Update News for February 2026

Here is a quick run-down on what you will find in this bulletin:

• • Windows 11 On Older Computers
  • Backup Laptop
  • Using a Second Hard Disk Drive
  • Windows 11 Reinstall is Not that Hard
  • Windows 11 Changed a LOT
  • GOWIN.EXE Runs Fine on Windows 11
  • GOWIN.EXE Still Runs Fine on Windows XP
  • CQS.EXE Will Be 64-bit ONLY
  • Our Current Programming Plans

These topics will be dealt with in more detail throughout this bulletin.

Windows 11 On Older Computers

Last month I talked about installing and running Windows 11 on older computers. If you have an older computer, and Microsoft is telling you that you can’t run Windows 11 on it, there is still a strong possibility that you can install Windows 11 on that older computer, particularly if you had Windows 10 on it. VERY old computers will still not be able to run Windows 11, but I have a laptop computer that was first introduced in 2013 and it is now running on Windows 11.

In the January bulletin I gave some links to videos which we relied upon to successfully install Windows 11 on some of our older computers, computers that Microsoft said would/could not run Windows 11. The programs we used to accomplish that are from third party providers, NOT Microsoft. While the programs for helping to install are NOT from Microsoft, the actual Windows 11 OS (Operating System) that those programs help you to install is a bona fide Microsoft Windows 11 operating system.

NOTE:   Windows 11 is a FREE upgrade to Windows 10.

Here’s the January bulletin where you will find those links:

I wanted to clarify that information because there is an issue, which is a pain, that you should be aware of. For some automatic updates of Windows 11, the Windows 11 operating system may NOT want to update itself on older computers. The solution is that you have to re-install the newest “build” of Windows 11 in order to move forward with getting automatic updates. And if you don’t move up to the latest build, then you will end up in the same situation with Windows 11 that you had with Windows 10, no longer able to get automatic updates.

Apparently, Microsoft originally warned everyone that those installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware would NOT be able to get ANY routine automatic updates, but they have NOT enforced that rule until those times when they have published a NEW “build release”. NEW build releases do NOT happen frequently. Here is a history of build releases.

Generally, where there is a new build release, and you are using Windows 11 on an older computer, you will need to reinstall the latest Windows 11 over top of your previous Windows 11. As long as you have the latest build on your computer, then automatic updates will process.

Backup Laptop

In first finding out whether or not I could/would upgrade to Windows 11 on my oldest computer (a Lenovo T540p laptop), I decided to see if anyone else had been able to get Windows 11 running on that same Lenovo model.

NOTE:   The laptop is a backup to my desktop, but it is also my on-the-road computer when I am out of the office, such as on vacation. When I am out, my toll free number is redirected to my cell phone, and I monitor emails and process updates as needed. I am never really away from the office, the office just goes somewhere with me on vacation.

As I typically do when buying a used computer, I searched ebay for a T540p and found a reseller offering the same T540p computer that I already had for just under $200. That Lenovo had Windows 11 on it, with the fastest processor (at that time), the higher resolution LCD screen, and it also had a 250 gb SSD drive (all in all a very good deal). I purchased that laptop a few months ago.

The other reason I bought that second machine was because I am VERY preoccupied with back ups and I don’t believe in just having backups of my data, I also like to have backup equipment. Used equipment, which I use for backups, is TOO cheap to not have a backup. In a pinch, if a machine fails, I like to have another machine ready to go. And because I do NOT run on the latest equipment, whether it is my vehicles, tools or computers, it is VERY reasonable to have backup equipment because I buy it when everyone else wants to sell their older equipment because they want the newest and latest. And I am thankful for such folks because I get their hand-me-downs at a DEEPLY discounted price.

Anyway, the new (old) Lenovo with Windows 11 came in about a year ago. I put the various tools and programs that I use on it and then used the laptop in place of the one that I had been using. My previous Lenovo went into the gun safe where it remains, ready to come out and go to work if the new (old) Lenovo dies. We keep hardware and software backups in our safes to protect against EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) events, hoping that if an EMP occurs that we will have equipment that still works.

Using a Second Hard Disk Drive

As a side note, the reason I like the Lenovo T540 is because it has a built in CD drive which can be removed and replaced with a removable hard disk drive bay. This gives me a removable D: drive, in addition to my C: drive.

ALL my important data is always stored on a D: drive. When you have a drive other than the C: drive that your operating system is located on, it is much easier to back up that separate drive, or move it to another computer. Even if your C: drive is physically removable, the problem is that the Windows operating system is tied to one computer and resists being run on a different computer. That can also be true for many Windows programs that are not portable because they are connected to the Windows registry which is connected to the operating system.

NOTE:   Compulife’s program is NOT connected to the Windows registry. What that means is that if you have another computer, and need to install Compulife on that, you can simply copy the COMPLIFE folder from your current C: drive (or whatever drive you have copied it on), to another drive.

When installing Compulife it automatically installs to the C: drive, unless you place the installation EXE file on a different drive and run it from there. What I typically do is install it to the C: drive, then copy the COMPLIFE folder to my D: drive. Compulife can/will then run from that drive or from the drive of another Windows computer.

VERY IMPORTANT:   The ability to easily copy our program does NOT mean that your use is NOT governed by the license agreement. Your license determines where you can use it on another computer. The fact that it is easy to copy means that we do NOT make it technically hard for you to do so.

We TRUST our users to follow the licensing. If we find out they don’t, then we simply stop providing software. Here are the two licenses that we have for our PC software:

Agency/BGA License – This license is for agencies and life insurance companies where the program is NOT being used by a single licensed agent. This license sells for $390 per year and allows installation on up to five machines in a single location. If you have a second location, or need more than five machines, you would need a second license which is $293 (another five machines in the same office or another office). Discounts on additional licenses are available to standard license users.

Individual Agent License – If you have this license (costs less per year) then you are an individual agent and you AGREE that you will NOT let another licensed insurance agent use the software and/or give quotes from the software to other licensed insurance agents. YOUR personal name is locked into the software and that name will come out on every quote following “Prepared by”.

 

Windows 11 Reinstall is Not that Hard

Back to the Windows 11 update problem on older machines. If you have successfully installed Windows 11 on an older computer, that originally told you it would NOT run Windows 11, and you hit a major update that will not install, you can use the software we told you about in January to install the newest Windows 11 build onto that computer. I had to do this with the Lenovo I purchased because that one came with an OLDER build version of Windows 11. As I routinely do, I first made a copy of my current C: drive on that laptop, then installed the copy to make sure it worked.

NOTE:   The mechanical hard disk copy ran much slower because the Lenovo I bought had the SSD drive in it (I talked about how much faster SSD drive are in January). Even so, I like to back up on much less expensive mechanical hard disk drives. You can buy mechanical hard drives for ridiculously low amounts of money on ebay. They are great for backups, but I prefer SSDs for daily use because of the speed.

After backing up the C: drive of my Lenovo, I went through the same installation process I have gone through with my other older computers, and it went VERY well. All my previously installed programs were preserved, and even my desktop icons remained in their original positions on the desktop screen.

Windows 11 Changed a LOT

One of the things I noticed immediately with the newest Windows 11 is how they are messing around with my trusty old “CMD” option, which is used to display the OLD DOS style, command prompt Window. As a longtime user of DOS, and before that CP/M, I can tell you that I use the DOS window EVERY day and many times per day. The newer Windows interface, with its copy and paste routines, are much easier for the vast majority of people to use, and are certainly easier for some things that I do. Nevertheless, there are some functions that I can do MUCH, MUCH easier at the command prompt level. Unfortunately Windows 11 is taking away many of the options that I had in organizing different CMD windows (size and locations) and that is VERY irritating. New should be better, NOT worse.

I was a VERY happy Windows 10 user but not so much with Windows 11. I hate to see an OS take away features that I had and that I liked. I also hate to see that with any program, and I am VERY conscious of that with our own software. I remember how many of our subscribers complained when we went from DOS to Windows. When you change up the interface and change where or how you access certain features and options, it’s a learning curve and NO ONE wants to relearn what is the same program. Therefore if relearning anything is going to be necessary, you do NOT want that learning curve to be too steep.

Apart from that, the newest Windows 11 continues to function on our existing equipment fine, and I have backups of my previous Windows 10 software should I need to fall back to it. If I did, or if you are still running Windows 10, make sure that you add a third party anti-virus product to replace Microsoft Defender which Microsoft is no longer updating for Windows 10. As I explained last month, I like Avast when I need to use a third party anti-virus products.

GOWIN.EXE Runs Fine on Windows 11

Compulife’s current PC quoting program, called GOWIN.EXE, continues to run fine on the latest Windows 11. There are NO issues with the program in Windows 11, so if you are thinking about buying a new Windows 11 computer, or upgrading to the Windows 11 OS on an existing computer, Compulife will run just fine.

GOWIN.EXE Still Runs Fine on Windows XP

GOWIN.EXE is 32-bit software and so the current program runs happily on older Windows operating systems going all the way back to Windows XP. Windows XP was first released on October 2001 which means that this October it will be 25 years old. 32-bit software does NOT run on older 16 bit computers.

64-bit software was first available in 2005 with the release of Microsoft’s Windows XP 64-bit (Professional x64 Edition). This means 64-bit Windows operating systems have now been around for 20 years. Even so, Microsoft continued to release 32-bit operating system with Windows 7 all the way up to Windows 10. According to AI (Artificial Intelligence) those running Windows 10 in 32-bit make up about 10% of the worldwide Windows 10 market. Support for Windows 10 32-bit ended a year earlier than support for Windows 10 64-bit which ended last October.

32-bit software, like GOWIN.EXE, runs fine on 64-bit computers.

CQS.EXE Will Be 64-bit ONLY

All of this brings us to Windows 11 which is 64-bit ONLY.

While our programming compiler is still able to generate programs that run in 32-bit, we are finding that the compiler is increasingly NOT happy with our software code in newer and newer versions of the compiler. It requires us to make changes to accommodate compiling in 32-bit. For example, we have to tell the compiler we want 32-bit software to get that result (it defaults to 64-bit). And we have found that NOT all 32-bit software that the compiler produces works fine on Windows XP. Once again, those program are not programs that we sell or give to you, those are programs that we use internally. For the most part, those are programs that we do NOT need to update.

As a result, I have been driving our programmer a bit crazy insisting that certain of the software that we use continues to run in Windows XP. Change is NOT needed to the program, but change is needed to make the old software code compatible with the new compiler and that is frustrating and results in delays.

As we complete moving our older programs to the new compiler, the experience has resulted in an important decision that we have made about the new CQS.EXE.

CQS.EXE will be 64-bit only.

As I have explained before, the new CQS.EXE will be delivered to ALL subscribers with the GOWIN.EXE. You will be able to use either program, but if you have an older 32-bit machine, the 64-bit CQS.EXE will not work.

We know that many subscribers will not have read this bulletin, or other bulletins about this in the future, and so for many they will not even know about that issue. Once we force them to try the new CQS.EXE at some point, AFTER it has been first released, they will get an error message. As we go through the staged release process, we will be looking to find out just how many of our subscribers are still using the older 32-bit equipment.

The transition process that we will be following will mean that those older 32-bit computers can still do quotes using the older GOWIN.EXE. We intend to continue to support the older GOWIN.EXE until at least the end of 2027. Once CQS.EXE is tried and true, at some point after the end of 2027, we will cease support for the older GOWIN.EXE.

If any of this is of concern to you, do NOT hesitate to give us a call.

Our Current Programming Plans

The following is the current order for new work that we will be doing moving forward:

• • Introduction of New PC Version: CQS.EXE.

• • Overhaul Of Current Product Data Files.

• Introduction of Compulife Mobile Plus (with Pick 12).

Anyone with questions about any of these upcoming projects can call Bob Barney to discuss:

Please don’t email me essay questions; just call. If I’m not in, email me your phone number, I’ll call you.

These planned objectives will easily consume our programming time during the balance of this year and throughout 2025. The good news is that once the product data files have been converted, and we have introduced the new CQS.EXE and upgraded our internet engine to use the new data files, Compulife will be turning its full attention to our web-based, Compulife Mobile software. The long-term goal is to have a web-based product that does everything our PC-based software does.