Author Topic: Anyone still on Windows 7?  (Read 5202 times)

fernman

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #30 on: 22:18:47, 17/02/20 »
I always think a free virus checker is worth every penny.  I mean why would companies invest huge sums detecting and trapping new viruses and malware just to give it away for free, or is it all just a con?

Don't knock freeware. I've been connected to the net for 20 years and every single program I use now and have used in the past - including AV - is freeware, with one fairly recent exception which is Koofr sync, cloud storage and local folders which is so good that I am happy to pay €23.60 p.a. for more storage than you get with the free plan.

And if it is true that 25% of users are still on Win7, which is no longer getting any form of upgrade or technical support, what could possibly go wrong?

I am sureWindows 7 will continue to work quite happily for many years to come, just as my old XP laptop did. I swear you couldn't find a faster XP machine, though it was becoming difficult to scroll online newspapers, but the main reason I stopped using it was that the plastic case was falling to pieces while the left and right mouse clicks were becoming frustratingly weaker.

ninthace

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #31 on: 22:50:48, 17/02/20 »
You miss my point.  If there is a substantial population of users, many of them small businesses I suspect, who insist on remaining on an unsupported operating system, they present a tempting target for bad people.  Once a vulnerability is found, the net can be rapidly scanned for systems to target.  Normally companies such as Kaspersky, Microsoft, Symantec are on the lookout for such exploits and launch patches, often before the vulnerability can be exploited, but only for supported operating systems.
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pdstsp

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #32 on: 08:35:57, 18/02/20 »
https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-10s-latest-update-fail-could-be-its-most-serious-yet


Seems the move to 10 may not be the delightful experience Bill would have us believe.  We have been caught out by this latest Windows 10 issue - one of our people lost an entire report yesterday - it is as if it had never been written. 

fernman

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #33 on: 09:24:20, 18/02/20 »
You miss my point.  If there is a substantial population of users, many of them small businesses I suspect, who insist on remaining on an unsupported operating system, they present a tempting target for bad people.  Once a vulnerability is found, the net can be rapidly scanned for systems to target.  Normally companies such as Kaspersky, Microsoft, Symantec are on the lookout for such exploits and launch patches, often before the vulnerability can be exploited, but only for supported operating systems.

Is there any data to support this theory? I doubt it is the case.
And free AVs are updated very frequently just the same as paid ones. My last one downloaded updates every time I booted the computer up, my current one does it in the cloud, which is much more convenient.

https://www.techradar.com/news/windows-10s-latest-update-fail-could-be-its-most-serious-yet

Seems the move to 10 may not be the delightful experience Bill would have us believe.  We have been caught out by this latest Windows 10 issue - one of our people lost an entire report yesterday - it is as if it had never been written. 

This morning I have eight desktop and taskbar shortcut icons missing, with just white rectangles showing. Worrying!
EDIT: It seems to be a common problem, a quick search brings up many results, with the usual BS from MS (create a new user account...), technical fixes from others, and ones telling you to download their cure-all bit of software. I shall probably simply put each one back manually.
« Last Edit: 09:45:46, 18/02/20 by fernman »

pdstsp

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #34 on: 09:48:53, 18/02/20 »

This morning I have eight desktop and taskbar shortcut icons missing, with just white rectangles showing. Worrying!
EDIT: It seems to be a common problem, a quick search brings up many results, with the usual BS from MS (create a new user account...), technical fixes from others, and ones telling you to download their cure-all bit of software. I shall probably simply put each one back manually.


I wish we could do that - we have lost a report which was due in Court today, so we may get a verbal slap from one of HM's judges  :-[ .  Our IT support have been on it all last evening and are stumped. 

ninthace

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #35 on: 10:15:22, 18/02/20 »
No back up to the cloud pdstp?  All my documents are saved in 2 separate cloud location - a main and a back up.  That way if the computer breaks or gets "lost" all that needs replacing is the hardware.  In the pre-cloud days, we had two back-ups, one on site and one off but they could be a day behind as the back up was an overnight process.
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fernman

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #36 on: 10:30:24, 18/02/20 »
I was going to say the same. Ninthace posted his reply while I was composing mine.
Sack the IT department, everything should be being continually backed up and/or going into the cloud so it can't get lost.
On a purely personal level, you won't find anything in my MS folders, they're all empty but I have almost 40 GB of docs and photos in cloud storage, in Koofr as I have mentioned previously (other services are available). I work on them in a local folder - I have one on each of three different computers - and they get synced immediately. If one computer was to fail I don't lose anything. If my house caught fire I could log in on any other computer and my data is still there.
If your company/business did something like this they should still have had that important document.

pdstsp

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #37 on: 10:58:02, 18/02/20 »
We use sharepoint as a file sharing service - which is cloud based, and the file has disappeared from both hard drive and sharepoint.  We do an overnight full system back up to a physical drive, which our IT support company told us was unnecessary but I insisted on, but this one has fallen between the stools as it is yesterday's work which was lost.  We have everything saving as we go - but, for some reason, this has occurred - investigations continue, not least because the person concerned is going on holiday and I'll have to re-write the [self-censored] thing if we can't find it. :-[

fernman

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #38 on: 11:18:21, 18/02/20 »
Sharepoint is a part of MS. Eggs in one basket, I say.

pdstsp

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #39 on: 11:41:46, 18/02/20 »
Indeed, though we have used other filesharing services in the past and have suffered from issue with regard to accessing each other's files, delays in them becoming available etc.  The advantages of sharepoint seemed to outweigh the disadvantages, and, to be fair, so far, it's worked well, with far more flexibility.
No system is foolproof, and we have lost one person's work for one day in seven years, so touch wood, not a disastrous record - but today it is very annoying.

ninthace

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #40 on: 11:58:13, 18/02/20 »
My personal solution now I am retired and have a say in IT policy.  One HP laptop on Win 10 and an iPad Air 2.  Storage in OneDrive duplicated in iCloud Drive ... 1 egg, 2 baskets.
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andyapanel

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #41 on: 12:53:09, 18/02/20 »
Moving to Apple has been a revelation. It may be more expensive, but you save so much time not having those annoying error windows coming up.
My old work "upgraded" from Windows 7 to 10. I had no idea where the useful stuff lived.
I thought 2000 was quite good, and 97....

gunwharfman

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #42 on: 13:45:21, 18/02/20 »
My back up is in a wireless hard disk (well hidden) and in the cloud, also I hope well hidden.

I have had Win 10 from around the beginning and I'm always surprised to hear that people get so many difficulties, I myself have a reliable Win 10. All of my updates have worked properly from the start of download and then install. Is it because I'm a light user?

SteamyTea

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #43 on: 07:41:39, 19/02/20 »
Is it because I'm a light user?
No, it is probably because you don't fiddle with it.
I used to lecture in IT, could usually tell which students were going to have a massive data loss failure.  Always just before an assignment deadline.
My first seminars always involved getting students to do something very engrossing, then I flipped the main power switch to the room.
They learnt to save their work after that.
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pleb

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Re: Anyone still on Windows 7?
« Reply #44 on: 15:07:24, 20/02/20 »
What is cloud?
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