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Where has Canadian Tech gone —

http://www.canadiantech.info/ —

website is down here foe about 2 weeks

Maurice Helwig

mbhelwig

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Per https://whois.domaintools.com/canadiantech.info ?

What, but not why.

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https://www.canadiantech.info/for-techies/windows-update/windows-update-not-responding/

You can get archives there.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

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Wow. This person was a treasure trove of WIN 7 advice! Anyone have any leads??

(I know, it’s been two months…I feel like an old time voyager who lands on a deserted beach and sees only ruins instead of the port he left. Thanks to his many tips, my Win 7 machine is still rumbling along.)

Did the Redmond Secret Service get him? 😉

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330, Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Greenhorn
--
"...all the people, all the time..."Peter Ustinov ad-lib in "Logan's Run"

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https://web.archive.org/web/20220812083726/https://www.canadiantech.info/

I’ve also privately emailed him to see if he’s okay.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

3 users thanked author for this post.

Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Cybertooth, SueW

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If you followed my previous contributions, you would know that I rejected Windows beyond win7. I do not support other than win7.

5 years or so ago, I stopped allowing ALL Microsoft updates on any of my client’s computers. I disabled the Update service and set WU to never. Understand that none of them are enterprises. Just home PCs. I install Bit Defender AV (rejecting BD security) on all. Also insisting on the use of Chrome on all.

My clients who once numbered over 150, has declined to 90. Very few of those that I lost bought another Windows product. Almost all replaced with Apple products, or no PC at all – rather tablets and smart phones.

To this date, my clients experience extremely stable systems. Not a single instance of an infection in more than 5 years. NOT one! That’s a lot of PC usage months. BD is nothing short of fantastic. I use ADWcleaner and find these days on a BD protected computer ADWcleaner finds nothing.

I should add that near the end of MS “support” I campaigned to replace most of my clients’ hard drives and that has added to the stability. When I did that I created a “system image” before adding data or dynamic apps – resulting in from 2 to 6 DVD +R’s. using the built-in MS tool for every one of them. Since then, I have used those images to great advantage for replacing hard drives or converting older ones for use by new clients. The beauty of this system is that I get a completely operational PC that is activated and has all its drivers. No updates of any kind. Takes an hour or so. Then I need to transfer data.

My clients are very pleased and I am just about to renew many of them with BD AV 2 year subscriptions. Cost is $12 for 2 years. I add $12 a year to that to cover my subscription to Team Viewer that enables me to support them.

I find Woody’s website not very interesting any longer becaus most members are no longer interested in Win7.

Actually, I find myself in a rather strange position. 99% of techies think I am nuts, almost dangerous. The fact is I have a thriving clientele that are delighted with their stable systems that just wake up every day and work exactly the way they did the day before. My support work has waned dramatically.
For mom & pop systems the WU paranoia is truly a waste that is ruining good systems.

I disbanded my website. it was a depository of information about win7 written for non-techies that I referred my clients to. Their systems are so familiar now, they were no longer using that website. I also used it to answer 100’s of Microsoft Answers questions. In fact someone accused me of copying other people’s work. I straightened that out when I told the manager there I was indeed copying, but copying from my own work. The MS answers page is less interesting to me now for all the same reasons. In fact, a while back I was telling people there of my experience and the managers’ demanded that I stop because it was not in MS best interests.

You can find my profile at: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/profile/6ff4e864-4aeb-4cd5-93b4-0737a1781fb6

CT

8 users thanked author for this post.

dutchjim, mledman, SueW, Microfix, Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Cybertooth, satrow, Bob99

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@Canadian-Tech –

Thanks for the update! It’s always great hearing from you! Good to hear that all of your remaining clients with Win 7 are still doing well. One question, though. When you’ve been replacing the drives, have you been replacing them with spinners or SSDs? Just curious.

When I was still on 7, my wife’s computer (from mom and pop shop) came with an SSD (one of the first Intel drives in a 2½” enclosure), and Windows 7 never missed a beat with regards to its ongoing optimization versus defragging.

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Every one was a Western Digital Black. 5 yr warranty. 7200rpm much faster than most 5400’s Prices much more attractive than SSD’s and enough capacity to never have to worry. All 1TB or more.

I am still not totally convinced that SSD’s are superior. They are definitely faster at startup and shutdown, but for the vast majority of use, there is no perceptible difference. Unless you spend a lot, the capacities leave you always fighting for space. HD’s fail gracefully, You can tell long before it becomes critical that things are not right. SSD’s fail suddenly and completely.

CT

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Large SSDs are cheap.

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG 870 EVO SATA SSD 500GB 2.5” Internal Solid State Hard Drive, Upgrade PC or Laptop Memory and Storage for IT Pros, Creators, Everyday Users, MZ-77E500B/AM : Electronics

1/2 a gig is 49 buck.  Even a terrabtye is not that expensive and even on 7 boot time and responsiveness in general is way better.

BTW 7 is clearly not dead and is still being patched

0patch Blog: Two More Years of Critical Security Patches for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

 

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

1 user thanked author for this post.

Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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I could not care less if Win7 patches are being offered. In fact, i remain adamantly opposed to applying any. The tranquility and stability that become part of my clients’ Win7 world cannot be beat.

CT

2 users thanked author for this post.

Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Microfix

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0patch is actually quite stable.  Some of us are in small business where we are still regulated to not be on unsupported platforms.  Like accounting firms in the USA 😉

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks

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Canadian Tech also posts in the Microsoft Community Forum. You might check there.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/

Carpe Diem {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1413 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox112.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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Last reply four hours ago:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/chkdsk-f-f/1c30a2d4-ecb2-48b0-9dbc-6c2a0df6caf5

Carpe Diem {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1413 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox112.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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Cybertooth

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Perhaps CT is too busy with 100+ clients moving them from Win7 to 10?
Chrome on Win7 will soon be EoS which was the setup/configuration choice, browser change for clients? Who knows, hope all is well though, thouroughly enjoyed his/her Windows 7 advice on here.

Keep IT Lean, Clean and Mean!

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

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Canadian Tech wrote:

I could not care less if Win7 patches are being offered. In fact, i remain adamantly opposed to applying any. The tranquility and stability that become part of my clients’ Win7 world cannot be beat.

@Canadian_Tech, I saw that you have your Windows 7 customers on the Chrome browser. What will you have your customers do when Chrome ends support for Windows 7?

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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MS announced no further “support” for Win7 years ago. What my clients discovered was that what that really means is that MS no longer fouled up their computers once a month and now their systems run like reliable clocks. My clients are in complete control of the computers they invested in. Coupling with an excellent AV product and a very secure Chrome has meant a completely safe environment.

In my opinion, this “updating” thing is really an overblown bunch of paranoia for my kind of clients. The reality is Win7 and most other software has improved dramatically over the years to the point that they are just good products. There is an expression that a lot of people live by — If it ain’t broke, why are you trying to fix it.

I do not know for certain, but I expect Chrome to be much the same.

“support” means no more changes — the seller calls them improvements, but very few people recognize, need or want these “improvements” to a product that already works just fine. A great example of this is MS Office. 99% of the users of Office use no more than a tiny fraction of the features of Office. Many of my clients use the 2003 version. A few have the 2010 version.

Hacking and viruses have changed from that ugly kid in the basement to criminal enterprises. Those enterprises are too smart to attack mom & pop who will simply turn off the computer and get a new one or have the kid next door wipe and re-install. Enterprises are the target of those criminal computer network attacks.

“updating paranoia” should definitely be part of the enterprise arsenal and is mandatory to being able to run the enterprise. Mom & Pop, have little to fear and that paranoia just makes no sense.

So to answer your question directly, I expect Chrome to work just fine for years to come. if not, Duck, Duck Go may be just fine.

CT

3 users thanked author for this post.

Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Charlie, Cybertooth

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Canadian Tech wrote:

I could not care less if Win7 patches are being offered. In fact, i remain adamantly opposed to applying any.

Good to see you!! I do have to respectfully disagree about 0Patch…have had zero issues with it; it’s like “That happy country that hath no memory.” I have to agree with Susan on this one.

Otherwise, this machine just keeps rolling. By way of analogy, there ARE some in the Army who actually prefer the old M1A1 Abrams to it’s later versions. 😉 (They DO wish for some form of A/C though <grin>).

Be Well, best of the season to you!

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330, Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Greenhorn
--
"...all the people, all the time..."Peter Ustinov ad-lib in "Logan's Run"

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CT has reasons for not patching beyond 2014 for system updates and May 2017 for .NET IIRC and are probably valid as MSFT likely started poluting or salting Windows 7 thereafter with patch-rust, bitrot and a policy of security FUD where they preyed on end-users ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ to patching as an established habit, all in order to drive people to W10.

I personally tried CT’s updating policy for a while BUT, the overwhelming urge to patch after a few months took over, although the system ran sweet during those months.
Hey, If it works for CT that’s great and I’m sure clients would complain if things didn’t work out. Each to their own perception and sometimes alternative methods can produce stable and reliable results that contradict ‘the corporation’.

Keep IT Lean, Clean and Mean!

4 users thanked author for this post.

Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Cybertooth, Canadian Tech, satrow

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Your assessment of the WU situation is spot on. Just what I concluded and the basis for my clients’ success.

The difference is that we resisted that impulse and are now reaping the benefits.

CT

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Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Microfix

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