Microsoft plans to inform users of the company’s Windows 7 operating system on January 15, 2020 that support for the system ended. The company wants to display a full screen popup on Windows 7 PCs from January 15, 2020 onward.
Microsoft integrated a new version of the End of Service notifier executable in the December 2019 Monthly Rollup for Windows 7. EOSnotify.exe, which is located under ,%windir%system32, is used to display the full screen popup on Windows 7 devices when support ends.
The executable file is run via the scheduled tasks EOSNotify and EOSNotify2 which administrators find under Microsoft > Winodws > Setup in the operating system’s Task Scheduler. The first task launches the full screen message when a user logs into the operating system, the second daily at 12 PM.
It displays the following message:
Your Windows 7 PC is out of support.
As of January 14, 2020, support for Windows 7 has come to an end. Your PC is more vulnerable to viruses and malware due to:
- No security updates
- No software updates
- No tech support
Microsoft strongly recommends using Windows 10 on a new PC for the latest security features and protection against malicious software.
Microsoft’s suggestion is puzzling as it recommends getting a new PC and running Windows 10 on that PC. No word about the current PC and upgrading that PC to Windows 10.
The popup has three links that users may activate:
- Learn More
- Remind me Later
- Don’t remind me again
Users may select “don’t remind me again” to block future popups on the system. It is furthermore possible to modify the Windows Registry to disable the message as well.
Disable the Windows 7 end of support popup
- Use Windows-R to open the Run box. Type regedit to start the Registry Editor.
- If an UAC prompt is displayed, confirm it.
- Navigate to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionEOSNotify
- If the Dword value DiscontinueEOS is listed under EOSNotify, double-click it and set its value to 1.
- If it is not yet, create the value (right-click on EOSNotify, select New >Dword (32-bit) Value).
Selecting “don’t remind me again” will set the DiscontinueEOS value to 1.
Closing Words
It is likely that many users will continue to run Windows 7 even after support end. Some may upgrade to Windows 10 (which is still free if a genuine key is available), others may switch to Linux.
Microsoft will support Enterprises and small businesses who sign up for Extended Security Updates until January 2023 with security updates. A method was discovered recently to install these patches on Home devices running Windows 7 but it is too early to tell whether it will remain an option after support ends officially. Third-party 0Patch plans to release some patches for Windows 7 for free as well.
(via Bleeping Computer)