Still Running Windows 7 ? Time Is Running Out Fast

[Judge]

Microsoft will stop supporting millions of computers running Windows 7 on Tuesday — here's what you need to know

 

[Isadoorian]

And before the Great Panic™ begins, know that it's not the end of the world; as long as you use Common Sense™ 2020 Edition, and not click on any shady links, or visit shady sites, or download shady stuff in general, you'll be fine.

 

[Judge]

And before the Great Panic™ begins, know that it's not the end of the world; as long as you use Common Sense™ 2020 Edition, and not click on any shady links, or visit shady sites, or download shady stuff in general, you'll be fine.

That's what I once thought when I was using Windows XP beyond it's expiration date as well.

Keep in mind there are any number of services one's operating system is running that might be detected, apart from the mere use of a browser alone. File sharing is another service that is quite vulnerable to giving away the operating system in terms of SMB protocol.

Sure Micro$oft wants to corner you into using another one of their operating systems, but the threat of using a discontinued one is very real. Where current published security bug fixes can become a blueprint for hackers to attack earlier operating systems.

No need to panic, but using an operating system with discontinued support under such circumstances can be unnecessarily risky. I barely used my browser in Windows XP other than for updates with other apps and I still got bit. After that I chose to run that computer as a "2002 legacy system" and disconnected it from the Internet altogether. On 1.5GB of RAM it runs great without any anti-virus program to tax system resources.

 

[oregano]

Or you could simply install Linux. I have used Linux Mint for two years, on a 2012 laptop that originally ran 7. I rarely have a problem, and when some malware does try to install itself, all it does is slow the PC to a crawl, so I do a hard reboot. Problem solved. If somebody absolutely needs Windows, have a second PC that is never hooked to the internet. Old laptops are pretty cheap.

 

[Judge]

Yeah if you ran Windows 7 on an older hardware platform, a distro of Linux is your best bet.

I wouldn't recommend attempting to install Windows 10 on an old computer.

Doing what should have been a simple OS update gave me fits because while Windows 7 recognized my network adapter, Windows 10 didn't. Once I replaced the network adapter, the update install went flawlessly.

 

[Rasputin]

Microsoft will stop supporting millions of computers running Windows 7 on Tuesday — here's what you need to know

Linux may be another option for many.

 

[Rasputin]

Or you could simply install Linux. I have used Linux Mint for two years, on a 2012 laptop that originally ran 7. I rarely have a problem, and when some malware does try to install itself, all it does is slow the PC to a crawl, so I do a hard reboot. Problem solved. If somebody absolutely needs Windows, have a second PC that is never hooked to the internet. Old laptops are pretty cheap.

I just suggested this before I saw your post.

 

[UberScout]

Well, Microsoft Anna, it was nice knowing you. Let's pour out some SOI sauce on the concrete for her, huh?

 

[Misery]

Yeah if you ran Windows 7 on an older hardware platform, a distro of Linux is your best bet.

I wouldn't recommend attempting to install Windows 10 on an old computer.

Doing what should have been a simple OS update gave me fits because while Windows 7 recognized my network adapter, Windows 10 didn't. Once I replaced the network adapter, the update install went flawlessly.

Honestly I wouldnt recommend installing Windows 10 on ANYTHING. It's horrible. Worst thing I've ever seen on a PC, period.

I've lost multiple computers to that thing's unstoppable corruption. It's not an operating system: It's a machine that drives ads your way. That it breaks stuff over and over the whole time matters not. MS sure doesnt care.

As it is, I'm going to be losing this laptop next, it seems. It's become almost unusable, it's such a corrupted mess. This despite me rarely installing anything at all... I use this mostly to play some indie games and watch Youtube. But every time Crapdows 10 updates, the thing gets weirder and weirder. I knew it was near the end when one of the recent updates happened, and DURING the update process, it basically gave me a screen that said something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I dont know how to do the one and only thing I exist for. I'm going to spend 20 hours undoing whatever I was doing for the last 5 hours but I'll screw it up halfway through so have fun fixing that. Please buy Microsoft Office, we want money".

I mean, okay, that's not an exact quote, but it may as well be.

LOTS of people have been telling me to get Linux for quite awhile now. At this point, it's pretty obvious why. Any time I recount one of my "Here's how Windows screwed up today" stories, everyone always responds with stories of their own followed by "and that's why I got Linux".

Too bad this stupid laptop seems to be entirely made of hardware that Linux doesnt get along with. Ugh.

Probably just going to get a new one that is built from the ground up to use Linux. Anything to get away from Windows Ad- I mean, Windows 10.


Well, that's for this laptop anyway. My main PC is fine. The only one that's been mostly immune to this crap. Bloody well better be, considering how much it cost.

 

[Major Tom]

I've been a faithful Linux Mint user for a while now. I've had a couple problems with it, but I just make sure to backup all my work, in case I need to reinstall it.

 

[Judge]

Honestly I wouldnt recommend installing Windows 10 on ANYTHING. It's horrible. Worst thing I've ever seen on a PC, period.

Well, I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone download the latest full version of Windows 10, "1909". Which despite an early rollout date continues to be plagued with problems. So far it remains an optional update I chose to pass on for the timed being. -Let others be your beta tester.

Apart from installation issues I posted about, I can't say I've head any serious problems with Windows 10 Pro on a desktop system I built myself. Though I run a lot of RAM- 16 GB. I'm just happy to have figured out how to run some very old software on Windows 10, such as Photoshop 5.5 and Microsoft Office 2000. But I also recognize that this OS seems incredibly touchy about hardware peripherals in general. So many compatibility concerns right off. Something that never seemed to be a problem with Windows 7.

If you haven't done so already, you might also consider downloading a freeware utilities program and use it to fix registry and privacy issues, as well as optimization features. It might help with some of your problems.

 

[oregano]

@Misery, old laptops pop up every so often on Craigslist for cheap. Sometimes you can even get them for FREE! Simply get one and install Linux Mint. There's a company called System76 that makes Ubuntu-specific laptops, but for now they're a niche company so their stuff can be expensive.

Of course, the update system in Win10 can NOT be turned off, so your computer updates whenever the heck it feels like it, then you have to wait a full day or two for the update to download and install, your PC being a paperweight in the interim. For commercial users this means that their entire network can become useless as their boxes enter the Microsoft Twilight Zone. (cue creepy music) The latest thing is for 10 to be burned directly onto ROM soldered to the motherboard, with even the battery soldered in and no access doors, so you have no choice but to use 10 and did I mention that when your battery croaks your computer does too?

All for $1000 (Costco price)! Gee what a deal! Most people can't afford a $500 car repair, yet a new computer costs twice that?

 

[Judge]

Lots of choices when it comes to Linux:

The Best of the Best Linux Distributions of All Time

 

[Misery]

Well, I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone download the latest full version of Windows 10, "1909". Which despite an early rollout date continues to be plagued with problems. So far it remains an optional update I chose to pass on for the timed being. -Let others be your beta tester.

Apart from installation issues I posted about, I can't say I've head any serious problems with Windows 10 Pro on a desktop system I built myself. Though I run a lot of RAM- 16 GB. I'm just happy to have figured out how to run some very old software on Windows 10, such as Photoshop 5.5 and Microsoft Office 2000. But I also recognize that this OS seems incredibly touchy about hardware peripherals in general. So many compatibility concerns right off. Something that never seemed to be a problem with Windows 7.

If you haven't done so already, you might also consider downloading a freeware utilities program and use it to fix registry and privacy issues, as well as optimization features. It might help with some of your problems.

From what I understand, the Pro version has a few advantages over the home version in the "suck a bit less" department.

In Pro for instance, you have some control over the updates. Or so I hear. In the home version.... there's no control. No matter what you do, you cant fully stop them. There arent even any real options in the settings menu. The ONLY thing you can do is click the "not right now, do it a bit later" button when the update thing pops up.... if you get it fast enough, anyway. Do that a couple of times and the next time, that button wont be there. That's literally the extent of the control you have. I even went so far as to look up tools that SPECIFICALLY stop the thing from updating. It took it awhile, but it eventually broke that wall and did it anyway.

That's the real problem with Windows 10: when it's on there, it's not REALLY your computer anymore. It's more like you've rented the thing from Microsoft, complete with all the restrictions that go along with that concept. It's not even an OS really... it's just yet another way to get ads shoved at you in the end.

And you're right, none of that stuff was a problem with 7. I suspect that's exactly why they not only phased it out, but EXTERMINATED it. I tried so freaking hard for months to find a copy of 7 to replace 10 with. They're gone. They're all gone. They were gone almost immediately upon 10's release. MS knew full well that people were going to hate 10, and they knew why. But the "why" gives them more money, so they werent going to let users have a choice anymore.


I'm just glad my main PC doesnt go through this. I have no idea what the guys at the Fry's did when they built it. No bloody clue. I can only assume that there were goat sacrifices under a blood moon. But that thing simply does not experience problems. Though, for $4500, it freaking better not.

@Misery, old laptops pop up every so often on Craigslist for cheap. Sometimes you can even get them for FREE! Simply get one and install Linux Mint. There's a company called System76 that makes Ubuntu-specific laptops, but for now they're a niche company so their stuff can be expensive.

Of course, the update system in Win10 can NOT be turned off, so your computer updates whenever the heck it feels like it, then you have to wait a full day or two for the update to download and install, your PC being a paperweight in the interim. For commercial users this means that their entire network can become useless as their boxes enter the Microsoft Twilight Zone. (cue creepy music) The latest thing is for 10 to be burned directly onto ROM soldered to the motherboard, with even the battery soldered in and no access doors, so you have no choice but to use 10 and did I mention that when your battery croaks your computer does too?

All for $1000 (Costco price)! Gee what a deal! Most people can't afford a $500 car repair, yet a new computer costs twice that?

Feh, I dont actually care about the price. I'll find a new one that doesnt suck and grab it. Just gotta do some researching first.

Also it needs an SSD. This laptop does not have one and it drives me crazy.

I'll have a look at this System76 place. Sounds like a good start.


Also that battery thing sounds terrible. Stuff like that should be illegal.

 

[Judge]

Also it needs an SSD. This laptop does not have one and it drives me crazy.

Indeed. I also run a 500 GB Samsung SSD. Fast-fast-fast. The thing though that spooks me the most about Windows 10 is how blatantly picky it is with hardware devices of all kinds. When I found out my faithful network adapter was simply not on Microsoft's list of compatible devices. Forcing me to buy a new one just to install the OS! In the end I had to do a lot of research on my hardware platform to ensure that I could run Windows 10 without any more problems. Maybe I just got lucky.

I'm just glad my main PC doesnt go through this. I have no idea what the guys at the Fry's did when they built it. No bloody clue. I can only assume that there were goat sacrifices under a blood moon. But that thing simply does not experience problems. Though, for $4500, it freaking better not.

Another reason to contain this OS to a desktop system where you can adapt the hardware you need to make it all run optimally, rather than suffer with a laptop that may not have entirely compatible devices, right down to motherboard components. If you have compatible hardware, you're probably "in like Flynn" when it comes to Windows 10. And if not, you're probably SOL.

Unfortunately though with Microsoft, there is a symbiotic relationship between them and hardware/software manufacturers. Everyone wants you to upgrade whether it's necessary or not. Even if it ain't broke, they find a way to make you replace it anyways. They win, we lose.

And with Apple, you pay a premium up front for much of anything with their brand name on it. Small wonder Linux is catching on, an OS that doesn't take a robust hardware platform to run nominally.

 

[SolarPoweredNightOwl]

PSA for Windows 10 sufferers: DO NOT opt in to early updates. I'd say that doing so makes you a free beta tester for Microsoft, but calling them beta releases is being generous. One of their "updates" straight up disappeared peoples' files.

I could fill pages with my hatred for pretty much every Microsoft "operating" system after XP, but suffice it to say I'm going with Linux from here on out.

 

[Judge]

PSA for Windows 10 sufferers: DO NOT opt in to early updates. I'd say that doing so makes you a free beta tester for Microsoft, but calling them beta releases is being generous.

Yeah.

Bugs continue to haunt Win10 version 1909

 

[WildCat]

Personally, I haven't had much of a problem with Windows 10. With a few tweaks (OpenShell for example) and Common Sense™ I find it very much usable. People seem to hate Windows 10 for many reasons, but support running dry for a previous version of Windows and all that comes with that should be taken into consideration.

Linux distros are always a good alternative for those who aren't into PC gaming or anything Windows and are more user-friendly than ever before, so there's also that option.

 

[Mary Terry]

This is off-topic, but can anyone explain why my laptop runs much faster and efficiently while I'm in Mexico than in the US? Does it have something to do with cookies? Fewer ads pop up when I'm there.

Similar question about my I-phone. In the US, I have to charge the danged thing about every 48 hours. In Mexico, I have to recharge about every 4 or 5 days. And I use my phone a lot as a camera while in Mexico which I would think would use up battery supply.

 

[Judge]

Personally, I haven't had much of a problem with Windows 10. With a few tweaks (OpenShell for example) and Common Sense™ I find it very much usable. People seem to hate Windows 10 for many reasons, but support running dry for a previous version of Windows and all that comes with that should be taken into consideration.

Linux distros are always a good alternative for those who aren't into PC gaming or anything Windows and are more user-friendly than ever before, so there's also that option.

Yeah, I also use Open Shell with Windows 10. And similar software with earlier versions of Windows. Personally I've always thought navigation concerns going all the way back to Windows XP sucked. I like the idea of having totally customized dropdown menus that allow me instant access anywhere on my drive on my terms and not the OS manufacturer.

I think I even posted about this application here some time ago, with a picture to explain what Open Shell can do. My Windows 10 also runs quite well. Though hopefully version "1909" will remain an option that I can choose not to install for some time.