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My comments below do NOT apply to enterprise installations. They do however apply to the average Mary and Joe home use of Windows.
The reality is that hundreds of millions of Win7 systems will continue to operate well beyond the MS “end of support” date come Jan 2020. As of this date Win7 still has more than 35% of the market and Win10 after 4 hard years just passed 44%. In my opinion, the loss of that support will bring stability to an excellent platform that has seen much turmoil and damage by MS sub-standard and devious efforts to “update” it.
What is astounding to me, is my discovery that my ending “support” May 2017, it now appears clear that the paranoid push to “update” is way over-blown. To this day my now 120 client Win7 systems run better than they have by a long shot now compared to previous to that time. There has yet to be a single instance of any kind of problem as a result of discontinuation of updates in these 29 months.- 3480 computer months of use.
The paranoia around updating still abounds in the Windows tech world.
I am well down the path to creating what I call “Final State” system images for all my clients. In effect, they make it possible to continue to use Win7 for as long as the computer is still used. Replacing any part butthe mother board should be possible. In fact, Microsoft could evaporate and these systems will continue to operate just fine.
Keep in mind that all development on Windows 7 ended Dec 31, 2014. View updates since then with suspicion, especially ones that are not security related. At that same time, QC for Windows updates (WU) was ended. Consequently WU quality has become highly suspect. This has affected Microsoft Office as well. Do not accept driver updates from Microsoft. Only get them from the OEM for your equipment. Note that other than a re-install, you should never update a driver unless you have a specific problem that it solves and then only that specific driver.
1. Reset Windows Update setting to Never
2. Switch to the Chrome browser
3. Install the free VLC media player
4. Stop using Internet Explorer
5. Uninstall Adobe Flash Player
6. Uninstall Adobe Reader
7. Uninstall Java
8. Install a top-rated antivirus (AV) product (I do not recommend "security" products)
9. Do backups regularly
10. Consider re-installing Windows and create an image copy of the installation
11. If your hard drive is over 5 years old, consider replacing it (under $100) before you re-install
12. When your system no longer functions, buy a new one.
Note, when you re-install using such an image, you do not need an installation disk or any activation. I just did one of these this week and it took me less than 2 hours instead of 12.
A good solid source of information on AV products is https://www.av-comparatives.org/
When you re-install, you must run Windows Update. My Windows Update strategy is based on three key events:
1. Dec 31, 2014 all Win7 development ended. Therefore anything that is NOT security and issued later than 2014, is something you do not want because it is how MS tries to make your Win7 machine operate more like win10 from its own perspective
2. September 2016. The last date that you were able to select out updates you do not want. Rollups began
3. Security-only updates were available until June 2017, when they fixed a bum Security only update in a Rollup. That meant if you used a June 2017 Security only update, you installed a bug which you cannot fix unless you install a rollup. I presume this policy continues to this day
In addition, Office updates started going haywire all over the place starting in June 2017.
So, when you do a re-install, you want to be selective on which updates offered you accept. I follow the above dates and end all updating of any kind that was issued after May 2017.