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Microsoft has ended official support for Windows 7 on January 14 — 11 years after it first launched to rave reviews. Although Windows 10 eventually managed to overtake Windows 7's market share, many businesses and even home users continue to use Windows 7 despite Microsoft constantly urging them to upgrade. After January 14, Windows 7 users won't be getting any free support including any security updates. While your PC won't automagically stop working after January 14, not having timely security updates can comprise your online life. As we have seen with Windows XP, businesses reluctant to upgrade are used to paying hefty support fees to Microsoft after the official support period. A similar process is likely to be seen with Windows 7 as well. Enterprises have to enroll for Extended Security Updates (ESUs) in order to receive patches for vulnerabilities that may allow the spread of malware such as ransomware. If for some reason you wish to cling onto Windows 7, here's a neat hack developed by My Digital Life (MDL) forums veteran abbodi1406 to trick Microsoft into bypassing eligibility checks for Extended Security Updates. Then, register yourself on the MDL forums. Download the tool and install it. After installing the tool, fire-up Windows Update and see if it downloads the KB4528069 test update. If it does, your PC is now eligible to receive Microsoft's ESU that are otherwise only available to business users. The author notes that unlike conventional updates, ESUs have to be installed live via Windows Update only and cannot be installed offline or integrated into your Windows image via DISM. Eligibility for ESU is checked only once during the first ESU download. Therefore, you can remove the tool once eligibility is confirmed and you are able to download the aforementioned test update. However, do remember that the tool is still a prototype and any change in Microsoft's policies towards servicing ESUs may break the hack so, you will have to keep an eye on the thread for any updates to the tool. Follow this thread on OUR FORUM.