Why Did My Brave Browser Quit Working

I use Windows 7, 64bit. I have Brave browser installed on my computer. Up until August 11, 2024 (a few days ago) it worked just fine. Then when I clicked on it the next day a message came up saying that I had no internet connection. (Which I did have) Soon after that, when I clicked on the icon, nothing happened.

I realize that Brave browser no longer supports Windows 7, but up until the date I mentioned it still worked. Even with Windows 7! So what happened.

I tried to delete it and reinstall it. All I got was a message that no updates were available. When I wasn’t looking to do an update. I was doing an installation. I also tried to do a system restore to an earlier date. It still didn’t work.

It seems to me that whoever actually operates the Brave browser for some reason decided to kill its ability to work on Windows 7. Why would they do that? Do they own Microsoft stock and want to force people to upgrade to Windows 10? Or did they decide to just be assholes. Whatever the case, does anybody know how to make it work again? Or should I just go ahead and delete the program from my computer. Thank you for any help you can give me.

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But you were trying to install from the main website, right? If so, that only installs the newest version of Brave, which you can’t use. If you removed Brave (which probably shouldn’t have done) then you would have to install the old version from Github, assuming you didn’t keep an installation file elsewhere.

As to where to grab installation from, it’s been asked and answered many times. Example:

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I tried everything to reinstall Brave browser to try and make it work again. New versions and old versions. It just won’t install. I also tried to install it from the Majorgeeks website. Still nothing. Also, in the downloads section of my computer, (Dell Latitude E6420) there is an icon that shows the original file that I downloaded. I tried to reinstall it from that, and nothing. Etc. etc. etc. I also see than in your reply you posted a link to github that will supposedly install the right program for Windows 7. How much would you like to bet that it doesn’t work either.

Now, I have another question for you. Do you actually work for those who keep the Brave browser system up and running? If you don’t, your suggestions are basically meaningless. Also, the point is that up until recently, my Brave browser worked. There is no reason on my end why it should have stopped working. (As far as I can tell) I still think that the people who operate Brave browser adjusted their software to reject anything that comes from a computer using Windows 7. Can you tell me for sure that isn’t the case? Another thing is that people often have older computers laying around. Do you have an older one that uses Windows 7? If so, can you get the Brave browser to work on it? If you can, then maybe I have done something wrong. But I can’t imagine what.

Seeing how many others users have installed from there and had no issues, it should work. If not, then you have something else going on with your device. Of course, you will have to be aware of your OS and know which installer to choose. In the topic I linked, some of that gets discussed.

Nope. I’m on disability and don’t work for anyone. I’m just an active user that helps people in spare time, to the best of my abilities.

Depends on what you mean. As said, you can’t install from the main page that way. And by using a non-supported OS, you won’t get access to all features. For example, I don’t think you could use Sync, you might have issues with some Shields features as new components have things that the older browser version can’t handle (though Fanboynz and team have been trying to keep it compatible), you won’t have Brave VPN + Firewall or Leo (the AI), etc.

So in those perspectives, it would be fair to say they are rejecting things that come from Windows 7. However, they wouldn’t break things in the way you’re speaking of. And if you had posted here to speak of your original issue, we could have troubleshooted to try to find a cause. But for now, I’m just trying to help you install Brave again.

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Well, thanks for at least trying to be helpful. I tried to contact those who operate Brave directly. But that got me nowhere.

Having said that, you should know that I finally got the Brave browser to download! After completely deleting it from my computer. As you know, in that github site you gave a link to, there are about a zillion programs to download. I didn’t exactly know which one to download, so I tried a few of them. Also, I usually use a VPN. This time I turned it off. Though I still used Epic Privacy browser.

The one I got to work was BraveBrowserStandaloneSlientSetup.exe.sha.256 When I first tried to download it, it seemed to be downloading. Then a message appeared that said that there was some problem it ran into and couldn’t download it. After that, the file showed up in my “Downloads” list. I tried to download it again from there by clicking on it. And it worked! It probably used my computers default internet search engine. Maybe that was the whole problem to begin with. Maybe it didn’t even like going through the Epic browser to download. If anybody else asks you a question about how to download Brave and get it to work, you can tell them what worked for me. Thanks.

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Thanks for the update. Here are the key differences in the setup files:

  1. BraveBrowserStandaloneSetup.exe for Windows 64-bit
  2. BraveBrowserStandaloneSetup32.exe for Windows 32-bit
  3. BraveBrowserStandaloneSetupArm64.exe for Windows using ARM 64

The silent setup you initially chose installs the browser without user interaction, making the process easier.

The Sha.256 is a checksum, used to verify the file’s integrity.

Standalone refers to the full browser installation, not just updates or components.

The key aspect was determining whether you’re on 32-bit, 64-bit, or ARM 64 for your Windows type.

Hopefully you have no further issues.

Oh, you did good by posting here. Brave has a very small team in general, with only about 3 people handling the overwhelming majority of support requests. So it does filter through users helping each other to filter out the simpler solutions. That said, they constantly are keeping tabs on everything on here and help where they can.

Well, it quit working again. The icon is still on my desktop. But when I click on it, nothing. I tried to do all the things I did before. Such as completely deleting it first and then trying to download it again. Using the same file I downloaded earlier. That didn’t work this time. Where it shows up in my downloads, I tried to download it directly from there. All it did was have a window pop up asking if I wanted to save the program. Nothing about downloading it. I tried to do a system restore to a point where it was working. It still didn’t work. Do you have any other suggestions on how to make it connect to the internet? Running it as an administrator doesn’t do anything.

I see you didn’t answer my last reply. I guess you ran out of answers. But, with a LOT of trouble I got it working again. First, I completely deleted it using the REVO uninstaller. After it was done, I restarted my computer. This time using the Epic privacy browser to sign in here, I went to the link you posted at github. From there I used the download BraveBrowserStandaloneSilentSetup.exe. Which I’m pretty sure is a different file than the last one I used to make it work. And it actually worked.

I wish I knew why trying to download this program on Windows 7 64-bit is so god damned finicky. Maybe because this time when I was prompted to disable this program from my startup menu, (having IO Bit Advanced System Care on my computer) I didn’t. Who knows. But for anybody using Windows 7 64-Bit and trying to download Brave browser and actually get it to work, all I can suggest is to do what I did and keep at it.