Windows 7 ESUs

[DamageTrain]

Anyone purchase Win 7 ESUs? Extended security updates?

I have a nearly 8-year old Windows 7 box here but it has 21GB RAM and 8 processors. Since I updated to an SSD, I have no problem with my machine's speed, especially as I send big jobs to a faster 32-core server. I could just try to update to Windows 10 in place but there is a ton of old software on this machine and old hardware attached that I still use regularly for my workflows. There is always the risk that the whole machine will seize up and need to be built up from scratch -- which is really the best way to install a new OS anyway.

I'm over committed at work at the moment and don't want to take the risk of losing several days or even hours with this update. At $50 per year per machine for a business user the extended security updates give me a chance to upgrade at a more peaceful moment over the next year. Even though I have anti-virus installed, I also want the Microsoft patches.

Microsoft makes it a PITA to get these things. You have to find a "cloud solution provider" to purchase from using their interface and I haven't had luck with any of them being responsive.

Any advice on how where to buy the ESUs would be appreciated. I'm also trying a second round of inquiries on the MS solution providers website. Thanks

 

[Harry Hooper]

Maybe upgrade to Windows 8/8.1? That will get years of additional updates, and there's a good chance the older programs/hardware will still be compatible. Take a full image of the current OS hard drive, and then try an in-place upgrade. If it's not viable, restore the Windows 7 image. You should know in only a couple of hours if that gets you where you need to go.

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

Without subscribing, can existing Win 7 security patches in existence up through Jan. 14 still be accessed and applied on machines that haven't been updated in a while?

 

[DamageTrain]

Without subscribing, can existing Win 7 security patches in existence up through Jan. 14 still be accessed and applied on machines that haven't been updated in a while?

I think so. And in fact a bunch of important security updates were released yesterday afternoon. I think yesterday was the last day they were going to release new updates but they should remain available going forward.

 

[DamageTrain]

FYI, after several more rejections from the Microsoft provider website, I did find a vendor who is willing to provide ESUs to small businesses through a ZDNet article. So for $67 or so I bought myself another year of security updates and can finally update my machine (after cloning the hard drive) or buy a new machine during some time when work is not overwhelming. The ESUs apply to businesses only and I think they're only Windows 7 Pro or enterprise.

I'm a bit paranoid about ransomware so I want multiple layers of security. Therefore I didn't want to go long without installing MS updates, flawed though they may sometimes be. On the other hand, the box ain't broke so why fix it...

 

[Couperin47]

Without subscribing, can existing Win 7 security patches in existence up through Jan. 14 still be accessed and applied on machines that haven't been updated in a while?

AFAIK, in the case of both Win 7 or 8.1 at any time you can access and download any/all individual patches for local installation from Microsoft, and master lists of the revlevant patches can be found at askwoody.com and other related sites. This applies to any Win 7/ 8.1 install, even those that are not...ahem...activated. What won't work is the automatic update process that identifies, downloads and installs updates. Some may consider that more of a feature than a bug....You simply Google any individual patch and are given the link to the standalone install file for each. As an example, last time I checked a few months ago, there were about 15 actual security patches for 8.1 Pro that really needed installing over the last year, everything else was telemetry, crap to facilitate upgrading to 10 and other files which had no functional utility for most (do you really need updated versions of some ancillary files in 31 obscure languages ?).