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Question About Windows 7
Although I have been working with someone in XPS Desktops, since this forum has hardly any traffic anymore, I thought I would ask the question here.
I read somewhere that support is ending for Windows 7 later this year or early next. Does anyone know the actual date? My old XPS 420 is finally feeling its age, and like me, getting slower. In the case of the computer, even a new keyboard will not work. Cursor sits there blinking, but no key will display or work. Must be some component in the tower. It works fine otherwise, including the mouse, so I can still navigate.So I will probably be in the market for another Dell, preferably new, but getting a rehabbed one at a cheaper price would be plus,
I would like to get Windows 7 with it, unless Windows 10 has become more user friendly. I think on this forum someone said that the system forcibly downloads updates, user like it or not. All thoughts welcome.
RoHe
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April 14th, 2019 18:00
Read this: Support for Windows 7 is ending. None of the OEMs is selling PCs with Win 7 any more, and a newer PC with Win 7 will have the same problem that you will have with the XPS 420, no more security updates...
As for the keyboard, have you tried a different USB port? What happens if you plug the keyboard into the USB port where the mouse is working now? Does the problem go with the keyboard to the other port or does the keyboard work now but the mouse stops working?
Have you tried disconnecting all other USB devices, except the mouse and keyboard?
If you reboot and immediately press F2 can you open BIOS setup, or reboot and immediately press F12 to open that menu? If the keyboard works to open BIOS setup and the F12 menu, this may be a Windows issue and you should run a repair. Reboot and immediately press F8, look for OS repair options...
joe53
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April 15th, 2019 20:00
Dale:
I have an 8 year old XPS desktop running Windows 7, that I still use as my workhorse. I will miss it when MS drops security support. I have a laptop running Win 7 Pro that I have used for testing security products for several years. Neither Win 7 system was ever compromised.
I have used Win 10 Pro for several years, and am still not comfortable making it my workhorse. You are correct that (security) software updates are forced, although there are ways to delay their installation until the general population has tested the waters. In practice, this works well. Basically I delay installing updates by 30 days.
The problem I have with Win 10 is that every "feature" update is like a new mini operating system. It's almost like having to learn a new operating system every year or so (not quite that bad, but the changes are irritating). And I would not be surprised if MS changes to an annual subscription business model in the future. I don't feel Win 10 has become any more "user friendly" in the past few years. With each new iteration I feel that more control has been wrested from me, to the Cloud.
And finally I would note that MS is dropping support for Internet Explorer at the same time in January 2020. IE has been my default browser for over 20 years. I did not like my experience with the Edge browser, but am comfortable to continue with Palemoon and Firefox.
dalem29
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April 16th, 2019 11:00
RoHe
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April 16th, 2019 12:00
If you're using IE11, only on very rare occasions does the formatting toolbar appear when you're creating a post. Never figured out what makes it appear vs not. You may want to switch to Edge, Firefox or Chrome with this forum.
Otherwise, with IE11, you can type in various HTML codes manually to format a post, eg type in
to insert a line break or
to start a new paragraph wherever you want them, etc.
What really bugs me about having to buy a new PC when support for Win 7 ends (this one can't run Win 8.1 or 10) is that I'll probably also have to buy a new laser printer, new scanner, new photo printer, etc, because they don't have drivers and software for Win 10, 64-bit. :SuperAngry:
joe53
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April 18th, 2019 20:00
I have found that if IE11 renders your post as one giant paragraph, you can edit it by clicking on the 3 vertical dots in the right upper corner.
Any edits I make this way seem to stick.
RoHe
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April 19th, 2019 10:00
At least for me, those 3 dots only move the cursor to the top of the screen with IE11, either 32-bit Win 7 or 64-bit Win 10. So I'm unable to edit posts in IE11, even though I'm logged in. And the hamburger (Browse) icon doesn't work for me in IE11, with either OS, logged in or not...