Windows 10 is DEAD in 2025? — Here’s How I Run It SAFELY Forever (No Updates)

YouTube.com ^ | 11/05/2025 | Rob Braxman Tech

[dennisw]

let me know......if it does NOT!!! work get win 11 23h2 and try rufus with it

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I made sure I was disconnected from the Internet and it had me create a local user. Looks like the Rufus thing works. I read on the Interwebs that it didn’t. If it’s on the Interwebs it must be true, except when it’s not.

I have an old Dell I just installed Linumx Mint on.

I have decided that the WIndows 11 PC will be for development and browsing the Web. It will never touch anything related to email or financial accounts.

The email and financial stuff I will do on the Linux PC, and that’s all I will use it for. Mucking around the Internet is where you pick up malware.

I think that combination will keep me pretty secure.

The Windows 11 PC doesn’t officially support Windows 11, but it installs fine and only a couple of device drivers are missing and they are not critical. One is for airplane mode and the other is an inertia detector to protect the hard drive in case you drop the PC. I am going to swap in an SSD, so that doesn’t matter, and I never fly anyway. It updates fine, so I think it’ good to go.

[dennisw]

Thanks for the rufus confirmation. Using Mint great idea for serious stuff like financials and buying stuffs. If you have two nvme slots you can put win 11 on one nvme and Mint on the other. Or install mint on a strong flash drive such as Samsung...or install mint on 256gb nvme in a usb enclosure https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BX936DCD?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 <<<<< then boot up to this usb drive. You do can same thing with with win 10 11 install on a usb bootable drive.

[rarestia]

I’m still running Windows 7. Who is going to bother attacking it when hardly anyone uses it?

Ah yes, the old, "I'm not doing anything illegal, so why should I care if..." yarn. Across over a dozen cybersecurity incidents I've witnessed in the last year, two of them were tracked back to an unsupported operating system an organization kept around because a piece of software couldn't run on a newer OS. Literally the entire enterprise was brought to its knees because of some obscure inventory management or HR system.

This has nothing to do with whether or not a threat actor is actively looking for an unsupported operating system. Oftentimes they're not, but guess what? When they find one, there are dozens of zero-day or actively exploitable remote access mechanisms that make those systems "easy wins" for an advanced persistent threat. They'll lay down a base of operations on your system and use it to compromise everything else in your environment. It's child's play, really.

They can lay down a number of backdoors to your system, and they'll then sell access to that backdoor on Telegram or an Onion site. Access to your system could literally be for sale for less than US$1.00 or packaged in a bundle with dozens or hundreds of other home user endpoints for thousands. Go out to Shodan.io and type in your home IP address. If you see hits against your network, guess what? You're probably already compromised.

Folks, please do not use unsupported operating systems. I love the bluster and bravado of y'all on this forum about how "you can take Windows 7 from my cold, dead hands." Thing is, we don't have to. You'll be very much alive and completely unaware that everything you do is being sold to some entity. Banking information, personal browsing habits, passwords, grandma's sweet potato pie recipe, pictures of your vacation in Cabo, all of it. I deal with enterprise cybersecurity on a daily basis. Home user breaches are a dime-a-dozen and so commonplace exactly because y'all think you're "giving it to the man" by not upgrading. You're worried about Copilot or Siri, but your personal information is already available to the highest bidder.

I don't care if you use a Mac or a Linux machine. I have 11 Linux systems in my home network in a variety of flavors, and I have Apple devices. Love them all. Problem is that they're not immune to compromise either. Matter of fact, Linux and Apple are commonly some of the first systems breached at annual Black Hat conferences. Thinking that you're safe through obsolesence is like leaving your front door wide open at night. Will a burglar walk right in while you're sleeping? Maybe not, but the raccoons are going to rummage through your pantry. I guarantee it.

[rarestia]

Mucking around the Internet is where you pick up malware.

Sorry, you're misinformed. 93% of all breaches start with a phishing email. The bad guys aren't breaking in. They're logging in.

[dennisw]

Try Latitude 5520 16gb at ebay...after Christmas would be when prices go down. I have bought them for less than $110. I got an offer to buy at $120 yesterday. 5520 have very good HDMI and DisplayPort.. that easily power QHD and 4k monitors.

[dennisw]

bookmark and thanks!!

[MomwithHope]

Good thread! I got a free one year extension using some Microsoft reward points I had.

[deweyfrank]

later

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I have Windows 11 on a Dell Precision M4800. It has 8GB now, but I bought another 16GB on eBay for $20 last week that I haven’t put in yet.

I have Linux on a Dell Latitude E6500 with 4GB that is totally adequate.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

While I might state clearly that you should abandon Windows and go to Linux, the reality is that this may not be an easy transition.

Feh. I switched to Linux 10 years ago and it was easy. I still run XP and Win 7 on VMs for gaming and such. Updates? Whazzat?

[dennisw]

Your precision is >>>> CPU
Intel Core i7 (4th Gen) 4810MQ / 2.8 GHz

Way out of MS approved Win 11. But with Rufus you can install it.
Your cpu has a passmark of>>>> Multithread Rating
6067
Single Thread Rating
2026<<<< which is enough to power through win 11 if you have at least 16gb ram. 32gb is better and more needed than if you were using an intel 11th gen CPU.

Chrome trick to strip back memory usage >> insert chrome://restart into the address line and push enter. This will work for Brave and Edge. Edge goes to automatic sleep for unused tabs. Reduces memory hogging. Same for Chrome when you drill into settings >>> performance

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I know it’s not supposed to run, but it does, and it runs as well as 10 id. It’s updating drivers right now after I forced a Windows Update. It runs fine. There might be security issues, but I am never going to do anything on it that will touch email or money accounts, so I am not worried about it. Development, games and web. That’s it.

[Chainmail]

Cool.

[dennisw]

“but I bought another 16GB on eBay for $20 last week that I haven’t put in yet.”

This is how you do it for a 4th gen intel laptop! Dell has been selling Linux laptops desktops for years. So they are very Linux friendly. And only buy Dell business class, used on ebay. Most are corporate off lease. Business class is Latitude Precision OptiPlex. They are much easier to take apart for RAM and drives upgrades. Than say Inspiron laptops and HP Lenovo non business class laptops.

Plus in Dell business class, always the latest version DisplayPorts (better than HDMI) and usb ports.

[Theophilus]

Btt

[MayflowerMadam]

I’m thrilled with 7.

I use 10 on two systems, and it sucks.

And I learned a long time ago, a system becomes stable only after updates have been discontinued. So I’m good.

(I kinda miss DOS.)

[Buttons12]

As an example, I have several mini-PCs that I use for various tasks in my home lab that were extremely inexpensive yet they are much more powerful than some of the dinosaurs that I still have around.

Waiting for a helpful thread on mini PCs. I've noticed they are beefier than some of my older machines which still work just fine (but you never know when they'll keel over).

My geek comrades tell me minis are swell, even cheap ones $300 or less.

They're all made in China, or by Chinese, or funded by Chinese. Like our medications and vitamins. :(

But I'm really tempted. Win 11 is unforgivable.

[LouAvul]

.

[Openurmind]

This is a very GOOD comprehensive unbiased honest article. Thank you.