Windows 7 loses support soon

[peakbagger]

I have a windows 7 machine that I didnt upgrade to Windows 10 several years ago as the early Windows 10 had a reputation of being real buggy. Microsoft offered a free upgrade and threatened that the upgrade would no longer be free after a certain date. I read recently that Microsoft is stopping support of Windows 7 in a few weeks which means it doesnt get any more updates and thus is vulnerable to new hacks. I also read that despite Microsoft saying that the upgrade was no longer free that the process still works. I tried it today on my computer and if went through the upgrade and is now running on Windows 10. I use 10 on my work computer so have gotten use to its quirks.

I obviously backed up the disk and my files before making the upgrade. It took a couple of hours for the upgrade. The only glitch so far is it did not recognize my Office applications so I had to log in to switch them to the new OS.

 

[firefighterjake]

You have no idea how appreciative I am that you posted this Peakbagger. A few weeks back when I learned support for Windows 7 was being discontinued I figured I would have to either pony up the money for Windows 10 or buy a new computer . . . I installed Windows 10 last night free of charge with no issues. Thanks again.

 

[peakbagger]

Your welcome. Here is the link to the article I had read that describes the process for anyone else with legit Windows 7 license

Can you still get a Windows 10 upgrade for free?

Microsoft kept giving away free upgrades to Windows 10 on old hardware for more than eight years. The upgrades officially ended in 2023, but I've seen scattered reports that it still works for some people. So, do you feel lucky?

www.zdnet.com

I am no computer geek so if I figured it out, it wasn't that hard. I have heard that if you have a low performance computer that the windows 10 upgrade can be quite pokey and if you have special applications that the process may not be painless. My household PC is an out of box Dell with mid range processer with mostly just a web browser and some Microsoft office applications so its pretty much a "Plain Jane".

The standard warning is backup all the files in advance of an upgrade and make a new system repair disk afterwards. My CD drive is toast so I need to figure out a way of getting a bootable repair disk but that's another days issue.

BTW Windows 10 does need customizing and Microsoft sets it up so it tends to default to Microsoft applications like Microsoft Edge for a browser and Bing as search engine. Bing is a crappy search engine compared to Google. Duck Duck Go is a nice option that doesn't track you but I find its not as good as google search.

 

[maple1]

I'm still running XP.

 

[peakbagger]

So is the US government, they are paying Microsoft a lot of money to keep supporting XP as there are many military applications that were designed for XP.

 

[tadmaz]

I'm an IT professional and most of my stuff at home is Windows 7. I shrug my shoulders, I don't need updates. At work it's a different story, life and death to keep things updated.

 

[maple1]

So is the US government, they are paying Microsoft a lot of money to keep supporting XP as there are many military applications that were designed for XP.

I'm not sure if it's good or bad but that makes me feel a little bit better.

 

[semipro]

Most people would probably be amazed the amount of legacy systems that are still in use and being supported - everything from air traffic control, to space shuttle programming (not that they'e still in use), vehicle traffic operations systems, etc. We also didn't adequately anticipate the number of IP addresses that would be needed for the Internet. Many admins are dealing with switching from IPV4 to IPV6 IP standards. In many cases those designing the systems never anticipated that they would be in use for so long -- one of the primary reasons for the Y2K problems.

 

[semipro]

BTW Windows 10 does need customizing and Microsoft sets it up so it tends to default to Microsoft applications like Microsoft Edge for a browser and Bing as search engine.

Don't be alarmed at the look of Windows 10 when you first see it after upgrading. Its been a while since I've done an upgrade but IIRC the default design better serves touch screens and such and may look daunting.
Its a relatively easy process to reconfigure it to look like Windows 7 with the "start" button, task bar, and such.

 

[peakbagger]

If its a legacy system and not connected to the internet, I would not be as worried. I run into these systems frequently. Of course Stuxnet and its variants was designed to infiltrate closed systems via viruses hidden away on USB sticks and some of these infected sticks were even showing up in new product. The bigger concern is computers hooked to the internet, there are always folks trolling the internet looking for random vulnerabilities and folks who stash self executing viruses on popular websites. I used to get ransonware off of Yahoo occasionally. It was the easy to clean up stuff by killing the application but a couple of times while at work looking for technical info I got nailed by some nasty ones despite our corporate virus checker. Thats why I backed up my PC on separate disk every week and before every trip and backed it up to third external drive every couple of months.

The problem with vulnerable legacy systems is that software can be downloaded into the machine without the owner knowing. That is how a bot army gets built, the hackers just load up a bunch on unsuspecting computers and then dispatch them when they need or want to. That is why the normal fix is figure out where the control servers are and block them so the bot computers never get called. The risk is pretty low if someone only casually uses the computer and turns it off when the are not using it but computers that are one 24/7 unattended like those supporting webcams are perfect for being a bot.

 

[festerw]

Don't be alarmed at the look of Windows 10 when you first see it after upgrading. Its been a while since I've done an upgrade but IIRC the default design better serves touch screens and such and may look daunting.
Its a relatively easy process to reconfigure it to look like Windows 7 with the "start" button, task bar, and such.

That was Windows 8. 10 is kind of a hybrid between 7 and 8.
10 is a lot more user friendly on a PC than 8 was.

 

[semipro]

That was Windows 8. 10 is kind of a hybrid between 7 and 8.
10 is a lot more user friendly on a PC than 8 was.

10 still looks and acts quite differently than 7 but you're correct, I was thinking of the conversion to 8.
I've been using 10 at work and home for years now and really like it.
The jump from 7 to 10 can still be somewhat disorienting so those doing it may want to look into some configuration tricks like those here and elsewhere: https://www.howtogeek.com/277448/how-to-make-windows-10-look-and-act-more-like-windows-7/

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I have a windows 7 machine that I didnt upgrade to Windows 10 several years ago as the early Windows 10 had a reputation of being real buggy. Microsoft offered a free upgrade and threatened that the upgrade would no longer be free after a certain date. I read recently that Microsoft is stopping support of Windows 7 in a few weeks which means it doesnt get any more updates and thus is vulnerable to new hacks. I also read that despite Microsoft saying that the upgrade was no longer free that the process still works. I tried it today on my computer and if went through the upgrade and is now running on Windows 10. I use 10 on my work computer so have gotten use to its quirks.

I obviously backed up the disk and my files before making the upgrade. It took a couple of hours for the upgrade. The only glitch so far is it did not recognize my Office applications so I had to log in to switch them to the new OS.

I did the same thing, for both sets of parents. Worked great.

Google: free windows 10 upgrade

 

[lml999]

I'm an IT professional and most of my stuff at home is Windows 7. I shrug my shoulders, I don't need updates. At work it's a different story, life and death to keep things updated.

If I have personal data, tax information, family photos, etc on a machine at home, I want the latest security. I also run a Cisco Small Business Router behind my cable modem.

 

[Touch0Gray]

A couple of years ago (after win7 was released) my daughter called me and asked how to install drivers in DOS! To date, she still uses DOS, 98, xp, 7, 10, a couple of Mac, Unix, Linux, iPad and several versions of Android at work.

My 7 to 10 upgrade was not without problems, 10 did not contain drivers for either of my video cards. I found ones that worked though, critical because I need multiple high resolution monitors.

 

[zrock]

well interesting maby now we can upgrade our work computers... Some of the features in the new software need win 10 and someone was sleeping on the upgrade button

 

[Dataman]

I build 2 news computers and used my product key from Win 7 Pro for new ones. Works just fine. Old ones I reload Win10 and will give away (7 years old). Some things I like about Win10 and others I don't. But it seems faster loading to Desktop. About 5 seconds with PCIe 4 M2 Drive and 64g ram on Ryzen 7 3800x (3.9g-4.5g). https://www.howtogeek.com/266072/yo...ws-10-for-free-with-a-windows-7-8-or-8.1-key/ Had to enable SMB File Sharing to get the 3 machines in our house to share files. https://appuals.com/fix-cant-see-other-computers-on-network/

 

[zrock]

Man our tech dept does not like to do their job.. Told them yesterday that we can still upgrade our computers and their excuse was some of the locations are still running back as far as xp and they dont want to do the upgrade in fear of complications... I really dont care what other locations are running my computer can be upgraded.... I should not have to go to the one and only computer in the building when i need to bring up a wiring diagram. If our IT department was smart they would upgrade a few computers per location every year and they would never have issues... As it sits a computer takes a dump we are waiting 6 months for a new one. Almost ready to bring my own computer..LOL

 

[Sodbuster]

Man our tech dept does not like to do their job.. Told them yesterday that we can still upgrade our computers and their excuse was some of the locations are still running back as far as xp and they dont want to do the upgrade in fear of complications... I really dont care what other locations are running my computer can be upgraded.... I should not have to go to the one and only computer in the building when i need to bring up a wiring diagram. If our IT department was smart they would upgrade a few computers per location every year and they would never have issues... As it sits a computer takes a dump we are waiting 6 months for a new one. Almost ready to bring my own computer..LOL

Wow how does it take 6 months to get a computer at a company large enough to have an IT department?

 

[zrock]

our IT dept is strange.... he works for us out of our building but also does other businesses at the same time.. Id like to know who wired our network... its a frigging mess.. have about 30 connections coming out of the wall each connected to a coupler going to the equipment with a short cable.. their is equipment that does not need to be their, not labeled, equipment in the ceiling disconnected partly... i just want to get a cable tracer and disconnect everything and start over properly and terminate everything at the wall properly and work my way out... We even pay the local provider for a wireless box for customers when we have our own wireless in the building... Had to get the system running the other day and between our id guy and me on video chat it took us 20 min just to trace wires and figure the equip out..

 

[peakbagger]

Wow how does it take 6 months to get a computer at a company large enough to have an IT department?

You must not have worked for a large company with a surly IT department. In the big organizations I worked for over the years the standard response to any IT request was to try to convince me I didn't need it and then if they could not persuade me to quit the request they put it on a low priority list until I sicked a high enough level manager on them to force them to deal with it.

 

[zrock]

the last company i worked for with a large IT department just gave me all the log in info for what ever i needed after 6 months. it was quicker for me just to fix the issue then call them..LOL

 

[semipro]

You must not have worked for a large company with a surly IT department. In the big organizations I worked for over the years the standard response to any IT request was to try to convince me I didn't need it and then if they could not persuade me to quit the request they put it on a low priority list until I sicked a high enough level manager on them to force them to deal with it.

So true.
I have to admit I'm glad to hear that this happens elsewhere. A round with the IT department can really ding your ego and test your patience.

 

[Sodbuster]

You must not have worked for a large company with a surly IT department. In the big organizations I worked for over the years the standard response to any IT request was to try to convince me I didn't need it and then if they could not persuade me to quit the request they put it on a low priority list until I sicked a high enough level manager on them to force them to deal with it.

You are correct, I worked for a small company <50 employees, and we had an IT guy that we would call and he would come in for major software and hardware upgrades. He was a cracker jack, and pulled our butts out of the fire many times. As GM, if a computer broke, I would simply drive to Best Buy and get one, and he would install and program it the same day.

 

[peakbagger]

Supposedly folks with Aspergers syndrome tend to be attracted to the IT industry. Bill Gates reportedly has a mild case. Take a look a the definitions and see if they apply to the IT folks you interact with

Asperger’s syndrome (AS) is one of a group of neurological disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). AS is considered to be on the mild end of the spectrum. People with AS exhibit three primary symptoms:

• having difficulty with social interaction
• engaging in repetitive behavior
• standing firm on what they think
• focusing on rules and routines

Except for the 2nd bullet is sure looks like an apt description of many IT folks to me