Demise of Windows 7. ??
My first laptop (brand new) was a Windows Vista which I bought for my granddaughter, and which I subsequently used with her, and I am still using it. After that one I was given a laptop which was running Windows XP. I received that about 5 years ago Still using it and apparently without problems.. Following that XP I acquired a laptop running Windows 7.
I use all 3 laptops from day to day to keep them working, etc. I have a good antivirus provided by my ISP. I have never had any problems with any of those 3 laptops after Windows failed to offer support. Reading Computer Active magazine - it is sending out panic messages re Windows 7. But in the same magazine, over the last few weeks,they cover problems with Windows 10.
Any advice from knowledgeable users here on EPZ ?
Or is it a case of - "If it aint broke and still working. THEN DON'T BLOODY FIX IT."
I use all 3 laptops from day to day to keep them working, etc. I have a good antivirus provided by my ISP. I have never had any problems with any of those 3 laptops after Windows failed to offer support. Reading Computer Active magazine - it is sending out panic messages re Windows 7. But in the same magazine, over the last few weeks,they cover problems with Windows 10.
Any advice from knowledgeable users here on EPZ ?
Or is it a case of - "If it aint broke and still working. THEN DON'T BLOODY FIX IT."
I'm currently using wimdows 7 on a laptop and pc. I've had a few messages from Microsoft recently that stated the last updates will be this month and perhaps I should consider buying a new windows 10 machine as it may not work so well on older machines. I'm in no rush as I continued to use Xp for some considerable time after support ended and as above, I had no problems as my antivirus and malwarebites continued to be supported for a considerable time.
The trouble with having a no longer patched device of any kind is that any exploit hackers discover leaves you potentially open for them taking control of your device capturing your passwords and logging into all your web sites - Banks, Pensions, Ephotozine etc. Leaving your front door open will mostly be fine, until its not.
that said if all you ever do is play solitaire and visit ePhotzine on your PC then you may well be fine for ever,
that said if all you ever do is play solitaire and visit ePhotzine on your PC then you may well be fine for ever,
Thank you both for your comments. I do not use the laptops for banking, etc., so I am not worried about such. Apart from the antivirus provided by my ISP, I also use Malwarebytes; HerdProtect, and other such programmes.
I will just carry on as normal and hope that things continue to run smoothly.
I will just carry on as normal and hope that things continue to run smoothly.
When hackers discover a new backdoor into Windows 7 (this isn't an "if", it's a "when") then you will be vulnerable in ways that you probably don't realise.
Antivirus will stop some virus files you end up downloading from being executed. Security updates to your operating system are different.
Someone can use your computer's microphone, web camera etc to spy on you and your family, listening to phone calls to your bank etc.
Your computer can become part of a botnet which can be used to attack websites, to traffic illegal files, to aid terrorism etc.
An attacker can burn up your electricity and your internet bandwidth maxing out your GPU and CPU mining cryptocurrencies
Some idiot can just decide to erase all of your photographs from all of your drives and from your cloud backup, or encrypt the lot and ask for a ransom.
You should update, Microsoft promise that Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, it will always be updated, if you shop around you can get it cheaply - digital download like this - which sounds too good to be true - does actually work and works well.
Antivirus will stop some virus files you end up downloading from being executed. Security updates to your operating system are different.
Someone can use your computer's microphone, web camera etc to spy on you and your family, listening to phone calls to your bank etc.
Your computer can become part of a botnet which can be used to attack websites, to traffic illegal files, to aid terrorism etc.
An attacker can burn up your electricity and your internet bandwidth maxing out your GPU and CPU mining cryptocurrencies
Some idiot can just decide to erase all of your photographs from all of your drives and from your cloud backup, or encrypt the lot and ask for a ransom.
You should update, Microsoft promise that Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, it will always be updated, if you shop around you can get it cheaply - digital download like this - which sounds too good to be true - does actually work and works well.
It's not the same as car theft, though plenty of old cars get targeted as they can be easier to steal than new cars.
The WannaCry attack, a disruptive ransomware worm, caused a lot of trouble for many organisations including our NHS because they were using unpatched and unsupported Windows XP machines. The NHS are supposed to finish upgrading all of their computers to Windows 10 by the middle of this month.
The WannaCry attack, a disruptive ransomware worm, caused a lot of trouble for many organisations including our NHS because they were using unpatched and unsupported Windows XP machines. The NHS are supposed to finish upgrading all of their computers to Windows 10 by the middle of this month.
Some advice on the BBC website this afternoon. Take it or not. 
