He would have to get a Win11 license since the window to upgrade from Win7 to Win10 and then to Win11 is gone. If it was me I’d either dual boot Win7 with Ubuntu/Linux Mint, or install Linux as a virtual machine on the computer.
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I have an amd athlon XP system running modern web browsers on Linux. Time to move on to a more secure operating system.
Rufus
I recently sold my i4770K and put Win 11 on it. Ran quite well actually.
2500K is even older though, i expect it would be very laggy. But windows 7 is horribly unsupported by updates, i bet here are many spywares/keyloggers installed by now.
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I do not understand why only BLF would not work.
There is certainly a risk but it can be limited if you take precautions and are paranoid about malicious software, malicious websites and are okay with sticking with older applications. For a number of years I using Windows 7 as my main OS with virus total as my only AV until I switched to Linux in 2024. I did have a Firewall and I installed practically everything inside Sandboxie. I essentially froze most applications to what worked and never updated again except for my web browser. For almost 2 decades of using windows since it’s inception from Win XP to Win 10. I had Sandboxie installed on every single machine. If you’re power user who wants extra security and not shy with having to mess with the setup and management process it is one of my most highly recommended software for Windows besides Systeminternals, Nirsoft and Portableapps. Using an Adblocker for web browsing is absolutely essential, just as essential as understanding how your system can be attacked and how malware can get installed in the first place.
As a long time windows user and I would never recommend windows 11 to anybody. Every update they push towards less user autonomy, less emphases on “Personal Computer”. The whackahole bandaid approach fighting Windows updates to make the operating system that caters more to the end user with less bloat is no longer for me. As Microsoft said in the past “Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows” and I agree with them. I installed linux on all my machines and put it on some family members machines. Linux Deskop works absolutely fine unless you have some proprietary hardware and software that does not play nice with linux like Adobe. I switched to Mint and so far it’s been a pretty good upgrade from Windows 7 and it even runs lighter.
The issue lies with your browser most likely. As mentioned elsewhere there’s some projects that bring newer versions of firefox and chromium to older operating systems of windows. even windows 98 has some passionate folks that have made patches to continue to use that operating systems. I’m not going to knock someone for sticking with older operating, if they can mitigate the risks and hurdles, more power to them.
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sp5it - is there a reason you are not upgrading for free to any of the supurb Linux OS’s?
My story: I owned a business and we had damned expensive proprietary software that only ran on windows. Over time, we added this other windows program and then that other windows program and it was quite a costly beast all totalled up, and it worked (sometimes) well. So, I get it.
Once I sold the business, I looked around and examined my options. At that point I had bought 4 new Apple systems for loved ones, just under $8,000 or so, and could look closely at the “superior” Apple system. I quickly went to Linux (Ubuntu) as the world of Linux is so far superior to both Windows and Apple that it’s hard to believe it. I bought a 10 year old $200 used Dell Optiplex on Amazon (16gb ram, 4tb hard drive etc), overwrote the “free” windows it came with using Ubuntu, stuffed a SSD drive in to speed it up and loved it. Later tryed Mint, and haven’t felt the need to leave. Yes, there was a learning curve. YES, it was worth it.
Linux installs are good, but not windows straight forward. Anytime you get jammed, just do a search on “how do I…” and the answer is there. You’ll still find yourself gritting yer teeth angryly on occasion at first…I did when my windows Paint shop pro (which I had dialed in perfect) replacement GIMP had a learning curve so severe that it must have shrunk my testes. But free software after free software with less of a learning curve filled it in. Shotwell, Krita and some others are amazing and get part of that paint shop funtionality or the other missing part, and better and even more funtionality on other parts. It filled in well.
At this point, looking in my rear view mirror of the insanity that was Windows, it’s hard to believe I ever used that !@#$. Let alone paid so much for it (look up the price for Windows server which is what we were using) let alone the license per machine on some software. The huge difference is that Linux has 100% uptime for me, no blue screens of death or reboots, is more secure, and does all windows does that I need now, and more. For free. You might take a look.
Get an external Hard Drive, back your stuff up, and make a copy of your data via copy/paste as well. Then overwrite windows, don’t “dual boot”, send that windows !@#$ gibbering straight to hell is my advice. Enjoy the journey my friend…
Even windows 10 would be ok, 7 is long not supported and also a security risk today.
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Or just upgrade to a newer machine with Win 11 on it, it will be necessary one day anyway since no hardware will last forever. I’ve never understood people who cling desperately (for whatever reason) to ancient slow and outdated hardware instead of spending a little money and using more modern hardware which is faster, more efficient and simply more up to date in terms of security. Especially since it’s now quite affordable and easily available, and even those on a very tight budget should be able to afford it.
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It’s likely a function of feeling safe and being comfortable on a piece of hardware/software.
Personally, I’d just recommend installing Fedora KDE and that’s about it really.
Simple, performant and up to date.
Alternatively, a 600$US purchase will get you a Macbook Neo or a Mac Mini.
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Or 200 $ would get you a decent (at least much better and more modern) used laptop or some Dell standard PC (Optiplex or similar) from companies or something like that. Maybe this is even cheaper, but it should be affordable after some saving for almost all people out there. And as I said - at one day the ancient PC will break down, and then at some point a newer device is needed.
There is no excuse for using absolutely ancient PCs and software on PCs connected to internet. It’s also negligent towards other uninvolved users when you suddenly become part of a global botnet without realizing it. Then it’s no longer just about you, and that’s honestly my main problem with it. This also applies for those who share the PCs with other people like family members who rely on a fully functional and safe machine while typing in private stuff like passwords. Everyone is responsible for their own decisions, of course, but as soon as others are affected, it becomes unacceptable in my opinion.
So yeah, at least an install with Linux is mandatory on these ancient PCs if internet is used… but a lot of people out there don’t think like that.
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