**forgive me if this is a stupid question** I'm interested in buying an older windows 7 system online and I'm wondering since windows 7 support is ending if this is a good idea. Is using Windows 7 past the support date a bad idea? What harm would it be to use this system after the end date?
It's up to you to decide what you use, but officially, the sale of computers with Windows 7 installed has been banned for many years. So you need to buy a computer with another OP system or no OP system at all and then install the desired OP system on it. Is it good or bad? Hard to say, an office or work computer is definitely not recommended. If you just want to surf the web and read emails, it is your decision and your choice what to use. I personally would not recommend using an outdated computer and spoiled food.
LOL@ spoiled food. I didn't know that was banned.. What the heck are they sold on eBay? I'm just trying to get away from windows 10. That OS is an abomination! I guess I have to at least move up to a system that can run windows 8.1. I know that's not new, but I'm not using this system for gaming so I don't need a over the top system.
RETAILERS are banned from selling Win 7 Computers. Microsoft cannot ban people from selling Win 7 computers. XP is past it's support date. When Windows 7 support ends there will still be millions using it. I was using Windows 7 without updates until 2018. I never once got a virus. I will be using Windows 8.1 way past it's support date. I tried Windows 10. (NEVER AGAIN). Once a day I backup my data to an external drive not connected to the net. Once a year I wipe my drive with parted magic and reinstall windows.
Do you know in older windows 7 system PC , you won't get any latest apps like in Win 8.1 / Win 10 ! You cannot sync your Android mobile apps to your PC apps & vice versa. Win 8.1 is still better than 7.
I'd say it depends on the laptop too. There are a lot of laptops that did run Windows 7 and have been upgraded now with Windows 8/8.1 or 10 You'll need to carefully check the specs and do some research, like hardware driver support, possibility of adding extra memory, possibly upgrade the cpu too and getting an SSD drive installed. If it is really old then all this might not be worth the cost of the laptop....(it depends means that if it is old enough to wear depends, it will be too old)
The apps is what I don't want. I hate all the apps that are installed with 8.1 and 10. That is what I'm trying to avoid. Windows 10 updates constantly putting bloatware and bad drivers on the computer and crashes too much for me which was the reason I was considering moving back to win 7.
$500. is too much for a used laptop with a intel core duo (does not specify cpu in terms of model or ghz), 4 gb memory (ddr 2, ddr3?) and Windows 7 on it. You'll need to ask the seller for the full model number on it, and the year it was made. I think you should be able to find a decent laptop with W 8.1 for less
I seen that there's some ROG Laptops online for around $500. I had one of those in 2016 (G752VL) and It can run win 8.1. I mainly wanted that one for the 18 inch screen. The highest processor that computer has is Intel Core 2 Duo T9900 which is not great.
I have a Lenovo ThinkCentre Slim Tower from 2010. It had 2GB ram. I installed 8 GB. It has an Intel Core2Duo E8400. It Had Win 7 but when I bought it Win 10 Education was on it. I wiped the drive and installed Win 8.1. Most store apps have been uninstalled. I had a problem with display drivers. Vista drivers solved that problem. I used Windows 7 on my previous computer because i could not find display drivers. Somebody told me vista drivers work and my problem was solved.
I have heard of people doing that with internet machines, install, create image(acronis etc), wipe and apply image every 30 days.
I heard that Revo Uninstaller ver.4 can uninstall Apps from Win 10 / Win 8.1 ( Uninstall Windows Apps ) So I think you can find solutions if you try !
I plan to continue using Windows 7 as my main OS because I need WMC to record and play protected content. I image my system drive and frequently restore a good backup. I've always done my and my close relative's taxes with Turbotax but, going forward, it will only work with Windows 8.1 or later. I guess I'll just build a system drive with Windows 10 on it.
I tried twice. Created an image. Image was successful. Wiped my drive and applied image. Some of my programs did not work properly after that. I cannot remember which ones. Now I just wipe my drive and install windows and all my programs one at a time. All my data is on an external drive. Takes more time but everything works properly. I am retired so I have lots of time.
There are still lots of good machines out there running 7. Picking one up shouldn't be an issue. But, here's a thought... What about getting one with Win 8.1? Support for 8.1 doesn't sunset for another 3-4 years. And, if you don't like the GUI (who does???), you can install something like "Classic Shell" to make it look like 7.