Windows 7 EOL

13

Comments

  • edited December 2019

    I knew something like this would happen. This is great! :)

    However, the steps provided require me to log in to see it (but I guess it'd be no problem if I sign up just for that). At least the post after it can be shown to all, because testing it would be really important.

    So far, this sounds better than XP getting extended updates through that risky registry hack we knew about back then.

  • I still have a laptop running Windows 7, but it only has 1GB of RAM and hasn't been updated in years. At least there's a way to still update it beyond January.

  • Well, apparently it's now deemed illegal > https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/tool-illegally-enables-windows-7-extended-security-updates/

    Personally, I don't care. Best to stay with an OS that still works than upgrade to one with Candy Crush and its habit of reinstalling itself every six months. Besides, how would Microsoft know that if any of us are using this tool anyway? :/

  • I'm pretty sure installing the POSready2009 updates for XP was technically illegal too. I'm not too worried about it.

  • Huh, thought it was about getting the embedded updates for regular SKUs.

    There's always other OSes, such as Linux/BSD. Windows isn't the only OS in existence.

  • @nick99nack said:
    I'm pretty sure installing the POSready2009 updates for XP was technically illegal too. I'm not too worried about it.

    Not unless the police bust down your front door in the middle of the night and drag you out by the nostrils :P

  • edited December 2019

    Since this little hack came about, there have been concerns on whether this will work from February 2020 and of when to install the bypass itself (as people in the linked thread above said to install it after the January 2020 Patch Tuesday). Also, apparently the December 2019 rollup update had included a full-screen warning about 7's EOL but there are ways to stop it from happening, which I'm happy to provide:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\EOSNotify] "DiscontinueEOS"=dword:00000001
    
    schtasks /Change /TN "Microsoft\Windows\Setup\EOSNotify" /Disable
    schtasks /Change /TN "Microsoft\Windows\Setup\EOSNotify2" /Disable
    reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\EOSNotify" /v "DiscontinueEOS" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f 
    

    (first one under Registry Editor, last three under Command Prompt. However, I currently don't have the "EOSNotify" folder under that directory unless these would create it with associated registry edits)

    But my number one concern is that as a Windows Defender user, support for that will be cut yet Security Essentials is allowed to go on for longer. Not happy about that, considering MSE gave me a lot of grief last time, unless things have improved since but I'm sceptical as always.

  • edited December 2019

    From the list of actions I posted above, it can be done differently (and quickly) as this:

    reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\EOSNotify /f /v DiscontinueEOS /t REG_DWORD /d 1
    reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\EOSNotify /f /v DiscontinueEOS /t REG_DWORD /d 1
    schtasks /Change /DISABLE /TN "Microsoft\Windows\Setup\EOSNotify"
    schtasks /Change /DISABLE /TN "Microsoft\Windows\Setup\EOSNotify2"

    Remember to run Command Prompt as administrator first but I'm sure most would know this anyway.

    Also, just two weeks to go until the end, my friends.

  • You can also put all of that into a batch file and run that as an Administrator.

  • @nick99nack said:
    You can also put all of that into a batch file and run that as an Administrator.

    I never thought of that, and I made a batch file for myself recently :D

  • Now, less than a week to go. I've not yet installed the bypass but I will right after the last-ever Patch Tuesday.

  • Well, two days until Windows 7 EOL. Google decided to support Win7 for an additional year. Wow, that's better treatment than the WinXP and Vista users (such as myself) received. Especially with Vista dropped by most programs three years early.

    I'm hoping 8.X series doesn't get left in the dust years early like Vista.

    My commonly used computers run 8.X series (2012 included) with the exception being my D600 which runs whatever I decide to put on it that month.
    The hardest to load Win8.1 on was an HP tx2 which I recently purchased for the dvd drive. The N-Trig drivers didn't play well with Win8.

  • XP users had Chrome until 2016, so it looks like they're following the same pattern with Windows 7.

    I'm pretty sure Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 are very similar internally (like how similar Windows 2000 is to XP), so it may be a while before software actually breaks on it. How early companies start blocking installations on it is another story. For example, as of last year the Sonos controller software still ran on XP, after you installed .net 4.0 and removed the version check in the msi file. It probably still works, though I haven't tried it in a while.

  • @nick99nack said:
    XP users had Chrome until 2016, so it looks like they're following the same pattern with Windows 7.

    Not quite. Chrome will still be supported until July 2021 so, eighteen months. Considerably less than how much they gave for XP (which was another two full years).

    After end of support tomorrow, and the last ever batch of updates, that's when I'll install the bypass, and I should not see the full-screen warning also following the tweaks I did with it weeks back.

  • I still have 2 full computer labs with Windows 7 here at work, and most of the office staff is still on 7 as well. I'm hoping to move them over sometime before the end of the school year.

  • Keep in mind that even if a browser chooses to support an operating system beyond the OS reaching EOL, that does not mean you are going to be 100% safe.

  • 7 hours and 9 minutes to go. (Also this is my first post here; hi).

  • @robobox said:
    Keep in mind that even if a browser chooses to support an operating system beyond the OS reaching EOL, that does not mean you are going to be 100% safe.

    Unless anyone has a working adblocker and keep mind of safe browsing, those should be enough to save your ass.

  • @robobox said:
    Keep in mind that even if a browser chooses to support an operating system beyond the OS reaching EOL, that does not mean you are going to be 100% safe.

    Keep in mind that even if you are running Windows 11 with Chrome 9492, that does not mean you are going to be 100% safe.

  • Windows 7 EOL, day 1:

    It's quiet. Too quiet. My desktop computer at work, still running Windows 7, is humming along as it normally would. It did not spontaneously combust, or start shooting laser beams at me. It did not get a virus that wiped the hard drive, encrypted my backup files and drained my bank accounts. It's just working. So far, so good. Perhaps there is still some hope that the human race may survive the dark age of computing.

  • And meanwhile, I did not have the nagging screen and other crap. Just a perfectly normal day like any other day.

    Also, I should inform people that one of the updates issued yesterday had broke the bypass (and specifically it was KB4534310, a security rollup), and that the ESU test update can't be installed as a result. If I had known this sooner, I would've just left it but, a newer version of that bypass is on its way. At least I got a new definition update for Defender which is something.

  • If you add a user or switch to a long unused user account, you will likely get the full screen nag warning.

    If the results are anything like my old Vista VM, Windows 7 will start forgetting it was activated in about 6 months leading to the annoying screen embellishments announcing that it is counterfeit software.

  • edited January 2020

    Day 4 of going beyond EOL... where it's still normal here and miraculously, got another Defender definition update. Awesome! :)

  • @LaserBeamTube said:
    Because Windows 10 is no good, it deserves a true successor (e.g. Microsoft Windows Tabs) and on BD-ROM!
    On the other hand, Windows 7 Forever!

    Why do you ever use a CD to install an operating system nowadays? Just download WinSetupFromUSB or Rufus to create a Windows installation USB.

  • @Xiao Ling said:

    @LaserBeamTube said:
    Because Windows 10 is no good, it deserves a true successor (e.g. Microsoft Windows Tabs) and on BD-ROM!
    On the other hand, Windows 7 Forever!

    Why do you ever use a CD to install an operating system nowadays? Just download WinSetupFromUSB or Rufus to create a Windows installation USB.

    It's generally cheaper and easier to burn the OS to a disc and let 'er rip than it is to use a USB stick.

  • edited January 2020

    I'd have to disagree. I can use WinSetupFromUSB to fit multiple OSes on a single USB flash drive, even Windows 9x (using the "grub4dos compatible ISO" feature) and easily slipstream and modify the sources after initially copying them to the stick.

    The Windows 98SE DOS will even mount the USB flash drive itself as a storage device (usually drive C: though) so you can easily copy important drivers, updates and other software before installing Windows, without having to master an entirely new CD.

    And Windows NT installs faster off USB (on an NTFS partition) than a CD in a 48x drive.

  • It's not really easier these days, especially since Microsoft themselves release Windows 10 with a USB media creator. No need to mess around with Rufus or robocopy or any of that now. Just download the Windows 10 media creator tool, pop in your USB flash drive, and boom.

    It's getting increasingly rare to see a modern computer you'd be installing Windows 10 on even have an optical drive at all. Let alone it being able to read blu-ray. So yeah, the days of shipping Windows on optical media are numbered. Frankly, I'm surprised you can still get it on DVD. I did a quick Amazon search and buried among mostly digital download versions and USB versions (so even if downloading the media creator and making your own USB flash install was too complicated, you could just buy a pre-made USB) there were still a few DVD versions. I expect this to become more rare as the years progress though.

  • Yesterday was the first month of the ESU era, where this security rollup was offered. There's also more found under the Microsoft Update Catalog by using the keyword "2020-02 windows 7" and just locate those compatible with your system. To be honest, I think those that are either legit ESU customers or those using the bypass like myself would only need the security rollup each month, as that would contain the other updates anyway.

  • Have you installed the rollup? Any issues so far?

  • Yes I have, and no problems at all. However, it's said that the February Servicing Stack Update would cause the bypass to break which had happened for last month's too. When I was aware of this, I just left it.

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