Goingto need a new computer, I guess

[Xpendable]

I have to correct you there. Many computers are actually NOT able to take Windows 11. Mine is an exanple. True story... There is no technical reason why it would not work. In fact, the early test builds actually would work. Just before Windows 11 was released, Microsoft arbitrarily restricted which cpu's were compatible... They did this solely to appease computer manufacturers knowing it would force people to have to buy newer computers. It was literally a scam. Forced obsolescence. Thank you, Microsoft.

Second thing I have to correct you on. DO NOT USE AVAST. It is really, really bad. It used to be good... Like 15 years ago. Now it is literally one of the worst things you could put on your computer. If you are using it now, I would immediately get it off and and go back to Windows Defender.

[Bones]

Second thing I have to correct you on. DO NOT USE AVAST. It is really, really bad. It used to be good... Like 15 years ago. Now it is literally one of the worst things you could put on your computer. If you are using it now, I would immediately get it off and and go back to Windows Defender.

I haven't used Avast in a long time or even the other ones like Malwarebytes. The reason being is that Windows Defender is already on most OSs and it made sense to me that a huge corporation that knows the ins and outs of their own OS would be the best people to make an antivirus program for it. Well, they used to be.

But what about Avast, or anyone else, makes it so bad? You say it is the one of the worst things you can put on your computer, but don't say why. Does that apply to other AV programs?

v6,
boNes

[Xpendable]

For home use, Windows Defender out of the box is actually very good, and is a much better choice than the 3rd party solutions. All of the 3rd party solutions got big and bloated, and load a lot of crapware on your computer that you don't need and don't want. And they have become very slow and very obtrusive. And their virus fighting ability has become bad. Avast has one of the lowest ratings for actually preventing viruses and malware. Defender is light years ahead. It seems all of the 3rd party anti-virus companies got bad at doing their primary job and focus more effort on selling you things you don't need. Like Norton... They bought Lifelock and integrated that, which itself is literally a scam.

Please note that on a corporate network, Defender isn't going to be enough. You are typically adding actual hardware on the network at that point for additional protections and scanning and mote. That's a whole different level.

[Bones]

Thanks for the explanation!

And for Win10>Win11, I think that yes what you say must be true about making it work for only certian processors, but I think it not working in terms of the processor applies mostly to older processors. I have a machine with an i7 from 2020 in it and it went to Win11 fine but I doubt an i5 from say 2015 would. But then again, if you have an i5 from back then, you probably need alot more updated than just the OS.

v6,
bones

[Xpendable]

I have an i7 from 2013 and it won't go to win11. Remember that i5 and i7 are classes of processors and do not specify an actual model number.

‎i7-4770K is what I bought in 2014. Not compatible with Win11.

i7-14770k (14th generation!) is win11 compatible.

There is nothing that would actually physical prevent my computer from working with Win11, it is just an artificial blocker Microsoft put in to appeal to computer manufacturers to help them sell new computers.

[Trichome]

Hey Xpen....

So much of this stuff goes over my head but I wanted to ask - on the topic of Anti Virus - I use BitDefender... any thought on it? Seems good and to be working but its a bit over my head.

thanks...

[Cr33p3r]

Im glad you all are weighing in. I'm learning a lot just reading these posts!

[Wingnuts]

I'll chime in, though others most likely have more knowledge. I rebuilt my computer back in December of 2023. I had this build from April of 2012. It was a 2500k chip I overclocked to 4.3ghz with 16gb of ram. I kept my same case, power supply and drives for the new build.

I went with;
Asus Tuf gaming MB
Intel i7 12700K that I overclocked to 5ghz
32gb of ram, which I took back and got 64gb of ram better for DCS
Hyper 212 Air Cooler
And that was it. I updated to win 11 to take advantage of the 12 cores. Win took my code from Win 7 which was a surprise. That's when I took back the RAM and went with 64gb. All parts played nice together which could have been otherwise. DCS is running great for me with most settings up there.

My AntiVirus is ESET by NOD32. Have used it over 10 years. Currently it runs 60 something for two computers. Has saved us on several occasions in that time.

NOTE: DO NOT CARRY OVER A 12 YEAR OLD POWER SUPPLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ask me how I know as I got very lucky on that.................
Wingy

[Xpendable]

Hey Xpen....

So much of this stuff goes over my head but I wanted to ask - on the topic of Anti Virus - I use BitDefender... any thought on it? Seems good and to be working but its a bit over my head.

thanks...

I used BitDefender myself about 10 years ago. It was fine at the time, and Windows Defender wasn't good back then. They are pretty close to each other today in virus protection ability. Bit Defender does gives you more features, like moibile phone protection. But it is an expensive solution... Whereas Windows Defender is free. For me, I would rather just use the out of box Windows Defender over paying $100 or more a year to keep Bitdefender.

When Win10 becomes unsupported, the issue isn't only antivirus. New OS vulnerabilities may be discovered and exploited, and Microsoft will no longer be patching those on Win10. So you run a risk that your computer could become exploitable (maybe) with no way to protect against it. Antivirus might not help you here.

There are some funny videos out there that show you what happens when you connect a fresh Windows 98 VM to the Internet today. It will get compromised very quickly as soon as it gets port scanned.

[Xpendable]

Here is a video where a guy puts Windows XP on a virtual machine and connects it to the internet (without a gateway) and without a firewall. The machine gets infected in about 10 minutes. This probably would not succeed on most home networks as by default, no ports would be open on your router and would not be configured to port forward to any machines unless you opened it up. Of course you would get infected if you happen to go to the wrong web address or there is something already inside your network.

[Trichome]

Hey Xpen....

So much of this stuff goes over my head but I wanted to ask - on the topic of Anti Virus - I use BitDefender... any thought on it? Seems good and to be working but its a bit over my head.

thanks...

I used BitDefender myself about 10 years ago. It was fine at the time, and Windows Defender wasn't good back then. They are pretty close to each other today in virus protection ability. Bit Defender does gives you more features, like moibile phone protection. But it is an expensive solution... Whereas Windows Defender is free. For me, I would rather just use the out of box Windows Defender over paying $100 or more a year to keep Bitdefender.

When Win10 becomes unsupported, the issue isn't only antivirus. New OS vulnerabilities may be discovered and exploited, and Microsoft will no longer be patching those on Win10. So you run a risk that your computer could become exploitable (maybe) with no way to protect against it. Antivirus might not help you here.

There are some funny videos out there that show you what happens when you connect a fresh Windows 98 VM to the Internet today. It will get compromised very quickly as soon as it gets port scanned.

Thanks for this....

[Grifter]

I guess you're taking a bigger risk compared to upgrading but I'm not sure how to quantify that. the IT gurus here probably better to offer advice. I was just weighing in on what we are doing.

Okay, thanks Creeper. Appreciate the feedback. Sorry for my delay in replying.


Trichome,

Unfortunately, my computer isn't eligible to upgrade to Win 11 for some reason. The Windows 10 alert I receive and the software updater both state that it isn't. So, I'll probably have to upgrade. I guess I'll wait until the end of next summer and see where I'm at financially. Right now, money is too tight for me to build a new machine, as I'm choosing to spend it on other endeavors.....and car repairs. ugh....

[Grifter]

Hi,

As we draw nearer to October, when Windows 10 will no longer be supported because Microsoft is so incredibly greedy, I decided to pick up this thread again and continue planning how I'm going to resolve this issue. I ran MS' PC Health checker. I need to be able to enable TPM 2.0 and secure boot. No idea if my machine can enable these and so the remainder of this post may be moot?

Assuming I can enable those, my current CPU isn't supported by Windows 11. So, at the very least, I would need to replace the CPU. Not sure if that would mean having to replace other elements of my machine, like RAM or my PSU. Here is my system information report:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name Redacted
System Manufacturer
System Model
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.
Processor Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1286 v3 @ 3.70GHz, 3701 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Intel(R) Corp. PGQ8710H.86A.0155.2018.1031.1654, 10/31/2018
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer Intel Corporation
BaseBoard Product DQ87PG
BaseBoard Version AAG74154-403
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.3636"
User Name Redacted
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 31.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 22.5 GB
Total Virtual Memory 36.7 GB
Available Virtual Memory 25.3 GB
Page File Space 4.75 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, Disabled by policy, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
*********************************************************************************************************************end of line*****************************************

Ahem....So, I'm wondering if I could simply install an i7 CPU and manage to get a few more serviceable years out of this machine. What would be a good CPU to install? I have no idea if this website is reliable, but it appears that motherboard can accept an i7 4770K. Is that good? Would I want the regular i7-4770, the K verson, or the S verson? Some other CPU entirely?

Relatedly, when selecting a CPU, what respectable websites should I use for my research?

I know I'm not flying right now. My wife and I leave Friday morning for a nearly two weeks of hiking. But, I'm still thinking about joining you guys in the fall for a tactical shooter or something.

Thanks for any help/advice you may offer!

Grifter