Being a bit of a Luddite and having a strong resistance to change and easily swade by those oracles on tinterweb that didn't like Windows 10 when it came out I doggedly refused to take the free upgrade to 10 from my Windows 7. I bet your in front of me here aren't you. Anyway, those Bastards at Microsoft have stopped supporting 7 and are doggedly refusing free upgrades now and insisting people like me go out and buy a new computer. Experts on consumer programmes are saying "We're all doomed don't use emails dont use internet banking & go out immediately and buy a new computer". So my question is (for the sake of a trusted second opinion from the worldly wise on here) if I'm running F-secure security as part of my internet package AND didn't I hear that Windows 10 has its security problems am I really completely bolloxed if I continue with 7. Thank you in advance. TB
Be interested to know the answer to this too as we have a PC running Windows 7, rarely gets used though. I had read that installing windows 10 still works, and that it just uses the windows 7 licence, but can’t confirm that. I have been trying to find a way of checking whether the licence I already have for 7 would work with 10 before I install it. If not I think I will just run Ubuntu on that PC.
I'm not an expert in this field and there are those on the forum who can give better advice but security updates of the Operating System (OS) are quite important. When an exploit of the OS is developed, the only real defence is a secure tweek of the OS. Your antivirus (AV), firewall and anti-intrusion software will do its best but successful exploits fool your system into believing that the unwanted activity is legitimate system activity. With W7 (perhaps my 2nd favourite OS) you will gradually become more and more vulnerable, depending on whether you are specifically targeted (unlikely but possible) or stumble across a malicious piece of code on a website (more than likely). My advice, if you rely on your PC for anything important, is to upgrade to Win10 rather than risk it with W7. I did this (skipping the horrible W8 and the slightly less horrible W8.1) because I saw how it went with Win XP when it was deposed. I loved XP.
Upgrade to Windows 10, nothing wrong with it really, our tech and install teams have been installing various print work flow software on Windows 10 now for ages and other than the usual small issues from 3rd party software I don't believe we have any issues with it at all. Sticking with Windows 7 is pretty pointless imo, and in Microsofts defence they've been pretty vocal about ending it's support for ages.
The biggest risk with running unsupported software, like W7, is that when a vulnerability is found it’s not patched (repaired). No1 cyber issue is not keeping software up to date. you can just buy (some may still be free) scanning software to help keep you virus free and adopt a behaviour of ‘trust no one ’ for email. Probably enough to keep most hackers at bay. back up regularly (either external drive or use a cloud service), if you use it a lot do it daily, so if the worst happens and you pick something up you can either factory reset or buy new pc and you will have your backups of photos etc.
My issue with W10 is that it’s more touch screen/tablet/phone designed imho. Can’t find anything. but I am a Mac user at home so it’s something a user would get used to
You need to update so that Microsoft, Google and all the other US companies can spy on you. They are competing with Huawei who, the US are telling everyone, wants to spy on you.
Bite the bullet. Move to WIndows 10. It is a very good OS. Windows 7 was a liability at the best of times.
Because of the support issues, I've moved my PC's over to WIN 10. No dramas really, and it is noticeably quicker especially to boot up. It's just change rather than being worse. I did a google and found a link to a Microsoft page that still works for free upgrades. Just create a boot file on a USB stick. All but one of my PC's upgraded successfully, but that wasn't working too well on Win 7 either. I don't fully understand it but it needs a certain amount of space in one of the windows folders to complete. I had to clear out some files on one PC for it to work.
That is good advice , and I recommend Emsisoft Emergency Kit to many folk . Don't be put off by the name .... it's not just for emergency . Just run it once a week or so .... these things are known as On-Demand scanners , or 2nd opinion scanners . Malwarebytes used to be the best bar none , but they got bought out by Avira ... .... and then the same old story . As to old operating systems and security / updates etc , there's a lot of smoke-and-mirrors and plenty of snake-oil on sale . It's interesting that almost every ATM is still running on Windows XP ..... world-wide .... it's a dead-giveaway if you see one boot up .... Also , in a documentary on one of the RN's newly commissioned warships , I spotted XP log-in screens in the background , in various locations . Was it a joke ? .... a spoof to fool our " enemies " ? ..... or simply that XP was indeed running the show ? M$ provide " continued support " , essentially forever , but it's not free and I've never found any info on their prices . Just sayin' .....
Upgrading to 10 just stores problems for the future. I am on Windows 10 and I get this: So my version of Windows 10 is unsupported but I can't update. I think that Microsoft expect me to buy another copy of Windows 10 to start again. So, even if you go to 10, it does not ensure that you will not have problems in the future.
My XP Pro PC had the last security update issued when the NHS got hacked. I have more problems with the actual hardware than the OS. Keeps failing to overclock about every month for some unknown reason, but I can live with that. The W10 PC was an upgrade from 7 or 8 (can't recall which) but because the OS was new to me, I was having a good fiddle around with things and worked out that it didn't seem to be full-blown W10. But I hit one or two settings and suddenly the damn thing was eliminating stuff that came with 7 or 8, and downloading tons of updates which took a few days to complete. It now seems to be proper W10. However, I don't like it at all. I find that it wants to rely solely on Microsoft Security rather than any other security program; in fact it doesn't seem to like anything non-MS added to it.
I upgraded my Windows XP to Linux Mint (Ubuntu) - piss off Microsoft wankers and your bollocks never ending upgrade pish PS. I'm a Luddite
If your in the trade it sounds like a good idea. But for me its like a roadsweeper (me) having a go at open heart surgery learning as you go from an instruction manual in Japaese. TB
It's really not that bad, Linux Mint has a similar feel to windows 7 but you know it's not windows 7 - it's a bit like android or IOS you soon get used to it
