Thanks to fireman15 for the ping!
Posted on 06/27/2025 9:33:59 PM PDT by fireman15
No Copilot, no ads, no bloat, no AI — and seven extra years of official support. It sounds too good to be true, but there's a reason most haven't heard of it.
Microsoft won't advertise it, and you're highly unlikely to stumble across it by accident, but there's a version of Windows 10 that drops the ads, the AI, and will be officially supported for years to come — long after most are forced to upgrade to Windows 11.
For those unaware, Windows 10 is due to be retired by Microsoft on October 14, 2025. Beyond this date, the operating system will lose access to any technical support, future feature drops, and vital security updates.
While your computer will run as normal, and you don't actually need to leave Windows 10 behind, any potential system vulnerabilities discovered after the end-of-support date will remain exploitable forevermore. It'll be open season on your data, hardware, and privacy, and your copy of Windows will be about as secure as a piñata at a party packed with sugar-lusting Little Leaguers.
Microsoft's ideal solution is for Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11. Those whose devices don't meet the operating system's minimum specs can alternatively opt into the company's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which offers regular consumers an extra year of security updates for $30.
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It's the version of Windows 10 Microsoft never wanted you to use, and, even though it's entirely capable, it was never designed to run your laptop or desktop machine. Still, that doesn't mean you can't do it anyway.
(Excerpt) Read more at laptopmag.com ...
The first step I listed was to make an image of one's current system drive because of the risk of permanently screwing it up. In total I have installed this OS 5 times, 2 of the installs were done using this technique. After completion both systems are indistinguishable from the originals except that they run cooler, boot quicker and will receive security updates until 2032. I spent a lot of time getting these installs to where they were before I upgraded them.
The most likely explanation is that the prior OS, Windows 10 pro with 22H2 had system corruption which could have been corrected using SFC (system file checker) and DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) before I did the “upgrades”.
As far as whether this action is worth it or not... It reminds me of the old joke...
Two hikers are walking through the woods when they suddenly spot a huge, hungry bear charging toward them.
One hiker immediately drops his backpack and starts running.
The other shouts, “What are you doing?! You can't outrun a bear!”
The first hiker yells back, “I don't have to outrun the bear—I just have to outrun you!”
Not long October 14 something close to a Billion devices are going to be running Windows 10 without current security updates. We currently have who knows how many malcontents waiting to unleash their newest creations to avoid having them quickly made irrelevant.
Any machine which has Microsoft's updates will be safer than the vast majority which will not. The bears will be so busy feasting on them that they won't bother to go after the prey which is a little harder to get.
You of all people should understand the value of being able to keep a Windows 10 machine which you have been running for years... keep on running. This is somewhat time consuming. I will be “upgrading” the last two computers that I am keeping Windows 10 going on today. One is being used as a media server, the other is an old machine with little value to thieves which has the full complement of Microsoft Office apps along with portable photo and video editors and other packages that I find useful on the road.
To me spending a few hours on these two computers is well worth it, and the cost is nominal.
As far as linux... I either have a flavor installed in a virtual machine or as a dual boot in pretty much every computer we own. Linux is great... my preferred version for most computers is Ubuntu Studio because it comes with almost everything that I use a computer for already installed. But it still does not completely replace Windows 10 for me.
Thanks for looking and commenting. I am sorry that you are not impressed that this works as well as it does and will not recommend it to others. I believe in this solution enough to have already spent approximately $150 on license keys.
I will try that when I get home. Thank you so much.
“The Mac I bought last year does the everything I need with almost zero aggravation. It simply works.”
>p>My question is can you transfer all your data and bookmarks from Widows 10 to an Apple?
Thank you!
Good luck with that. It makes no difference to me. There are about a billion other machines running Windows 10... Nothing will be done to the vast majority of them. The malcontents will have so many to choose from that you may not be victimized by one of the exploits that will likely be released shortly after October 14.
No more than I have, sure.
Then again I am a minimalist.
Final Cut, Libre Office, Topaz AI, GIMP is the bulk of what I use.
Let me know?
Take care
As much as Bill Gates seem to make himself out to be the antichrist, I’ll admit that I owe him a debt of gratitude for promoting the BASIC language. A lot of us Generation X programmers talk about programming our computers in BASIC before we were old enough to drive. (In my case the first language was Commodore 64 BASIC.) That was a stepping stone into making careers out of software development.
Great post.
I did a search at Gamers-Outlet and found Windows 10 IoT Enterprise 2021 LTSC (I assume it comes with the key) singly for $23.19. Is that a pretty typical cost these days, from a reputable seller?
That’s very odd. I use Brave about 90% of the time, with no such problem. (Chrome gets almost all the rest; Edge, I open every blue moon.)
Okay, fair enough. I don't question how well it works -- it obviously works well. My hesitation was that the majority of people on the ping list may not be able to get through the steps without difficulty, and I didn't want to end up with a lot of comments or mail asking me for help. Can't do that, since I have no reason to do the procedure myself, and so can't provide useful support other than "read the instructions again".
Nevertheless, Ping List ping coming up....
Thanks to fireman15 for the ping!
Well, never had a problem with either one although I like W7 better.
Get rid of yr rotten old Loser 10 computers. Dell Latitude 5520 is very solid Windows 11 laptop that you can plug an external DisplayPort monitor into. HDMI is out. Only buy DisplayPort monitors.
Get eBay used 5520 with 16gb (preferably the 16gb all in one slot) cost will be $170 at eBay. Get a 24 or 27 inch monitor. Full HD (1080p) ones are cheap but I would get a 27” QHD one. QHD resolution is 2560 x 1440 pixels
You should also search for a discount code... they always have something that works for 10% off and sometimes more. For the three that I purchased in the last couple of days I used SoftChat10 . The four that I purchased before that I used a different code that probably still works... the SoftChat10 just came up first on a ChatGPT search.
I believe that the price is not as cheap as some others are advertising, but mot ot the advertised prices are for the LTSC non IoT license which is only good for a couple more years. Gamers Outlet sells that one for about $16. I have been using Gamers-Outlet for quite a while and trust them more than many of the others, for simplicity they include a download location for the ISO. They are fairly easy to find, but some have hashes that do not end up matching the genuine Microsoft files.
I believe that if you modify the registry values given in the video link and not the ones that I provided... you will end up with a non IoT license regardless of the version that you purchased. If you do a clean install with the IoT version you may have to add more packages than with the non-IoT packages later. I cannot remember what all the extra packages were that I installed with the first three installations. I was using a PowerShell script to add them where you pick the packages by checking boxes.
I should mention that the first ISO that I downloaded came from a questionable source, and the hash did not match the genuine Microsoft file. I installed it on a Windows-To-Go NVME in an external enclosure. After I installed it I noticed that it was already activated... it said from the serial number on my machine. The machine was a surplus business computer that came with Windows 10 Pro. So I assumed that this was correct, but when I made another installation from a file that matched the Hash for the original Microsoft file it was not showing that it was activated on the activation page. The first file had been modified in some way so I did not trust the installation and decided against using it. YOu can use any of the Hash Checker programs available in the Microsoft Store to verify.
Here is a has list for the ISO file
en-us_windows_10_iot_enterprise_ltsc_2021_x64_dvd_257ad90f.iso
that you should be using:
File list :: Operating Systems :: Windows 10, version 21H2 [19044.1288] (Updated October 2021) ::
English :: en-us_windows_10_iot_enterprise_ltsc_2021_x64_dvd_257ad90f.iso
File: en-us_windows_10_iot_enterprise_ltsc_2021_x64_dvd_257ad90f.iso
Family: Operating Systems
Version: Windows 10, version 21H2 [19044.1288] (Updated October 2021)
Language: English - (EN)
CRC-32: 188c9d0d
MD5: 2463b19beac328290e6a8adcedb7533a
SHA-1: 76c3c10e38307d29fd8b4748522ed144dba35829
SHA-256: a0334f31ea7a3e6932b9ad7206608248f0bd40698bfb8fc65f14fc5e4976c160
SHA-512: 640942d93daf8cd183d06e35d5d753a4b93c952c3196c3e3fa7876295b39d8bfef5df8ef2a3b420b5247905fe396606f94ccf093982ee999e503d09e69850143
SHA3-256: 33bacaa70b78abcf4969fa0f6219a5cad7dd4d49c9b975ddadc8b15658d17d48
SHA3-512: 03e3a8e34a79363235aaf91333cb3afa4927feb0b1f1cf212e6cf4a70c54cbe7ab367fafb6143e6057dac00e407c1b661cb0e2511f7eadb4562c49d0ee606a4e
Size: 4.518 GB (4851668992 bytes)
I have been buying used desktops and laptops from eBay, Amazon, and other online retailers for decades. Some have worked out better than others. For years I have gotten all of the computers that I have purchased new for myself and others from Costco during their frequent sales. I have computers with both DisplayPort and HDMI. You will have to explain why it is that you have a preference for DisplyPort.
For some reason your post reminds me of Hans and Franz.
I just want to know why I can’t get my camera to work.
They won’t let you run E3, or M365 products on LTSC, but for most people that’s not a deal breaker.
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