Windows 7 without antivirus.

[vicluber]

I'm building a PC for my cousin, he runs a clothing store, so he doesn't need anything special so i gave him a computer that I had going around for a while here. (Old PC so i installed Windows 7) He needs to run just Google Chrome.

The thing is that I would like not to install an antivirus because i don't like them and is not totally necessary, but just if you know what you are doing.

I'm a Linux user i don't know much about windows. My question is:

Is the guest windows user a user without privileges that can be used for browsing safely?

The PC is gonna be used by the employees so i can't expect that they are not gonna click where they supposed not to. Can I set a user where I know that if they click something for installing or changing in the system they will just not be allowed? Is there another way? Is freezing the system state still a thing, is it useful here?

Thanks

[Gokul_P]

10 minutes ago, vicluber said:

I'm building a PC for my cousin, he runs a clothing store, so he doesn't need anything special so i gave him a computer that I had going around for a while here. (Old PC so i installed Windows 7) He needs to run just Google Chrome.

The thing is that I would like not to install an antivirus because i don't like them and is not totally necessary, but just if you know what you are doing.

I'm a Linux user i don't know much about windows. My question is:

Is the guest windows user a user without privileges that can be used for browsing safely?

The PC is gonna be used by the employees so i can't expect that they are not gonna click where they supposed not to. Can I set a user where I know that if they click something for installing or changing in the system they will just not be allowed? Is there another way? Is freezing the system state still a thing, is it useful here?

Thanks

Google dropped chrome support for Windows 7 so you are out of luck install some form of linux 

[Godlygamer23]

Does it actually have to be Chrome or just Chromium-based?

[Needfuldoer]

Don't. Just... Don't.

 

The Windows 7 license on that PC will activate Windows 10. 

 

If all it has to be is a web terminal, and they don't want to buy a Chromebox, you can always install Ubuntu or ChromeOS Flex.

[vicluber]

4 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Does it actually have to be Chrome or just Chromium-based?

Not sure. Probably it can be chromium based.

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, vicluber said:

Not sure. Probably it can be chromium based.

Vivaldi might work then.

[vicluber]

4 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Don't. Just... Don't.

 

The Windows 7 license on that PC will activate Windows 10. 

 

If all it has to be is a web terminal, and they don't want to buy a Chromebox, you can always install Ubuntu or ChromeOS Flex.

If it does, will be welcome. I think is not to old form that. (Amd fx6100 and 8 Gigas ddr3) I tried with windows 7 because i didn't know how to install windows 10 without UEFI

But I still don't have a Windows license so, don't know what's gonna happen with that.

[vicluber]

Is it THAT bad to keep using chrome without support? It will still be working and even if it does get updates they will not be installed by them (or me hehe)

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, vicluber said:

Is it THAT bad to keep using chrome without support? It will still be working and even if it does get updates they will not be installed by them (or me hehe)

The whole concern, including even using Windows 7 depending on restrictions, is security. 

[Needfuldoer]

13 minutes ago, vicluber said:

Is it THAT bad to keep using chrome without support? It will still be working and even if it does get updates they will not be installed by them (or me hehe)

Yes, running unpatched web browsers on unpatched OSes in a production environment is a bad idea. Even disregarding the glaring security concerns, eventually they won't get certificate updates anymore and all websites connected over HTTPS will stop loading.

 

14 minutes ago, vicluber said:

I tried with windows 7 because i didn't know how to install windows 10 without UEFI

The same way you install Windows 7, boot off install media created with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool.

 

14 minutes ago, vicluber said:

But I still don't have a Windows license so, don't know what's gonna happen with that.

If you don't have a Windows 7 license, you shouldn't be running Windows 7 either. (Especially if this is going to be for a business, where you definitely want your software licensing to be on the up and up.)

 

Like I said, if all they need is a web browsing dumb terminal, and they don't want to buy a Chromebox, just install a basic Linux distro or Chrome OS Flex for them.

[vicluber]

34 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

The same way you install Windows 7, boot off install media created with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool.

I tried with an already boot drive, it didn't boot the drive, I believe it showed me just a black screen, I will create a new boot drive and try again.

I know this is bad, I know that cracked or unlicensed windows and outdated software is BAD, I woudnl't do it if there was money to do it well, I woudn't do it if the PC would be for important things, but he needs a free working pc quicly.
Ok, now I have more questions than before. I will just try again installing Windows 10 or I will just YOLO it.

[Needfuldoer]

42 minutes ago, vicluber said:

but he needs a free working pc quicly.

Since you don't have a Windows license anyway, and all they need is a browser, just install Linux.

[Lurking]

1 hour ago, Needfuldoer said:

Don't. Just... Don't.

 

The Windows 7 license on that PC will activate Windows 10. 

 

If all it has to be is a web terminal, and they don't want to buy a Chromebox, you can always install Ubuntu or ChromeOS Flex.

Does that work on all PC hardware and how is it different from a chromebook OS?

 

Years ago, after my daughter got a chromebook, I tried to install Chrome OS to revive an old laptop, but it didn't work. My understanding is that it works only on very very few devices due to some artificial limitation. 

[Needfuldoer]

1 minute ago, Lurking said:

Does that work on all PC hardware and how is it different from a chromebook OS?

 

Years ago, after my daughter got a chromebook, I tried to install Chrome OS to revive an old laptop, but it didn't work. My understanding is that it works only on very very few devices due to some artificial limitation. 

ChromeOS Flex was released last summer; it's the distribution that's officially sanctioned to run on random hardware. I haven't tried it myself, but it's a locked down option that costs $0.

 

I think it just misses out on some of the "premium" features like Android app compatibility and VM support, but this use case doesn't call for those anyway.

[Lurking]

58 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

ChromeOS Flex was released last summer; it's the distribution that's officially sanctioned to run on random hardware. I haven't tried it myself, but it's a locked down option that costs $0.

 

I think it just misses out on some of the "premium" features like Android app compatibility and VM support, but this use case doesn't call for those anyway.

Thanks, that sounds great. Yes, my attempt definitely was before they introduced this. And thanks again for bringing this up. So it basically is like a Linux (I think it is Linux based) but a bit more user friendly if it is anything like the Chromebook OS UI. And obviously it is (or has) the Chrome browser and can do anything that browser can. 

Do you, or anyone else, know if it can have drives with (like mp4 files to play movies), which may require something like an explorer. and can it be in the same network as a Windows PC and then the windows PC can access that drive? 

 

Sorry for going a bit OT, but I'm looking for alternatives for Windows for my living room media PCs. 

[RollyShed]

2 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

Since you don't have a Windows license anyway, and all they need is a browser, just install Linux.

Install Linux Mint, Cinnamon desktop. Install Chromium if specifically needed otherwise use the default Firefox. No virus checkers needed. Yes, I've done over 50 for people who want a reliable easy to use computer.