Still on Windows 10? The final safety net ends this October

When Windows 10 support officially ended in October 2025, Microsoft offered consumers a one-year safety net: the Extended Security Updates (ESU) programme. Enrol, and your Windows 10 PC kept receiving security patches as normal. Millions of people did exactly that — or assumed their PC had done it for them — and carried on as if nothing had changed.

That safety net has an expiry date: 13 October 2026. After that, there is no further extension for home users. No more security patches, full stop. Every Windows 10 machine still in use becomes permanently unpatched — and writing this in June, that deadline is now four months away.

I'm seeing two groups of customers in the workshop: people who enrolled in ESU and don't realise it runs out this year, and people who never enrolled and have already been unpatched since 2025 without knowing it. This guide is for both.

First: Check Where You Stand

On your Windows 10 PC, open Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update and check your update history. Three possibilities:

• You're enrolled in ESU. You'll have security updates dated after October 2025. You're protected — until 13 October 2026. You've got time to plan, but the clock is running.
• You never enrolled. Your last security update is from around October 2025, meaning your PC has been accumulating unpatched vulnerabilities for months. Treat this as urgent — either enrol in ESU now to cover the remaining months, or move straight to one of the options below.
• You're not sure. Bring it in. Checking your update status, Windows 11 eligibility, and the general health of the machine is exactly what my £20 diagnostic covers — and it's waived if you go ahead with any work.

Option 1: Upgrade to Windows 11 (Most PCs Can)

If your PC was made in roughly the last 7-8 years, there's a strong chance it can run Windows 11 — sometimes even when Microsoft's PC Health Check tool says it can't. Two common situations:

• "Officially compatible" machines just need the upgrade doing properly: compatibility confirmed, data backed up, drivers sorted, updates applied. I handle the whole process as part of my Windows installation service, from £50 with data backup included.
• "Unsupported" machines often fail the checker on a disabled TPM setting or a CPU one generation too old — while being perfectly capable hardware. Many of these can run Windows 11 cleanly with the right installation approach. I've written a full guide: Windows 11 on unsupported PCs — and yes, I've even put Windows 11 Pro on a 2017 MacBook Air.

Option 2: Upgrade the Hardware at the Same Time

The smartest money I see customers spend is pairing the Windows 11 move with a hardware upgrade. If your PC still has a mechanical hard drive, an SSD upgrade alone will transform it — Windows boots in seconds instead of minutes. Add RAM if you're on 4-8GB and the machine will feel genuinely new.

A typical SSD-plus-Windows-11 job costs a fraction of a new computer and routinely buys another 3-5 years of useful life. It's also the honest answer for most people: the hardware inside a 2018-2020 PC is usually still perfectly good — it's the storage and the operating system that make it feel old.

Option 3: Replace — Sensibly

Some machines genuinely aren't worth moving forward: very old processors, failing motherboards, laptops with multiple worn-out parts. If that's the case, I'll tell you straight — it's the same advice I give in Is my computer worth repairing?

When replacement is the right call, you don't have to pay full retail. I supply new and refurbished computers — quality refurbished desktops and laptops with Windows 11 installed, set up, and ready to go, usually for much less than an equivalent new machine. I can also transfer everything across from your old PC so you don't lose a single photo or document.

What If You Do Nothing?

Being realistic about what happens after 13 October 2026:

• Your PC keeps working. Nothing switches off. The risk is silent — security holes that will never be fixed.
• Software support shrinks. Browsers and apps are already winding down Windows 10 support; over time, updates for the programs you rely on will stop too. (Microsoft 365 apps are a partial exception — Microsoft has committed to security updates for them on Windows 10 into 2028 — but the operating system underneath stays unpatched.)
• The risk compounds. Month one after the deadline, you're missing a handful of patches. A year on, you're missing dozens — and attackers actively scan for exactly these machines.

For an internet-connected PC handling anything personal or financial, "do nothing" is the one option I can't recommend.

Frequently Asked Questions

Beat the Rush

Every support deadline produces the same pattern: a quiet summer, then a frantic September and October as everyone realises at once. Parts get scarcer, lead times stretch, and people end up making rushed decisions.

If you're in Romford, Harold Hill, or anywhere across Havering and the surrounding areas, get ahead of it. Bring your PC in — or have me collect it — and for £20 (waived with any work) I'll tell you exactly where it stands: whether it's protected today, whether it can run Windows 11, and what the most cost-effective path forward is for your specific machine. Honest advice, even when the honest advice is "this one's not worth upgrading".