What to do with Windows 7 computers?

[JackDog]

A couple of days ago I got a pop-up on my Windows 7 computer saying that support and updates will end in January 2020 so yesterday I went ahead and ordered a new computer with Windows 10. I've been resisting this move because I didn't like 10 when it was released but hopefully all of the bugs have been worked out since I don't hear anyone complaining about it anymore. So because of that I'll have a couple of computers and laptops with 7 that I won't be using anymore so I was wondering if there was something that I could do with them. Any interesting or useful ideas for what to do?

[.Terrapin.]

data wipe and give to goodwill (tax deduction)

[sonofedg]

Sadly Windows 10 is still a piece of shit. Best to remove the hard drives before dumping your computers. Sooooo many crazy people out there. You never know if the data wipe completely removed everything . . .

[Teembo]

you could always just stick with Windows 7. There are people out there still using Win98, can you believe that?

[sonofedg]

I agree. Someone out there will keep Win 7 going. Microsoft needs the money, what better way then get people to fork out more money for a crap system. Win 7 is fine . . .

[robotman]

Im still running an HP with Win7, a 6 core processor and 2TB hard drive. Hope it lives a few more years. Have 2 new ones with Win10.

[dorrcoq]

I've got three Windows 7 laptops, one Windows 10, and one still running XP. Sadly my XP desktop died, though.

Anyhow, why didn't you just upgrade to Windows 10 instead of buying a whole new computer?

[JackDog]

Originally Posted by dorrcoq

Anyhow, why didn't you just upgrade to Windows 10 instead of buying a whole new computer?

I bought a refurbished desktop for about $150 (I love shopping at newegg) so it wasn't that much money. But I was looking around online yesterday to see if there are any issues with going from 7 to 10 and I found an article from a few weeks ago that said that you can still get the free 10 upgrade that they were offering when it first came out so I probably didn't need to spend any money at all. I'm gonna give it a try with a laptop to see if it works.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-...ws-10-upgrade/

[GRC]

Why can't you carry on using them? They won't stop working when MS support ends. Besides which, when was the last time you actually USED any of the MS support anyway?

FWIW, I'm writing this on an XP machine. Sure, there's a couple of small doo-dads that Win 7/8/10 will do that this one won't, but for what I do (rip CDs, organise folders of FLAC files, play them back, do e-mail and web browsing) I don't need the extras.

[JackDog]

Originally Posted by GRC

Why can't you carry on using them?

I assumed that it would be easier to get malware or that some things might stop working with Windows 7. I don't know what those things would be, but I've still got a Samsung GSIII smartphone that I've had since 2013 and some apps don't work on it (e.g. my bank app stopped working after a recent update) so I was kinda afraid that the same thing would happen with my computer.

And for anyone interested, I was able to update my laptop to Windows 10 for free by following the link in the article I posted above:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

I did it while I was at work and it took about 4-5 hours to download and install. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but after a quick look around I don't completely hate it. It doesn't look like there's too much different from 7 except for the way that things are organized.

[dorrcoq]

Originally Posted by JackDog

I assumed that it would be easier to get malware or that some things might stop working with Windows 7. I don't know what those things would be, but I've still got a Samsung GSIII smartphone that I've had since 2013 and some apps don't work on it (e.g. my bank app stopped working after a recent update) so I was kinda afraid that the same thing would happen with my computer.

And for anyone interested, I was able to update my laptop to Windows 10 for free by following the link in the article I posted above:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

I did it while I was at work and it took about 4-5 hours to download and install. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but after a quick look around I don't completely hate it. It doesn't look like there's too much different from 7 except for the way that things are organized.

Yeah, I was hesitant to go to 10, but it really isn't a huge difference. I'm sure there are many features I don't use, though.

My bank stopped allowing access to online banking using XP, which was why I switched to 7, but so far 7 is still working with it.

[co9ol]

I currently have a desktop running win 7 at home that's running a PLEX server. That allows me to listen to all my music where ever there's wifi. (also stream other downloaded content)

[firemt66]

Ive had no issues Windows 10 since it came out...i also have a windows 7 pc i just use for show storage!!

[ben12]

Upgrade Win 7 to Win 10 is a common and free problem,my colleagues all upgraded to Windows 10,now that you have done it.
If you are going to sell computer,you'd better back all data for your computer,then reset everything on this computer.

[sonofedg]

Amen! If possible make a backup copy from a restore point. Start making restore files every week before you switch. And when you do change, use the most current restore file as your backup . . . Been there, done that . . .