About the Windows 7 support expiration.

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TrailBeast

AKA Mopars4us on Youtube
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We are getting a lot of calls with concern and even stress about the win7 support ending, so we would like to give a few answers on the subject.
Support of Win7 ending doesn't mean your computer will crash or become unusable on that date.
It means Microsoft will no longer have security and operating system updates or phone support for Win7.
Are there security reasons for updating to Win10?
Sure, and as time goes by those concerns will become larger, due to no new operating system patches and updates.
In our opinion, there is no guarantee that Windows of any version is safe from threats or ever will be. (one big reason we are in business)
I myself use Win7 Pro normally, because it runs some programs Win10 won't that I don't want to give up.
I will keep using it until I have a good reason to move to Win10.

There are multiple options one has to deal with this.
One is to follow the instructions for upgrading to Win10 as shown in some of the screens users are getting or may get, and those are described here. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...g-an-outdated-version-of-windows-notification

A few things to note.
There is ZERO guarantee that the upgrade will run on your current computer, and actually zero guarantee that your computer will be usable after the attempt.
On top of this the Win10 upgrade will likely throw away some programs you use and love.

On this subject we recommend anyone running Win7 replace the computer with a new Win10 if your computer is critical to what you need it for, or even for the peace of mind it may bring.
Our recommendation is to not attempt an upgrade, but to replace the machine with a new Win10 machine.

This is why.
If a person calls us to help with a Win10 upgrade for their existing computer we tell them up front that there is NO guarantee it will upgrade their existing computer, nor will we guarantee any of their installed programs will work in Win10.
BUT, we will try it if they insist and will be charged for the time involved in the attempt.
These days the time to back up a computer and upgrade an OS with all the involved details can cost just about as much as a new computer.
This means if an upgrade attempt to an existing computer is made and fails, the customer could be on the hook for 100's of dollars and still be in the same spot they were when we started.

Of course there are exceptions, including people who consider themselves to be capable of attempting the upgrade just to see what happens.
There is nothing wrong with that, but the info here is for the average person that uses a computer.

All this said, our best recommendation is to either ignore the warnings about upgrading until you are forced out of Win7 or buy a new Win10 system.
You as the user can determine how important your information or need for the system is, and if you are willing to risk it.
Like I mentioned before, ALL Windows operating systems are ALWAYS at risk of loosing your stuff no matter what you do, and especially if connected to the internet.
For home users we recommend keeping important files and data on a separate device, and NOT physically on the computer if you really want your stuff to be safe from loss, infection or theft.
Use the computer as basically a throwaway device to access the Internet and social networking.
Keep your important stuff on a thumb drive, or duplicate thumb drives.
Some have external drives, but the problem with these is that most leave them plugged into the computer all the time, leaving them accessible to infection, hardware failure or theft.
If you want to use an external drive, then at least unplug it from the computer when not actually in use. (but it is still susceptible to failure being an electro/mechanical device.)

Hope this helps answer some questions some might have.
This info is not intended to cover every possible scenario of course, but just to help address some of the concerns that may be out there about the Win7 "Out Of Support" messaging.

Thanks
 
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Trailbeast,
Your post is an awesome public service and if your advice is heeded by people facing the dilemma of changing over from Win 7 to Win 10 it will save them an immeasurable amount of Headaches.

Working for a Global Company with a close to 100K headcount we were all forced by Corporate IT to requisition new Desk and Laptops w/Win 10 operating systems and to make the changeover by November of 2019. Aside from the just the tremendous initial cost of the new computers, an incredible amount of irreplaceable Hard Drive data that was supposed to have been captured and transferred to the new CPU's was permanently lost. Currently begrudgingly in use, It's my opinion that Win 10 is the absolute WORST, most UN-USER friendly Op System that Microsoft has ever released and that it's predecessor Win 7 was actually one of the best. To this day we are still having many, many conflicts with that Win 10 pile of crap.
 
I was using windows vista on my hp for 12yrs no issues had all my Microsoft office products word, PowerPoint, excel etc. then I started getting that same unsupported message. Worked for about a year after that then finally crashed. Microsoft forces you to upgrade **** just like apple. I hate how these tech giants do this crap.
 
Thanks for posting this info.
I decided to get a new tower with Windows 10 professional factory installed, it should be here by early next week.
Any other tips on making this transition as easy as it can be?
I am running Windows 7 at the moment, and it was an easy transition from Vista, kinda like a cross between Vista and HP.
What programs specifically will I not be able to use?
Thanks for your time.........
 
Another option is to simply keep using win7

The odds of some type of malicious code actually destroying your OS are in reality, quite low.

I manage several dozen win7 machines that have had updates turned off for a year or more.
Some have been reloaded with SP1 and have never had any updates applied.

Also keep in mind that as win7 ages out, the efforts to write such code will lessen as those malicious individuals will start concentrating on win10 as market share increases.

The best thing anyone can do to protect themselves is to practice "safe computing", IE don't visit questionable sites, don't click on attention grabbing banners, don't open questionable email or click links in emails unless you are absolutely positively over night sure of the sender, etc.
 
...and another super common issue with windows versions and incompatibility is-

printers

Win10 will for sure NOT support some printers that win7 machines do.

That's a known fact from every single previous version.

So do your homework and budget accordingly.
 
Thanks for posting this info.
I decided to get a new tower with Windows 10 professional factory installed, it should be here by early next week.
Any other tips on making this transition as easy as it can be?
I am running Windows 7 at the moment, and it was an easy transition from Vista, kinda like a cross between Vista and HP.
What programs specifically will I not be able to use?
Thanks for your time.........

Not knowing your individual or family usage of the computer I can't really give you much in the way of pointers, except to store your important stuff on disconnectable devices like thumb drives or an external drive that is only plugged in when needed.

If you live in a neighborhood you might want to look into wireless network sharing, as Win10 by default shares your wireless network password with anyone in your Microsoft address book (contacts in Win10)
A google search will show you how.
One of the reasons we recommend off system backups for everything important is so a forced change won't change much in this case.
For example: My Wife only uses a computer for games and Google for the most part, so the recent swap to another computer for her was just to copy over her shortcuts and favorites. (her hard drive was corrupting Windows causing boot issues)
Actually she is a great candidate for Linux.:D

Also one thing you might like is a program called Classic Shell from Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements
The download button redirects you to a site called Fosshub and that's ok.

It makes Win10 start button menus and folder options look like they do in Win7 instead of having the new stupid "charms" desktop.
A lot of people like it because it makes Win10 not look so different than 7,8, or 8.1
Most of the mainstream programs run in Win10, like Quickbooks, Quicken and such.
Downloaded and installed programs are more suspect, but the list of programs that won't run in 10 is so long there is no way to know until the install is attempted.
10 will refuse to install most that won't run.
 
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i went to win 10 on both of ours as an excuse to go with solid state drives. wish i'd done that a few years ago. 30 sec boot times are nice
 
We have a batch of Dell 3060 micro form factor machines with 256GB SSDs that reboot in less than 15 sec!
 
I cant find the "Any" key!
 
The compatibility thing is kind of funny honestly. My advice is to never buy a consumer grade computer, but instead a corporate model.

I personally have:
Dell Optiplex 9010 MT with a Core i7-3770, made in 2012, originally had Windows 7
HP Probook 650 G1 Laptop, i5-4300M, made in 2015, originally had windows 7

These are both fully supported by HP and Dell for Windows 10 and work perfectly. These are actually great computers on the used market to do the free upgrade to Windows 10.

My Mom had a Dell Dimension i3 computer made in 2012, it was not supported, so I ebayed her an Optiplex 7010 SFF made in 2012 with an i7-3770 and it is not only incredibility fast, it was fully supported. Barring a hardware failure, I bet this thing will be sitting on the desk until 2025. It's still more powerful than a lot of new computers.

Not a single family member of mine has a computer that originally came with Windows 10, or was a consumer grade computer.

For printer capability, we all have HP LaserJet 1012s, which are not supported by HP after Windows Vista. Install the DOT4 printer driver and then later the Vista x64 driver from the HP website and it prints like new.
 
If you live in a neighborhood you might want to look into wireless network sharing, as Win10 by default shares your wireless network password with anyone in your Microsoft address book (contacts in Win10)
This was a disturbing seeming 'feature' so I looked it up. Seems like the auto sharing of passwords was gotten rid of a few years ago and you have to intentionally set a network for password sharing. Did you say what you meant to say above?
 
Good write ups here on keeping windows 7 in service, one of the better operating systems.

Got a couple windows 10 computers here to use as "Test/Experimental" computers, and staying current with technology. Still don't like them, even after cleaning off all the non essentials and going to the windows 7 desktop layout.

2 of my biggest disappointments with 10 is the non stop, forced updates, and cannot turn the auto updating off. You turn it off and Microsoft overides it and turns it back on again. They are in your machine every single day tracking your every move.

Then there are all of the by default sharing options, there must be 50 of them burried in there along with all of shared apps. Feels very unsecure. Don't want to be doing any banking business on the windows 10 models.

What is really scary is the people that buy a new windows 10 computer and just go right to using it not knowing how wide open their system is for sharing their info and online habbits.

I am staying with Linux, smile everytime I use it. It's like driving with power steering a real pleasure to use. Fire up the windows 7 for the word document and publisher work as needed.

There is also a nice option of a Dual Boot on the same computer. Linux as default and windows as a secondary choice to boot up. Surprising how rock solid and simple this setup is, giving you a choice of 2 operating systems on the same computer.

Good Luck in 2020 and moving forward.
 
I keep hitting the “Escape” key on my computer at the office, but it doesn’t seem to work.

No matter how many times I hit it...I’m still there!

Try plugging in another USB keyboard. Problem may be in your keyboard itself. (unless this is a joke)

And if it is a wireless keyboard put new batteries in, along with a new battery in the wireless mouse. Have seen more odd problems that come up from the batteries losing their charge.
 
............And keep in mind that for "everyday browsing" Linux works VERY well. I've used variations of Linux now for about 10 years, and only fire up Whinehozed if I can't do things any other way.......such as Holley EFI tuning. I mostly use either Ubuntu or Mint which are very similar, and I like the "Mate" desktop, which is quite "Windows 98-ish" in the way it functions. "I bet" I have not fired up W7 (on the partition) other than to test it's function in over a year. It's free, there's very little in the way of nag-ware, and I've forgotten what security even "is."
 
Try plugging in another USB keyboard. Problem may be in your keyboard itself. (unless this is a joke)

And if it is a wireless keyboard put new batteries in, along with a new battery in the wireless mouse. Have seen more odd problems that come up from the batteries losing their charge.
It’s a joke...I am trying to “Escape” from being in the office.
 
It’s a joke...I am trying to “Escape” from being in the office.

Kind of figured that after reading into it, lol . .

Yeah jobs are kind of a catch 22, pay you good money to be there with the skills you have aquired. But trading life's energy and time for the money.

Tough call, takes lots of money to live . .
 
abandon Windose probably 10 years ago...use linuxmint mate....Free..

Comes with Open Office for word processing...spreed sheets and whatever..
 
Everybody's story is a little different, but I finally gave in to Microsoft's threats and tried to update my old laptop with Win 7 to Win 10. It died. I had to take it to a computer repair shop to get my info off the old hard disk. Then I had to buy a new Win 10 laptop. Thanks a lot Microsoft.
 
After my previous post, I looked more closely at what Trailbeast said,

"A few things to note.
There is ZERO guarantee that the upgrade will run on your current computer, and actually zero guarantee that your computer will be usable after the attempt.
On top of this the Win10 upgrade will likely throw away some programs you use and love."

He knows a lot about cars and computers.
 
One of the biggest PITAs I have with win10 is "decrapifying" it.

It takes almost a whole day to uninstall all the crap.

I found a powershell script that gets rid of most of the annoying tiles (for all users including future users, thankfully).

They have recently changed some of the trial office installs from tiles to actual programs in add/remove.
each of those must be manually uninstalled (in the native language), or win10 will associate all your docs with the trial version even if you install a licensed copy (unless you do file associations).

We are a chrome shop and I have a command prompt script to disable edge.
I don't care for the way edge always puts pages in difficult to navigate full screen windows.
Disabling edge also reduces some of the crap that gets put back in the tiles, and frees up resources as edge is using resources 24/7 no matter if you never launch it.

Besides the tiles/powershell script, and add/remove in control panel, there are also "apps" that need to be uninstalled and a few things (numlock for instance) that need registry mods to accomplish.

Of course If I had the resources and time to maintain a deployment server (which comes with it's own set of PITAs- been there, done that) I could have a master image with all that crap already done.

Xbox and candy crush keep reappearing after sapping my internet connection to download?

THANKS, microsoft!
 
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I am a total computer illiterate. I'm still on XP. Keep getting messages from sites saying I need to upgrade my browser. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
When this computer stops doing what I need it to do, it goes in the garbage, and I am back to "snail mail", and paper checks. I have allready stopped using plastic for 80 % of buying. Using "coin of the realm". Tired of all the "tracking"
So, if I disappear from this site, you know what happened.
 
I've re-purposed nearly all of my "obsolete" computers into MP3 players.

I simply install an MP3 app (like the free version of 'MusicMatch Jukebox" and hook the audio out to one of my vintage home stereo setups. The MMJB interface is one of my favorites. I wish a similar one would show up on a car stereo. I've considered putting an old laptop or tablet in my car just to get the MMJB interface.

So far I have one in the house and one in the shop, but one more for each location is on the near horizon.

The shop unit has no internet connection. The house unit does, but I don't normally use it. Not necessary for what the new purpose is.

If the HDD is not large enough for your collection, "simply" buy a USB stick for it.
 
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