How best to fix PC/computer problems, buy, build, recover, repair, protect, upgrade PCs
Information is available on this website of the kind required to enable computer users to solve hardware and software computer problems, buy, build, upgrade, network, use broadband Internet, recover, repair and protect their computers successfully.
Computer problems – Hardware and software problems
Hardware and software computer problems are solved in articles and questions and solutions, grouped in categories, the parent category of which is on the main menu at the top of each page – PC Problems & Solutions.
The quickest way to find the solutions to particular computer problems is to enter a short and accurate description of the problem in the Search box at the top right-hand corner of every page of this site. A list of site pages and blog posts containing your keywords is presented.
Examples of general searches are internet problems, hard disk drive problems, laptop problems, networking problems, etc. The more refined a search is, the more likely it is to deliver a solution to a problem. Examples of more specific searches are no Wi-Fi connection to router, pc crashes, pc freezes, computer reboots, blue screen of death, Windows Update runs endlessly, etc., all of them very common problems.
Hardware components and peripherals
All of the major internal PC/computer components, such as hard disk and SSD drives, graphics cards, processors, motherboards, sound cards, RAM memory, etc., and the external peripheral components, such as monitors, networking equipment, keyboard & mice and printers, have their own section devoted to them under Hardware on the menu at the top of each page.
There are so many categories of hardware that they can’t all be shown on a single screen in the drop-down menu, so, please scroll down to see all of them. Separate sections are devoted to topics such as software, Windows 10 / 8.1 / 7 / XP, and PC security.
The Build Your Own PC section provides information on the installation of computer hardware (motherboard, processor, graphics card, hard disk or SSD drive, etc.) and the installation of Windows.
For upgrade information visit the Upgrade PC/Computer Hardware, Windows & Software section of this website.
Software
The Software menu item at the top of each page is broken down into the following categories: General Software Information, Backups, Systems Images and Cloud Storage, The UEFI and Standard System BIOS, Product Activation and The Device Manager.
DISCLAIMER
While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information on this website, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information herein.
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Microsoft support life-cycles for Windows and its other software
Note that extended security support for Windows XP from Microsoft ended on April 8, 2014.
Microsoft ended security-update support for Windows 7 on 14 January 2020.
There is nothing to stop anyone from continuing to use Windows XP, which, in June 2017, still ran about 4.0% of all desktop and laptop computers used to access the web (3.2% by February 2018).
Due to their relatively low user bases, Windows XP and Windows 8.1 are now much less likely targets of cyber criminals than Windows 7 and Windows 10. Moreover, those low user bases are decreasing constantly, making it less and less attractive to those parasites. The usage of Windows 7 will decrease more and more rapidly from its end of support from Microsoft on 14 January 2020.
The official release date of Windows 10 was July 29, 2015. By June 2017, Windows 10 was running an estimated 30.87% of all desktop and laptop computers (43.53% in February 2018).
Microsoft will be ending extended security support for Windows 7 SP1 on January 14, 2020.
Windows lifecycle fact sheet – Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8.1 –
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853
Download Windows 10 (the download is updated to the latest available version) –
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Desktop/laptop/tablets/smartphones usage share of operating systems
Visit the following Wikipedia page for up-to-date information on the usage share of all of the operating systems in use on desktop, laptop, tablet PCs and smartphones.
Usage share of operating systems –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems