Bit of a long winded post...

So I put together a new PC (new to me). I installed Windows 7, as Windows 7 has never caused me any eyegraine issues ever. Windows 10 always has.

After you do a fresh Win7 install, you need to update it. An easy way to do this is to download a program called Simplix, from the folks over at the MyDigitalLife forums. It is one program that has all your updates packages together, so you run that and it brings your PC up to date. So I download the latest version, I run it, it updates my system ... and it rendered Windows 7 unusable. I was getting the exact same symptoms as I was in Windows 10.

So I reformatted the HDD, reinstalled windows, and this time instead of using Simplix, I just went through Windows Update over and over again and got updated that way. And the net result was a fully updated Windows 7 system with NO eye strain issues.

So, it seems that Simplix installs some Windows Hotfix that my Windows Update did not, and that hot fix changed some system file to render the OS problematic. It occurred to me that if you compared a list of all the updates included in Simplix vs a list of all the updates I have on my current freshly updated Windows 7 PC, and found the ones Simplix installed that Windows Update did not Install, and then looked at what files those updates included, it is possible you would be able to find the offending file that the update s replacing that is causing the problem. AND, if you did that, it might be possible take the version of that file that does NOT cause any issues and transplant it onto other systems, maybe even a Windows 10 system.

Here is a list of all the hotfixes Simplix installs:

The installation log of UpdatePack 7 / 2008 R2 / 22.3.11
Installation start time - 22:32:30 07.04.2022
Operating system - Windows 7 Starter SP1 x64

UpdRoots - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB917607 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2533552 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2545698 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2547666 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2574819-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2592687 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2603229 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2667402-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2670838 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2685811 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2685813 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2698365 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2729094-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2732059-v5 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2750841 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2761217 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2773072 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2818604 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2830477 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2834140-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2862330-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2864202 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed (Boot)
KB2864202 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed (Recovery)
KB2894844 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2900986 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2919469 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2970228 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2984972 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB2990941-v3 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed (Boot)
KB2990941-v3 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed (Recovery)
KB3004375-v3 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3006137 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3046269 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3059317 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3064209 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3087873-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed (Boot)
KB3087873-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed (Recovery)
KB3102429-v2 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3138612 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3156016 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3159398 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3161102 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3161949 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3179573 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3184143 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB4019990 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB4474419-v3 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB4490628 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB5011649 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
Internet Explorer 11 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
IE-Hyphenation-en - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
IE-Spelling-en - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB3125574-v4 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB4575903 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB5008867 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
KB5011552 - Integration of the update has been successfully completed
Addon - SmartFix Tool 2.4.4
Addon - DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010)
Addon - Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8
Addon - Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables

Here are all the hotfixes installed via Windows Update on my system

Hotfix(s):                 120 Hotfix(s) Installed.
                           [01]: KB2849697
                           [02]: KB2849696
                           [03]: KB2841134
                           [04]: KB2670838
                           [05]: KB971033
                           [06]: KB2479943
                           [07]: KB2506014
                           [08]: KB2533552
                           [09]: KB2534111
                           [10]: KB2552343
                           [11]: KB2560656
                           [12]: KB2564958
                           [13]: KB2579686
                           [14]: KB2585542
                           [15]: KB2604115
                           [16]: KB2621440
                           [17]: KB2631813
                           [18]: KB2653956
                           [19]: KB2654428
                           [20]: KB2656356
                           [21]: KB2667402
                           [22]: KB2690533
                           [23]: KB2698365
                           [24]: KB2705219
                           [25]: KB2706045
                           [26]: KB2727528
                           [27]: KB2729094
                           [28]: KB2729452
                           [29]: KB2736422
                           [30]: KB2742599
                           [31]: KB2758857
                           [32]: KB2770660
                           [33]: KB2786081
                           [34]: KB2789645
                           [35]: KB2807986
                           [36]: KB2813430
                           [37]: KB2834140
                           [38]: KB2836942
                           [39]: KB2836943
                           [40]: KB2840631
                           [41]: KB2847927
                           [42]: KB2861698
                           [43]: KB2862330
                           [44]: KB2864202
                           [45]: KB2868038
                           [46]: KB2871997
                           [47]: KB2882822
                           [48]: KB2884256
                           [49]: KB2888049
                           [50]: KB2893294
                           [51]: KB2894844
                           [52]: KB2900986
                           [53]: KB2911501
                           [54]: KB2912390
                           [55]: KB2931356
                           [56]: KB2937610
                           [57]: KB2943357
                           [58]: KB2968294
                           [59]: KB2972100
                           [60]: KB2972211
                           [61]: KB2973112
                           [62]: KB2973201
                           [63]: KB2977292
                           [64]: KB2978120
                           [65]: KB2978742
                           [66]: KB2984972
                           [67]: KB2991963
                           [68]: KB2992611
                           [69]: KB3004375
                           [70]: KB3010788
                           [71]: KB3019978
                           [72]: KB3023215
                           [73]: KB3030377
                           [74]: KB3035126
                           [75]: KB3037574
                           [76]: KB3042058
                           [77]: KB3045685
                           [78]: KB3046017
                           [79]: KB3046269
                           [80]: KB3059317
                           [81]: KB3060716
                           [82]: KB3067903
                           [83]: KB3071756
                           [84]: KB3072305
                           [85]: KB3074543
                           [86]: KB3075220
                           [87]: KB3086255
                           [88]: KB3092601
                           [89]: KB3093513
                           [90]: KB3097989
                           [91]: KB3101722
                           [92]: KB3108371
                           [93]: KB3108664
                           [94]: KB3109103
                           [95]: KB3109560
                           [96]: KB3110329
                           [97]: KB3115858
                           [98]: KB3122648
                           [99]: KB3124275
                           [100]: KB3126587
                           [101]: KB3127220
                           [102]: KB3138612
                           [103]: KB3138910
                           [104]: KB3139398
                           [105]: KB3139914
                           [106]: KB3150220
                           [107]: KB3155178
                           [108]: KB3156016
                           [109]: KB3159398
                           [110]: KB3161949
                           [111]: KB3185319
                           [112]: KB4019990
                           [113]: KB4040980
                           [114]: KB4474419
                           [115]: KB4490628
                           [116]: KB4555449
                           [117]: KB4575903
                           [118]: KB5011649
                           [119]: KB976902
                           [120]: KB5011552