Who’s Still Using Win 7?

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Good morning! Well, it’s been 7 months since the Win 7 EOL, and I was wondering who may still be using it – and how?

I am, unfortunately – and would be interested in hearing how others may be faring, and any special tweaks anyone has discovered to keep it running smoothly.

My specs – I have Win 7 Home, no extended updates from MS. I have Malwarebytes Anti Exploit, 0Patch, ESET antivirus running, and keep my Firefox up to date. I run backups using Macrium each week, and regular restore points. I am very careful about browsing – no banking sites, etc. I don’t download anything and haven’t added any software in quite some time – well before the EOL. We do have a Win 10 laptop for more sensitive things – but for my everyday use, this Win 7 is what I use.

I know this is only a marginally “safe” set-up – and I have gotten a lot of good advice from many here at AW on alternatives – which I am looking into, but, given the state of the world, for the time being this is going to be the system I’ll be using. Since January, I had been using Linux Mint with this laptop in a full install on a USB SSD, but that got wonky and I can’t use it now. I have been reluctant to dual boot, so for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been judiciously back to Win 7.

So – I guess, if anyone else is also still using Win 7, and would like to post here, I’m sure there are some who may be interested in what might be working, and what else can be done to keep a Win 7 system working a bit longer.

I appreciate anyone’s thoughts and ideas. I do know that this isn’t going to be a tenable set-up for long, but hoped to keep things working for at least another few months till I can decide on an alternative.

Thanks!

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LHiggins wrote:

I’m sure there are some who may be interested in what might be working, and what else can be done to keep a Win 7 system working a bit longer.

You may be interested in reading :
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/keep-running-windows-7-safely-for-years-to-come/

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Lars220, Cybertooth, WSlitehorse, LHiggins

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Hi Alex5723!

Thanks! I have read that, and use it as a reference from time to time, but haven’t checked there lately. I will and thanks!

Also wanted to add that I have uBlock Origin running as well.

Thanks again!

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I use Win7Pro, have been since perhaps 2014, I have it on a spare HP unit I keep for experiments.  I recently downgraded my wife’s Acer Laptop E15 from the very sluggish Win 10 it came with, back to Win7Pro and the improvement in performance is staggering, even though that hardware supposedly doesn’t support Win7…there were several error messages to this effect as I downloaded all the upgrades and patches since my original CD was released.  I put a halt to the upgrades, the error messages are gone and the laptop seems to run correctly and  way better than before and my wife can actually do work on it now.

As for me, I’m not a fan of cloud computing at all.  I like to be able to install the program on my unit from a CD/DVD or even a downloaded zip file. I like the data to live on my unit.  I know how to make regular backups.  And a big plus: Win7 runs some of the legacy programs that I depend on, like Quicken, for example.  I also have an older but perfectly serviceable version of MS Office on all units and it doesn’t need internet to work, data is stored locally and I fail to see the advantages of moving to Win10, considering the hit to performance and the never-ending expense.  While I have occasionally and inadvertently downloaded some c*** program that took a while to strip out, I’ve never had a hacker break into my net (we use a router and firewall), all units have either Avast or Kaspersky AntiVirus protection, as well as Windows Defender, and we scan frequently with CCLeaner, MalwareBytes and Sophos VirusRemoval, and so far, no one has been hacked or crippled. We also recognize well-known scam styles and obvious fishing attempts….don’t need special software to spot many of those.

I had my own computer consultancy in San Francisco for almost 25 years, and one of the things I’d frequently tell clients is “don’t upgrade yourself into oblivion.” And that’s the direction I smelled starting in Windows 8 and going forward.  You don’t ‘own’ your software, you rent it continuously….never get done paying. All your data is stored at some place that you have no idea where it is or how well it is protected, and your data nevertheless could get swiped from within by some disgruntled employee.  Or if your internet is down that day, no data, go back to bed.  Nope, not for me. It may make sense sales-wise, but from an engineering standpoint, which is where I stand, it makes no sense.

Win7Pro, I5 CPU, 8Gb RAM, SSD boot drive, external 4Tb SSD storage

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Ulti P. Uszer, Stephen Henry, Cybertooth

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I agree with you regarding Windows 7.  I keep putting off upgrading to Windows 10.  What is an alternative if I want to run a program (TurboTax 2020) that will only run on Windows 10 (or Windows 8.1)?

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Do they have an online version?
My Tax s/w has the choice to either download/install the program, or do the equivalent online without installation on the PC.

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They do.  However, having used the desktop for years I was not really sure about how secure my personal information would be online – SS#’s , etc.  Do you use the online version?  If so, what assurance do you have your information is secure?

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I e-file through the Tax software website every year since 2004, but I have been downloading the program (more expensive) on Win7/8.1.

HOWEVER, I have now gone to Macs (since 2011) and they don’t have a Mac version to download. As soon as Win8.1 (my main driver for personal stuff) is EOL, I will switch to online.
Win10 runs in Parallels VMs on my Macs. I keep up with it for support (here on AskWoody).

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When you use the software online do you know if your personal information is retained online or on your computer?  If not, is any additional security necessary?

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I have never had any problems with the security.

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Search for “security breach NAME_OF_SOFTWARE” to see how they have performed.

cheers, Paul

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I am still on Windows 7 and use OPatch rather than ESU. Have never had an issue. As far as Turbotax is concerned, I replaced that software years ago with HRBlock and never looked back. HRBlock does everything Turbotax does and works great on Win7.

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Hello @lhiggins,

I still use Windows 7 on 2 laptops, although in our house we mainly use Linux Mint 19.2 (1 on an older desktop, 1 on a laptop in dual boot with Windows 7, and a third on another laptop in dual boot with Windows 10) for most everyday surfing, shopping, etc. I keep some ongoing household records in “legacy” spreadsheets in Windows 7 and find it easier to continue using Excel for those; LibreOffice Calc is fine, but sometimes the spacing is different, or it prints funny, or I’m not able to find a font I like etc. It’s just easier for me to keep using MS Office 2013, and I also like to use Windows 7 for my photo storage, and as with the Office documents, that is something I can do offline.

There are occasional times that I do go online with Windows 7, though, and for that I am using 0patch Pro on both laptops. Thank you for your work exploring and sharing info about that application before the Win7 EOS! On one laptop I use Kaspersky Internet Security and Malwarebytes (old version) and on the other I use Bitdefender free and Malwarebytes free and keep the browsers up to date. Like you, I make regular image backups with Macrium Reflect, as well as frequent separate data backups.

I will mention one other thing that you might have already considered but rejected. On the laptop that has Windows 7 Home Premium, I decided to try abbodi86’s standalone installer script to install the ESU patches, and that has worked well. I hesitated at first for ethical reasons, but finally justified it to myself on the basis that MS doesn’t offer an ESU license for Home Premium licenses. It’s also hard to feel that I’m taking advantage of Microsoft after all their heavy-handed disregard for Windows 7 consumers and just plain careless disregard for quality assurance in the past several years. So I just wanted to mention that as a possible option since using the script has not been difficult and in fact feels easier than relying on Windows Update, once you get things set up.

It’s a shame that Linux didn’t work out for you. I know you’ve discussed your reluctance to try dual-boot before, but I’ll just throw in my experience FWIW. When I first tried dual boot, like you I tried it first on an older laptop and went on from there. Beginning with that one, I used Macrium Reflect to clone Windows to a new hard drive or SSD first – usually a larger one, but using Macrium it’s also easy to resize the Windows partition if needed – and replaced the old internal drive with the new one. I booted up the computers with their new drives and then installed Linux Mint using the “install alongside Windows” option in the installer. (You can also just make an image first, then switch out the internal drives, and then restore the image to the new drive before installing Mint.) That has worked perfectly on all 4 Dell computers I tried it on. They just booted up and ran. And in addition to image backups, I had the actual old internal drive that I could put back in if something went wrong.

I am not a technically advanced user, but I am retired so I have a lot of time to explore topics. There’s a lot of good, detailed information online and helpful YouTube videos about replacing hard drives or SSDs. I seem to recall you’ve added or replaced memory in one of your laptops, so if you’ve done that, it’s not so very different to switch out the internal drive. Just something to think about in case it helps.

This probably goes beyond what you actually wanted, but hopefully it’s still in the spirit of your post.

Linux Mint Cinnamon 21.1
Group A:
Win 10 Pro x64 v22H2 Ivy Bridge, dual boot with Linux
Win l0 Pro x64 v22H2 Haswell, dual boot with Linux
Win7 Pro x64 SP1 Haswell, 0patch Pro, dual boot with Linux,offline
Win7 Home Premium x64 SP1 Ivy Bridge, 0patch Pro,offline

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[LHiggins]

Hi jburk07 and thanks for the reply! It was just what I was looking for. I wanted to see how users were handling Win 7 now that the EOL has gone by – and how many were not experiencing the “hair on fire” types of scenarios. It sounds like many of the measures we’ve all put in place are working, and making Win 7 still viable, if one uses one’s head!

I really hadn’t given abbodi86’s standalone installer script much thought – but I will take another look at what is involved.

I, too, am very sorry that Linux didn’t work out – it was working perfectly for several months, and then it developed some issue with the suspend command, and would not ever suspend. I did try a number of things as suggested here and in the Linux Mint forums, but none resolved the issue. And I really can’t have it running all of the time – that suspend was a deal breaker for me, unfortunately.

jburk07 wrote:

I am not a technically advanced user, but I am retired so I have a lot of time to explore topics.

Sounds like me – LOL! Sometimes I think that they playing around gets me into trouble, but I am willing to try things for sure!

Thanks for the reply – I’ll post back after I’ve had a chance to review abbodi86’s standalone installer script.

Have a great day!

 

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by LHiggins.

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jburk07

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Good suggestion.  I need the Self Employed Version ($104.99).  Not sure how that compares to TurboTax.  Was it easy to transfer from TurboTax to H&R Block?

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I’m still happily using my main Windows 7 system. I’ve adopted most of the security measures listed in the first topic down in my signature line here.

For this machine (I’m typing on it right now), I bought a 0patch Pro subscription and it’s worked out well. No muss, no fuss. I use @abbodi86’s standalone installer script on another machine and that has worked out well too, but keeping up with the never-ending twists and turns in the enormous thread dedicated to it here at Woody’s is a big, laziness-inducing drag and I’m not sure how much longer I can keep it up. The ESU script concept would benefit from having a single Knowledge Base-style sticky that were regularly updated with the needed downloads and most current instructions so that readers wouldn’t have to wade through hundreds of posts. So, 0patch it is for my main Windows 7 system.

I’m using the ZoneAlarm Free Firewall and I have to say that I love it that it asks every time a new program tries to access the Internet. That way, I can be a more active part of the PC’s defense-in-depth beyond simply avoiding dubious-looking downloads and sites.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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I still use Win 7 but not as much and I’m careful where I go when I’m online with it.  I use the standard Firefox and keep it up to date, and I have the uBlock Origin Add-on installed on it.  UBlock Origin does more than just block ads anymore.  I use Malwarebytes Free (old version) Anti-Malware, Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit, AVG Free Antivirus, and CCleaner (old version) that have used since 2012 without any problems.  I have MS Internet Explorer 11 locked down tight and don’t use it anymore except in rare cases.

I got rid of Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe Flash Player which were security risks and I hated what they did in the DC version of the reader.  I’ve used Firefox to read PDF files for some time now and it does a great job of reading and has all the features I need.  I have MS Office 2010 which MS will stop supporting this Oct., so I’ll be replacing it with LibreOffice.

I have a second 1.5 TB “backup hard drive” mounted inside the computer that I keep up to date at least once a month and give it a little exercise at that time.  It gets disconnected all the rest of the time so there’s no chance of it getting hit by something nasty.  I consider this my ace in the hole, but I still do a full backup of the drive to 1 TB WD My Passport Ultra external USB hard drive.

In addition, I have an older Sony VAIO laptop that’s in great shape and I put Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon onto a new Samsung 860 EVO, 250 GB Solid State Drive which is super quick.  Boot up time from totally off is no more than 20 seconds, and this is the computer I use mainly.  I’ve gotten familiar with Linux Mint and find it to be quite pleasing to use.  I got myself a book on Linux with all commands and things I need to know.

So, that’s pretty much it.  I love Windows 7 and am appalled by Windows 10 and all the headaches that still go with it even after five years.  It looks like Linux will eventually be the only OS I use to go online with as all support for Win 7 fades away.  Good luck!

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Caribconsult, Microfix, LHiggins, Cybertooth, Myst, jburk07

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I take care of 3 computers with Win 7. Two are dual boot with Mint 19.2 and one is stand alone (single boot). On all 3 I keep MSE updated and 2 browsers, Opera and Firefox. The stand alone has Office 2010 which I keep updated, also. These updates are the only reason they go online. They are truly last resort machines (the Win 7 part on the dual boots). One is a test machine, the other is on my daily driver dual boot Mint 19.2. The stand alone is used for it’s Office 2010 and some games.

I thought I would miss Win 7 but I don’t at all. I use Mint 19.2 and some macOS. Primarily because of Mint I will never use a Windows product again if I can possibly avoid them. They are just not worth the time, trouble, stress, etc. especially with the Mint and macOS alternatives.

You’re probably tired of hearing this, but I think installing Mint as a dual boot is the way to go. I’ve done standard dual boot with Mint and Win 7 3 times, with Ubuntu 2 times and single boot at lest 5 times with Mint and a couple more with Ubuntu (yeah, that’s more computers than mentioned above, but they belong to other people). These have all been very standard installations – no messing with partitions, etc. which is way beyond my pay grade! They’ve all worked essentially flawlessly.

Regarding running off a USB drive, I thought that sounded appealing, especially for travel. I’ve tried running Mint from a USB flash drive a couple times, and each time after about 10 to 20 boots they went wonky. I don’t know why.

And for a little context where I’m coming from, I’m a non-techie, who up until about 4 years ago never paid much attention to patches/updates, etc. When I walked in one day and saw the stand alone machine mentioned above busily installing Win 10 without my permission, I figured I needed to start paying attention, and any and all trust I might have for Microsoft flew out the door. I’ve learned everything on my own, basically out of what I saw as necessity.

Hope this helps, and good luck in the computer wars!

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DrBonzo wrote:

You’re probably tired of hearing this, but I think installing Mint as a dual boot is the way to go. I’ve done standard dual boot with Mint and Win 7 3 times, with Ubuntu 2 times and single boot at lest 5 times with Mint and a couple more with Ubuntu (yeah, that’s more computers than mentioned above, but they belong to other people). These have all been very standard installations – no messing with partitions, etc. which is way beyond my pay grade! They’ve all worked essentially flawlessly.

Not tired – LOL – just very cautious. I’ve told the story here on several occasions – and I guess it still is within the realm of possibility. I loved using Mint and still would like to, and have even been casting about for an older refurbished laptop that could be used for Mint exclusively, but so far really haven’t come up with anything.

I guess making a complete backup and then trying it could work – just haven’t been brave enough to actually do it yet!

DrBonzo wrote:

Regarding running off a USB drive, I thought that sounded appealing, especially for travel. I’ve tried running Mint from a USB flash drive a couple times, and each time after about 10 to 20 boots they went wonky. I don’t know why.

Indeed – I thought it was a great solution, and running it from a SSD drive seemed to be a good idea, and it was for some time. I still can’t quite suss out what happened – everything else runs fine, but that darned suspend issue which I can’t track down no matter what I’ve tried – rolling back updates, kernels, upgrading from Mint 19.1 to 19.2 – none of that worked, unfortunately.

Thanks for the input and reply!!

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DrBonzo

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DrBonzo: “I thought I would miss Win 7 but I don’t at all. I use Mint 19.2 and some macOS. Primarily because of Mint I will never use a Windows product again if I can possibly avoid them. They are just not worth the time, trouble, stress, etc. especially with the Mint and macOS alternatives.”

That describes almost word by word my current position and practice. I wrote “almost“, because I still need to use Office, with Word, Excel and PowerPoint in particular (never used Outlook: don’t like it &don’t need it). I have Office 2010 in the PC, soon to go past EOL, and Office for Macs 2016 in the Mac, unlike the version for Windows, also about to go out of support on the same day as Office 2010, the 13th of October.

From what I have read about Office 2019, I am inclined to keep Office 2016 unpatched after October 13th, and ignore 2019 altogether. Which brings up the question: Is there a way to be able to continue using safely the unpatched Office 16 for the Mac?

I am not worried about Office 2010, because Windows in the PC is no longer to be connected to the Internet, only Mint, in dual-boot there, is supposed to be. But unpatched Office 2016 in my Mac, which I need to connect to the Web, could make the Mac vulnerable to Web-delivered malware. For example, I do some of my research by looking for relevant articles and other publications on the Web and frequently what I find are PPT files with the slides of presentations.

As these PPT slides are displayed on-screen before downloading, I can look and see if they are relevant to my work or not. Those making the presentations are from reputable organizations, presumably with good internet security, but the conference Web sites where they are made available could be a different story. Hence my question.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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DrBonzo, Microfix, LHiggins, jburk07

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I have been using Office 2016 on my Mac without updates since April 2018. I have had no problems.

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Myst, DrBonzo, jburk07, OscarCP

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I’m afraid we may be drifting off-topic, but I don’t know the answer to your specific question. I can say, however, that I’ve been able to open and view any number of PPT files using Libre Office in Mint 19.2.

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DrBonzo, Drifting, indeed: barely on the topic of who is still using Windows 7 (and what for). It might be an idea to start a new thread on this topic, unless there is an old one that is already on it. Is there one?

As to our advice: I have experimented with LibreOffice for Macs in my MacBook Pro and found it awkward to write slides with equations in them, something easy to do using the equations editor with PPT both in Office 2010 (Windows 7 PC) and 2016 (Mac). Same is true of Word vs. its LibreOffice counterpart. I’ve heard some time ago that the equations/Symbols feature in Office has been deprecated, because it has security issues. But, if that is still true, then, as a matter of fact, I prefer to live dangerously when doing so is significantly more effective than the alternatives. That’s how I am and it is incurable.

That said, when I have some time to spare, I’ll return to experimenting with LibreOffice in my Mac as well as in the PC while running Linux Mint.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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DrBonzo

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I’ve followed Cybertooth on Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come, as well as several posts by Canadian Tech. Most of my online travels and actions run on other devices that are updated regularly, those being iPad and Chromebook. I’ve tightened up the Win7 with the max in security features as noted by Cybertooth and Canadian Tech. But it’s basically a workhorse for various photography projects and some design work. Running a good AV is important, and avoiding IE altogether, I don’t have Adobe Flash or Adobe Reader. Have an Admn account plus a Standard user account and if I want to make changes to the system, I’m prompted to log in with a strong password for admin rights. I’ve stopped updating Office 2010 as of July, since I don’t use it much or hardly at all. The Win7 PC is running great for the type of use it gets.

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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Malware loves to feast on users with administrative rights on their machine. Be sure your daily use account is a ‘standard user account’ (a.k.a. limited user).

If not, create a new administrator-level account (or two), and only use them for updating software and making system changes.  Convert your current main account to a standard user account.

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TaskForce141 wrote:

Malware loves to feast on users with administrative rights on their machine. Be sure your daily use account is a ‘standard user account’ (a.k.a. limited user).

If not, create a new administrator-level account (or two), and only use them for updating software and making system changes.  Convert your current main account to a standard user account.

It looks like this may be one area of weakness in my set-up – as I only have an admin account and have been using that since I first set this laptop up years ago.

I have given changing to a standard account some thought over the years, but never did make the move. I have always been concerned about the amount of “stuff” I now have in my current admin account and how changing that to standard would affect things. Back in 2018, I had posted this in a discussion, and I guess the same questions still hold:

So – my question – if I now decided to correct this situation with a standard account – what would happen to my files that are currently in the (one and only) admin account? Would I be able to access those in the standard account? And what things are “universal” if any – programs, settings, email – and are available in any account that is set up?

With that in mind, would this process possibly work and preserve my access to all that is now stored on this computer:

1. Create a second admin account.

2. Then change the current admin account to standard.

3. Leave the new admin account for admin tasks.

Would that then allow everything to remain and be visible in the “new” standard account, and I could just use the admin account when I need to.

Do those steps sound about right? Or would I need to actually copy everything over into a new standard account? I guess my fear is losing access to what I now have.

Thanks for the suggestion – I know this is probably something that I should have done long ago!

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LHiggins wrote:

So – my question – if I now decided to correct this situation with a standard account – what would happen to my files that are currently in the (one and only) admin account? Would I be able to access those in the standard account? And what things are “universal” if any – programs, settings, email – and are available in any account that is set up?

You don’t need to copy anything, both accounts pretty much run parallel with each other. That meaning any programs such as AV and all other apps/services you have on the PC will be updated in unison. You will have access to all your files and software for the main account (standard) and when you need to make system changes such as in the registry or when performing a system image backup, you will be prompted to sign in with your admin account.

Basically you will be using your standard account as a main thoroughfare and will only need to sign in for admin rights to make major system changes, a few as noted above. You have the correct format listed for setting up a standard user account. By doing the latter you’ve added a secure base for your Win7 device. You’re good to go.

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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Thanks so much! I guess the only way to actually see what is going to happen is to try it a bit. If I create a new admin account (or 2) and a new standard account, can I then play around with those to see if I can switch one new admin to standard? And will each admin account be able to do the same thing as the one I have now?

Also – is there a way to create a common folder that can somehow be seen and accessed no matter which account I am using?

The first thing I guess I should do is to set a password for the current admin account since I never did that since I’ll be creating other accounts that will need passwords as well.

I know this is probably also drifting a bit off topic, but I appreciate the information and help.

Thanks again!

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Under C:\Users there is Public.
That folder is shared by any user on the PC.
DO NOT delete the contents of the Desktop folder under Public.

An Admin account can access the folders of other accounts.
If you want to have an account’s current data under another account remember this rule:
+ If you Copy/Paste data, the files/folders take on the permissions of the destination.
+ If you move (cut/Paste or drag/drop) data on the same drive (C:) the files/folders retain the permissions of the origin.

In plain talk, if you copy/paste files/folders to another User account, they will belong to the destination User.
If you cut/paste or drag/drop files/folders to another User account, they will still belong to you and the destination User will not be able to access/change them.
For the Public Folder, you need to copy/paste if you want the files/folders to be shared.

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Thanks!! Yes, I see it, and I will be careful not to delete anything. I’m really not anticipating doing much deleting, but nice to know that there is a common folder so I can copy/paste things that I would want to share between users.

I know you had DM’d me on this quite a while back – I’ll take a look at that as well, and post back if I have questions once I get this organized. I think that was what had tripped me up last time ’round – needing to “organize” things so I’d know what was where.

Thanks again!

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[Alex5723]

We still have at home Windows 7 laptop which is in heavy use all day, every day.
After forced to update stealthy to Windows 10 about 5 years ago and reverted immediately back to Windows 7, updates were blocked since then.
The laptop is running only Kaspersky A/V, had no viruses, crashes, printers not working, telemetry…or any other Microsoft interferences. Solid as a rock.

On the other hand, my brother which has no knowledge in PCs (hardware/software) runs a Windows 7 desktop just for mail, YouTube, browsing, local games..
I installed Kaspersky free A/V, subscribed his Windows 7 to 0Patch Pro (automatic updates with no user actions needed and no sudden restarts). I also installed ‘block windows 10’ app.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Alex5723.

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Alex5723 wrote:

On the other hand, my brother which has no knowledge in PCs (hardware/software) runs a Windows 7 desktop just for mail, YouTube, browsing, local games.. I installed Kaspersky free A/V, subscribed his Windows 7 to 0Patch Pro (automatic updates with no user actions needed and no sudden restarts). I also installed ‘block windows 10’ app.

That is really good to hear – since that is basically what I am doing, and what I am using to try to keep things “safe”. I’ve found 0Patch Pro works well, and is far less stressful than MS updates, for sure!

Thanks!

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I’m still using Windows 7 on my main machine. It gets patched monthly with the ESU updates and I’m obviously careful online with it. It does also have Win 10 dual-booting from another partition, however I massively prefer Win 7 over Win 10, so will continue to use it as long as the ESU updates work and all my main bits of software support it.

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I run Win7 for my cable television solution using Windows Media Center which MSFT has discontinued.  This PC is not used for any other purpose other than streaming Amazon Prime and Netflix.  I still use Security Essentials for antivirus checking as it is still supported.  I plan to keep this in service until it breaks down.

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I still run Windows 7 on 4 PCs and 2 laptops for my family. I also have 2 on 8.1. and 1 old laptop on XP(Yes, 6 computers total and 3 laptops). Also have and maintain linux Mint 19.3 on 2 of the Win 7’s.  I have a couple HDs with Win 10 but don’t use them. I don’t like Win 10 at all as I’ve had to reinstall it at least 3 times, once on 1 HD and twice on another.

I have been building/running computers since the early 80’s and have used all the various Windows programs since PC/MSDOS. Actually used CPM before that and my first programmable computer was a Commodore 64 .

I use Opatch  and various free antivirus programs(mostly Avast).  Can’t get on the internet much since I retired and live out in the sticks. Used to have DSL ’till AT&T took it down and now use my phone for connection so downloads are a problem.

 

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Thanks everyone for your great input on how you are finding Win 7 now. I am glad to hear that there haven’t been any horror stories! It does seem that everyone is using many of the same, or similar, safety measures – and those seem to be working.

I am going to look more into the standard vs admin accounts, since that may still be an area of weakness.

Thanks to all – I will read back through and post any additional thoughts, but what everyone has posted now is very reassuring!

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Myst

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And a little more on 0Patch…

jburk07 wrote:

There are occasional times that I do go online with Windows 7, though, and for that I am using 0patch Pro on both laptops. Thank you for your work exploring and sharing info about that application before the Win7 EOS!

Thanks for remembering – LOL! It seemed like a very good option at the time, and they were more than helpful in getting it all set up!

jburk07 wrote:

I decided to try abbodi86’s standalone installer script to install the ESU patches, and that has worked well.

A question then – do you run both 0Patch and the MS patches on the same computer? How does that work out?

Cybertooth wrote:

For this machine (I’m typing on it right now), I bought a 0patch Pro subscription and it’s worked out well. No muss, no fuss.

I agree – 0Patch has been very easy – and it sure does beat the monthly anxiety of the Windows Updates! My husband uses the Win 10 laptop, but I do the updates, and it drives me crazy getting the right ones, and watching it to make sure nothing is happening to it! I was very glad to only have that anxiety on one machine – though if the ESU patches aren’t as fraught, that may also be something to look more into.

Charlie wrote:

I love Windows 7 and am appalled by Windows 10 and all the headaches that still go with it even after five years. It looks like Linux will eventually be the only OS I use to go online with as all support for Win 7 fades away. Good luck!

That about sums it up – LOL! Thanks!! I have not given up on finding a solution to getting Linux running, but in the meanwhile, I’m happy with Win 7 and as you said – pretty “appalled” by Win 10!

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Running an isolated Win7 x86 Pro with CorelDraw X Suite and AutoCAD runs fluid as ever without MS intervention (last update Jan 2020 and imaged at the date of last MS patch) Still update MSE only, no IE11 connections or 3rd party browser, lots of firewall rulesets, minimal telemetry. Bare minimum OS with file transfers via USB flashdrive for emailing on another device.

Also have Win7 x64 Pro w/ ESU with MSE that is used for SWMBO itunes, music, photos etc..and my music studio software for external midi hardware.

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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[Charlie]

I’m a little surprised that we didn’t hear from Canadian Tech.  This one post #1944946 of his really had a lot of surprising things to say.  If I may, here is the post (2nd one down):

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/considerations-migrating-from-win7-to-win10/#post-1944946

 

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Charlie.

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[OscarCP]

Most of Canadian Tech’s advice is to do things I have done myself:

1. Switch to the Chrome browser       [My default is Waterfox; also have Chrome, FF]
2. Install the free VLC media player  [NA]
3. Stop using Internet Explorer          [Yes]
4. Uninstall Adobe Flash Player         [Yes]
5. Uninstall Adobe Reader                  [Yes]
6. Uninstall Java                                   [No; disabled it as I may need to use it occasionally]
7. Install a top-rated antivirus (AV) product (I do not recommend “security” products) [Yes]

Do backups regularly                           [Yes]
9. Consider re-installing Windows and create an image copy of the installation    [No]
10. If your hard drive is over 5 years old, consider replacing it (under $100) before you re-install   [NA]
11. When your system no longer functions, buy a new one. [Agree]

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by OscarCP.

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I find it very intriguing that CT has not updated his 123 computers since 2017, and has not had any problems.  I myself used Windows XP well past its EOS until the end of 2012 when I got a new computer with Win 7.  I never had any problems with XP.  With Win 7, it had gotten to the point where I actually was more afraid of MS’s updates that getting attacked.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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LHiggins wrote:

A question then – do you run both 0Patch and the MS patches on the same computer? How does that work out?

Yes, I do have 0Patch running on the same computer with the MS ESU patches. I haven’t had any conflicts or problems with that setup.

I think I remember reading that 0Patch doesn’t apply its fix for a vulnerability if Microsoft has patched the problem. In one case earlier this year, I don’t recall which vulnerability it was, 0Patch used a different approach than MS did, so they might both be applied. At any rate, I’m glad they both work (so far, at least).

Linux Mint Cinnamon 21.1
Group A:
Win 10 Pro x64 v22H2 Ivy Bridge, dual boot with Linux
Win l0 Pro x64 v22H2 Haswell, dual boot with Linux
Win7 Pro x64 SP1 Haswell, 0patch Pro, dual boot with Linux,offline
Win7 Home Premium x64 SP1 Ivy Bridge, 0patch Pro,offline

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LHiggins

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[Seff]

I have 2 home desktop PCs, and upgraded one to Win10 version 1909 in February without any issues. I was planning on upgrading the other one (which is only used a few times per week and not for any financial/shopping purposes) after a trial of Win10 on the first machine. However, it’s now version 2004 by default on the upgrade and while there are ways round that I’m inclined to give 0patch Pro a try on the second machine instead. First, however, a couple of quick questions to those already using it, if I may:-

First, I have Office 2010 installed, is it advisable to continue with the MS patches for that, or is it best to switch Windows Updates to “Never check” and rely on 0patch instead? If I remember rightly, Office 2010 is only a month off EOL anyway, but it still does everything I need it for. Incidentally, I also have MSE on this machine together with MBAM Free.

Second, if I decide in the future to upgrade to Win10, is there anything in the 0patch setup that would compromise the upgrade? I assume I would discontinue 0patch at that point, or are people using it for Win10 too? However, at this stage I’m more concerned with whether the upgrade would still work if the machine has been “0patched”.

Lastly, I suppose, the obvious question – is there anything in particular that I should be aware/wary of in these circumstances if I opt for 0patch?

Thanks for any comments!

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Seff.

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Hi Seff,

I don’t have 0Patch Pro running on Win 10, so I can’t directly answer your questions about Win 10 or Office – but 0Patch does have a lot of great help info at their site as well as email support.

I can say that I have been using 0Patch Pro on my Win 7 laptop since January, and it seems to work well – I haven’t had any issues with it at all. I can see when patches are applied and when it is updated (once an hour). They have notified me of new patches, and there is a place on their site to see what has been developed and implemented in response to threats that are identified. Very light on resources, too. If I do decide to keep using Win 7, I will definitely renew my 0Patch subscription next year. I believe they were planning to have Win 7 patches for 3 years, through 2022.

I’m sure you probably have these links, but perhaps someone else might find them useful as well:

Help Center: https://0patch.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

FAQs: https://0patch.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200441471

Win 10: https://0patch.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011687600-Does-0patch-add-value-on-still-supported-Windows-versions-such-as-Windows-10-or-Server-2019-

0Patch Blog: https://blog.0patch.com/

I have found that they were quick to respond to emailed questions, too: info@0patch.com

Mitja Kolsek could be reached here: mitja.kolsek@acrossecurity.com

There’s also an informative thread here at AW: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/worth-considering-0patch-for-win7-after-january-2020/

Hope some of that helps!

LH

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Wonderful reply, @LHiggins, thanks so much!

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LHiggins

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@seff – Regarding Office 2010, just set Windows Update to never check for updates, and then if you want to update Office 2010 and get the list of patches applicable to your computer (not all Office 2010 patches that are released are applicable to my computer), just manually check for updates from within Windows Update. You’ll get the correct list and you can install them individually or all at once or somewhere in between right from Windows Update. I’ve been doing this since January on my Win 7 machine with 2010 and it works just fine. This machine only goes online for updates so I don’t have 0patch or the MS extended Win 7 support.

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In my Windows 7 PC I’ve always had updates set to “tell me which updates are available, but let me download and install them myself”, or words to that effect. Before EOL I used to check from time to time Windows Update to find out if there were any new updates waiting to be installed and, if there were, I would install manually the ones I wanted, hide the others. I often used the “more information” button to the right of every patch waiting to be installed, to find out what an update was for and then make up mi mind as to what to do with it. Of course, that on top of what I could learn here about those patches.

Some updates, such as the rollups and preliminary patches I would hide straight away, being from the get go an unrepentant Group B user as well as one not at all interested in working as an unpaid beta tester for MS.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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LHiggins

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I used to have updates set to the same thing (check but let me decide) and it worked fine for me. As EOL of Win 7 drew near, however, I remembered the day when I walked in and discovered my machine busily downloading and installing Win 10 without my permission, and having no trust in Microsoft after that, I decided that changing updates to never check was a better option.

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LHiggins

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DrBonzo, I now remember that something like that happened to some people who got Win 10 installed without asking for it.

That did not happen to me. Maybe it had to do with my never installing rollups (so I never qualified for 0patches either, oh well!), or with stopping from applying any more patches a couple of months before EOL? Because I did not trust MS a lot?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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LHiggins

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I have always followed the same practice, using “Check but let me decide when to download and install”. I like to see what is being offered rather than have it on “Never check” and the setting “Check and download but let me decide when to install” can result in Microsoft deciding when to install!

That said, the question I was posing was more to do with this – if Office 2010 is reaching EOL next month anyway is the best option to set Windows to “Never check” and rely on 0patch for updates?

My concern with Win10 is not to do with running 0patch on a Win10 installation (I enquired casually if anyone was doing that purely out of curiosity) but rather to do with whether having the machine “0patched” could affect the ability to run the upgrade to Win10 smoothly if I decide to upgrade in the future?

Thanks for all the comments thus far.

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LHiggins

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[Alex5723]

You don’t need 0Patch for still supported versions on Windows 10.
As long as you get Microsoft’s patch Tuesday continue with Microsoft.
Switch to 0Patch when you have decided to stay on a Windows 10 EOL version
by blocking all updates (using 3rd party app) .
The same goes for Windows 7.

https://0patch.com/files/0patch_Agent_User_Manual_20.06.18.10800.pdf

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Alex5723.

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In order to use OPatch on Win 7, they (OPatch) require you to have the full Jan. 2020 Roll-Up update installed.  Security Only updates, even though up to date, won’t satisfy them.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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