Windows 7 Support ends today: here are your options
Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system has reached the end of its lifetime, at least for home users. Microsoft will release a final round of patches for the operating system later today before support ends. While there is a chance that critical patches will be provided after support end, as it happened previously with other versions of Windows that ran out of support, it is fair to say that these will be an exception rather than something that will happen frequently.
If you still run Windows 7 on a home system or work on a Windows 7 machine in an organization, you have a couple of options when it comes to using your devices.
First, the good news: while Microsoft will end its support for the operating system, many popular software programs will continue to receive updates for quite some time. Google announced recently that it will support Chrome on Windows 7 for at least 18 months, and programs like Steam, Firefox, and even Microsoft Edge will continue to be supported for the time being.
Option 1: Switch to a supported version of Windows
Two versions of Windows are supported by Microsoft after support ends for Windows 7. There is Windows 8.1 which will be supported until 2023 and Windows 10, which will be supported indefinitely it appears.
The upgrade to Windows 10 is still free for users that have a genuine Windows 7 product key. Microsoft ended these free upgrades officially in 2016 but never stopped the process. We revealed why that is the case and that this is a deliberate decision by the company and not an oversight.
Some Windows users may not want to upgrade to Windows 10 as it is quite hungry for Telemetry data. There are tools available to improve privacy but it is fair to say that most users won't be able to prevent the operating system from sending Telemetry data to Microsoft.
These users may select to upgrade to Windows 8.1 instead. It is closer to Windows 7 in many regards and will be supported for another three years before support runs out. Downside to upgrading to Windows 8.1 is that a key is needed and that this product key needs to be purchased. Cheap keys are available on different marketplaces such as eBay, and buying them may be legal in your jurisdiction.
If the PC is rather old, you could also consider purchasing a new device entirely and maybe get a license for Windows 8.1 or 10 that way. Considering that a retail key costs more than 100 Dollars, it is often cheaper to buy a new PC that includes such a key.
Option 2: Stay on Windows 7 for a while longer
Windows 7 won't just stop working after January 14, 2020. The operating system continues to function just like before and the only change is that it won't receive official security updates anymore.
That's a problem that users who stay on Windows 7 face; this may not be dangerous if the PC is not connected to the Internet and used only locally.
Good security software, including a proper firewall and antivirus solution that is still updated, is a must in this case.
Third-party company 0Patch revealed in 2019 that it will release security updates for Windows 7 after Microsoft support ends. Not all of them will be free and there is a chance that it will only create some security updates and not all considering that its resources are limited.
Another option is to use a bypass that was detected recently. It is still up for debate whether Microsoft will find a way to disable it. Basically, what it does is enable ESU updates on systems that have not joined the program.
ESU is the Extended Security Updates program that Enterprise and business customers may use to extend support for Windows 7 for up to three years.
Option 3: ESU (Enterprise and business only)
Enterprise customers and businesses may purchase ESU subscriptions to receive security updates after January 14, 2020. Enterprise customers buy these per users and small businesses per machine. The subscription cost doubles per year but it is a good option for organizations that need more time to migrate the systems or need to use Windows 7 because of legacy programs that they run that are not compatible with newer versions of Microsoft's operating system.
Option 4: Switch to Linux
If the upgrade to Windows 8.1 or 10 is not an option and staying on Windows 7 is not either, there is only Linux that users may select to migrate to. You can check out our preparation guides on migrating from Windows 7 to Linux which cover backup and media creation, and other preparations.
There are plenty of Linux distributions to choose from and if you are just getting started, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the choice.
Here is a short list of distributions that you may want to check out initially:
There are hundreds more and you can very well spend days comparing the different distributions to find out which one is best suitable for your use cases.
Now You: do you still run Windows 7? What do you plan to do after January 14, 2020?
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277