My primary (desktop) computer is still running Windows 7 which is no longer supported by MicroSoft, and I’ve started getting the big, scary alerts about how I need to upgrade or I’m doomed to be the victim of every hacker in the known multiverses. I do have Avast Anti-virus and take precautions such as not clicking on possibly questionable links. Do I really need to upgrade?
I have done some online research and found that it is still possible to upgrade for free (assuming that the website where I got the info is correct) but I’m concerned about whether I’m going to need to re-install stuff like FireFox, Open Office, and all the other programs I use on a regular basis. Obviously, before doing anything I plan on running a full backup, but will W10 be able to restore anything from a W7 backup?
Any info or suggestions would be appreciated. I am familiar with how Windows 10 works, since the laptop I bought last year uses it, and I know that one of the things I’m going to want to do is adjust the privacy settings.
A windows upgrade should not impact your installed programs. If the program is a very old version it might not work with Win 10 but that is not common. Windows 10 should not have a problem with a Win 7 backup.
What kinds of tasks do you do on your computer? Anything super critical or is it mostly for browsing and gaming? If you do critical or important work, it’s more important to upgrade. Not only will Win7 bugs not get patched, but programs will stop delivering patches and updates for Win7. So something like Quickbooks may not get any more updates on Win7. But you’ll likely need to upgrade at some point, so you might as well do it now while that automated online update is available for free.
Win 10 allows restoring of files (though not programs AFAIK) through the Backup and Restore app built in. But since youʻll have a backup (ideally at least two sets) of everything from Win 7, why would you need to restore anything from Win 7 with Backup and Restore? If any program has issues with the Win 10 upgrade (which is irreversible), youʻre best off uninstalling and reinstalling it anyway.
As for the free upgrade, as of this 1/7/20 article, itʻs still available: https://www.howtogeek.com/212768/how-to-restore-windows-7-backups-on-windows-8.1-or-10/ Beware however, if your Win 7 license is Enterprise or OEM, that is preinstalled on your pre-built PC, the upgrade may not work. Youʻll get a message to contact whomever you bought the PC from and theyʻll unlikely offer you an upgrade. I did upgrade my Asus Transformer with OEM Win 8.1, but the install failed on one of my PCs with an OEM Win 7 install.
As for whether you need to upgrade, my personal opinion is a definite yes, if only for personal reasons. As a home user, unless you donʻt practice safe surfing and email, youʻre not likely to be hit by a virus, worm or ransomware. On the the other hand, if you or anyone else is because they didnʻt upgrade to Win 7, thatʻs just one more infected PC that could be used a a zombie to spread viruses, worms, ransomware or Spam email.
As for software not working, the majority of well designed programs that worked on Win 7 will work on Win 10, with or without a version upgrade. If it doesnʻt you can try running it as Administrator or in Compatibility Mode. Knock wood I havenʻt come across a program that doesnʻt work in Win 10 that I couldnʻt find an alternate, often better version.
Historically microsoft has released critical patches for discontinued operating systems, also Win 7 and 8 are not discontinued, they are still supporting them for certain customers, so ongoing efforts still exists to secure them.
I had seen warnings about needing my Win 7 license, which is one of my concerns. My computer is a Lenovo purchased at Staples which had come with Win 7 pre-installed and I’m not sure if I have any paperwork which shows licensing info; I’m trying to dig through my records to see if I can find it. (Of course, I haven’t had any trouble finding documentation for the netbook and tablet which I have recently recycled.)
Also, in the past few days I’ve gotten several update notices, so MicroSoft is apparently still doing something. However, none of them seemed to be security related, which is one of the reasons I’m thinking that I really should do the upgrade.
I don’t know where you got that information, but Microsoft itself says it is ***not ***providing any updates, including security patches, for Windows 7 as of January 14, 2020. Anyone who continues to use Windows 7 is now doing so at their own risk as far as any security issues are concerned.
You should be fine since it’s Lenovo and you got it from Staples. The issue is usually with non-major builders. Somewhere, on the bottom if it’s laptop or on the top or side panel on a desktop, there should be a colorful sticker with your Win 7 key. If you can’t find it, run Magicaljellybean and it will show you the key. It’s a good idea to run it anyway since it will show you the license keys for most of your other programs, some of which you may have forgotten or lost the keys for.
"Some good news: Instead of just being available to large companies with volume licensing agreements, Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESUs) will be available to businesses of any size—even small or mid-size companies.
Microsoft won’t sell you these updates directly, and they’re not available through normal retail channels. According to Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft officials said these ESUs must be purchased “from qualified Cloud Solution Provider partners.” A Microsoft blog post about Windows 7 support invites interested parties to “Please reach out to your partner or Microsoft account team for further details.”
How Much Will Extended Security Updates Cost?
Just because you can buy them doesn’t mean you should. Microsoft doesn’t release the price list publically. Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley has some details, although she believes these prices may be negotiable.
For organizations with Windows 7 Enterprise, updates will cost $25 per device in the first year, $50 per device in the second year, and $100 per device in the third. This is an “add-on” to a Windows volume license agreement.
Organizations with Windows 7 Pro devices will pay $50 per device in the first year, $100 per device in the second, and $200 per device in the third. This doesn’t require a volume licensing agreement.
Microsoft’s documentation states that no minimum purchase is necessary—technically, you could just pay for updates for a single device."
They’re officially not providing security updates, but if a major exploit like what happened in 2014 and 2017 is found, they’ll probably provide a patch for Win 7. However, by the time it gets big enough to warrant a release, you PC may already be compromised.
As I posted above, business with Enterprise and Volume licenses can purchase Extended Security Updates through 2022 and possibly beyond. And I suspect Microsoft may still be offering security updates for specialized embedded WinXP installs in hardware like POS systems. There was an exploit several years ago that could be used to add the updates to home installs.
Bottom line. Just like you WinXP machine, keep your Win7 machine offline or upgrade to Win 8.1 (Win 8 officially is no longer available) or Win 10 which is a major refinement of Win 8.1
I did receive a notice to install KB4532932, described as a “Security and Quality Rollup” on Jan 18, 2020. However, I’m still not going to take any chances and will by upgrading to Win 10 once I’ve verified my Win 7 key using magicaljellybean (Thanks for the tip, lingyl) and made backups of any critical files.
One data point: the other day I got the same warning, and decided to do the free upgrade. This was on a Dell Precision that I think originally came with XP, and had been upgraded to Win 7.
I started the Win 10 upgrade process, let it run, and a few hours later it was all done, with no intervention on my part. No registration key, nothing. And all my programs and data are still there and working perfectly. Probably the easiest OS upgrade I’ve ever done in 40 years of working with computers.
Based on my experience, I’d say that as long as you have a legal copy of Win 7 and no oddball legacy programs or hardware, go ahead and do it ASAP.
Just remembered. Whether doing in upgrade or new install, be sure to carefully read and opt out on anything you don’t want (I opt out on everything)… This includes the infamous gathering of usage data.
There are a several other ‘features’ that I choose to turn off. Go into the settings, right click on the start menu:
Choose Settings and click on Notifications & actions. Disable anything you don’t want (I opt out on all).
Choose Focus assist and choose options there.
Choose Display and choose whether to leave Night Light on. Night Light changes the color temp of your monitor to a warmer (more yellow) setting in the evening to reduce eye strain. When I first installed Win 10, I thought my monitor was broken because of the yellow cast at night. Finally figured it out and turned if off since I don’t have any natural light where I use my PCs so the lighting is always the same.
And… the upgrade worked perfectly. It took about three hours to download, install, and update, but it looks like all my programs survived the transfer. I think I took care of all the privacy features. It did warn me that Home Group no longer worked, but since I never used it I’m not concerned. There was also a mention of something called CCC Portuguese not being supported, and when I clicked on “Learn More” it brought up a MS page which was not in English (and didn’t look like Portuguese either). I also want to check out my backup system, as it looks like I’m only set up to back up files instead of doing a full system backup.
It’s fine that you went ahead with the upgrade, but there remains no more reason to upgrade at this time than before. The first patch Tuesday without Windows 7 patches will be in February, which will be the first point when you will potentially have bugs in Windows 7 that would have been patched in Windows 10. And, even then, it’s nearly always safe to wait at least a month after that.
People present the last patch in January as the point of no return, but it absolutely is not. That time won’t come until later. It’s just that the date is a convenient to remember date, rather than the more nebulous answer.