugins are: minimal, offscreen, windows.
Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

[SomberNight]

ok, I can reproduce.

Related:
pyqt/python-qt5#2
pyinstaller/pyinstaller#2857

[bauerj]

Isn't Windows Vista unsupported already?

[SomberNight]

Oh indeed. For some reason I thought it still has a few years.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/22882/windows-vista-end-of-support

As of April 11, 2017, Windows Vista customers are no longer receiving new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft.

People should not store bitcoins on operating systems that no longer receive security updates; so closing.

[bauerj]

We should document that on the download page though.

[AngelTs]

Actually, it is not quite true - some old versions of Electrum (>=1.8.1, but < 3.1.0) can work under Vista without problem!
It is good to be notice in download section

[casper]

I managed to get it to work on Vista SP2 32-bit. It took me a full day to finally figure out the right combination. However it's easy to do, once you know how.

These instructions are for Electrum 3.3.8, with Python 3.6.1.

Step 1:
Install Anaconda Python Anaconda3-4.3.0-Windows-x86.exe. You need to install an archived version, because this will give you a version of PyQt that is compatible with Vista.

This was the biggest issue - trying to find a Python + PyQt combination that works on Vista, and with Electrum.

Direct download link:
https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/Anaconda3-4.3.0-Windows-x86.exe

Archive repository:
https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/

Step 2:
Once installed, launch "Anaconda Prompt (Anaconda3)" from the Windows start menu.

Step 3:
The installed Anaconda version runs Python 3.6.0, but Electrum needs 3.6.1. Upgrade by typing:

 conda install python=3.6.1

Step 4:
Download Electrum-3.3.8.zip and extract.
https://download.electrum.org/3.3.8/Electrum-3.3.8.zip

Step 5:
In the Anaconda DOS prompt you opened in step 2, cd to the Electrum folder, and then type:

python run_electrum

Enjoy your working Electrum on Vista.