Windows 7 - after January

[Dave2002]

I would just add that since W10 runs well enough on a Celeron notepad with a mere 32GB eMMC and 2GB RAM (I also have it running on a couple of early i3) processor machines) it should present no problems to an early i7 processor.

At the low end I still get tempted very occasionally by cheap Win PCs - but for me they'd have to be really cheap, yet deliver adequate performance. If there is software which really only works on PCs, and can also work satisfactorily on such a cheap model, then I might be interested. I'm not sure that there is much software which I'd want to use which is in that category, and I don't want to buy an expensive Win only machine.

I have to admit that I started to address different issues from around msg 29 and 38 where there was mention of quality kit which would last a long time, whereas the original OP admitted to probably not being able to stretch to Apple kit.

Have the issues from msg 1 been addressed now?

[Beresford]

Just a few impressions after moving to Windows 10:

-
Even as a last ditch W7 user who doesn't like change, so far I can't see anything much to object to in W10 (apart from the update policy - which puts all the control in the hands of Microsoft).

Same here. And you can delay auto updates for up to a year on the Pro version, in "policies".
I replaced the hard disc with an SSD, which made everything seem much faster and quieter, but then I don't do video. Alt/f4 gets used a lot.

[Serial_Apologist]

At midnight last night my screen suddenly went black with a flash and loud pop - marking the end of my Windows 7 I presume. Which means I am now not covered until I get Windows 10 installed - probably will mean a train journey with computer to my faithful techie in Orpington, who is now pretty much housebound, but has done so much for me over the past 12 or so years I have him to be grateful for. Until then I guess I shall have to avoid clicking on links of any kind, no longer being covered for security purposes.

Is there anyone else on here in the same situation?

[oddoneout]

This morning during start up I got a blue screen with a message saying that the world had ended on 14th January, but once I got rid of it life has continued as normal so far. I do need to discuss with my son though what changes may be needed for anti virus and such like matters.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It hasn't (and apologies for any typos: I'm writing with all fingers crossed here) done anything so severe to either of my Laptops: and it goes against all the promises from Microsoft that we'd still be able to run our machines after yesterday. "Just no more Updates, so less security".

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

This morning during start up I got a blue screen with a message saying that the world had ended on 14th January, but once I got rid of it life has continued as normal so far.

- exactly the same here.

[Beresford]

Why does Microsoft continually mess up things that are working fine already? Last weekend I ran 18 months of updates to Windows 10 - to v1909. It came up with several errors, but sorted itself out overnight, with a few restarts. But they have changed parts of Windows Explorer, which has been doing the same thing for over 20 years, and the search part isn't working for me.

[Bryn]

Why does Microsoft continually mess up things that are working fine already? Last weekend I ran 18 months of updates to Windows 10 - to v1909. It came up with several errors, but sorted itself out overnight, with a few restarts. But they have changed parts of Windows Explorer, which has been doing the same thing for over 20 years, and the search part isn't working for me.

In the Explorer address slot to the top left of the screen, try tapping once to collapse the address, then try your sesrch criterion again. No promises but it works for me. Why it has trouble working from the expanded directory address I have no idea.

[gradus]

I too received the dread warning from Microsoft this morning but have no intention of buying a new computer as they suggest.

[johnb]

Why does Microsoft continually mess up things that are working fine already? Last weekend I ran 18 months of updates to Windows 10 - to v1909. It came up with several errors, but sorted itself out overnight, with a few restarts. But they have changed parts of Windows Explorer, which has been doing the same thing for over 20 years, and the search part isn't working for me.

Was there any reason why you delayed doing any updates for 18 months?

As far as I can tell, when you click in the File Explorer's search box an additional "Search" tab should appear which then gives access to a search ribbon with detailed search options (subfolder options, date modified, size, etc, etc).

The problem I have is that these search options only appear after the search is commenced. For simple searches this doesn't matter but for anything else my way round it is to start a dummy search (using anything as the search term) and then stop the search. This reveals the search tab and search ribbon which enables you to do the actual detailed search. I have no idea how on earth this got through Microsoft's testing - perhaps it shows how poor that pre-release testing is.

In general these recurring bugs are the direct result of Microsoft's decision to do continuous rolling updates instead of periodic releases of new operating systems. In the past, when they released an operating system the sensible folk sat back and waited for 6 to 12 months for the bugs to be ironed out (and to gauge the reception of the new OS) before even thinking of "upgrading".

To be fair though, even though I was one of the last ditch Windows 7 users I was surprised to find very little to complain about in the current iteration of Windows 10.

[johnb]

I too received the dread warning from Microsoft this morning but have no intention of buying a new computer as they suggest.

I upgraded my 8 years old Windows 7 desktop to Windows 10 in early January and it all went pretty smoothly. It was even free of charge. That doesn't necessarily mean that all upgrades will go very smoothly or that they will always be free of charge (that, I suspect, depends on the method chosen and then the options selected).

As I said before - I really can't find very much to object to in W10.

[Old Grumpy]

I upgraded my 8 years old Windows 7 desktop to Windows 10 in early January and it all went pretty smoothly. It was even free of charge. That doesn't necessarily mean that all upgrades will go very smoothly or that they will always be free of charge (that, I suspect, depends on the method chosen and then the options selected).

As I said before - I really can't find very much to object to in W10.

A previous Windows 10 update (the infamous Spring 2018 update) killed my harddrive and it had to be replaced. I object to that! I opted for Windows 7, second time around. Why can't the bastards leave alone something which works well. It's the iPlayer Radio/BBC Sounds story all over again.

OG

[Bryn]

A previous Windows 10 update (the infamous Spring 2018 update) killed my harddrive and it had to be replaced. I object to that! I opted for Windows 7, second time around. Why can't the bastards leave alone something which works well. It's the iPlayer Radio/BBC Sounds story all over again.

OG

I would suspect your hard drive was already on its last legs and the stress of any major work-out such as an OS update might have edged the stress into the strain that broke it. That said, as I think I have mentioned previously, an ageing HP notebook of mine failed to update to 1903, time and time again. I gave up on trying and dumped Windows altogether on that machine and upgraded to Linux Mint. These days, Linux is much more user-friendly than in its early days. You can start off running it from a USB stick, alongside Windows, then install it fully when ready.

[johnb]

A previous Windows 10 update (the infamous Spring 2018 update) killed my harddrive and it had to be replaced. I object to that! I opted for Windows 7, second time around. Why can't the bastards leave alone something which works well. It's the iPlayer Radio/BBC Sounds story all over again.

OG

Thanks for that. I see there are reports from other people of the same thing happening back then, even with relatively new mechanical hard drives. Some people have put that down to W10's disk activity being much more intensive than W7 (?) and more suitable for SSDs. I don't know whether 1909 is better in that respect but the Task Manager on my upgraded PC doesn't show any abnormally high disk activity.

Anyway, I will clone my main HDD to a spare drive - just to be on the safe side. (I already have Macrium Reflect & Acronis backups - talk about belt and braces.)

[Quarky]

In the process of upgrading my computer "collection", at least those running Windows 7, to Windows 10. IMHO Windows 10 is a big improvement over 7.
A big advantage of an upgrade of whatever type, be it a switch to Linux, reinstallation of 10, or upgrade to 10, is that a cleanup of the PC or Laptop is necessary. That is files, emails etc have to be backed up, redundant files and programs can be discarded, and imperfections in the running of the computer that one has learnt to live with will hopefully disappear.