How to Install TurboTax Deluxe 2021 in Windows 7

Install TurboTax 2021 in Windows 7.md

How to Install TurboTax Deluxe 2021 in Windows 7

Run the TurboTax installer until the error dialog pops up. Click the close button since you can't go any further. Now press WinKey-R and type %TEMP% to go to the temporary folder. Copy the ckz_XXXX folder to the desktop. Select the Setup.exe file and press CTRL-C then CTRL-V to make a copy/backup.

Now use radare as follows:

Command	Description
r2 -A -w SetUp.exe	analyze and allow writing (thanks to @SureshotM6)
axt str.CurrentVersion	look for references to this string
s fcn.0041cc60	seek to the function's location that was found in the previous command
VV	Use visual mode
p	optionally show addresses
x	jump to xref
l	seek to ref/xref
(	reverse the opcode
qq	exit from visual mode
q	quit radare

Now you can click on "Setup.exe" and install without error. (Note that the Verified publisher says "unknown" even though we only changed one byte.)

This is a shorter/faster way that uses powershell to change one byte.

Paste these commands into a regular terminal window:

cd %TEMP%
cd ckz_XXXX
powershell

Now paste these command into a powershell window:

$bytes = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes("Setup.exe")  
$offset = 120746
$bytes[$offset] = 0x75
[System.IO.File]::WriteAllBytes("Setup.exe", $bytes)
exit

This is another way that only needs a hexeditor.

Open the Setup.exe file and at offset 0x0001d7aa change the 74 to 75. Save it and you are done. Remember this offset only works with the version of TurboTax Deluxe mentioned above. If you have another version, follow the radare instructions above to find the right offset.

DISCLAIMER: This is for educational purposes only. Use TurboTax in Windows 7 at you own risk. It most likely will work just fine, but Intuit doesn't want to support older versions of Windows.

@scorpius @SureshotM6
¡Funciona muy bien! ¡muchas gracias!
Love it. -My gratitude-

Yes, will this do state too?

this has nothing to do with state returns. this workaround allows you to run Turbotax on Windows 7.

Thanks to scorpius, I finally managed to install TurboTax Home & Business 2021, the CD version, on a Windows 7 laptop. Here are a few "tips and tricks" based on my experience:

1. I had to switch to this top-tier TurboTax version for 2021 since Deluxe no longer allows you to enter expenses on Schedule-C! This is essentially a hidden price increase by Intuit! So, ensure you are installing the right version for your needs!

2. I used the more complicated radare2 solution since offsets could have been different for "Home & Business" version. It turned out that the function and offsets are identical in both versions! As a result, I think other simpler solutions listed above probably work for any CD version of the TurboTax, although I have not tried them!

3. I ran the original SetUp.exe, after backing it up, as instructed. But, No ckz_XXXX, ckz_, or ckz_* folder was found. No worries, though, since this folder was never needed!

4. Install radare2 in the same folder as the SetUp.exe or set up its environmental variables such that you could run it from any folder in the CMD Terminal.

5. Run CMD as an administrator. If radare2 and SetUp.exe are not in the same folder, type: cd C:<path to folder containing SetUp.exe file> Then, press return to run radare2 from the folder where Setup.exe resides. (Else, the first line of commands fails since SetUp.exe cannot be found by radare2!)

6. Type: radare2 and press return to run it. You can now start with the first line of code above: r2 -A -w SetUp.exe
   All other commands should work as a charm. SetUp.exe will be edited and saved as planned.

7. Before running the revised SetUp.exe, connect to internet because Intuit updates the Fed and state software before installing them.

8. You should be able to use this revised SetUp.exe to install TurboTax on another "Windows 7" PC!

9. If you install the software on other computers, however, you can only access the same state that was downloaded on the first machine. Any other state will cost extra. (Indeed, Intuit may be relying on your location to download the state software automatically.)

10. Restart your computer before running the software, then disable its auto-update, after entering the required License code when prompted, and complete your tax returns!

Once again, let's thank scorpius for a job well done! And...

Good luck with your tax returns!

This is great! Scorpius is a legend. This will make life so much easier. I wish I knew about this last year.

I can confirm @drwizgeek 's idea that the cmd/powershell method works on H&B. As he said, it will probably work for all versions.

I'm fairly certain the installer is the same for all versions and your activation code is what determines which version actually launches.

I did get one small error message during the install which said there may be an issue with the installer but after clicking "ok", the install completed without issue. It was probably some sort of verification which noticed that an offset had been changed.

Updates are working.

Every time I launch I get a popup warning about the incredible danger of using Windows 7. It gives the option to continue with Windows 7 or to "Switch to Windows 10". LOL

Thanks Scorpius!

I ran into a problem. I can't do my state return. Every time I click on Start for the state return, it won't actually begin the state return, it downloads and installs the state then goes back to the "Your State Return" page. Then if I click "Start" it does it all over again. It's an endless loop.

I ran into the same "infinite loop" issue. Several other "taxpayers" have experienced this problem, as posted on the last-year version of this page at gist.github.com/scorpius/b19023b74754bd8f55da067070d67ed5

I spent several hours trying to resolve "this loop" because hundreds of others have experienced this very problem on currently supported Windows OS versions, as well. None of the fixes worked, however. Since time was running out, I had to install TurboTax on a Windows 10 to successfully download and install the state return, complete, and efile my returns just before the deadline!

As a result, I think that another OS "check point" is probably baked into the TT installer or its .msi counterpart! We need to research this issue further, preferably with brandonwu and Scorpius leading the way! I have to tackle my backlog now since I spent too much time on my tax returns this year!

If you have not finished your returns yet, please get them done and mail hard copies to IRS and the appropriate state agency ASAP. They usually face such a deluge of returns that they normally ignore a few days of delay. If you cannot finish them soon, just file for extension and pay them a bit more than your estimated taxes due! You will then have until October 15, 2022 to complete and file your tax returns.

Good Luck!
Wiz

Thanks for your reply. I just went through the thread from last year that you linked to. Yes, it's the exact same problem I encountered.

I was in the same boat as you. I spent hours on it including 2 of the fixes recommended by TT here. I got nowhere with that so I ultimately had to finish the return using a drive with Win 8.1. I did not try the final recommendation of starting windows with selective startup and running the TTStateCleanup at that point. Maybe that will work. I'll give it a shot and report back.

Also, a user at the end of the thread that you linked to said he had success if he downloaded the state before entering any federal info. I attempted to do that after uninstalling then reinstalling TT. However, during the installation, TT downloaded the state automatically. Clearly it knew which state from the previous installation. It appears that the uninstaller is not very thorough. Is there a way to COMPLETELY remove TT?

Thanks

I am impressed that you came up with essentially the same workaround that I used to file your returns, and that you continue your efforts to resolve this issue. Just to save you some time, however, I decided to add that...

I tried most, if not all, recommended TurboTax community solutions, including those you listed such as TTCleanStates.exe and "selective startup", without success. I even managed to manually download the "State return", with the superb assistance of a TurboTax associate who went the extra mile to let me get this download. I then tried every possible way that I could think of to manually install this update only to get a 2803 error, no matter what! This installation error is rather common, as well. In short, I have not found any resolution for our issue yet! Thus, as I stated in my previous post:

"I think that another OS "check point" is probably baked into the TT installer or its .msi counterpart! We need to research this issue further, preferably with brandonwu and Scorpius leading the way!"

Thank you, again for your "resilient efforts". I hope we can come up with a fix for this problem before the next tax-return season arrives!

Changed the one bit in Hex editor and save the file to a new name Works So simple

I still use Windows 7, and like I said before, tax preparation software doesn't need the latest and greatest operating system. That is a joke in itself.
Here's a Hex Editor solution for TurboTax 2022, setup.exe file:

E8FFFFE8D8E8FFFF85C07432 (search pattern)
E8FFFFE8D8E8FFFF85C0EB32 (replace)

I still use Windows 7, and like I said before, tax preparation software doesn't need the latest and greatest operating system. That is a joke in itself. Here's a Hex Editor solution for TurboTax 2022, setup.exe file:

E8FFFFE8D8E8FFFF85C07432 (search pattern) E8FFFFE8D8E8FFFF85C0EB32 (replace)

Thanks for this. Worked like a charm. I agree that it is a joke to restrict paying customers for no reason. They must get a kickback from MS.

For folks trying to make states install on Windows 7 - the state installer .msi also needs a quick edit to change the OS check.

first, you'll need the Inst Editor: http://www.instedit.com/ - download that, the free version is fine, and install that.

second, you'll need to grab the State MSI. For me it was in:
C:\ProgramData\Intuit\Common\Update Service\v4\Data\e02ec8e6200f4bf9af32572fea31f457\C\C-wcaiperStateIS\022.000.0115_msi\v1\F\wcaiperStateIS.msi

(note that the "CA" in the file name "wcaiper" refers to the state abbreviation, so if you're elsewhere, the name will be different)

Open your state .msi with InstEd

In the Tables tab, find Launch Condition:

Double Click on VersionNT>=603 and change it to VersionNT>=601

Save the .msi, run the .msi - and you'll get install dialogues, etc.

I am impressed that all three of you have managed to install TurboTax on a Windows 7 machine. swinokur's solution is quite simple and elegant. Had I known this a couple of weeks ago, I would have probably kept my Windows 7 Home Premium OS!

However, I could not resolve the State return issue last year and had to resort to a Windows 10 machine to complete it. Further, many software vendors, including security providers, are no longer supporting Windows 7. As a result, I decided to upgrade my OS to Windows 10 this year, even though my laptop manufacturer's "Tech Support" gurus claimed that it was not "upgradable" at all, by managing to:

1. Find two expensive 4GB DDR2 RAM cards and upgraded the laptop to 8 GB of RAM.
2. Download Windows-10 ISO file, backed up all my data, and recorded all installed apps and settings.
3. Update Windows 7 to the latest Service Pack 1.
4. Install Windows 10 Home and selected to keep all my data and apps!

The entire process took many hours to complete, but the results are impressive. My laptop has a new life, is quite fast now, and installing TurboTax 2022 was quite simple and fast!

This might be too late for most of you this year. But, I recommend that you all consider this alternative for your 2023 returns. Meanwhile, I wish you all fast tax-returns filing and sizable refunds!

Good luck!
Wiz

Hi there,

With the 2022 "Home & Business" version I'm not finding in the SetUp.exe file E8FFFFE8D8E8FFFF85C07432, and the value I see at offset 0x0001d7aa is FE (instead of 74). Also, although running the "axt str.CurrentVersion" command returns "fcn.0041cc60 0x41cca0 [DATA:r--] push str.CurrentVersion", with a Hex Editor I can't find an offset value of 0041cc60 (the offset goes up to only 001507DF).

I'm starting to wonder if I'm totally clueless :)

This works for TurboTax Premiere 2022. Perhaps the setup.exe is different than Home & Business 2022.

Has anyone figured this out in 2024 for TurboTax 2023?

I haven't purchased TT this year, but if I did, it would be TurboTax Premiere.

If I want do my taxes on Windows 7, then that's my choice. If they refuse to let you to do taxes on the operating system of your choice,
then you're left with some alternatives (without changing your operating system):

• Do it online. No software required, just a browser. Some people may not want to give Intuit access to their tax data, as it will be stored on their servers, for who knows how long. Is there a way to get them to delete your information after submitting it, I don't know. Or even worse, they may try to share your tax data, or sell it without your permission.

• Switch tax software companies, like H&R block. I read H&R block was more friendly with older systems (they only give a warning, and not block it completely like Intuit), but that may have changed this year. Must be verified.

• Patch it with a hex editor.

Right on. Looking for the patch for TurboTax Deluxe, the exact offset and location. The posts here have worked beautifully for the past three years. Appreciate these efforts. No reason why we can't use Windows 7. Thanks for the comment.

OK. I'm no great expert like the folks who worked all this out - so I can't provide foolproof radare2 instructions. However - a hex editor and trial and error worked for me. I searched for 85C07432 in setup.exe of TurboTax 2023 deluxe in a hexeditor. This pattern occurred four times in my setup.exe. Change the second instance to 85C0EB32. This pattern starts at offset 000178fb and the '74' which needs changing to 'eb' is therefore at offset 000178fd And Bob's your uncle.

PS I imagine there is more work to do to fix state taxes - but I just did those manually last year - it didn't take long because State is much simpler than Federal.

UPDATE Well maybe I spoke too soon. This allowed me to complete installation, but I am getting an error when actually running the program - so maybe more is required :-(

Same here. Almost worked! I'm still trying various options, uninstalling and reinstalling it. I'm overseas and have a 2-month extensions...so a little more time to figure it out. Thanks for getting this far.