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Risk of using Window 7 when Microsoft stop supporting it
If a desktop computer is running Windows 7 with Avast anti-virus pro & Zone Alarm. Would it be safe from hackers after Microsoft stop supporting Win 7?
Risk of using Window 7 when Microsoft stop supporting it
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New #2
“What happens if I continue to use Windows 7?If you continue to use Windows 7 after support has ended, your PC will still work, but it will become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Your PC will continue to start and run, but you will no longer received software updates, including security updates, from Microsoft.”
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4057281
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New #3
Much depends on your own behaviour. No AV can ever be fully up to date.
I like the idea of whitelisting programs, so nothing I haven't approved runs. SecureAge SecureAplus is one such, and more. Zonealarm used (many years ago) to do something like that.
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New #4
In good conscience, I can't say you will be safe either way. The difference is after January there will no patches for Win 7 as you already know. Each user is different in how they operate their computer some will have issues no matter the OS and security programs.
Personally, I use and support Windows 10 only. In the last 4 1/2 years, I have seen 7 infected computers in my shop and all of them were NOT Windows 10 computers.
My suggestion if you want to stay on Win 7 is to utilize Macrium reflect free and make at least monthly image backups to an external drive that is not connected to the system between backups. If you wish for this process to be automated, purchase the paid version of Macrium and it includes image guardian that protects the backups.
I give the same reccomendation to Windows 10 users as well.
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New #5
These types of questions were bantered around when support for XP ended.
Corporations will be slow to upgrade, so Microsoft will supply them limited support, but still encouraging them to upgrade. Many people use XP still but like with XP after there are no more updates, You are more vulnerable to attack, Browsers stop working and you will have a hard time getting online, as web sites will not except older versions of OS's and Browsers So, If you use Windows 7 and don't get online, it will work for a very, very long time.Last edited by spunk; 28 Dec 2019 at 15:07.
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New #6
I decided do go for the free upgrade option for all 5 of my systems save 2 PC's stored away with Win 7 Pro. Sledgehammer, Winaero Tweaker and Classic Shell are three app's used to control the OS. I've been working with Win 10 in VM for a long time so I'm familiar it. Ya I'll miss 7. c'est la vie!
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New #7
I'm curious, @Porthos, as to what "anti" programs those computers were running? I've had several friends give me their computers infected with malware and every single one of those 5 or 6 computers were running multiple anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-virus software programs. The people who had these computers (and 1 was my father-in-law) had terrible internet habits and would click on anything and everything that popped up in a window.
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New #8
Most of my clients are running Defender with MB Premium ( I am a long-time reseller) The ones that were "infected" were Win 7 computers and I do not recall what security was on those.
I encourage/insist everyone uses Firefox or Chrome with an unmentionable (on this forum) extension on them. Most of my clients have been with me for about 10 years or so.
They still use me even after I closed my retail shop 2 yrs ago. They come from all over.
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New #9
There is no such thing as absolute safety. Safety is always relative. However safe you might make something there will always be risks, even if they are not yet known. Safety is a subjective term.
The suppliers of security software have always maintained that the ability of their software to maintain security is limited on an unsupported OS. Over time security holes in the OS will be discovered and in an unsupported OS they will not be fixed. Malware authors are experts in finding these vulnerabilities and will take full advantage of them. Security software cannot fix these issues.
When and OS becomes unsupported by the supplier this serves as a sign to third party software developers that they consider doing the same. Avast and Zone Alarm may not have any current plans to drop support for Windows 7. But it is a burden on developers to support older operating systems and it gets worse as time goes by. At some point the burden becomes too great and support is dropped. This is inevitable.
At some point Avast will release a version that will not run on Windows 7 and older versions will no longer be able to obtain updates. The same for other security software suppliers. That will further compromise security, in addition to the previously mentioned issues.
Security software suppliers will make their own decisions when to drop support for Windows 7. It isn't a matter of if but when. Much depends on how much popularity Windows 7 maintains. At present that is unknowable.
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New #10
Hi,
Worst vulnerability now days is ransomware it will blast win-10 too so not even the mighty win-10 can save you with it
It asks for your permission in dubious ways and activates much like a lot of apps do.
Win-7 will be fine but of course if you want to move to win-10 feel free
I personally will use win-7 far past eol
10 really is just a benchmark os and I don't do that very often kind of works off hardware upgrades.
7 is primary everyday os.
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