Dicentra Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) I looked for a previous thread on this topic but couldn't find one so forgive me if this has already been discussed. I have an old ACER desktop computer running Windows 7 Home Premium. I'd like to keep the old beast running and relatively safe and workable. I've been looking at replacing Windows 7 with a Linux OS but I'm not terribly computer savvy and I'm wondering if I'm biting off more than I can chew. I found this article: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2918397/how-to-get-started-with-linux-a-beginners-guide.html It's dated (2017) but I'm wondering if it's a good place to start. Any tech people here have any thoughts? @Lanny? Any one else? Is this something that I shouldn't even be messing with? The desktop is not my main computer and I would back up everything on it before attempting anything. I'd rather not brick the poor old thing if I can help it, though. Edit: I should add that I'm already running MalwareBytes on the computer in question. It's also running Microsoft Security Essentials and I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to turn that off. I would if I could as I think MalwareBytes is enough. So if anyone knows how to turn off MS Security Essentials and would like to share, that'd be great. 🙂 Edited January 17, 2020 by Dicentra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 I’m wondering if it was my thread about my laptop dying and not wanting to go to Windows 10. It was in the fall. Let me check. I know Lanny has a lot of info on stuff like this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 This one? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 The thread linked above is a good one. Going to Linux may be a steep learning curve for you. Keep in mind that your applications may be an issue as well. I've run Linux on my main machine with a virtual machine, but I took it off because I didn't have the time to relearn all of the system stuff. I was fine on basic operations because I used UNIX for a decade, but I couldn't use some of my applications and had some issues with getting a printer running. Then I needed more disk space, and off it went. Not worth it. I actually like Windows 10. We upgraded fairly soon after it came out, and I've found it to be much more stable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 1 hour ago, mlktwins said: This one? Thanks! I'll take a look through that this evening! 🙂 5 minutes ago, G5052 said: The thread linked above is a good one. Going to Linux may be a steep learning curve for you. Keep in mind that your applications may be an issue as well. I've run Linux on my main machine with a virtual machine, but I took it off because I didn't have the time to relearn all of the system stuff. I was fine on basic operations because I used UNIX for a decade, but I couldn't use some of my applications and had some issues with getting a printer running. Then I needed more disk space, and off it went. Not worth it. I actually like Windows 10. We upgraded fairly soon after it came out, and I've found it to be much more stable. I'm running Windows 10 on my laptop and have found it good, as well. I was just thinking that if installing and running a Linux OS was easier than imagined, this might be a good time for me to give it a try. 🙂 But maybe not. My tech skills lie mostly with various applications - I've not got much programming or OS experience. Ah well - it was a thought. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 14 minutes ago, G5052 said: I actually like Windows 10. We upgraded fairly soon after it came out, and I've found it to be much more stable. I ended up getting a new laptop with Windows 10. Still setting that computer up. My DH wanted me to upgrade to Windows 10 on my old computer. I was worried a lot of my stuff would be messed up or missing, but I did it on Tuesday. It ended up ip being ok. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 I'm going to try the free upgrade this weekend, then. Apparently, it still works as of Jan 7 so we'll still if it still works as of Jan 18. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 31 minutes ago, Dicentra said: I'm going to try the free upgrade this weekend, then. Apparently, it still works as of Jan 7 so we'll still if it still works as of Jan 18. 🙂 It worked great on the 14th. Just make sure you do a system backup of your laptop first. Also, check Windows 10 specifications first to make sure it will work. I had a 2013 desktop and it did fine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/14/21065140/how-to-upgrade-microsoft-windows-7-10-free-os These were the instructions I used. No problems and it was free. Took awhile though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 4 minutes ago, mlktwins said: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/14/21065140/how-to-upgrade-microsoft-windows-7-10-free-os These were the instructions I used. No problems and it was free. Took awhile though. Thanks, mlktwins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 On 1/17/2020 at 7:07 PM, Dicentra said: I'm going to try the free upgrade this weekend, then. Apparently, it still works as of Jan 7 so we'll still if it still works as of Jan 18. 🙂 Did you do your upgrade? If so, did everything go ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 2 hours ago, mlktwins said: Did you do your upgrade? If so, did everything go ok? Ack. Didn't have time over the weekend. But the computer itself is still ticking along fine. I'm hoping to have some time this coming weekend. When I update the computer, I'll let you guys know here. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 I am exhausted so my reply will not be as complete as I would like it to be. I had read an article last September (several times) on ZDNET (?) about how to legally upgrade a Windows 7 machine to a Windows 10 machine. I believe the article said it could be used for Win 7 Home 7 or Win 7 Professional. I tried it on 2 old Dell Latitude Laptops that were designed for and sold/leased to "Enterprise" customers. On this one, the older one, a Dell Latitude E6400 that had had Windows 7 Home on it, I did a clean/fresh install of Windows 7, registered that with Microsoft, and then I did the upgrade. This machine now has a "License" or whatever Microsoft calls it now for Windows 10 and I am a happy camper. I believe this machine was assembled around 2008 to 2010? Windows 10 seems quite stable and I really haven't had any issues with it. The other machine is a later series. A Dell Latitude E6410 that I believe was assembled in 2010 to 2012. Possibly about 6 months after the Windows 7 SP (2?) DVD came out. It has more powerful Hardware and I was not surprised that neither the WiFi or the Ethernet had Windows 7 Drivers. I did the following, several times and each attempt resulted in failure: I did clean/fresh installs of Windows 7. I registered with Microsoft and then I did the Upgrade per the online articles I'd read. Each time, it looked like it was going to be successful, however, at the end of the road, when the machine Restarted, it could not complete the Upgrade to Windows 10. Then, it tried to Revert to Windows 7 and that was corrupted and it couldn't run Windows 7 correctly after that. Not a big deal, now that Windows 7 is EOL (End of Life). The Dell Latitude E6410 Laptop has been running MX LInux since then. If you are going to run Linux, that is IMO, very slick and just about everything you might need is installed "out of the box" when you install MX Linux. I think it has the WiFi Driver for the E6410 but didn't have the Ethernet Driver and I haven't spent time trying to get the Ethernet running. My wife still has a Windows 7 machine. She has removed ALL of her files from that box. I think I read that Microsoft will continue to provide updates for the built in Anti Virus / Anti Malware, and, frankly, I trust Microsoft more than any 3rd party company, to know what the Vulnerabilities of Windows 7 are. And, I am sure there are plenty of vulnerabilities that the bad guys and girls will discover since there are approximately 440 million Windows 7 machines on the Internet these days. Possibly my wife will use that Windows 7 machine for surfing that does not require giving a user name and password to access the web site. If she has problems with it, I will try to do that Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for her and if that doesn't result in a working machine, then I will put MX Linux on it for her. If you have old legacy Software like Microsoft Office on a Windows 7 machine, I would remove that and suggest instead using Cloud based Applications. I am wondering if that Free and Legal Upgrade path from Windows 7 to Windows 10 is still a possibility and I will try to find that link tomorrow after I get home and if I can find it, I will post here again. Be very careful if you use a Windows 7 machine on a Network. Your Home Network. The Internet. Any Network... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart564 Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 2 minutes ago, Kayzor5f said: I would say you can go with both the windows and Linux operating system which provides the best option of the working envirement.I have tried to find out the best written tips for the students on the https://edubirdie.net/blog/edubirdie-review site where students getting the edubirdie review option as well for getting any kind of writing service options. Thank you for sharing the information about the windows and Linux system for my desktop correct working path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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