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0:00 If you're still using Windows 10 on your personal computer, your days are numbered. 173 days to be exact as of the date of this recording. That's how many days left before Microsoft officially ends support for Windows 10. So, the real question is, what does that mean for you? And are you prepared for it? And do you have any options? That's what we're going to talk about today. The answer might surprise you. Hey guys, my name is Scott Merrill. I've been in it for almost 35 years now. And on this channel, I offer Windows tips, tricks, reviews, how-tos, and troubleshooting steps. In addition to that, I also offer guidance if you're looking for a new computer and you're not sure what to buy. There's a link in the description below if you want to click on that, fill out a quick form, and send it to me, and I'll do my best to guide you to making the right purchase. 100% free. Happy to help. So, after October 14th of 2025, in
0:48 about 170 days, Microsoft is officially ending support for Windows 10. That means no more technical support, no more new features, no more bug fixes, and more importantly, no more Windows updates. So, for a lot of people, especially those who've had issues with Windows updates causing crashes on their machine before, not getting Windows updates sounds like a good thing. And in some ways, it might be, but not getting those Windows updates could be troublesome for you. Additionally, the Windows 10 installer that Microsoft hosts for free on their website for you to download will most likely also be taken offline considering that that's support. Once Windows 10 officially reaches end of support, they're probably going to take it down just like they've taken down every other operating system that's reached end of life. You cannot download those installer discs anymore
1:33 once Windows reaches end of life. So, you might be saying, "Okay, so what? My computer's running fine. if I have an issue, I can uninstall an update or do a system restore and everything's back to normal. But sometimes those Windows troubleshooting steps that you might use to get your computer back up and running stop working. Specifically, the Windows reset, which reinstalls Windows on top of itself. And in those cases, the only option you might have is to do a fresh Windows install. And if that installer is no longer available and you haven't created an installation disc, you're going to have to pay somebody like me who does have that disc to back up your data, wipe your computer clean, reinstall Windows, and that's going to cost you some money. Or you can absolutely do that today for free for less than a cost of a flash drive and
2:19 about 30 minutes of your time. And that's what I'm going to show you how to do. And in case you're thinking, you know what, Windows 10 has been out for a while. I'm sure they've worked out all the bugs and there's really nothing for me to worry about. I'm a low-risk user and no big deal. You'd be wrong. Even today in 2025, they are still finding vulnerabilities in the Windows 7 operating system and the support for that expired in 20120. So just because you've been updated many, many times does not mean that 3 years down the road after support has ended that somebody is not going to find a way to hack your Windows. That's why having an installation disc is so important. Now, with all that being said, there are options for you if you want to continue to use Windows 10. Microsoft will offer
3:05 you extended support for personal users for $30 a year, which is actually not really bad. And what that will do is allow you to continue to receive important security updates and patches for your Windows operating system. Now, of course, Microsoft wants you ideally to switch to Windows 11, and that can be an option for you, but maybe you have no interest in Windows 11. This is a way that you can continue to use Windows 10, continue to get those updates, and know that your computer's going to be safe from a potential exploit or a hacker. So, again, I'm going to show you right now how to go and get this Windows 10 installer now before it gets taken offline. And you can keep it in a drawer, and if you ever need it, you have it. All it's going to cost you is a flash drive. And if you don't have one of those, I'll put a link in the
3:50 description for you. You can click on it and have it shipped right to your door. Now, I'm sure some of you are going to have some questions. If you stay to the end, I will try to answer as many of those as I can. So, what you're going to want to do is you're going to just want to open Google and in the Google search box, type in download Microsoft Media Creation Tool. Click enter. And you'll see some of these links here. The one that says download Windows 10 disc image here is the one you want to click on. Just want to scroll down the screen a little bit until you see right here create Windows 10 installation media. Click on download now. And then you'll see this box that pops up asking you where you want to save it to. Just save it to your downloads. And once that download is completed, just go ahead and click on it to run. And it'll take a second to go ahead and start the setup.
4:37 But you'll get this window when it's ready. You just go down to the bottom and click accept. And you're going to get a couple options here. One of them is to upgrade this PC now, but the other one is the one you want to choose, the create installation media, USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file for another PC. Click next. On this screen, you should see Windows 10 right here if that's the machine that you're using. And just go ahead and select next. Now, this part is important. You're going to have a choice between a USB flash drive or an ISO file. If you want to put this ISO file, which is basically a snapshot of that Windows DVD, you can use that and create what's known as a Ventoid disc. I'll put a link up at the top for a video I made on how to do that. Both of them do the same thing. Basically, the Ventoid disc
5:23 allows you to have multiple installation files on one drive. Today, I just want to show you how to use the USB flash drive. So, you're going to select USB flash drive. It needs to be at least 8 GB, and it needs to be empty. Anything that's on this drive is going to be deleted during this process. So, if you have any important data, make sure you save it elsewhere or get a brand new drive. You're going to click next and your next screen that's going to come up is going to show you all the available drives. In this case, I have several portable drives, but this is my 8 GB flash drive. You want to make sure you select that correct drive because you don't want to overwrite any of the other stuff. Once you have that drive selected, click next. And then the process is going to start. It's going to take a few minutes. Just sit back and wait. And just a few minutes later, your flash drive is ready. And just click
6:09 finish on this box. And that's it. Take that flash drive out. I'd probably put a label on it and stick it somewhere important like a safe or a desk drawer that nobody uses. And now in case anything happens, you're set to go even after end of support. So let me try to address some of the questions that you might have. The most common question I get is, will Windows 10 still work after the end of life? Absolutely 100% it will work like it has always worked. There's not going to be any limitations, any functionality issues, anything like that. The only thing that you may run into is several years down the road. Some of the things you do normally, like using your web browser, those browsers may no longer work in Windows 10 because too much time has gone by and they've
6:54 updated and you have to have a newer operating system. But that's several years down the road and you don't have to worry about that. Second question is, what if I make this flash drive and I lose it or it gets damaged? Well, that's also a good question. One of the things that I would do is get two of these flash drives, create this disc twice, keep them in separate places. The odds of both of those drives failing is highly unlikely. It's always better to spend a few extra bucks, make another disc, and that way you always have a backup solution. If you absolutely hate the thought of Windows 11 and you want to stick with Windows 10, that's the best way to do it. And as an added bonus, you can reinstall Windows yourself with this disc instead of paying somebody like me to do it for you. The another question you might have is that extra $30 of support that you pay Microsoft to continue to get updates. How long is that going to last?
7:41 Unfortunately, nobody knows. We know it's going to last at least a year. My guess would probably be 2 3 4 years before Microsoft stops doing that because they ultimately want you to upgrade to Windows 11. Since Windows is now becoming a software as a service, they make a lot more money off of you if you use Windows 11. Another question is, should I make one of these for Windows 11 if that's what you end up getting? And yeah, I would absolutely recommend doing that. The process is the same. You do the same Google search, just use Windows 11 instead of Windows 10. Go ahead and create that media installer disc because even if you have Windows 11 and you don't have the software to reinstall Windows, you're still going to be in that same situation. And additionally, Windows 11 is going to no longer be supported at some point. So, it's not a bad idea to have that
8:27 operating system available for you if you need to troubleshoot or repair your own computer. So, as you can see, if you are insistent on using Windows 10, and I have no problem with that. I prefer Windows 10 over Windows 11, but you just have to understand that it is a crapshoot. If you do not buy the extended support, you are going to be vulnerable. Now again, that's a chance that you have to take and you have to decide if it's worth $30 a year for you to have that comfort level, to have that security blanket of Windows updates. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. You don't have to. Microsoft is offering that to you, but it's not required. Totally optional. If you follow these steps and create this disc, at least you know that you have that comfort level of
9:13 being able to reinstall Windows on your own without having to pay a technician to do it. And the worst it's going to cost you is about $5 for a flash drive and about 30 minutes of your time. You follow these steps one at a time, exactly like I showed you, and you're set. You're good to go. And it's going to save you hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars in service repair costs down the road. Now, I've showed you how to create a Windows 10 install disc, but if you're thinking maybe a Windows 11 upgrade might not be that bad, but you've heard things about it, I made a detailed walkthrough on everything you need to know about Windows 11, and I'll put that video right here for you. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you have any questions down in the comments. Thanks so much for watching.
