Windows 7 Support Ends in January 2020

Here’s our first warning: Microsoft will end technical support of its Windows 7 operating system in January 2020. That means there will be no more security patches and bug fixes. Is that bad news? Probably not. Performance-wise, the operating system has outlived its usefulness, and all the special applications and hardware you run off it are probably well beyond their useful service life. We’d bet you’ve likely squeezed out every penny of your ROI, and Microsoft is doing you a favor (of sorts) by nudging you into its next generation OS.

The good news is that you have lots of time to plan for its replacement, and that’s important for businesses who have invested a lot of time, training and money for custom-written or highly customized software. If that’s the case for your business, you have my sympathies, but you should also know you’ve had a really good run.

We’ll talk more about the economics of performance issues in this newsletter (Refreshing Devices Re-Energizes Them – Up to a Point), but if you’re still running Windows 7, you face security issues and the need to carefully plan how you’ll replace your application software.

The loss of security patches and bug fixes will be devastating if you don’t update your technology. Because Windows 7 is an old OS, the bad guys have had lots of time to probe its vulnerabilities. Once the defenses go down, their efforts to crack a system that they can monetize will pick up. They’ll look for ways to get your financial information or disrupt your operations.

We suggest you start your transition planning now. If you have custom-written (proprietary) software, you must find out now if that software can be updated or rewritten. If it can be brought up to date to carry you into the future, your provider will need time to modify or create and test the software, and you’ll need to know how much computing power you’ll need to make it work.

We can help you look at the computer specs needed to meet your processing requirements, and we can work with your software provider to make sure hardware and software are coordinated. Microsoft is planning a massive Windows 10 update this month, and it’s reasonable to expect another update if you plan to have your new system up and running before the end of 2019. Working together, we’ll have the best chance to make sure that your new application software is compatible with the OS updates and that it will work throughout the lifetime of Windows 10 and its successor.

If you’re upgrading your software to work with Windows 10, we can’t encourage you enough to upgrade your hardware, especially if your current hardware is way below current standards. The new OS and application software will be written to work with most up-to-date and most-likely-to-be-improved processors. If you match your hardware and software systems properly, you’ll get performance levels that have the capability to make your business more efficient and profitable for a longer time.

This will move you into a new realm of business and technology management. Once we know how all the ideal pieces should fit together, we can help you budget for your transition – which could be spread out over 18 months or so. We can help you bring in new computers in stages that match your software development, so that you and your employees can test systems and offer feedback to all of your providers.

With proper budgeting, scheduling, testing and training throughout the process, we can help you coordinate all the steps involved so that we can install your system and have all employees trained on their new hardware and software with minimal – if any – downtime.

It’s not too early to start the conversation. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to set up an appointment to discuss your migration from Windows 7.

Refreshing Devices Re-Energizes Them – Up to a Point

Refreshing your computers, peripherals and devices requires you to take a long pause, but in the end, it still might leave you thirsting for better results. If you’re hanging onto old equipment, Tech Data reports a few facts that might make you change your mind.

First of all, the report says, some 46 million small and medium-size businesses rely on devices dating back to 2014. That’s approaching five years, and that can be a lifetime in technology. Second, repair costs for equipment four years old or more can be 1.5 times the cost of repairing newer technology. Finally, PCs older than four years can be less than half as productive – costing an average loss of productivity rate of $1,260, according to an internal study by Microsoft.

Microsoft, which is phasing out Windows 7 because of its increasing inefficiency (Windows 7 Support Ends in January 2020), certainly has an interest in seeing you buy new computers with their operating systems. But they also know that the more efficient and productive their customers are, the more likely they’ll continue to use Microsoft software.

So, with that last point out there, what are your considerations for refreshing or replacing a computer? If you’re running Windows 7, we see replacement as a no-brainer. One client engagement illustrates how extreme it can get. We were tasked with refreshing a 10-year-old computer to get it to run better, which we did at a cost of $200 or so – after we advised our client to replace it. Refreshing, in this case, meant reinstalling software and updating it as much as possible. A 10-year-old computer cannot run the latest versions of Windows or any application software, and you cannot install the latest, most secure browser software. If we had installed a new hard drive and added licensing fees and our setup time, it would have been about $570. A new computer would have been around $800 plus some setup time to properly install the operating system and applications and transfer some data files.

With that as background, let’s delve more into a cost-benefit analysis.

Performance: Older PCs, according to Tech Data, can only run approximately five applications simultaneously without performance degradation, while newer PCs can easily run eight or more, according to a 2016 study. On the other hand, new Windows 10 Pro devices with 7th and 8th generation Intel® vPro™ processors keep users more productive with up to 25 percent more time efficiency. They are also up to 28 percent faster for startup on average compared to Windows 7. Batteries can last up to three times longer on newer Windows devices.

Repairs: We mentioned early on that repairs can cost 1.5 times more for older computers than for newer computers. Some of that extra cost can come from more time to find parts. Generally speaking, older parts are scarcer and more expensive.

Security: We’ve harped on security, and here’s something to add: More than 50 percent of smaller businesses have suffered a data breach or cyberattack with the cost averaging more than $84,000 per breach. Older Windows devices are likelier to lack the latest hardware and software security features, putting data at risk. When you factor in the fact that small-business customers are prime targets for security breaches, you can be looking at costly recovery.   Upgrading to a computer that can run Windows 10 Pro will give you more built-in defenses and increased support for the lifetime of your device.

To translate all this into an action plan, we recommend refreshing and some component replacement for computers three years old or younger. For older computers, especially those running Windows 7, we recommend replacement. Business users will benefit from improved performance and security, and home users will benefit from better security. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your refresh/replacement needs.

Password Agony; No Ecstasy

Passwords are a total pain. Upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters in one password are likely unbreakable over the course of a lifetime. But just to be safe, you’re required to change them periodically – without repeating one you’ve previously used for a website. And if you go to extremes, well, it is possible that someone can beat you over the head and hold your finger or an open eye in front your phone and access your bank account. A password manager could relieve that pain.

Password managers are applications on your computers and devices to access a database where your passwords are stored. One of the big pains they relieve is the need to remember multiple complex combinations of letters, numbers and characters that – to be effective – are totally random. Almost all password managers let you create a master password for access to your identity vault, and then the password manager fills in individual user IDs and passwords for the sites and apps you use. One benefit is that you can give each site or app a different, complex and hard-to-remember password. They also relieve the burden of making required password changes for websites by generating a new one.

For those of you thinking several steps ahead, you are not tied to a password manager forever. You can always download the database with your passwords and user names, allowing you to leave the service and change passwords at each website as needed.

Of course, there’s some risk to a password manager. If a hacker gains access to your master password, all your accounts are open to plundering. Likewise, if a hacker manages to breach the central vault of the password management company, it’s possible that millions of account credentials could be stolen in a single hack.

Good password managers have defenses for both possibilities. Most employ multifactor authentication, so access is granted only with both a correct password and a correct authentication code. That code exists only on a device you own, limiting the ability for someone on the other side of the world to gain access to your information. They also encrypt your password information locally, before it ever leaves your devices, on the servers operated by the vendors. In most cases, this is strong enough.

You have a lot of choices for password managers. We happen to like Dashlane, which gets strong reviews from sources such as PC Magazine, Tom’s Guide, and CNET. You can find more than enough reviews of Dashlane and other program managers, some subscription-based and some free. You should remember that we’re not always enamored with free programs, but regardless of price, here are some things to consider.

Your password manager should secure your data on your machine and in the cloud with an industry-accepted, tough form of encryption that’s widely used today. Along that line, it’s good to have a password manager that scans the dark web to make sure you haven’t been compromised.

It should work across multiple platforms with software for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, and you should be able to install it on an unlimited number of devices for a single (usually paid) account, store an unlimited number of passwords and generate new, strong passwords for you, even on a mobile device. We like one that can alert you to data breaches and give you a two-factor authentication option for master passwords. Some will offer to save personal information, such as personal details, credit-card numbers and other frequently used information to quickly fill out online forms. While this is optional, it may be safer than letting a website save your credit-card information.

While no password manager can recover your master password if you forget it, it’s helpful to have one that lets you reset your password. Another good feature is one that lets you provide an emergency contact so that a trusted person can access your websites and apps if you are unable to do so.

Choosing a password manager and setting it up can be daunting tasks, but we can help. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us for answers to your questions or to walk through the setup.