Malwarebytes after Windows 7 EoL

[wolnavi]

Hey guys, so I googled a bit about what will happen if I continue to use Windows 7 after it's End of Life on 14 Jan 2020 and basically nothing will happen except Microsoft will not patch Windows 7 anymore which means any new security vulnerability and/or exploit can be used to attack Windows 7.

So my question is, is having Malwarebytes and another AV (eg Avira) sufficient or must I really change to another OS?

I'm not intending to upgrade to Windows 10 due to the forced updates, updates causing data loss, etc, etc and am thinking of switching to Linux instead if I am forced to use Windows 10...

Thanks

[Malwarebytes]

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[Firefox]

1 hour ago, wolnavi said:

So my question is, is having Malwarebytes and another AV (eg Avira) sufficient or must I really change to another OS?

Hello and Welcome to Malwarebytes...

That is really a loaded question.  Having Malwarebytes and another AV will help with keeping infections from entering your computer. As far as being sufficient, well the only way to be fully protected on needs to have a fully patched computer.

[Sfrush]

1 hour ago, wolnavi said:

Hey guys, so I googled a bit about what will happen if I continue to use Windows 7 after it's End of Life on 14 Jan 2020 and basically nothing will happen except Microsoft will not patch Windows 7 anymore which means any new security vulnerability and/or exploit can be used to attack Windows 7.

So my question is, is having Malwarebytes and another AV (eg Avira) sufficient or must I really change to another OS?

I'm not intending to upgrade to Windows 10 due to the forced updates, updates causing data loss, etc, etc and am thinking of switching to Linux instead if I am forced to use Windows 10...

Thanks

Give Windows 10 a shot. As long you're performing backups(as you should be doing with any OS anyway) you will be just fine. 

[wolnavi]

36 minutes ago, Firefox said:

Hello and Welcome to Malwarebytes...

That is really a loaded question.  Having Malwarebytes and another AV will help with keeping infections from entering your computer. As far as being sufficient, well the only way to be fully protected on needs to have a fully patched computer.

I see... But if I don’t remember wrongly, there is no Malwarebytes for Linux am I right?

2 minutes ago, Sfrush said:

Give Windows 10 a shot. As long you're performing backups(as you should be doing with any OS anyway) you will be just fine. 

I’m using it for my school laptop, and getting forced updates is a frustrating thing, though with 1903, I can pause it for a short while now...

[Sfrush]

3 minutes ago, wolnavi said:

I see... But if I don’t remember wrongly, there is no Malwarebytes for Linux am I right?

I’m using it for my school laptop, and getting forced updates is a frustrating thing, though with 1903, I can pause it for a short while now...

You can defer feature updates. You have a few options.

[wolnavi]

4 minutes ago, wolnavi said:

I see... But if I don’t remember wrongly, there is no Malwarebytes for Linux am I right?

I’m using it for my school laptop, and getting forced updates is a frustrating thing, though with 1903, I can pause it for a short while now...

Strange, I can’t seem to edit my post on mobile, anyways I wanted to also say, many people online are encouraging the switch to Linux so maybe I want to give it a try and if it’s not for me then at least I tried and I’ll just be contented with Windows 10 I guess 

[wolnavi]

1 minute ago, Sfrush said:

You can defer feature updates. You have a few options.

Yeah but I thought it was mostly for Windows 10 Pro and not Home?

[exile360]

I do not generally recommend sticking with Windows 7 (or any EOL OS) unless the individual managing the device knows how to take extensive measures to secure it against potential attacks (beyond just keeping up-to-date and active anti-malware and antivirus protection) simply due to the risks involved in such a prospect.  I personally will be staying on Windows 7 for the foreseeable future and in fact just recently ordered a new system with Windows 7 installed (the particular chipset still has drivers available for Windows 7 and the vendor agreed to install it for me rather than Windows 10), however as soon as I get the machine I will be thoroughly locking it down against many potential vulnerabilities as I have always done with my systems (and something I have noticed cannot easily be done in Windows 10 and in many cases not at all, thanks to changes in how Microsoft has implemented permissions and certain dependencies in Windows 10, meaning in my particular case I would actually be LESS secure if I were to run Windows 10, regardless of what patches Microsoft might release for the OS).

With that said, unless an individual knows how to take such measures I would generally recommend not staying on Windows 7 for too long after the EOL date only because the risk of infection or infiltration by a malicious hacker will increase over time as new vulnerabilities are discovered in the OS which will remain unpatched by Microsoft.

You should be fine for a while using 7 with Malwarebytes and your AV, however I would advise switching to Linux or Windows 10 within the year to mitigate risks.

[Maurice Naggar]

Just to add a bit:

As of the May 2019  Windows 10  ( that would be build 1903 ), all customers will now have the ability to explicitly choose if they want to update their device when they “check for updates” or to pause updates for up to 35 days.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2019/04/04/improving-the-windows-10-update-experience-with-control-quality-and-transparency/#25qbCuAVA5Vkx6mC.97

Sorry to read if anyone has in the past encountered issues.

I would also note, one needs to pay attention / differentiate between security updates and  optional updates.

 

But let us emphasize that we should all do regular system backups to offline storage media.  These days one can get some very good large capacity USB-type external drives for decent costs.  So backup is the first priority always.

I happen to use a Western Digital Passport  ( USB device ) whose physical size is no bigger than palm-size.   Includes backup software.

.

BEFORE you upgrade to Windows 10  ( if your machine currently runs Windows 7 or 8 ) & it has Malwarebytes Premium.....

DEACTIVE the license on Malwarebytes beforehand.   After the WIN10 upgrade, then re-activate the Malware Malwarebytes.

This will prevent a potential snafu with the activation count since the OS version is one factor.

How-to-deactivate with MB4   https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-3711

How-to-deactivate with MB3  https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1033

( the article may mention "trial" but the principle is the same )

 

And to those on Windows 7 or Windows 8, it's still possible to get a free upgrade to Windows 10 from Microsoft.   ( your system has to have a pre-existing valid license).

MS does not actively advertise this.  It does not push this.  It takes action on the pc owner's part.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/you-can-still-upgrade-to-windows-10-for-free-heres-how/

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/139745-upgrade-windows-10-windows-7-free.html

 

Backup is your best friend.

One other suggestion after you have Windows 10 ,

suggest that ( at your next best opportunity) enable the F8 function key use at machine boot  ( that way you have means to have advanced startup options

See Option One at this article

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/22455-enable-disable-f8-advanced-boot-options-windows-10-a.html

 

 

[Firefox]

15 hours ago, wolnavi said:

I see... But if I don’t remember wrongly, there is no Malwarebytes for Linux am I right?

This may have been answered already, as of right now there is no Linux version of Malwarebytes. That's not to say that at one time they may develop one.

[wolnavi]

19 hours ago, exile360 said:

I do not generally recommend sticking with Windows 7 (or any EOL OS) unless the individual managing the device knows how to take extensive measures to secure it against potential attacks (beyond just keeping up-to-date and active anti-malware and antivirus protection) simply due to the risks involved in such a prospect.  I personally will be staying on Windows 7 for the foreseeable future and in fact just recently ordered a new system with Windows 7 installed (the particular chipset still has drivers available for Windows 7 and the vendor agreed to install it for me rather than Windows 10), however as soon as I get the machine I will be thoroughly locking it down against many potential vulnerabilities as I have always done with my systems (and something I have noticed cannot easily be done in Windows 10 and in many cases not at all, thanks to changes in how Microsoft has implemented permissions and certain dependencies in Windows 10, meaning in my particular case I would actually be LESS secure if I were to run Windows 10, regardless of what patches Microsoft might release for the OS).

With that said, unless an individual knows how to take such measures I would generally recommend not staying on Windows 7 for too long after the EOL date only because the risk of infection or infiltration by a malicious hacker will increase over time as new vulnerabilities are discovered in the OS which will remain unpatched by Microsoft.

You should be fine for a while using 7 with Malwarebytes and your AV, however I would advise switching to Linux or Windows 10 within the year to mitigate risks.

I see, but shouldn't you be the one installing your own OS instead of trusting a vendor doing it for you? (as in to be more "safer", like example the vendor can't install other spyware/rootkits/nasty stuff or PUP for you)

12 hours ago, Maurice Naggar said:

Just to add a bit:

As of the May 2019  Windows 10  ( that would be build 1903 ), all customers will now have the ability to explicitly choose if they want to update their device when they “check for updates” or to pause updates for up to 35 days.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2019/04/04/improving-the-windows-10-update-experience-with-control-quality-and-transparency/#25qbCuAVA5Vkx6mC.97

Sorry to read if anyone has in the past encountered issues.

I would also note, one needs to pay attention / differentiate between security updates and  optional updates.

 

But let us emphasize that we should all do regular system backups to offline storage media.  These days one can get some very good large capacity USB-type external drives for decent costs.  So backup is the first priority always.

I happen to use a Western Digital Passport  ( USB device ) whose physical size is no bigger than palm-size.   Includes backup software.

.

BEFORE you upgrade to Windows 10  ( if your machine currently runs Windows 7 or 8 ) & it has Malwarebytes Premium.....

DEACTIVE the license on Malwarebytes beforehand.   After the WIN10 upgrade, then re-activate the Malware Malwarebytes.

This will prevent a potential snafu with the activation count since the OS version is one factor.

How-to-deactivate with MB4   https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-3711

How-to-deactivate with MB3  https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1033

( the article may mention "trial" but the principle is the same )

 

And to those on Windows 7 or Windows 8, it's still possible to get a free upgrade to Windows 10 from Microsoft.   ( your system has to have a pre-existing valid license).

MS does not actively advertise this.  It does not push this.  It takes action on the pc owner's part.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/you-can-still-upgrade-to-windows-10-for-free-heres-how/

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/139745-upgrade-windows-10-windows-7-free.html

 

Backup is your best friend.

One other suggestion after you have Windows 10 ,

suggest that ( at your next best opportunity) enable the F8 function key use at machine boot  ( that way you have means to have advanced startup options

See Option One at this article

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/22455-enable-disable-f8-advanced-boot-options-windows-10-a.html

 

 

Alright, thank you for your detailed post

4 hours ago, Firefox said:

This may have been answered already, as of right now there is no Linux version of Malwarebytes. That's not to say that at one time they may develop one.

I see...

[exile360]

10 minutes ago, wolnavi said:

I see, but shouldn't you be the one installing your own OS instead of trusting a vendor doing it for you? (as in to be more "safer", like example the vendor can't install other spyware/rootkits/nasty stuff or PUP for you)

I'll be configuring the system once it arrives.  I trust this vendor thoroughly, they aren't the type to install any crapware on customers' systems.  They sell high end laptops and I've been dealing with them for years.  When my system arrives it will just be a vanilla install of Windows 7 Pro x64 with nothing on the system except the drivers.  No crapware, no adware, no bundleware, promotions or anything else.  That's one of the nice things about dealing with a company that makes their money from the systems they sell rather than partnerships with software vendors (no 'free trials' or 'special offers', no modified browser favorites, toolbars or anything else).

[wolnavi]

17 hours ago, exile360 said:

I'll be configuring the system once it arrives.  I trust this vendor thoroughly, they aren't the type to install any crapware on customers' systems.  They sell high end laptops and I've been dealing with them for years.  When my system arrives it will just be a vanilla install of Windows 7 Pro x64 with nothing on the system except the drivers.  No crapware, no adware, no bundleware, promotions or anything else.  That's one of the nice things about dealing with a company that makes their money from the systems they sell rather than partnerships with software vendors (no 'free trials' or 'special offers', no modified browser favorites, toolbars or anything else).

Ah I see...

[exile360]

Yeah, you pay a premium for the hardware, but it is top of the line, custom hardware without any of the OEM crapware/bundleware that you get from most larger vendors.  It's a high end Clevo laptop with an unlocked BIOS (for overclocking and modifying settings), a delidded CPU and some of the fastest desktop components money can buy in a 15.6" laptop.

[wolnavi]

19 hours ago, exile360 said:

Yeah, you pay a premium for the hardware, but it is top of the line, custom hardware without any of the OEM crapware/bundleware that you get from most larger vendors.  It's a high end Clevo laptop with an unlocked BIOS (for overclocking and modifying settings), a delidded CPU and some of the fastest desktop components money can buy in a 15.6" laptop.

Ooo I see... If I ever need a laptop i'll be sure to check that brand out

[exile360]

The actual vendor is called Eurocom; they're based out of Canada.  Clevo are high end semi-generic laptops that are sold by multiple vendors including Eurocom, Sager and several others.  They are among the few vendors that provide laptops that are actually upgradable and that use desktop CPUs.

[wolnavi]

On 1/13/2020 at 4:37 AM, exile360 said:

The actual vendor is called Eurocom; they're based out of Canada.  Clevo are high end semi-generic laptops that are sold by multiple vendors including Eurocom, Sager and several others.  They are among the few vendors that provide laptops that are actually upgradable and that use desktop CPUs.

Ahhh I see... Sounds nice, will definitely check them out next time when I need a laptop