Repair service for Windows won't start, slow PC and malware

Windows 10 left support on 14 October 2025: what that really means for your PC

The date comes from Microsoft: 14 October 2025. From that day Microsoft no longer provides «technical support of any issue, software updates, security updates or fixes». The computer still works — Microsoft says so — but without security fixes.

There is a way out, with a date almost everyone gets wrong. The consumer ESU programme covers critical and important updates through 12 October 2027. Many articles still print 13 October 2026: that was the original announcement. Three ways to enrol — free by syncing PC settings, 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, or a one-off $30 — Windows 10 22H2 and an administrator Microsoft account are required, one licence covers up to 10 devices, and consumer ESU cannot be used in commercial scenarios.

Why your PC will not take Windows 11: usually two things. TPM 2.0, UEFI with Secure Boot, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage — and a listed processor. Microsoft's Intel list starts at 8th-generation Core. A 7th-gen machine is excluded even with TPM 2.0 enabled.

What if I install it anyway? You can, and sometimes it makes sense. But read Microsoft's own on-screen text first: «installing Windows 11 on this PC is not recommended and may result in compatibility issues. If you proceed, your PC will no longer be supported and won't be entitled to receive updates. Damages to your PC due to lack of compatibility aren't covered under the manufacturer warranty». If we do it, we put that in the quote.

And if the PC is healthy but Windows 11 will not take it? There is a route almost nobody explains honestly. A Linux distribution runs on hardware Microsoft has excluded, and the support is not short: Canonical states that Ubuntu LTS releases «are released every two years and receive 5 years of standard security maintenance». The current LTS is 26.04, released on 23 April 2026, supported to April 2031. Ubuntu Pro, which Canonical says is «free for personal use on up to 5 physical machines», takes that to ten years. Linux Mint publishes 2 GB of RAM and 20 GB of disk as its minimum, with five years of support on LTS releases.

One widely repeated figure is wrong: «Ubuntu runs on 4 GB of RAM». Not any more: for 26.04 Canonical publishes 6 GB of RAM, a 2 GHz dual-core processor and 25 GB of space. For a lighter machine the answer is Xubuntu, which publishes 1 GB of RAM and 8.6 GB of space. And the trade-offs belong up front: Microsoft Office does not exist for Linux — Microsoft's system requirements list Windows and macOS only — and neither does Adobe Creative Cloud. In games, anti-cheat works only where the developer enables it: Epic documents that Easy Anti-Cheat's Linux support is switched on from the developer portal, and BattlEye says the same. One last honesty: Microsoft never mentions Linux — the three routes it lists are Windows 11, a new PC, or ESU.

On antivirus there is one myth to dismantle and one not to build. The first: «Defender is weak». Microsoft states that «Microsoft Defender Antivirus is built into Windows» and that «it's on by default, reducing the need for an alternative antivirus on Windows 11» — and the independent labs now agree: AV-TEST scored it 17.5 out of 18 in June 2026 with a «TOP PRODUCT» award; AV-Comparatives measured 99.0% protection (396 of 400 cases) with zero false positives between February and May 2026. Those are third-party lab figures, not Microsoft claims. The second myth, the opposite one: «so Defender is all you need». Those tests measure the antivirus engine; they do not replace updates or backups — and on an out-of-support Windows no antivirus makes up for patches that stop arriving.

A technical point almost everyone gets wrong. You read everywhere that installing another antivirus leaves «Defender in passive mode as a backup». On a home PC it does not: Microsoft documents passive mode for machines managed with Defender for Endpoint — the business scenario. On an ordinary PC, installing a third-party antivirus makes Defender disable itself entirely, automatically. That is not a problem — two engines should not run at once — but it means your protection is the one you chose, not two added together. The rest of the defences stay on: SmartScreen against dangerous sites and downloads, phishing protection, and controlled folder access, which Microsoft names explicitly for protecting important folders from ransomware.

And the part that actually saves people: backup. Windows includes Windows Backup, syncing folders, apps and settings to OneDrive (5 GB free with a Microsoft account). But the serious rule is not Microsoft's — it is CISA's, and it is called 3-2-1: three copies of important files, on two different types of storage, with one copy off-site. It is the one thing that turns ransomware from a disaster into a nuisance. We will set it up with you.