New Windows 10 Support Policy Cuts Off Older Equipment

[Phil O'Keefe]

Microsoft doesn't make that particularly easy for the average person to do in Windows 10 IMHO... and that's because they don't want them to do it. They want to control everything - which is great for security IF they stay on top of things, and secure themselves, but not so great for inter-app / system compatibility. As the old expression says - if it's not broken, don't mess with it (unless there's a darn good reason to... )

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

The hardware may not be compatible. Check your local listings for dates and times.

 

Very good point.

 

It really just depends on the specific hardware. If it's not brand new, then it's more likely it had Win 7 drivers written for it... if it's newer hardware that came out since Windows 10 was released, you may not be able to find suitable drivers for everything.

 

I'd be more concerned about something like a newer laptop than I would be about an older mid-tower; it's easier to swap out things on the tower, and since it's older, your odds of finding Win 7 drivers for all of the components is better. But it's really best to try to research as much as the specifics as you can before purchasing anything with the intent to swap operating systems to an older one in order to avoid disappointment. You've got to know if it is likely to work, what may need to be replaced, and generally what you're getting into.

 

[MikeRivers]

 

The hardware may not be compatible.

 

I concur that the hardware may not be compatible, but I've installed Win7 on a couple of really old, like 10+ years old, Dell computers. They aren't blazing performers, at least one is a Pentium 4. I haven't had the heart to try installing it on my netbook with an Atom CPU yet.

 

When using an OEM Windows version you often need to chase down drivers for the motherboard's network, graphics, and audio hardware, and occasionally for the optical drive. They're on the computer manufactuer's web site, but you may need a different computer to get them. When I've needed to get a needy computer on line, I've used a USB WiFi adapter (which has its own driver).

 

But what do you mean by "Check your local listings for dates and times?" Check what listings, for what dates and times, compared to what? Or are you just quoting a common phrase that's often attached to things that are variable?

 

Oh, and one more thing - Windows 10 is still eligable for a downgrade to Win8 or Win7. There are some strings attached, and I think that now you have to find your own copy of the software you want to replace Win10 with (they used to give you a download link). So that's also an option.

 

But Phil's right about a brand new computer - it might have hardware that either won't run at its full capability under Win7 or that won't run at all. You may be better off sticking to non-laptops and upgrading (or downgrading) the hardware to work with your chosen OS.

 

With computers, you can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you'll get what you need.

[1001gear]

I got binoculars on one and it looked that same except slightly larger and blurry. I'm thinking they might be calibration lasers although they shouldn't be visible I don't think. Other theories are in the science fiction zone lol.

[1001gear]

Also seen a dot of light creep slowly across the sky on several occasions over the years. Those I figure were satellites.

[1001gear]

MBengs got a Win 10 PC last month and hasn't been heard from since.

[AlenK]

I was recently looking at M31 (Andromeda galaxy) through a wide-field scope and TWO satellites zipped through the field crossing paths in more-or-less opposite directions. Gotta be a lot of stuff in orbit for that kind of thing to happen.

[emid]

 

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was given a TASCAM US-428, a real classic, introduced in 2000. I believe this was the first multi-channel USB audio interface capable of handling four streams for recording while simultaneously playing back two streams. Before the US-428, everyone thought USB was only good for two channel recording. Really cool hardware control surface with 8 channel faders and a master, controls for 3-band parametric EQ in the software (it was designed around Steinberg's Cubasis). I downloaded the latest driver set from the TASCAM web site that was last updated for Windows Vista. I got it working on one of my XP computers, including the faders, knobs, and transport controls using the "learn" feature of an old copy of Sonar LE that came with something that I reviewed. I hoped that it might work with Win7 since it worked for Vista, but when I tried to install the driver on a computer with Windows 7, it popped up a message something like "This sofware cannot be installed with your operating system."

 

I didn't bother to see how good the mic preamps are, but since there are only two of them it's not worth worrying about, but it's cool to have a piece of cool computer hardware working for far longer than I ever expected it to work. I can accept that it's at the end of its useful life. Fortunately the Vista (last) driver Mackie provided for my 1200F seems to work just fine with Win7 (and didn't break it with XP) so that'll live for a few more years.

 

 

Hi,

 

My first post here

 

Just a quick note....I have the same US428 working flawlessly on Windows 10 64bit, and I use Cubase 9 pro. Trick is to install the last version of Tascam US428 driver, I believe it's 3.40f in Vista compatibility mode. It will just install and work fine.

 

Cheers.

[MikeRivers]

I just heard a statistic that there are 450,000 computers in use that are 5 or more years old. Geez, is that all? That would be mostly Windows 7 or 8. My most often used studio computer is over 10 years old and running Windows XP. I have only one computer, my little travel netbook, that wasn't 5 years old when I bought it.

 

I guess that when all you use a computer for is social media, e-mail, music, and videos, it's not hard to change every few years. But for me, when I have to replace a computer, it's a very painful experience, particularly when it involves a new opertating system. I can understand and accept the end of life for updates of an operating system, and I can understand new software development that depends on features of new operating systems. What I don't get is why, for example, the Dropbox the client running under XP will no longer talk to the data base.

[1001gear]

What I don't get is why' date=' for example, the Dropbox the client running under XP will no longer talk to the data base. [/quote']

 

Transfer protocol is different now; more streamlined and faster besides security issues and planned obsolescence. Found this though.

 

http://windowsreport.com/dropbox-xp-workaround/

 

 

1. Go to main drive/program files/dropbox/client > you’ll find two blue Dropbox logos > one is the .exe file and the other is the Uninstaller

2. Right click on the .exe file > select Properties > click the Compatibility tab > change it to Compatibility mode for Windows 2000.

 

Other users rely on a third tool to connect Dropbox to Windows XP. One such tool is Goodsync, which even offers a few extra features.

 

I found it in GoodSync. It’s a piece of backup software that works with USB Drives and various cloud services, including Dropbox.

Works great and has many more features than standalone Dropbox.

[MikeRivers]

Too late. When it no longer worked, I un-installed the Dropbox client and deleted the installation file. I still use Dropbox for the same purpose I originally set it up - to have a place to park files that I wanted people to be able to download. I can do that through the web interface. It's not as convenient as the local client, but I don't use it often enough to worry about. But it did piss me off.

 

I tried (in accordance with the instructions) to get Dropbox to work with the Thunderbird e-mail client when I wanted to send someone a file that was too big to go via e-mail attachment and could never get that to work either, even when the Dropbox client was still working under Windows XP. I guess now everybody uses Google Drive with a Gmail account for that now.

[1001gear]

Too late. When it no longer worked, I un-installed the Dropbox client and deleted the installation file. I still use Dropbox for the same purpose I originally set it up - to have a place to park files that I wanted people to be able to download. I can do that through the web interface. It's not as convenient as the local client, but I don't use it often enough to worry about. But it did piss me off.

 

I tried (in accordance with the instructions) to get Dropbox to work with the Thunderbird e-mail client when I wanted to send someone a file that was too big to go via e-mail attachment and could never get that to work either, even when the Dropbox client was still working under Windows XP. I guess now everybody uses Google Drive with a Gmail account for that now.

 

Probably the best solution since even Win7 lacks the support for current file transfer protocol. Even for a local only system you need the latest boards and at least Win 8.1.

[MikeRivers]

What are they thinking? I don't have a problem with a faster or more robust file transfer protocol, but why throw out the old one? What's the matter with Zmodem?

[Beck]

Yup, I agree Phil. Microsoft's features are made for the average Joe, so relatively few of us can get in there and tune it like we want it. I'm a bit of a security fanatic. Anything can be hacked. I go so far as to put critical info on an external USB drive and only turn it on when I'm offline... physically disconnected from my cable modem.