NOTE: If you get "Unable to create new document" error while starting MS Paint after using this tutorial, make sure you have also replaced mspaint.exe.mui file as mentioned in steps 5 and 6. If you are using 64-bit Windows edition, make sure you read Step 7 carefully.
Recently we told you how can you get old Wordpad working in Windows 7:
How to Get the Good Old Wordpad (without Ribbons) Working in Windows 7
Now its turn of MS Paint.
Get Old Paint working in Windows 7:
If you have Windows Vista installed along with Windows 7, you can directly run the "mspaint.exe" file present in "%windir%\System32" folder and it'll run the old Paint without any problem.
You can also create a shortcut of this file at Desktop or in Startmenu so that you can easily access it.
But if you want to completely replace the new Paint in Windows 7 with the old Paint, then you can follow these simple and easy to use steps:
1. Open following folder:
%windir%\System32
You can open it by typing the path in RUN dialog box and press Enter.
2. Now take ownership of "mspaint.exe" file. To take ownership, please follow this tutorial:
Add Take Ownership Option in File / Folder Context Menu in Windows Vista and 7
3. Now rename the "mspaint.exe" file to "mspaint_backup.exe".
4. Now copy "mspaint.exe" file from Vista and paste it in "%windir%\System32" folder.
5. Now go to "en-US" folder and take ownership of "mspaint.exe.mui" file. After taking ownership rename the file to "mspaint_backup.exe.mui".
6. Now copy "mspaint.exe.mui" file from Vista and paste in "%windir%\System32\en-US" folder.
7. If you are using 64-bit Windows edition, you'll also need to replace both mspaint.exe and mspaint.exe.mui files present in "Windows\sysWOW64" and "Windows\sysWOW64\en-US" folders using the same steps as mentioned above.
That's it. Now Windows 7 will start using the old Paint.
If you want to use the new Paint later, simply delete the new "mspaint.exe" and "mspaint.exe.mui" files and then rename the backup files to their default names.
NOTE: If you don't have Windows Vista installed, you can download the required "mspaint.exe" and "mspaint.exe.mui" files from following link:
This article was posted by VG in following section: Windows 7.
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Patch22
Thank you! Brilliant!
Took some serious effort to sort out admin permissions, and the 64-bit thing too, but well worth it in the end.
Someone you helped
Thank you so much! I find windows vista's version is better then windows 7's version and this helped me put it on my windows 7! Thank you!
Matthew
at first it would NOT WORK for me, but then i noticed i named the file "mspaint_backup.exe" (i didnt want to replace Win7 cuz its my moms laptop) instead of "mspaint_backup". so it was actually "mspaint_backup.exe.exe". so i fixed it and im happy now cuz it works!! :)
Now i can do my pics for my animated mini-series on YouTube!!! :D Thanks, guys!
Anna
Thanks! This worked like a charm after I figured out I needed to put the .mui into /en-US.
Billy
Thx alot guys it works great :D
Cant stand windows 7 paint!!
Uewd
Do you want mspaint with ribbons and without ribbons running at the same time?
Solution is here:
1. Do all the steps to get mspaint without ribbons working on 7.
2. The original file which was renamed to mspaint_backup.exe can be still used by typing mspaint_backup.exe in start menu search box, cmd.exe or in Run!
Josiah F.
Thank you so very much, Vishal! So well done and complete! I did not realize I was running x64 (quite embarrassed about this--maybe b/c the machine is new and 32- or 64-bit was not specified by vendor is my excuse?), so a thanks to SCOTTBALL too, for re-emphasizing the need to do this in the Windows\sysWOW64 folder as well. But kudos again to Vishal, b/c you included this already in the main article...I was just ignorant.
Can I say THANK YOU again to Vishal?!
In the Windows 7 version of Paint, I could not find a favorite control to size the canvas (Image-->Attributes menu)--both see the current size of a pasted item and easily to be able, for example, to double the canvas height. Whenever I want a screenshot of a webpage that needs to be scrolled and have more than one screenshot merged to make a single Paint-based pic of that entire web page, I love and use this feature/method with ease. And so far as I can tell, the feature plus others of older Paint I like, such as pasting new layers with opaque or clear fields, have been removed in the Windows 7 version.
Again, THANKS A MILLION VISHAL!
MPS
THANKYOU!!! SO MUCH!!!!
*drops to knees a la the Shawshank Redemption scene and raises hands unto the heavens*
Vishwas
Hey thanks for giving a hand out there pal,i find the windows 7 paint very difficult,so i wanted this,thanks again
Alyssa
I did everything it asked, I renamed then added the .exe files in sys32, then the same for the .exe.mui files in en-US...
I thought maybe it was to do with the 64 bit thing, but when i put that location into "run" it doesnt come up like the other place did. Seems my computer always created problems like this that shouldnt be problems. -_-