Recently just hooked up Starlink at the ranch, and thought I'd dig out the old laptop and desktop computers.

The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L645, and the desktop is a Dell Optiplex 7010. They are both running Windows 7. I've booted up the laptop in the past and mainly used it as a dumping point for photos from my phone.

I recall MS stopping support for Windows 7, but didn't pay much attention at the time, as I wasn't getting on the internet with those machines. I've been using my phone for internet access out here for years.

So, is Windows 7 safe to put online anymore without any support? I seem to recall an upgrade to Windows 10 during that time, but am unsure if that was time dependent or not. Is there a Win 10 upgrade I should be looking for?

I've been out of the game on tech for a long time, with the exception of phones, so please answer me like I'm a 5 year old .

Thanks.

I wouldn't use 7 or 10 without some serious network security on the front end. Unless you never use them for anything personal, financial, or otherwise sensitive, stick with a supported OS.

You may find that Windows 7 may not be supported by the lowest browser of your choice that will view and work on most websites. God Bless

I will answer you like a 5 year old in that case.

No.

Firefox extended support for Windows 7 for another year.

I would not put any personal stuff on it.
It is very insecure.

Stick a decent firewall in front of it to be safe.

I'm currently posting from a Windows 7 PC and have one other machine not often used that's still runs W7. It works just fine MANY uses, but honestly it's become a pain in the ass, mostly because of the growing number of websites using Cloudflare and Azure 'Security', as well as anything using edgesuite.net that detects my W7 Browser. More and more I'm forced to 'Press and hold' or 'Click here' to prove that I'm a human. Many websites won't open a page from a search return, which even includes the product search on that actual website. I can't open anything beyond the homepage on the Lowes website as even trying to navigate through their product search displays:

"Access Denied - You don't have permission to access "http://www.lowes.com/search?" on this server."

For web browsers I use are Firefox ESR w/ AdGuard AdBlocker (with a ridiculous number of filters enabled!) and Brave in its standard configuration. Neither will accept third party cookies or tracking cookies, which could also be a factor in my web browsing woes. For a while if one browser didn't work, the other would, but that's not always the case any more. I'm sure my refusal to comply with viewing endless ad content, as well as third party cookies and any tracking cookies is major contributing factor in my sometimes broken web browsing experience on that PC, so it's not just Windows 7 that's the issue. I had to resort to banking and investment activity on my iPhone for a while there, as the TD bank and Fidelity Investments websites were no longer playing nicely on my W7 PC.

I skipped Windows 10 altogether (a abhor that OS!), which is why I still had/have ANY Windows 7 PCs, but obviously I needed to upgrade so last October I bit the bullet so to speak. I decided I needed to evaluate my options, so I installed Window 11 and Linux Mint on a couple of machines, which I was able to dual boot quite nicely. It turns out that Office 2010 Pro (it does everything I need it to, and nothing I don't!) runs just fine on a Windows 11 PC, and I was able to get all of the updates installed thru Windows Update, so that was nice. Currently I've got six PCs running Windows 11 on 'unsupported hardware', all of them work just fine, and two of which have Intel Gen 5 Core-i7 processors w/ just 8 GB of DDR3 Ram! AND three of those machines dual boot w/ Linux Mint.

Some, perhaps many will disagree, but honestly, I don't necessarily see Windows 7 as the security issue everyone makes it out to be. The installed user base for W7 is pretty damn small at this point (less than 3% as of Sept. 2025), so it would seem unlikely that OS would be a focus of those with nefarious intent when Windows 10/11 have PLENTY of security flaws to exploit, and macOS is not immune either! Just like any business, you want to focus your efforts chasing the largest market in order to maximize the potential return for your efforts...There's simply a MUCH larger market share to target than Windows 7 PCs! I've had exactly one malware issue and one virus issue since I've been using a PC. The virus issue was back in the Window 95 era, and the malware issue occurred on a business laptop running Windows XP! Apparently, it turns out that the best way to avoid most issues is to NOT do anything stupid. Let's be serious, nobody is developing malware to target Windows 7 PCs...There are MUCH bigger fish to fry! YMMV

This message has been edited. Last edited by: nhracecraft,

Get a USB stick, install Linux Mint on the laptop and you can update on it with the latest security and browser.

Did this for my dad who has a laptop that was absolutely slow with Win11 installed, you could make a pot of coffee and cooks some eggs between opening an app and it coming up to use.

https://linuxmint.com/

Simple, easy and as far as interface you won't notice much difference to Windows.

quote:

Originally posted by sig2392:
Firefox extended support for Windows 7 for another year.

I would not put any personal stuff on it.
It is very insecure.

I suggest therapy.

If my browser works, I never enter anything personal, no online shopping, no email, and nothing else connected end to the same network/wifi…your choice and your risk.

If you come to my house and ask if you can connect to my WiFi, when I stop laughing, I will say no.

So......not recommended .

Maybe Santa will bring me a new laptop and desktop this year.

In the meantime, I'll keep them offline, and perhaps mess around with the Unix link above.

Thanks all!

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Get a USB stick, install Linux Mint on the laptop and you can update on it with the latest security and browser.

Did this for my dad who has a laptop that was absolutely slow with Win11 installed, you could make a pot of coffee and cooks some eggs between opening an app and it coming up to use.

https://linuxmint.com/

Simple, easy and as far as interface you won't notice much difference to Windows.

This. Posting from an old laptop that is surprisingly fast with Linux Mint. With Win11 this laptop was basically unusable.

I really don't know a whole lot on the subject but when support for Windows 10 ended I purchased a subscription to Malwarebytes and kept on truckin'. I have a Windows 11 desktop machine that I never use. Maybe when Windows 12 comes along I'll think about switching, but for now I'm still with Windows 10 on my home desktop.

For the 5 year old that is into guns!

The Internet, much like the real world, is vast and yet dangerous. Your computer operating system and web browser acts like a bullet proof vest from internet-based threats. From the moment the operating system is issued, that vest begins to degrade. More accurately, there are weaknesses already there that the bad guys learn ways of shooting through. For a the first several years after release, there are free downloads available that patch these inherent weaknesses in the vest. At some point, the software vendors decide to retool and they no longer have the resources to continue to patch very old vests. They give notice (warnings) of this end of support long in advance.

If the computer is never connected to any networks (air gap, no network cable, WiFi or Bluetooth) these threats do not apply. Therefore, the older computer operating systems can be used safely.

Windows 7 Support Milestones:
Mainstream Support Ended: January 13, 2015
Standard Extended Support Ended: January 14, 2020
Final Paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) Ended: January 10, 2023

Windows 10 Support Milestones:
Mainstream & Standard Extended Support Ended: October 14, 2025
Consumer ESU Program Ends: October 12, 2027 (Originally scheduled for 2026, Microsoft extended this window to offer consumer security patches for an extra year)
Enterprise & Education ESU Support Ends: October 10, 2028 (Provides up to 3 years of total paid commercial security patches)

Bonus advice -- please do not assume that installed security software will protect you from threats that attack unsupported operating systems with serious known vulnerabilities.