This forum is for home improvement and decorating.

I sympathize with your issues. IMO continuing with Windows is a no win situation. They have declared war on their users and are going to kill off the system with subscriptions.

You might get help from the techs at https://www.ubreakifix.com/locations/fortmyers

I have found these people locally are very accommodating. I believe the last time I visited they even offered a one year plan for servicing and repairing the computers. They do it in the shop, online or will even visit your home.

Thanks , Beverly!

Well the Techs are right, and your are wrong. Windows 10 lost support from Microsoft October 2025, in other words you're on your own. For a fee you can extend security updates to only October 2026.......or upgrade to windows 11 for free. There is a catch, if your computer is to old the upgrade will not work and a new computer is required.

You complain about wanting privacy but you won't get it with windows 10 as the hackers slowly move into your computer looking for goodies or to run malicious scams from you computer using malware in the background. With out Microsoft security patches to protect your computer it's like having no locks on your doors in the bad side of town.

Your computer will become infested with malware running things like Zombified so your IP address could be blacklisted by your internet provider. They could also install ransomware, or even install keyloggers that record every button you push. It's not if but when, I had a windows 7 computer that lost support and discovered hackers were sending out millions of spam emails and even found their massive database in a hidden file. Other files hidden in my picture folder included miles of Chinese text in a dozen file, so if you want privacy keeping windows 10 is not the way to go.

As far as LINUX it may not be right for you. There are hundreds of LINUX based operating systems and only a couple that are somewhat Similar to windows you're familiar to. Chrome OS, Linus Mint and Linux red hat (REHE) are the best user friendly operating systems but none will not support windows programs without a huge mess using a translator with a high learning curve. All are hit or miss for compatibility with your present hardware (printer, ect.) while Mint has the best chance of success. All these LINUX operating systems are free.

In summary, just upgrade to windows 11 while it's still free. Linux is going to be well above your pay grade so forget about it. And If your looking to a Tech to do something for free, what ever you need done isn't going to be a quick 5 minute fix. Why would they want to invest an hour or more into getting you going again? Take it to a shop if you can't upgrade yourself and pay them for their time.

Thanks, I see. The thing is, i'm also dealing with two laptops that have erratic displays, and several pages of back & forth failed to resolve the situation. I was going out of my mind. My Dell flickers like strobe lights, and my Lenovo goes "bouncy-bounce". Other than that, they'd both tested "clean".