How to maximally secure a PC with Win 7?

[inspiron7]

Only in Wine and only if it's compatible with Wine. YMMV

The fallacy that you somehow can't use Windows 7 is just that, a fallacy. I use Windows 7 now, and have been since around 2010 and I even turned off UAC and run as Admin. No hacker crap, no viruses, none of that. The main reason for that is that I know what the attack vectors are and don't browse the Internet like a moron and use programs that are moronic. To top that off, I only use a handful of updates so you'd think I'd be pry for some "hacker" wearing a Time Warner owned Guy Fawkes mask. Nope!

I do know how much telemetry pours out of Windows 10. I ran it in VMware Workstation Player and monitored the NIC with a packet sniffer. It's absolutely abhorrent. I never saw any of this stuff in a Windows 7 or XP install in VMware Workstation Player. Just some minor time checking, local Internet stuff, etc.

Right now I'm checking out something called Windows 10 AME and so far they really cut down on the crap in that and there is very little telemetry. There's some though and I'll let them know as soon as my testing is concluded. But overall at least 99% of the telemetry is gone. Now Windows 10 AME may not be for everyone, it all depends on what you want to use it for. It does completely strip out the Windows update facility so that may be a turn off for many who pay homage to the patch Tuesday God. I don't. As I already stated I only use but a handful of updates now. And again, no hacking crap, malware, etc. I even use scanners every once in a while that many people never heard of. I sound like a broken record, but I just know someone will say some asinine clown crap like, "well, you probably have malware and don't know it." Trust me. I block over 861 million IPs in Peerblock with my custom lists I make, monitor my NIC, and every once in a while monitor things with Disk Pulse. Including the use of very niche malware scanning programs. On top of that, all browsers run in the now free and open source Sandboxie, and I scan ALL downloads at Virus Total. I stay abreast of what auto starts and all the rest. On top of that, I make periodic full 1:1 disk clones should disaster ever strike which has yet to happen. In a nutshell, I control MY PC and know how to do it. So I guess for those that don't know anything about computers you'd probably want to use Linux or Windows 10 and use critical updates when available. I don't because they seem to lack QC (Quality Control) and can and will mess your computer up. Not always, but the potential is there. Read my signature below. I just roll differently over the vast amount of computer users. You know that old show House?, I'm like that guy only with computers. LOL I have yet to watch Mr. Robot. Didn't seem interesting to me. A show on CBS called Intelligence peaked my interest back then though, but it only ran for one season I believe.

In summary. If you're a gamer you'll want Windows 10 (you may need Directx 12). If you just use a computer for small home & office related tasks, check out Linux Mint and the Twister OS UI. Better yet, buy two HDDs and install Windows 10 to one and Linux to another. If you want to game, boot Windows 10, everything else use your Linux install. For me that would be a PITA so I don't do that. You'd want two HDDs because partitions can just go poof like magician's flash paper or give you issues. Plus, if you're running Steam, Epic Games, Battle.net and all the rest, it WILL consume a huge amount of disk space.

Now beyond the aforementioned Windows 10 AME, you can strip Windows 10 down with nLite. Go on YouTube and you'll see some tutorials on doing it and you can weigh what you feel needs to be uninstalled and not uninstalled and all the rest.

Here people complain about the NSA, yet seemingly don't care about Windows 10 or their phone, etc. Go figure. Have a router? I bet it has an open port now you don't know about that can be taken over by a hacker to effectively turn YOU into a zombie bot net. Don't segregate your IoT devices like cameras, Echo, the thermostat, the damn coffee pot in a vLAN? You're in for a big surprise. Like an OS, you need to secure your router. I wrote about that here. (Note. I don't allow many VPNs and a VPS, etc to connect to my website. Not even Tor). I talked about the NSA, read my piece about that here.

Anyway, I should write a book on this stuff because I could go on, and on, and on ad nauseam about this stuff. LOL

Thank you.

My mobo is AsRock P45DE3 :

ASRock > P45DE3

The latest OS it supports is Win 7.

I've used Win 10 for some time,but it was making me problems.

I am very satisfied with Win 7 so far.

BTW , I play 10 years old games.

 

[edassange]

inspiron7 Have you tried the My Digital Life forum regarding Windows 7 extended security updates? You'll need to register but they could well have the solution you're looking for.

 

[inspiron7]

inspiron Have you tried the My Digital Life forum regarding Windows 7 extended security updates? You'll need to register but they could well have the solution you're looking for.

I am already using theirs ESU bypass.

Edit: So, is my PC safe when using the ESU?

 

[edassange]

If you thought it was safe before support officially ended, then it is still safe as you are still receiving updates. If you want to see what other security measures I take, click on my system specs. I have no qualms about using Kaspersky as they provide the best free protection but I fully understand why some people are reluctant to use their AV.

 

[inspiron7]

If you thought it was safe before support officially ended, then it is still safe as you are still receiving updates. If you want to see what other security measures I take, click on my system specs. I have no qualms about using Kaspersky as they provide the best free protection but I fully understand why some people are reluctant to use their AV.

Thank you very very much!

I am using Kaspersky AV too.

 

[michael diemer]

Sure, if you are as knowledgeable as Simpilot, you can safely use Windows7. Most users are not. For them it is risky to use it. If it seems absolutely necessary, I would suggest installing it as a virtual system, or using a Sandbox. But these are also sophisticated operations for basic users. If Windows games are the only thing you need it for, do a dual-boot. Use Linux for your online work, fire up W7 for the games (assuming they're offline games). If being on Windows and being online are absolute necessities, then you need to buy a new Windows 10 computer.

I recall some concern about booting up a Linux/Windows dual-boot. The Linux boot menu, called Grub (for Grand Universal Bootloader - Linux is big on acronyms), gives you 10 seconds to make a choice, and that can be adjusted if need be. but most people can figure out which OS they want to boot in 10 seconds. Dual-booting is easy. Your basic mainstream Linus OS will take care of everything for you in the installer. You just answer a few questions. It will carve out some space for Linux, keep Windows on its own partition, and you decide which to boot at startup. Each system is totally separate. You can put them on separate drives if you have a desktop. Otherwise, do it on the single drive supplied with a laptop. It will be as if you had two separate drives. Each partition will be considered a drive, and what you do to one will have no effect on the other. Linux forums will give you all the help you need, just like this place.

As for which Linux to try, should you go that route, I agree with the prevailing wisdom of making Mint the first one to try. It may be all you will need. But if you're like most, once you realize how many great "distros" there are out there, you will want to try others. Other ones friendly to Windows refugees are Linux Lite and Zorin. Any of those would be a great choice.

 

[inspiron7]

Sure, if you are as knowledgeable as Simpilot, you can safely use Windows7. Most users are not. For them it is risky to use it. If it seems absolutely necessary, I would suggest installing it as a virtual system, or using a Sandbox. But these are also sophisticated operations for basic users. If Windows games are the only thing you need it for, do a dual-boot. Use Linux for your online work, fire up W7 for the games (assuming they're offline games). If being on Windows and being online are absolute necessities, then you need to buy a new Windows 10 computer.

I recall some concern about booting up a Linux/Windows dual-boot. The Linux boot menu, called Grub (for Grand Universal Bootloader - Linux is big on acronyms), gives you 10 seconds to make a choice, and that can be adjusted if need be. but most people can figure out which OS they want to boot in 10 seconds. Dual-booting is easy. Your basic mainstream Linus OS will take care of everything for you in the installer. You just answer a few questions. It will carve out some space for Linux, keep Windows on its own partition, and you decide which to boot at startup. Each system is totally separate. You can put them on separate drives if you have a desktop. Otherwise, do it on the single drive supplied with a laptop. It will be as if you had two separate drives. Each partition will be considered a drive, and what you do to one will have no effect on the other. Linux forums will give you all the help you need, just like this place.

As for which Linux to try, should you go that route, I agree with the prevailing wisdom of making Mint the first one to try. It may be all you will need. But if you're like most, once you realize how many great "distros" there are out there, you will want to try others. Other ones friendly to Windows refugees are Linux Lite and Zorin. Any of those would be a great choice.

Thank you!