What are the consequences of the ending of Windows 7 support to users?
On 24th of January 2020, Microsoft Windows stopped providing support to its Windows 7 operating system. Users who haven’t upgraded their system to Windows 10 when encouraged to do so by Microsoft before the cut off date can still carry on using their equipment but can’t request any technical support if something goes wrong.
Carrying on using it may not be the best thing to do though. As there will be no patches or updates available as of January, anti-virus software loaded with Windows 7 machines will not get the updates to provide protection against new digital threats, leaving many users at risk. Malicious attacks will target Windows 7 machines and if you are using sensitive features such as online banking, it’s therefore recommended to upgrade the system as soon as possible. Another option would be to upgrade to Windows 8 but the lifespan of this OS is probably going to come to an end sooner or later and you will be left in the same situation as with Windows 7.
How to upgrade your computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10?
The first thing that needs to be done is to check that the current specifications of your laptop are compatible with the technical requirements from Windows 10. In order to be able to upgrade your Windows 7 OS to Windows 10, you need to have a 1GHz processor minimum or a SoC (System-On-a-Chip) one, enough RAM ie 1GB for Windows OS 32-bit or 2GB for 64-bit, a graphics card with DirectX 9 software component from Microsoft and a display with a minimum resolution of 800 x 600. If your computer isn’t up to these requirements, you have two options: buy a new computer on which Windows 10 is already loaded or upgrade your PC to meet the requirements of Windows 10.
If you decide that it’s time to replace your computer with a new one, you will easily be able to transfer the data from the old computer to the new one with the help of an external hard drive.
IT companies can help you make the transition to a new operating system with a clean installation of Windows 10, making your data is backed up before the upgrade and transferred back to the drive afterwards. They can also help you with upgrading the computer to make its performance as high as possible. One of the great ways to do this is to install an SSD with Windows 10 inside the computer and increase the speed of response of the machine by at least 10 times.
What are the other options available to Windows 7 users?
If you are thinking of replacing your computer running on a Windows environment and get a Mac, a reliable IT company can also install Mac drives software on your Windows machine which will convert your files to a Mac environment and allow you to replace your PC with a Mac computer.
For businesses using Windows 7 on their system, they are able to purchase Windows 7 Extended Security Updates from Microsoft and continue to receive security patches and upgrades for their computers. This service is priced per computer and will be available until 2023.
Contact Creative IT on 020 7237 6805 or email info@creativeit.net if you would like some advice on the transition from Windows 7.