[Digitalis]

If you've been steadfastly holding out and avoiding Windows 10, now may be a good time to reconsider.

I made the jump a few months ago, things have been pretty painless so far. Having a NAS has been a tremendous help regarding backing up my old work and transferring it to the newer systems. These days I only have 1 PC platform running windows 7 now, and that system is soon to be de-comissioned*. I have two other systems at home: One mobile platform I simply upgraded to windows 10, and the other platform was built from the ground up with windows 10 in mind.

Windows 7 will be low hanging fruit for hackers

Actually, that is reason enough for the talented hackers to leave it alone - the hacker mentality never fails to rise to a challenge.


* For some strange reason I chose to name my computers after saturn's moons. This year I'm saying farewell to my massive 58 Kg server, Dione. Presently I'm up to Hyperion as my compact [and very powerful] Windows 10 Mini ITX build.

[fs999]

All in all, as Photoptimist said, an update to fix a vulnerability in Win10 will indirectly expose the same one in Win7. Not only that, most companies I know of are still using Windows 7, and the massive move from Win XP happened precisely because of its End-of-Life status.

That's not correct. End of life doesn't mean end of updates. Microsoft made, only for this year, two security updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to address the vulnerability for two worms.

The move to 10 seems more or less inevitable, because a no-longer-supported product with a massive install base is the juiciest target.

So if most people have upgraded, I don't think a hacker will loose his time to target only Win 7 based PCs, what he wants is to access the most PCs as possible. That's why Macs without AV are also vulnerable now... In a few years we will discuss on Linux...

[Serkevan]

That's not correct. End of life doesn't mean end of updates. Microsoft made, only for this year, two security updates for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to address the vulnerability for two worms.


So if most people have upgraded, I don't think a hacker will loose his time to target only Win 7 based PCs, what he wants is to access the most PCs as possible. That's why Macs without AV are also vulnerable now... In a few years we will discuss on Linux...

Yeah, at least MS provided the BlueKeep updates for older OS. Still, they won't do that for everything. It was a huge scare that prompted it.

Win7 is still ~30% of the Windows install base, and I would bet that a significant portion of that is company-owned computers, so the average "value" of a computer is probably higher for Win7, if we consider that it will be easier to exploit then it will be lower-hanging fruit.

[jack002]

Did you remember the mess when updating in 2016 and most of your software didn't work any more ? My Windows 7 is working well without issues.

All my XP clients had no problem with ransomware, except one who let a "microsoft technician" install a software on his pc.
Will enjoy it. Thank you !

I had zero problems in 2016

[Digitalis]

Since 20 years I'm on internet and I've never been hacked, perhaps because I'm cautious...

I have to say this, the word ignorant does spring to mind. If you have an account with any online company where you have input personal information - I'm sure beyond any doubt that at some point that database will be hacked, and your information disseminated across the internet for those with less than honest intentions.


Taking direct control of other peoples computers is seldom needed or a hacker these days, all they need is a computer that can clandestinely execute code that serves their purposes - and hackers go to great lengths to prevent the user being aware of it at all. These drones as you could think of them, are part of their botnets which they can use for DDOS attacks which can take down websites, they can use the combined computing power of the botnet to break encryption keys in a matter of hours that would take months, even years for a single PC to break. Hackers aren't so interested in attacking single targets anymore, they are often casting wider nets which they use to snare more systems so they can target high security targets and cause damage that is very difficult to trace.

[fs999]

Taking direct control of other peoples computers is seldom needed or a hacker these days, all they need is a computer that can clandestinely execute code that serves their purposes - and hackers go to great lengths to prevent the user being aware of it at all. These drones as you could think of them, are part of their botnets which they can use for DDOS attacks which can take down websites, they can use the combined computing power of the botnet to break encryption keys in a matter of hours that would take months, even years for a single PC to break. Hackers aren't so interested in attacking single targets anymore, they are often casting wider nets which they use to snare more systems so they can target high security targets and cause damage that is very difficult to trace.

Ok but what will that change if I upgrade to Windows 10 ? Nothing.

[Serkevan]

Ok but what will that change if I upgrade to Windows 10 ? Nothing.

The first BlueKeep exploit did not affect Win10, for example. It was Win2000-Win7 (parts of it at least). Then it turned out there was another exploit that did affect the newer versions, but still. Less vulnerable.
Again, missing the point. So far, all the known exploits that worked on Win7 but not on Win10 have been patched. This. Will. Change.

[jack002]

If you think a no longer supported operating system is as safe as one that is supported, then good luck to you. The updates they push out for them does nothing for no one? If you say so. I respectfully disagree

[MarkJerling]

Did you remember the mess when updating in 2016 and most of your software didn't work any more ? My Windows 7 is working well without issues.

Actually, every bit of software I use worked perfectly after the change from 7 to 10. The only issues I had was that my laptop's webcam and fingerprint reader / authentication system needed new drivers and those were supplied by HP, so no drama. Because my work depends on computers I was naturally quite concerned and made sure to wait about 6 months before I did the change from 7 to 10.

I have found Windows 10 to be far more stable than Windows 7 with far fewer system errors.

All my XP clients had no problem with ransomware, except one who let a "microsoft technician" install a software on his pc.
Will enjoy it. Thank you !

Based upon this comment of yours, i assume you work in IT? The XP ransomware problem was real and while I don't personally know anyone affected by it, it was well reported.

[Rondec]

Actually, every bit of software I use worked perfectly after the change from 7 to 10. The only issues I had was that my laptop's webcam and fingerprint reader / authentication system needed new drivers and those were supplied by HP, so no drama. Because my work depends on computers I was naturally quite concerned and made sure to wait about 6 months before I did the change from 7 to 10.

I have found Windows 10 to be far more stable than Windows 7 with far fewer system errors.



Based upon this comment of yours, i assume you work in IT? The XP ransomware problem was real and while I don't personally know anyone affected by it, it was well reported.

Not everything was perfect. Not all printers had drivers for Windows 10. I have a sound card that is unusable on my desktop computer because it doesn't have Windows 10 drivers. I couldn't figure out what was going wrong but after migrating to Windows 10 videos would lose sound very quickly and that was the issue -- with no fix since it is an older card. I can still use the Realtek Audio that is standard on the computer, so it is OK, but still an aggravation...

[fs999]

Not everything was perfect. Not all printers had drivers for Windows 10.

Not to mention the foolish option "Let Windows choose your printer", when you have a label printer...

Nice article : Windows 10 problems are ruining Microsoft’s reputation – and the damage can’t be understated

[Serkevan]

Not to mention the foolish option "Let Windows choose your printer", when you have a label printer...

Nice article : Windows 10 problems are ruining Microsoft’s reputation – and the damage can’t be understated

The same article, however, points to the underlying problem: there is no real alternative to Windows, unless you are willing to throw a thousand extra bucks on an overpriced piece of Mac. Or go Linux, which is not an option for most typical users: for non-computer-savvy people, if the alternatives are learning Linux or hanging oneself with dental floss, almost everyone would ask "Can I have it menthol flavoured?".

[photoptimist]

Actually, that is reason enough for the talented hackers to leave it alone - the hacker mentality never fails to rise to a challenge.

That "hacker challenge" mentality may be true in some circles but now malware (ransomware, botnets, cryptomining farms, account theft, etc.) operates a business. And as a business, finding the lowest-cost vulnerabilities with the largest population of vulnerable machines has the highest potential profit.

As on Oct 2019, Windows 7 still had about 34% marketshare. That's roughly 500 million machines ripe for the hacking when Microsoft rolls out the next security update that points malware businesses to a Win 7 vulnerability.

[Digitalis]

malware (ransomware, botnets, cryptomining farms, account theft, etc.) operates a business. And as a business, finding the lowest-cost vulnerabilities with the largest population of vulnerable machines has the highest potential profit.

A good point there. Though bear in mind the people running the " business " will operate on known vulnerabilities: they will stick to utilizing simple techniques that don't involve much originality, expertise or innovation...they lack the cutting edge talent of point release exploit finding hackers that are out there. Although they will be aiming at the biggest target they can find their impact will be ultimately quite limited to only the most vulnerable systems/ least tech savvy or outright gullible end users.


* and their business is to sell your data. Seeing it that way makes calling it a business is kind of offensive.

[zman]

So I just tried updating my W7 PC using the Mediacreation tool .exe. Everything was progressing nicely until I received this pop-up :

0xC1900101-0x4000D
"Install failed in SECOND BOOT phase with error during MIGRATE DATA operation.

My PC was then automatically restored to its original settings prior to my attempt. I did check beforehand to make certain my PC fulfilled all basic requirements for W10. Now, I have minimal computer skills and have no clue what this all means. Should I try it again ? Is it a lost cause ?

Thanks for the help.