{"id":2751,"date":"2019-01-31T14:20:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T22:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/?p=2751"},"modified":"2023-12-18T07:28:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T15:28:59","slug":"windows-7-to-be-retired-january-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/windows-7-to-be-retired-january-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows 7 retired January 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Updated 1\/20\/20 to reflect that support for Windows 7 has now ended<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you purchased a PC between 2009-2012 it most likely came with Windows 7. The operating system was released 10 years ago and has since been replaced with Windows 8 and Windows 10. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Microsoft has decided (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/microsoft.com\/windows7\" target=\"_blank\">Microsoft has decided to retire support for Windows 7 effective January 2020<\/a>, thereby stopping the release of important security and reliability patches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"488\" src=\"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Windows-7-EOS-screen-1-1024x488.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2892\" srcset=\"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Windows-7-EOS-screen-1-1024x488.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Windows-7-EOS-screen-1-500x238.jpg 500w, https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Windows-7-EOS-screen-1-150x71.jpg 150w, https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Windows-7-EOS-screen-1-768x366.jpg 768w, https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Windows-7-EOS-screen-1-1536x732.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Windows-7-EOS-screen-1-2048x976.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Computers with Windows 7 have been displaying informational messages similar to the one above reminding about the January 2020 end-of-support cutoff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While you could continue to use your PC running Windows&nbsp;7, without continued software and security updates, it will be at an ever-increasing risk for viruses and malware. Going forward, the best way for you to stay secure is on Windows&nbsp;10. And the best way to experience Windows 10 is on a new PC. While it may be possible to install Windows&nbsp;10 on your older computer, it is not recommended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why updating the operating system on existing computer hardware is not recommended:<\/strong> <strong>Since your computer was manufactured over 5 years ago<\/strong> the hardware  is nearing the end of its useful life. Particularly, the HDD\/mechanical hard drive has an <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"average lifespan of 4-5 years (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/lifehacker.com\/how-long-will-my-hard-drives-really-last-1700405627\" target=\"_blank\">average lifespan of 4-5 years<\/a>. Additionally an old computer likely has a processor with an unpatched  <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/conta.cc\/2Q31WXn\" target=\"_blank\">serious security flaw that was discovered in early 2018.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Assuming your computer can be upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10, the job typically takes 2+ hours. Since your current computer\u2019s hardware is past it&#8217;s average lifespan \u2013 I would hate for you to spend the money for the time involved in upgrading only to have a mechanical failure happen soon thereafter. For about $500 you can get a new computer that\u2019s much faster and reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore it&#8217;s time to start thinking about replacing your old computer which will come with the latest version of Windows. But don&#8217;t buy just any computer before reading our <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/newpc.ctreno.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">new computer buying information newsletter<\/a>&nbsp;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some computers come with a Solid State Drive (SSD) instead or in addition to a mechanical\/spinning Hard Disk Drive (HDD) &#8211; the part that stores the operating system and programs. Computers with a SSD are about 5-25x faster, more reliable and energy efficient &#8211; which is particularly useful if you&#8217;re using a laptop computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When setting up a new computer, we set it up in a manner that&#8217;s familiar to you &#8211; not the way that Microsoft recommends setting up a new computer utilizing a Microsoft account and unnecessary password\/PIN that syncs everything with Microsoft&#8217;s servers. To read new computer buying information,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/newpc.ctreno.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>&nbsp;.<\/p>\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/windows-7-to-be-retired-january-2020\/print\/\" title=\"Print This Article\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"WP-PrintIcon\" src=\"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-print\/images\/printer_famfamfam.gif\" alt=\"Print This Article\" title=\"Print This Article\" style=\"border: 0px;\" \/><\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/windows-7-to-be-retired-january-2020\/print\/\" title=\"Print This Article\" rel=\"nofollow\">Print This Article<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated 1\/20\/20 to reflect that support for Windows 7 has now ended. If you purchased a PC between 2009-2012 it most likely came with Windows 7. The operating system was released 10 years ago and has since been replaced with Windows 8 and Windows 10. Microsoft has decided to retire support for Windows 7 effective [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computing-tips","category-passwords"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3027,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions\/3027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}