Program fails to run on Windows 7 32-bit: missing GetSystemTimePreciseAsFile in kernel32.dll

[Im-P3dro]

Operating System:
Windows 7 32-bit (Service Pack 1)

Problem Description:
When trying to run the program, I get the following error:

"The procedure entry point GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime could not be located in the dynamic link library kernel32.dll"

Root Cause:
The function GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime is only available from Windows 8 / Server 2012 onwards. Windows 7 does not export this function in kernel32.dll.

Suggested Fix:
Please consider adding a fallback for Windows 7 by replacing GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime with GetSystemTimeAsFileTime (available since Windows 2000). A common compatibility pattern is:

#ifdef _WIN32_WINNT_WIN8
    GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime(&ft);
#else
    GetSystemTimeAsFileTime(&ft);
#endif

Or dynamically load the function and fallback at runtime.

Impact:
This prevents Windows 7 users (still a significant user base for some software) from using the application.

Request:
Could you please add Windows 7 32-bit compatibility support by removing the dependency on this API? Thank you.

[therealaleph]

@Im-P3dro — thank you for the detailed report. This is a real regression I introduced in v1.7.7 by accepting the i686 Windows binary into the release matrix without testing on actual Windows 7.

Root cause is upstream Rust, not the project code.

Starting with Rust 1.78 (May 2024), the Rust standard library raised its minimum Windows version from Windows 7 to Windows 10. As part of that, std::time on Windows started using GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime (Win8+ in kernel32) instead of the older GetSystemTimeAsFileTime.

Reference:

• Rust 1.78 release notes — Windows 10 minimum
• The CI for v1.7.7 used dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable, currently 1.86+ → produces a binary that imports GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime → won't load on Win7.

The C-style #ifdef fallback you suggested doesn't apply directly because the import is from Rust's stdlib, not our code. We don't call GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime ourselves anywhere.

Fix paths:

1. Short-term workaround for you (now): we never shipped i686 before v1.7.7 so there's no older release that would work for you. Self-build with Rust 1.77.2:

   rustup toolchain install 1.77.2
   rustup target add i686-pc-windows-msvc --toolchain 1.77.2
   git clone https://github.com/therealaleph/MasterHttpRelayVPN-RUST
   cd MasterHttpRelayVPN-RUST
   cargo +1.77.2 build --release --target i686-pc-windows-msvc --bin mhrv-rs
   

   The resulting target/i686-pc-windows-msvc/release/mhrv-rs.exe should load on Win7 SP1.

2. Project-level fix (v1.8.x): I'll pin the i686-pc-windows-msvc CI job to Rust 1.77.2 specifically (other targets stay on stable). The i686 Win7 binary returns to the release page that way. Tracking as part of the v1.8.x roadmap.

3. Alternative for later: use the tier-3 i686-win7-windows-msvc target with -Z build-std, which is the official Win7-supporting path Rust upstream now offers. This requires nightly Rust and adds CI complexity.

I'll comment back when the pinned-Rust workflow job is in. Apologies for the breakage — should have tested on a Win7 VM before merging PR #288.

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_{[reply via Anthropic Claude | reviewed by @therealaleph]}