Windows 7 finishing

I'm in the same boat . A wee box popped up just before Christmas asking if I wanted to change to Windows 10 or 'do it later' - I chose 'later' but it's hasn't appeared again ?
I'm hoping my granddaughter will pop in soon , she said that the change is ' easy peasy '! Aye right .

This always happens in time. You can only change to Windows 10. Have it installed on your current computer by someone who knows what they're doing or get a new computer which will have it already installed. You need to establish what each will cost because it might be preferable to get a new computer. Then you have a clean start and will not risk a breakdown of your old computer as time passes.
By the way, W10 is rather different, so buy 'Windows 10 for Dummies', although you can set up W10 to work pretty much like W7 if you know how.

By the way, if you get a new computer be very careful to back up everything on your old hard drive, which could be e-mails, contacts, pictures, documents etc. onto a good memory stick or hard drive. Also write a list of all programs you use which you have installed yourself as you will need them for the new computer. It takes some thought and planning to change computers, otherwise you may find you've lost something you wanted.

If you look at the "howtogeek" site it will show you how to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.

A TV expert said that as Hacking etc is so prevalent nowadays it is best to upgrade/update as soon as it is offered for the safest tech experience. He said that you can continue with Windows 10 if you don't use the internet, especially banking and shopping, but that you are very vulnerable.

I meant Windows 7......oh for an edit function.

All this reallymeans is that Microsoft will be stopping support and providing updates for W7. I would imagine their desire is that everyone throws away their old computers and buys new ones. After all, if no one ever did that they wouldn't make any money. This is why they tend to try and make it sound scary and promote all the risks even if they are unkikely.

Yes, theoretically there is a higher risk using an unsupported version of Windows but in reality few people will still be using W7 by now so hackers are less interested. Most of them will be busy trying to find holes is W10 or W8. Presumably the NHS will have updated all its computers by now and no big commercial organisations will be using W7. So, whilst there is a bit of risk, I wouldn't say it is significant. There is more of a risk that some newer software platforms (including web browsers and drivers for external devices, such a routers) may start to have problems running with W7. Eventually you may find it a problem but not for a couple of years yet.

Not as easy as you think. I tried to upload W10 when it first came out, The microsoft system checked that my pc had all the right hardware. It did. It was uploaded and would not work. It had a fatal error. This was not uncommon. No-one could find out what the error was and there was no way of remedying it, so W10 had to be uninstalled and W7 reinstall ed

A month ago my pc fixer recommended updating to W10. He came round to do it, but (again) it wouldn't load. In the end he had to take it away to his magic lab in his back bedroom and work on it, He did it in the end, but advised me to consider buying a new pc. This one is 8 years old and worked fine until W10 came along.

I have had it loaded onto my 1 year old laptop and it runs and uodates without problem . DH has had it loaded onto an identical laptop and it works fine but will not update. Instead the machine loads the updates, discovers they cannot be installed and unloads them again. This takes anything from 2 to 4 hours, during which time the computer cannot be used.

By all means move to W10, just do not suppose it will be a doddle - It might be - but on the other hand..........

Thanks folks, we still need to sort this out, not being techies it’s hard to know what to do or how to do it but will check out the geek site, thanks Nellie, thanks all. Keep them coming.
We do need help.

I think there has been a big update today, be prepared! My heart sinks when I see there is one.

Monica's post shows why it's probably better to have a fresh start with a new computer designed for W10. Your old computer may have drivers (programs which work the computer) which will struggle with the upgrade. I bought a new computer last year for this reason. If you think carefully about what you want from a computer and then ask one of the bright young men in PC World they will advise.

I tend to use a tablet for emails and internet stuff but I like my windows 7 desktop for creating documents, editing photos etc. Many older programs which I still enjoying using will not work with a new operating system so I will just use the old computer (and printer) offline.

Yes, M0nica you're right. Under no circumstances should you try and upgrade Windows on your existing computer - that would be a complete disaster. Windows 10 is a very different system and uses a lot of memory. Realistically you need a computer with a solid state hard drive (SSD) to run it effectively. A suitable W10 laptop with SSD costs about £320 so costs have come down but if you don't need to change then don't worry. Upgrading computers is always a bit stressful. If your old computer is working fine then stick with it for now. You will probably get up to another couple of years out of it before you have to upgrade, by which time we'll probably be on Windows 11 or 12.

If you continue to use Windows 7 Microsoft won't provide technical support, software updates, security updates, and fixes after January 14, 2020. This means that your Windows 7 PC will not be as secure as it's today, so you just have to decide what's best for you, as it's an expensive business upgrading!

We installed Windows 10 when it first came out and had no end of problems. Most of the teething problems seemed to have been ironed out and we are fortunate to have a son who is an IT consultant. I left him to sort things out.

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my schoolboy grandson took my laptop home with him and brought it back with windows 10 innstalled , I havent had any problems .

The lastest Windows10 update crashed halfway through the process and wiped out Microsoft Office from my husband's PC on Sunday.
My IT consultant son, has spent the last two days trying to restore it.?