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it was interesting to read all the comments.  as for me, i have zero concerns about win7 end of life.  after much reading and researching, i bought a brand new win7pro pc two months ago.  and it runs perfectly.  updates are off and current only to 2017.  any bs updates have been removed. all telemetry that i could find is shut off. almost zero contact with MS.   i do weekly images with macrium.  have all my data on a separate drive.  run my browsers as portable and off a flash drive and sandboxed.  they work amazingly well like that and no contact with my system.  two computers like this and both doing tons of stuff for 8 hours a day and zero problems.  so no, no concerns about win7 eol at all.  i dont think about it or worry about it or waste my time with it.  good luck to all…Clas

Clas

3 users thanked author for this post.

SueW, HiFlyer, Elly

so my win7 pc got zapped the other day in a thunderstorm…finito!   being 74 and reasonably intelligent with computers, i did some soul-searching and ended up having one built for me.  and i chose Win7 64 as the operating system.   plenty fast amd, 16g ram, ter., burner, upgraded power supply.   have had it for a month now and its all squared away.   ssd for main drive and now the ter drive for data.   updates turned off and settings tweaked down as tight as i can.  running Palemoon 26.5 as its great for anything video and also portable.  Opera on vpn and private for anything google….track that suckers…hahah    run all browsers off of a dedicated flash drive so nothing sticks to the computer.   also everything sandboxed for sure.  so microsoft didnt pick up a digit from me on Win10…..   at my age i just want to enjoy the computer and not worry about updates and problems every day.  i gave Linux mint cinnamon a good ride.  used it for six months as a dual boot with 7 but after decades of being a windows user Linux just felt weird and foreign.  it worked well and did what i wanted but there was no sense of the familiar doing stuff like there is with windows…   so i wish everyone luck with their boxes.  i know i will be with 7 till i am gone and will be enjoying  every day with it…  Clas

Clas

yes, i quit updating a couple years ago with win7 sp1.  do backups, run sandboxed, never a hint of a problem with anything….and i do a lot.  i have zero trust in MS.  just bought a new pc with win 7pro installed.  its just great and does everything i want it to.   also been running browsers off a flash drive…portable versions…wow,  they do great on flash drives.

Clas

I also am an old fart who tries to keep up with this box.  the old one died and in the past week i bought a brand new Windows 7 custom build.  everything works great.  for the past years i have not done any updates at all.  windows updates turned off…most program updates turned off.  i run with vpn and always sandboxed….keep good macrium images once a week and on an external drive.  almost all program updates are for win10 and i dont need those.  this box runs quiet and cool and over the years i have tightened up win7 to the point that it squeaks!!  and never a problem at all.   i down load constantly and always check with anti virus.   so i never have any problems with hackers or wackers or bad updates….win7 runs smoothly all the time.  just my take.  clas

Clas

2 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, Elly

Being an old fart and kind of obstinate when it comes to forced updates, i have been going a different way for the past several years.  i am on win7.   i have stopped all updates. i keep regular backup images.   i use Palemoon 26.5, an older version that works perfectly for me and downloads movies and tv easily.  i work entirely off of a flash drive on my pc.  portable browser and all sandboxed.  i am on 8 hours a day and go everywhere and do anything.  for anything money related i use Opera vpn which works just fine and plenty fast enough.  startpage and duckduckgo for search and gmail  in Opera private window all by itself.  in several years two of us using this same set up on two computers have experienced zero problems.   just my take.   Clas

Clas

7 users thanked author for this post.

JDeC, columbia2011, SueW, DrBonzo, HiFlyer, Cybertooth, Elly

hi, i always enjoy your posts…thanks. in regard to dell rootkit yak…i keep a crap list of manufacturers who do things such as dell just did and lenovo before them. i do not deal with any of them on my growing list. they should all know better.
Dell…root kit on computers
Vizio Smart TVs track your viewing habits, info is sold to third parties
Samsung spyware on tvs plus pups on phones
Lg spyware
Lenovo spyware and not safe chinese computers
Comodo adware
SOHO Routers
Seagate harddrives…come with rootkits
volkswagen…software on diesel engines that fake test results.
winrar – unfixed critical code
T-mobile – breech

Clas

i have had problems with easeus in the past so got rid of it and only use macrium reflect for backup and that has been foolproof over many backups and restores as i kind of get carried away sometimes…hahah i tend to stay away from chinese programs, packaged food and gas and battery-powered tools. just no trust in any of those categories. just my experience.

Clas

yes, the uac is a royal pain. i use two small programs and really like both. the first is win patrol plus and the newest one is voodoo shield. with the last, there is a few minute training period and then it stops you from running anything unless you ok it and it learns. both have worked perfectly and i rarely get any notification or prompt.

Clas

Installing and reinstalling Windows 7

There are two options to choose from during the Windows 7 installation process:

Upgrade. This option replaces your current version of Windows with Windows 7, and keeps your files, settings, and programs in place on your computer.

Custom. This option replaces your current version of Windows with Windows 7, but doesn’t preserve your files, settings, and programs. It’s sometimes referred to as a clean installation for that reason.

so pick the option for you…its easy and will certainly perk up your old box. a tad more ram will also pep it up.
Clas

Clas

as a brand new member i would like to add a few words to the macrium backup thread. i have used macrium free for ages and restored many many times. all were successful restores. i get a little smarter as time goes on and now i keep my operating system (win7) and programs on C drive, an image of C from macrium on a 50gig partition of my main drive, all my “stuff” on a second internal drive, copies of macrium images on this second drive also. also have an external drive that is only hooked up when i want it (rarely). in case of power surges i am then safe to restore. restoring is easy and about 6-7 minutes for a 20g compressed image. i use the winpe disc and that is by far better than the linux one…much faster. i do a lot and make an image weekly after a clean up and virus check. i keep three images as backups. Macrium is a great program that does what it says. just my two cents worth. happy to see some intelligent posts here. hello to all.

Clas