Tips if you plan on staying on Windows 10

[Moonchild]

It's no secret that Microsoft will stop mainline support for Windows 10 on 14 October this year.

I have a few tips for those wanting to stay on Windows 10:

1. Don't panic. Windows 10 will not suddenly stop working at the EoL date. It will also not immediately become vulnerable and you're likely going to be good on the security side of things for some time to come. It'll likely be considerable time before the first major vulnerability will be found (and even then Microsoft may make available some security patches for exceedingly risky things as they've done in the past!). But, it is sensible to plan for the longer term, so let's continue.
2. Make sure you can restore/reinstall Windows 10 after the cut-off date.
   1. Microsoft will almost certainly immediately remove access to the download of the ISOs for Windows 10 from its site at the cut-off date. You should download all ISOs from the official Microsoft site of all the versions of Windows 10 you intend to use (including the one you are running now) and make sure you store them safely/have backups.
      The last thing you want to have to do after some calamity is rely on an ISO downloaded from a dodgy website in a hurry.
   2. Create a bootable USB with the Windows 10 install from the ISO. You can either use the media creation tool on a USB stick (8GB or so), or use something like Ventoy to create a bootable stick with multiple ISOs.
      Keep in mind USB drives can also fail, get lost etc. so make sure you keep backups.
3. Try to keep your applications updated. This is particularly important for internet-connected applications like browsers, mail clients, chat programs etc. O.S. security is only part of the picture.
4. Make sure your firewall settings are correct.
   Open Control Panel (just search for it in the start menu), go to System and Security -> Windows Defender Firewall. On the left, click "Advanced settings", this opens a new advanced window that will look familiar to people having worked with Windows Server editions . In that window's centre pane, click the blue link "Windows Defender Firewall properties.
   In the dialog that then opens, check the tabs for Domain, Private and Public progfile, and in each, make sure your Inbound policy is set to "Block (Default)"
   firewall1.png
5. Windows Defender will continue to receive definition updates until at least October 2028, so you should be good on that front at least for now. Even so, after that date you may need to check for antivirus that continues to support Windows 10 from a third party. if you're currently using a third-party antivirus, check if they will continue to support Windows 10 after EoL. if that's a no or "unknown" I recommend you uninstall it and switch to Windows Defender for known-supported antivirus for the coming 3 years.
6. If you're using Windows Defender, you should consider setting it to use more tight controls after EoL. Make sure in the "manage settings" of the Virus and Threat Protection settings, that you keep "tamper protection" set to "on". This will prevent malware's common tactic of disabling Windows Defender if it does manage to get on your system (It's usually one of the very first things droppers/malware scripts try to do).
   Similarly, check under "Ransomware Protection" and make sure you switch on "Controlled Folder Access". This will further prevent critical user files and folders (e.g. documents, pictures and other user data) from being manipulated/encrypted/corrupted by malware. You can add custom folders to it as well, e.g. if you want to protect other locations not in the default places.
7. Switch off remote desktop/remote assistance.
   Open Control Panel -> System and Security. Now right-click on "System" and select "Open" (Don't left-click), to open the old-school System control panel (left click will boot you into the new "Settings" which you don't want). Now in the left pane, click "Remote settings". In the dialog that opens, tab Remote, uncheck "Allow remote assistance connections to this computer" and below, check "Don't allow remote connections to this computer" (Unless you specifically plan to use remote desktop - even then, I'd suggest that only enable it when you are planning to use it and keep it off otherwise).
   remote2.png
8. Reduce potential attack vectors for common Windows features you might not be using. This drastically reduces your exposed attack surface:
   Open Control Panel again, go to Programs and Features. In the left pane, click "Turn Windows Features on or off". Now, select to remove the following features unless you actively use them:
   • SMB 1.0 (this is the old school type Windows File Sharing, think XP era). Most people don't need this at all, most software no longer supports it.
   • Telnet client
   • TFTP client

There are more advanced things you can do like disable the Windows Scripting Host or lock down the execution policy of Powershell scripting, but that's getting really into the weeds and this is already long enough

Thanks to various people who have suggested some of these things over the years. I hope these tips help!

[Mæstro]

In addition to the above, extended security updates for Windows 10 should continue another three years, or into October 2028. I have heard, but have not been able to verify, that Microsoft has surrendered to the fact that Windows 10 remains as popular as its successor today by offering the first year of ESU for free; this rumour should be verified and not believed otherwise, but updates should be available for a fee in any case.

A decade’s free support seems typical for Windows versions: 2000, 7 and 8·1 all received this long. XP shows its special favour, Vista disfavour in this way.

[van p]

"For individuals or Windows 10 Home customers, Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 will be available for purchase at $30 for one year."

[Moonchild]

"For individuals or Windows 10 Home customers, Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 will be available for purchase at $30 for one year."

Correct, although they do offer, for select users, a free ESU for 1 year if you agree to link to a Microsoft account and join the Microsoft ecosystem in full (i.e. your data's worth the $30)

[Octopuss]

Does microsoft even release up to date ISOs for Win 10 at all? I have just redownloaded the Media creation tool, and it seems to sit on the same version that it did back when I downloaded it last in 2024.

[Moonchild]

The last release version of Windows 10 was 22H2. Any incremental updates on that will have to be got through Windows Update (or collected update media -- I could see if I can make another master update ISO with wsusoffline or similar). So no, the install ISOs will not be any newer than the state at the end of 2022.

[frostknight]

Off-topic:
I would also say, if you have to upgrade to windows 11, disable copilot.

It takes snapshots of everything you do and that could be a problem especially if you do online banking and stuff like that.

I don't use windows, but I thought I should mention this aspect for the sake of those who do.

[Moonchild]

Please keep things on-topic.

[Massacre]

You can also switch to a third-party supported firewall (I use Fort for now, it's free), and manage internet access for applications/services. Blocking all incoming connections is overkill.

[Moonchild]

Blocking all incoming connections is overkill.

Actually, no, it isn't. Keep in mind that that setting is the default, and will cause Windows to pop up a dialog when it sees an application opens a listening port and will then ask what you want it to be able to be accessed from, if any.

[chrisriley+3000]

I'll miss the old Windows 10, but we have to make sure our laptop is protected and they discontinued the security updates on October 14, 2025. We were alerted by it a week before so we had to upgrade and make the switch early. Are any of you guys still using Windows 10?

[Gemmaugr]

I'll miss the old Windows 10, but we have to make sure our laptop is protected and they discontinued the security updates on October 14, 2025. We were alerted by it a week before so we had to upgrade and make the switch early. Are any of you guys still using Windows 10?

I'm still using Win 10, and will be for the foreseeable future. I was using Win XP up until 2016 and any "security issues" are mostly overrated, and due to PEBCAK.

[Moonchild]

Are any of you guys still using Windows 10?

Happily running Windows 10 as my daily driver. I'm very happy I've been avoiding the barrage of total trust-breaking crap that Windows 11 has been in the past year.

[UCyborg]

My normal install is Win10 20H2, but I've been on a temporary Win11 23H2 installation for a while now to play with new legacy Creative sound card with EAX 4.0, because I didn't want to install more Creative software on Win10.

[athenian200]

I'll miss the old Windows 10, but we have to make sure our laptop is protected and they discontinued the security updates on October 14, 2025. We were alerted by it a week before so we had to upgrade and make the switch early. Are any of you guys still using Windows 10?

I have Windows 11 on my newest laptop, and it has worked okay for me there, but I'm still using Windows 10 on several computers, some of which just don't have the hardware to support Windows 11. I enrolled my Mom's laptop in extended updates so she's good for another year, and I have another system running Windows Server 2022 with Desktop Experience which is very similar to Windows 10, but technically built on the 21H1 Iron Codebase.

It is worth noting you have to jump through hoops to get the extended updates... and it will warn you and try to convince you to switch, not letting you know you have the option of enrolling in extended updates after jumping through hoops. I know a lot of people who switched around the time you did and weren't aware of their options. Completely understandable that people would do that. And even after you enroll in them, you will see the occasional reminder flash that you aren't running the latest edition of Windows, though with slightly less dire language.