I usually discuss Linux related topics here, but I’ve received questions from many of you about the Windows 7 End-Of-Life warnings, so I thought I would address those. If you’re like most busy people, you probably ignored the message above (see pic). Or you may resent that Microsoft is making you purchase an upgrade – after all, it works just fine, no? Can you imagine if your car manufacturer popped up this warning while you were commuting on the freeway? You would be hopping mad!

It’s not urgent… or is it?

So if, like me, you tried to squeeze every last penny out of your software investment, you decided to wait it out and see what would happen. As is typical, on the morning of January 14, 2020, I turned on my computer as usual and didn’t notice any problems. However, the following morning, I was presented with the daunting screen above before I could get to work.

I clicked on don’t remind me again and went on with my work for the day. I figured I would eventually upgrade, but on my own time, not Microsoft’s. The warning about virus/malware/bug updates did bother me, but I use a more comprehensive security suite than the one that comes with Windows, so I could wait it out for a while. I’m a stickler about computer security, so I have my bases covered.

I should also note that I have a perfectly good Linux Mint computer sitting right next to my Windows PC, that isn’t going to be bugging me like that. I keep the Windows computer around for the things that simply aren’t working on Linux (although that list is shrinking). Frankly, I prefer the Linux computer – it simply has fewer issues, runs zippier, and lets me get to work faster than my Windows computer which requires more maintenance and worry.

A problem emerges

One of the things I do need the Windows computer for is to manage our company’s Windows network, and that includes upgrading applications. We currently have most of our newer computers on Windows 10 (it came pre-installed) and a few older systems have Windows 7 – those will “need” to be upgraded.

I put the work “need” in quotes, because that did not become apparent until this week. We use a number of Microsoft o365 apps across our mobile devices and desktops, and one of these is Microsoft ToDo. When I went to update the Windows 7 computers, it failed to do so. Apparently ToDo requires Windows 10.

The retail cost of upgrading

I called Microsoft and asked them what the deal was. Sure enough, they wanted me to pay $199 per computer! Not only was I not ready for that kind of expense, a quick search online found that I could buy from third-party vendors (still Microsoft authorized) for $120 and up. This was still expensive, and I was seriously contemplating switching all those older computers to Linux.

That said, that would mean a lot of retraining for our users and probably additional support for some time into the future. I’m perfectly fine working with Linux myself, but switching a whole team over that would change the scope of the work significantly. Yes, it’s an option, but are there others?

Windows 10 used to be free

Back when it first came out, Microsoft was offering Windows 10 upgrades for free. My guess is that with the upgrade to Windows 8 having been such a marketing and technological disaster for the company, they decided that to get people to want to switch from the more reliable and trusty Windows 7 version, they decided to offer Windows 10 for free for a time. While it may not have been obvious then, I think that this encouraged many more people to upgrade at the time.

I remember installing it at my previous job. It wasn’t officially supported by the organization yet, but those of us who wanted to try it, could just install it from disk. So that’s what we did, we downloaded the image file, burned it to a DVD, and ran the installation. There were no prompts for license verification, no warnings, it just installed.

What if I could do the same thing now. All I needed was to find the file to download. Was it still available? After a quick search online, I found it on Microsoft’s site. The link is a bit slow these days, probably because everyone is trying to download it, so give it a few minutes, but once you’ve downloaded the file, you can burn it to a DVD and install it.

What about the licensing?

If you are upgrading an existing Windows 7 computer (or you were one of the unlucky people to wade your way through Windows 8), you already have a license. It will be recognized automatically, and you will not need to pay for the upgrade.

I did a bit of research online and it seems that the free upgrade option is still valid. Apparently, Microsoft cannot differentiate between those who opted for the free upgrade when Windows 10 first came out, and all those of us late-comers who are doing it now, so everyone is grandfathered in. According to CNet, “the free upgrade tool is still functional” and is still part of the standard upgrade process when installing from disk.

Now it should be clarified that this will only work if you download the disk image, burn it to a blank DVD, and do the upgrade manually. You can’t simply install it straight from the Microsoft website and receive the same free upgrade option, but that’s a small inconvenience compared to shelling out $120+ for the upgrade from Microsoft. There is no indication as to when Microsoft will end this work-around, but as of February 2020, it’s still available, so I would suggest you do this soon if you need to upgrade one or more computers.

What about installing from scratch on a new computer?

As a matter of practice, I prefer to always install Windows on a new, blank hard drive. This is because Windows notoriously collects software fragments (as well as viruses and malware) over time that will slow down the computer after just a few short years. If you upgrade, some of that bloat will be carried over. That is why I always recommend installing from scratch whenever possible.

A quick note about installing from scratch: this requires a completely cleaned hard drive, a new hard drive, or a brand new computer. This means that you will need to back up your files to a safe place before doing this. A clean drive has no files on it, so your files won’t be on there either. If this seems a bit more complicated than it needs to be, then just do the upgrade described above, which will keep your files intact.

But will the license transfer when installing onto a new, clean computer?

It does not. However, that’s not a showstopper. It turns out that Microsoft just needs to verify the existence of a Windows 7 or 8 license. This is done in one of two ways:

1. If you have a newer computer from Dell or HP, the license is hard coded into the computer. When you install Windows 10, it will recognize it and complete the install without requiring a license code.
   

2. If your computer is from Lenovo, Acer, home-built, or quite a bit older, then you will need to manually enter the Windows 7 or 8 license code, when installing.

For those who fall into the second category, the license code is typically on the computer itself, usually on the bottom, the rear, or the side. It should be on a sticker and look something like this:

Or, if you purchased windows 7 or 8 in a software box (typical for home-built computers), this code will be on a sticker somewhere inside the package that you purchased the software in.

Conclusion

As an entrepreneur, I’m all about saving money. Running a business is expensive and if you can shave a bit off that expense by not having to purchase software upgrades, then that’s always a positive alternative.

Yes, you can also run Linux, and if you aren’t too dependent on Windows-only applications, then that’s a very good option. However, not everyone can run a business without Windows. Considering how expensive software licenses can be, it is nice to know that Microsoft is doing their part to help small businesses run their software at minimal cost.

The bottom line is that you will need to upgrade sooner or later. For me, that realization came a bit sooner than I had hoped. Fortunately, this work-around is still available. If you run Windows 7 now, and were dreading the cost of upgrading, then this is one option you shouldn’t ignore.