With the ending of Security Updates for Windows 7 ending in January 2020 what do our experts think we, that have 7, should be preparing to do? Any advice, suggestions?
Windows 7 Ending

As most of us have already done, upgrade to Windows 10. Supposedly, Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows with it simply being updated periodically. You can no longer get Window 10 free, but will have to purchase it. I scored a Windows 10 Pro key for $80 just before Christmas, but it will normally be about $150 with Windows 10 Home being about $105.

Hi Tomato Queen

Have all the plants ready to go?

Thanks for the info on Win 10, I hate change. Will I have to re-install all programs and loose everything on the computer now or is there an Upgrade Version of 10 that will save everything without re-formatting the whole drive? Are there going to be compatibility issues do I need more Memory (have 8192mb)? I also have Win 7 64bit do I have to find a Win 10 64bit? What year does Win 10 expire and might there be a higher version in the works or a chance they will extend Win 7? Sorry for all the questions.

As I said above... Windows 10 is supposed to be the last version ever. They will just update it periodically. it will never expire and there is absolutely zero chance they will extend support for Windows 7. It's already been on extended limited support for 4 years.

There are no longer any versions of Windows except for 64 bit, so no worries there.

Since you have a fairly high end computer as I remember, you won't have to worry about any compatibility issues. I'm still running 8 GB of RAM myself. Tried to upgrade to 16 and got a bad stick. After 2 days of boot loops, I gave up and just went back to 8 and haven't gotten around to it yet. But I need to.

When you install Windows 10, one of the options will be to keep all you personal files, applications and settings. Do make sure you have any driver discs on hand if they are needed. I just did a clean install of Windows 10 Pro on a new 1 TB SSD and the only driver I needed was for my WiFi adapter inside the case and for my printer. Windows 10 installed all the other drivers and then I went to manufacturer websites to check for any driver updates there.

Yes, it will be different, but there is plenty of help out there. Window 10 itself even has a really good "help" option. Plus, I can do Window 10 in my sleep, so just holler at me!

EDIT: I'm putting my seeds in their little germination trays today! I'm about a week behind...

I'd suggest putting a second hard drive in the computer and putting whatever OS you want to use for Internet on that.
You can choose some version of Linux (which is free) or use a "fresh install" of Windows 10 if you want to go with that.
That way you don't lose your old Windows 7 installation and you don't need to worry about potentially losing game activations (especially if bought from sites like "Adventure Shop" that are no longer around and can't be re-activated).
Web archived version of Adventure Shop, if you don't remember what it looked like:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130204224719/http://us-adventureshop.gamesplanet.com/

When booted to the Windows 7 hard drive, you can disable the network connection, or uninstall the drivers for the network connection so it won't go online anymore.

Modern Linux installations seem to create a boot menu if they detect Windows installed on another hard drive, and a Windows 10 installer would probably do the same. So you may not even have to go into the BIOS/Setup and choose which drive to boot from.

That's actually a very good idea and what I've done in my computer. I have Windows 7 on a small SSD with storage on an old 500 GB HDD. It's a little trickier to install to a new drive when you have an existing Windows 7 installation because you have to get into your BIOS to tell it to boot from a USB or DVD or whatever in order to install a new OS on a new drive. If you are installing on top of an existing Windows installation, then you don't have to do that. You just pop in your disc or USB and go on your merry way to setup. Since you would need to do a full installation on a new drive, not an upgrade, I would not trust it to overwrite your Windows 7.

While Linux is a great free option, the problem with it if you are a gamer is that very few Windows based games will play on it. My grandson used it and he loved it for a lot of the old school Linux based games. I tried it and had an utter nightmare with the Linux Grub Loader boot manager - finally had to get rid of it and even that wasn't easy. After uninstalling Linux, the Grub Loader STILL wanted to be the boss. There were tons of complaints about it in the Linux forums. Maybe things are better now. Windows just makes a nice blue screen with your options of which drive you want to boot into - I actually like their boot manager.

Decisions! Decisions!

Hi GreyFuss. I also, do not like change and am dreading this. I'm going to keep my Windows 7 computer and buy a new computer with Windows 10. Not looking forward to this at all!

That's why you keep your Windows 7 around.
The only problem is if you play games that have to be online all the time.

I don't know any adventure games that require Windows 10.
There are some online action games that do.


Having used Windows 10 for non-game things, I don't like it at all. It took me quite a while to get rid of the more obvious annoyances and get it looking more like Windows 7. For example, I had to look up how to force it to search my hard drive in the Start Search (like Windows 7) and not try to search the entire Internet when I'm trying to search for a file on my computer. There's a way to configure Windows 10 "only" to search your hard drive when you use the Start Search, but I had to look that up. I had to look a lot of things up.

I've read that installing Windows 10 is a much better experience if the computer is not connected to the Internet during the installation, and the default settings are more reasonable if you install while offline. I wasn't the one who installed it, so I don't have direct experience with that, but it's something to keep in mind for when you install it.

Like you, I probably won't have a computer with Windows 10 unless it comes with the computer. Even then I'll probably only use it offline.

And that's why I keep my Windows 7 drive updated! Once support ends, I'll just take it offline when I boot into it.

SO FAR new adventure games aren't requiring Windows 10. As support for Windows 7 ceases, I have to wonder if in the years ahead, new games will also drop support for it.

Many old games still work with XP.
Carol Reed games are supported back to Windows 98.
http://www.mdna-games.com/April/about.htm
I think it's really nice that they don't require more than a game like that really needs.

Games made with AGS also have low requirements, though they require XP as a minimum.
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/manual/ags3.htm

It depends on the type of games you play.

The newest 3D adventure games seem to use either Unreal Engine or Unity Engine.
For example, Quern used Unity and Obduction used Unreal Engine.
So any game made to run with either of those game engines would require whatever versions of Windows they supported.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_game_engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Engine

Oh good grief...I was so hoping this wouldn't be so complicated.

I don't have any games to those Online site only Steam or GOG

I am also very confused at all the offerings at Newegg for Windows 10

I have never been involved with multiple Drives, Boots or Operating Systems so all over my head.

OK... Kind of what I figured. So, barring getting a new computer with Windows 10 on it or taking your existing computer to a shop to have them install a new hard drive and put Windows 10 on it for you, then you will have to install Windows 10 on your existing computer. Of course, do a backup first, but then just tell Windows 10 to leave your applications, files and settings in place - essentially do an upgrade. This is what you need, but I would get it from Amazon.


Window 10 Home on USB Flash Drive

OR

Windows 10 Home DVD

A "how to" with my favorite... pictures! Ignore the stuff about the Media Creation Tool... that's if you download Windows 10 from Microsoft.


How to Upgrade Window 7 to Windows 10


Or this YouTube video shows how to upgrade from a USB or DVD drive.


Upgrade Windows 7 Using USB or DVD Youtube Video

Thanks Drac

How can one be sure in this day and age that what they buy Online is authentic and not some pirated or already registered product and one wouldn't know until later when they needed support. Its such a cheating world out there, it makes one long for the days of honesty, honor and integrity.

Whould leaving all applications, files and setting keep things like my massive saved web sites in FireFox? Sorry for more annoying questions.

Yes, it would. I have a Firefox account which backs up all my Favorites etc. When I installed Firefox on my new drive, I just signed into my Firefox account and they synced everything to the new drive.

These are all OEM or Retail versions and not pirated. There are special seals on them and everything.

Thank you so much Drac. I hope I have better luck with this switch than I have had the last few years trying to grow tomatoes.

Oh, no! One cannot go through the summer without tomatoes! If you are trying to grow in patio pots, that may be your problem. Tomatoes don't do very well in them unless they are the little ones made to grow in pots.

I think you will find this switch to be much easier than you anticipate. There is much that is different in Window 10, but also much that is very similar. I actually find Windows 10 much easier to navigate than Windows 7. And like I said, I'm just an email away!

Last years death toll...3 pre-ordered Brandywine plants from Burpee. 2 in containers 1 in ground. 1 pot spindly few tomatoes, 1 pot I cured blossom endrot, few tomatoes others eaten, 1 in ground few tomatoes others eaten. I am dying for a real tomato and not the hard hothouse flavorless ones. Even the ones sold at the Farmers Markets are from the Produce Terminals where all the stores get theirs too. I long for the days where farmers had a small roadside stand stand selling their home grown outside vegetables. They are all gone and replaced by condos and huge home subdivisions.

I take it you have squirrels! I will have to find the picture a friend of mine took of the simple screened in area she made of PVC piping and chicken wire. She never lost a tomato! Last year Wal Mart had some beautiful Cherokee Purple tomato plants. I bought a few to replace some I lost and they did great.

Walmart...Cherokee Purple....wow...that sounds tempting

I don't want to totally hijack this thread to discuss tomatoes, so see your email for a pic of that PVC tomato cage! But where ever they are, they need a minimum of 6 hours of sun every day.

Actually it's easier to put a 2nd drive in the computer than it is to get used to a new operating system all at once -- and by "operating system" I mean a different version of Windows.

There's nothing that can drive a person to desperation quite so fast as having a strange interface they can't cope with and having nothing familiar to fall back on. The worst time isn't when you first use the new interface, it's when you really, really need to use the computer and you can't do what you need to do the way you used to do it.

One thing you might seriously consider is to get a 2nd computer just for Internet. It doesn't have to be a very powerful or expensive computer if you're going to be doing your gaming on your old one. Easier than installing any version of Windows yourself, and if you watch for sales you should be able to get an inexpensive little dinkus with Windows 10 to get you online for cheap. (By "little dinkus" I mean one of those "small form factor" computers that you sometimes see for cheap.) If you have Windows 10 on a separate computer, you can always go back to Windows 7 on your old computer for a while if Windows 10 starts to overwhelm you.

Some people adapt to changes in a computer interface very quickly.
Some just don't. You know which you are.

This is actually all sounding depressing to me. Up until now there hasn't been much difference in changing over from Win 98 to Xp to Win 7...this is...is...I can't find the word. At least I have a long time to get over it.

GreyFuss, it's actually not that bad. As I said, there are things that are different, but a lot of things that are the same. And I am always just an email away!

I thought it was depressing too. Microsoft's forcing it down peoples' throats, forcing their computers to download and install it without the owner's consent was a really stinky thing to do, and people are still having problems with Windows 10 deciding to do a Windows update right when they have to use the computer for a presentation, despite how they've scheduled updates.

But if you didn't have trouble going from XP to Windows 7 you may not have much of a problem. I actually had less of a problem learning to use the old Mac OS9 on a 1990's Mac I bought for vintage Mac games than I did getting used to Vista after using XP. So I don't want to minimize the problems anyone might have getting used to the changes, both in the interface and the behavior, between Windows 7 and Windows 10. I think it's important to have something to fall back on, which is why I suggested a second cheapie computer for Internet, or just to learn on while you keep the Windows 7 computer as is.

Well I know for sure I won't like them interrupting and installing updates any time they want and without my permission for sure. And I am sure that eventually I will learn any new ways that Win 10 has from Win 7 but its the hassle and worrying about programs that don't work or having to updates tons of program drivers or updates, losing information or finding that programs won't run with the information or items I do have.

Some of the Links I read from Draclvr keeps talking about Apps and I don't have anything like that or really even know what they are. Aren't they things for Apple Computers or phones or something? Not sure how they would be mentioned with a Windows computer.

I do want to take this time to thank jenny and Draclvr for always helping me out and for the help they provide everyone here at GB.