We don't want to go down the path of updating windows ourselves. We don't know the source code so we would have to reverse engineer Windows. In doing so we would violate number laws/EULAs and we don't want to be liable is something messes up. We are only here for support and many here have either jumped on the 10 bandwagon or have gone with Linux.
I like Valerian's idea of trying to help ourselves to maintain Win7 security.
I have decided to stick with Win 7 until I experience evidence of any security failures. In preparation, I have been making two system images each month, I regularly back up docs/photos/music etc. I have Malwarebytes running alongside McAfee, so we see how this goes.
A few weeks ago, I had quite a bit of work to do to make preparations, and I spent a couple of days making copies, backing up, running various things to ensure computer health, in-between a bit of browsing, replying to emails etc etc. When I had finished, it occurred to me that I had not experienced one single problem, everything performed quickly and perfectly. And it made me think that there is nothing wrong with Windows 7, the issue is that MS are withdrawing it's support - and that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the system.
Well I do happen to understand all your points, and it would help if you should know that first off, I was only being somewhat provocative in suggesting that the community develop their own security patches 'as if it were easy'! Perhaps what I had meant is that it would be a 'Very Good Thing' if there were a sub forum dedicated towards that goal, no matter what level of effectiveness it may have
Secondly, I absolutely did not mean to say that anyone here should try setting up a fraudulent company with the aim of deceiving Microsoft and/or scamming them on a service that they have only just made available to the general public
I think it would be very helpful to give serious consideration towards officially contacting Microsoft about how to legally proceed with such a program. As a very important part of that effort, we would guarantee to Microsoft that such a business arrangement will help to reduce the impact of unpatched Win7 machines that Microsoft already is anticipating - based on their past experiences from discontinuing previous OS's
Even if that means that Microsoft should still receive the full amount of licensing fees per machine as they have already described. We could look at the possibility of charging an additional amount in order to offset the costs of running such a program. I suspect there are plenty of people out there who would pay twice the amount that Microsoft is intending to collect! And we could offer a more flexible pricing scheme towards members. Such details would only be left to the imagination for now
If Seven Forums could offer a way to continue securing Win7 for the next 3 years, it would only be a matter of days before the entire world would join the membership here. For private citizens, there are no options available to continue using Win7 in a manner that does not add stress to our daily lives
You sir, are a true pioneer! Daring to tread across terrain that you yourself have seen to be easily navigated
I would recommend that you add one more layer to your defenses: Sandboxie - Sandbox software for application isolation and secure Web browsing
I have been running that sandbox software on Win7 Home Premium 64-bit, for a number of years now and have had zero malwares as a result. Before using that sandbox, I was running Threatfire and SuperAntiSpyware. Then later added in the Security Essentials from Microsoft. I was constantly finding malwares, and I think a few got past my defenses. I had to buy a new license key and re-install the OS, because my anti-malware softwares had failed. That's when I finally began to take sandboxing more seriously. My hardware is based on a Intel DP55 series board, with an i3 CPU and 4 gigs RAM. Graphics card has an additional 4 Gigs. The sandbox adds an extra 0.8 seconds to launching Firefox, but otherwise has no other slowdowns in surfing. There is the minor inconvenience of needing to open the browser outside of the sandbox any time I want to add a new plugin or update the existing plugins. Bookmarks as well. But I see that as a daily proof that it works as intended
Yes, good point. So, with that as one rule, just how much can be done here in order to roll our own security patches? I know that there are many different tips, registry hacks, and such that all can be categorized as one form or another of patching the OS. I remember the XP era when I was looking at various long-winded lists of unnecessary services that could be disabled and or removed. I would be surprised if Win7 doesn't also have such a list. But it's worked so much better than XP, that I've never really felt the need to go through all that work. Now that we are on our own with securing the OS, this will change
This is entirely different. Changing a registry setting is just the same as going into control panel and changing any of the values there (such as disabling automatic updates) and that is as you pointed out, entirely legal. It's just another methodology of changing certain settings although not as obvious. The same thing for developing/applying a theme or (if you want to get technical) installing a program. It's changing functionality using methods that M$ allows and tells you how to do it. To patch the OS you would have to reverse-engineer the source code built into the dll and exe files and that source code is copyrighted. We cannot legally create our own patches since we would have to access the source code. That is technically software piracy (which is also a violation of the rules here) since we don't own Windows. Now I don't know what 0patch is doing but I can't imagine it being much different than that. Now yes if we can get permission to purchase and redistribute the patches M$ will be releasing over the next 3 years then it would be legal but we would have to get that in writing.
I think that people forget that when they purchase windows they are buying a license to use it and only under certain conditions which we have to agree before use. Just like a driver's license. It is required to drive a car on the city streets and we can do so under certain conditions. We can drive it on our private property (if we have enough) all day long. Only open source software can be modified in the way that you describe and that is only because the author released it to the public. You want to write a software program or your own OS you can do with it want you want. You want to pay someone enough for the copyrights you also can do with it what you want. Good luck getting the copyrights for Windows because being Microsoft's biggest cash cow I'm sure that their price is much higher than most people in the world can afford.
We have discussed this possibility for the forums and short and sweet answer, it just ain't gonna happen.
Even if Microsoft allowed access to their code, which they are not, as some is still used on current projects, we do not have the resources either coding wise or financially.
We obviously never considered at any time hacking into the Microsoft code as although it's happened with games coded by small companies it's not possible with one of the largest corporations on the planet. Microsoft will retain a specialist staff of hundreds supporting Windows 7 for the next three years, all of who are fully familier with the code. Training alternative specialists would take many more years so is a pipe dream,
We have no intention of sevenforums closing and will continue to provide a platform for members to help each other, but we are not going to produce patches and I doubt anyone else is except microsoft as already stated, for major companies who are willing to purchase additional support above what they already have, and pay for.
The price for this support varies some companies with thousands of licences will pay less than $50 per system per year, those with hundreds of systems will pay a lot more. And microsoft will not make much, if any, profit on this when you consider the costs in engineers alone
Starting to get the feeling this horse has up & died from under me...
Unfortunately, yes because M$ has the big bucks behind them and very few individuals, companies, and even some countries have enough cash to compare. They aren't going to release the source code because their livelihood is tied up in it. Even if they did it takes a high degree of skill to program an OS. They aren't likely to sell patches to a co-op either but only to big businesses because of their desire to get everyone off of 7 and on to 10. On top of that many here have refused to install any update since the roll-up model was put into place so they won't contribute.
As it stands if you continue to use 7 after end of support you do so at your own risk and (although I can't speak for the staff) I think that it is the official recommendation of this forum that users upgrade. As stated we'll continue to help users as much as we can but that'll become harder. There are as you can see some die hard users that want to keep with 7 and/or have switched to Linux as an alternative. There are now numerous threads on this subject that have been going on for the past few years with many regular users posting their stance. You can read the arguments for and against staying on 7, upgrading to 10, or switching to Linux or another Unix derivative. Ultimately it is your choice on what to do but I strongly suggest before making up your mind that you read the posts, ask questions if you don't understand something, and perform research. As part of your research you might check out the Vista forum and read on the issues that users there have experienced since end of support for Vista because I'm sure that most of them will come true with 7 even if it takes more time to do so. Support from major software manufacturers will start to wane as users drop off of 7 and it ages without support. That has happened with every release of Windows before 7 and unfortunately it'll eventually happen with 7.
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