New Cricut User - Old Cricut CRV001

Hello, I have just purchased a 2nd hand Cricut CRV001 with a selection of cartridges and a gypsy. Unfortunately the gypsy doesn't seem to work as hoped. I purchased the Cricut mainly for doing some sticky text labels and a few designs for my grandsons thinking I would be able to transfer SVG files created in either Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop directly. As a newbie, I would appreciate if anyone could advise a way to link or transfer images from either a windows 7 or Windows 11 PC onto the Cricut for cutting. Dissapointing that the Cricut design software isn't backwards compatable. Is there a free software available to enable this perfectly working machine a second lease of life? Thanks in advance

Hi @Dobbin I originally owned the Cricut CRV001 and can tell you with confidence that unfortunately it operates on cartridges only. There is no way to connect this machine to the internet so that you can utilize SVG files. To do that, you will need to upgrade your machine to a "smart" model. I've been a long time Cricut user (I've had 4 models) and the best Cricut smart machine (the most reliable and not finicky) , that I have found is the Cricut Explorer Air 2. It is compatible with Cricut Design Space and accepts all uploaded SVG files. So sorry, I'm sure this isn't what you were expecting to hear, but there are roughly 2-3 dozen cartridges that you can get for CRV001. However, let me offer a word of caution when buying second hand cartridges. Once a cartridge is uploaded to Cricut Design Space, it can no longer be used as a stand alone cartridge! So, if buying cartridges is on your radar, please ensure that the cartridge has NEVER been uploaded to Cricut Design Space, otherwise it will be useless as a stand alone cartridge! I offer this caution as I don't think all Cricut users understand this limitation. I hope this info helps and I wish you the best in whatever you decide what to do.