Windows 10 is out of support in October 14 2025 (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro).
That will come around sooner than you think.
After this date, there will be no more security updates for Windows 10, which makes it a very risky security proposition to remain on Windows 10 after this date.
Still on Windows 10?
Of course you are. If you’re on Windows 11 already across all your computers, go outside and touch grass or go have a coffee. Stop reading this blog. It’s not for you.
Just send it to all your friends you know that are still running Windows 10. Or use it as your own guide to help them upgrade.
Backup
Firstly, take a full backup. I don’t need to tell you this because you have backups already – right? Right? For Cloud based backups, I highly recommend BackBlaze (affiliate link).
It’s worth paying for offsite/continuous backups.
For local backups, I suggest Veam – https://www.veeam.com/products/free/backup-recovery.html?ad=downloads or SyncBackFree – https://www.2brightsparks.com/download-syncbackfree.html
Get an external hard drive and back up your system before doing any major changes/upgrades.
Make sure you at least have backups of your important files and documents. Think through the programs you use regularly and what you might need to have to re-install and set these up.
Already have modern/supported hardware?
Just upgrade. Sooner the better. Stop putting it off and arguing with me.
Upgrading is done via Windows updates and can be done in-place – meaning it will bring all your settings, apps, documents along. I still recommend doing a backup before this upgrade.
Not sure if you have supported hardware or not? – Use the PC Health Check App:
You have unsupported hardware. What are your options?
- Enrol in Microsoft Extended Support Program. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-consumer-extended-security-updates-esu-program-33e17de9-36b3-43bb-874d-6c53d2e4bf42 You have to opt-in for this. It’s not automatic. This will give you another 12 months of updates on Windows 10. It is unclear at this stage if this program will be extended beyond Oct 2026. But it allows you get more life out of your older computer and more time to plan how you’ll migrate off Windows 10. This will cost:
- Nothing if you backup your PC settings to OneDrive.
- 1000 Microsoft Reward Points.
- $30 USD
- New Computer. Replace your whole computer with a new one that comes with Windows 11. This is the expensive option, but it’s clean and you’ll likely get better performance as well as security and warranty/support.
- Upgrade hardware components that don’t meet the requirements and then upgrade. This is most likely the motherboard and/or CPU. Check carefully the replacement components will be compatible with your current hardware.
- Migrate to Linux. Linux is a free and open source operating system and tends to work well on older pcs. There are many flavours (distributions) of Linux and not all applications you’re used to in Windows have direct equivalents in Linux. If you’re not a technical user, I recommend getting assistance getting started with Linux. There are a lot of options and gotchas to consider. Some good starter distributions to check out are Mint,
- Migrate to Chrome OS Flex. https://chromeos.google/products/chromeos-flex/. This is another alternative operating system. It’s more cloud and Google focused, but may be an option if your laptop is used primarily for internet based activities and not much for local files or traditional desktop applications.
- Bypass hardware requirements. This requires some technical skill and no promise of future support/updates from Microsoft. If you know what you’re doing, look at Rufus (https://rufus.ie/en/) or FlyBy11 (https://github.com/builtbybel/Flyby11).
- Ignore the above options and stay on Windows 10 unsupported. You rogue daredevil you…. Though, seriously, if the bad guys have Windows 10 exploits now, they’ll be holding on to them to release them after Windows 10 is out of extended support in hopes of catching out folks who go with this option. Best of luck to you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
If you want some assistance with your Windows 10 upgrade. Get in touch!
Im happy to help you navigate your options and keep your system secure.”