Windows 7 update server no longer running?

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fatryan

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I am going to try to explain this in as concise a manner as possible. Just skip to the end for the main question if you don't feel like reading...

My dad it a civil engineer who works for his own one-man firm. He has one particular client that exclusively uses AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009, and due to AutoCAD compatibility issues my dad is forced to also run Civil 3D 2009 in order to be able to work in the files. Civil 3D 2009 can only be run on Windows 7, either due to AutoCAD 2009 restrictions or perhaps a conflict with my dad's AutoCAD 2020 license on Windows 10. The specific details here are not important; what is important is that my dad must use Windows 7. He has spoken at length with Autodesk about these issues.

To make matters worse, AutoCAD has completely cutoff support for Civil 3D 2009 and deactivated my dad's paid license. There is no way to reactivate it or even buy a new one, according to Autodesk support and sales teams. His ONLY option is to run the 30-day trial...over...and over...and over. Due to the way Civil 3D installs, the only way to trick AutoCAD into thinking its a new device every 30 days is to completely reinstall Windows 7. Needless to say, my dad has gotten very good and very efficient at installing Windows 7! He says it takes about a hour to install on the HDD (he swears Civil 3D 2009 runs better on spinning disks than on SSD), and Windows updates take about 12 hours.

This has all been well and good and has been working fine for my dad for a couple years now. But he recently had to get a new computer, and he was having issues switching around his Win10 and Win7 installations to different machines. So over the holiday I introduced my dad to the world of virtualization, and convinced him to give VirtualBox a go. He absolutely loves it! No more dual booting or running 2 separate machines. I got him all setup using VirtualBox 6.0 on his Win10 machine with a Win7 VM in which he could run Civil3D 2009.

All was fine until it came time to do his monthly reinstall of Win7. After installing Win7, he was prompted with the error code 80072EFE "Windows could not search for new updates". He tried reinstalling multiple times with the same result, even tried creating a brand new VM. He confirmed that the VM has internet access, so its not a virtual network issue. He checked firewall settings and VB settings to no avail. I'm at a loss here for what is going on. My dad's theory is that we are just about at the 1 year anniversary for the end of Win7 support, so he is thinking maybe Microsoft gave everyone 1 year to get their ducks in a row before puling the Win7 update servers. Anyone have any idea if this is true? Can anyone check availability of Win7 updates?

Edit: Considering Microsoft is no longer releasing patches for Win7, is there a place where the most current and final version of Win7 can be downloaded?
 
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Windows 7 is dead, end of life. Accept it and move on... If you still need Win7 for something, unplug the ethernet and you'll be fine. If you need internet, then you'll need to upgrade whatever the legacy software is you use.
 
Windows 7 is dead, end of life. Accept it and move on... If you still need Win7 for something, unplug the ethernet and you'll be fine. If you need internet, then you'll need to upgrade whatever the legacy software is you use.
Win7 has been "dead" for a while. This is news to no one.

My question is not whether or not you think I (or rather, my dad) should still be running Win7. My question is whether or not Microsoft took the actual physical steps to block the update servers. Because if nothing has been done on Microsoft's end, then obviously it must be an issue with my dad's system or installation. So I don't care to hear anyone's opinions on what OS should be run. None of you sign my dad's paycheck, so it's not your business why he choses to cater to his client's unrealistic demands. He just does.

I just want the facts about Microsoft. If you don't have the facts, don't answer.
 
Win7 has been "dead" for a while. This is news to no one.

My question is not whether or not you think I (or rather, my dad) should still be running Win7. My question is whether or not Microsoft took the actual physical steps to block the update servers. Because if nothing has been done on Microsoft's end, then obviously it must be an issue with my dad's system or installation. So I don't care to hear anyone's opinions on what OS should be run. None of you sign my dad's paycheck, so it's not your business why he choses to cater to his client's unrealistic demands. He just does.

I just want the facts about Microsoft. If you don't have the facts, don't answer.
Well I'd respond to your attitude that your dad's paycheck is none of our problem if he chooses to do irrational things.
 
wait, so "son" is asking for "dad" who is working on a "client" system?! lol tell him to do HIS job then. if its a client's system he should know what hes doing, earn that pay cheque.
 
Well I'd respond to your attitude that your dad's paycheck is none of our problem if he chooses to do irrational things.
You don't get paid to be here, so stop with the arrogance. Your shitty attitude got met with an attitude. If you are too lazy to read beyond the thread title, then you shouldn't even be posting here at all.
 
wait, so "son" is asking for "dad" who is working on a "client" system?! lol tell him to do HIS job then. if its a client's system he should know what hes doing, earn that pay cheque.
Here in the US civil engineers are not IT professionals. Didnt think that needed explaining...
 
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Here in the US civil engineers are not IT professionals. Didnt think that needed explaining...
i didnt read your wall 'o text. tell his to stop trying to be one. that doesnt need explaining either...
 
i didnt read your wall 'o text. tell his to stop trying to be one. that doesnt need explaining either...
I literally said in the first line of my OP that you can just skip to the question at the end. You failed to even read that far. I can't dumb this down any more for you, sorry. Next time just try to refrain from compulsively posting.
 
I literally said in the first line of my OP that you can just skip to the question at the end. You failed to even read that far. I can't dumb this down any more for you, sorry. Next time just try to refrain from compulsively posting.
i followed your instructions and skipped the wall 'o text and gave the correct answer. not my fault you dont like it. tell your "dad" to stop doing whatever he is trying to do, he is not IT as you pointed out.
 
Run it in a VM and take a snapshot to quickly reset to the beginning of the 30 day licence.

Do it without internet if possible
Unfortunately his last installation is wiped now at this point. He was not anticipating having windows update issues, so I don't think he backed it up at all. There are some other nuanced issues with the Civil3D license that might prevent the snapshot option from working, but at this point he just needs the actual Win7 update installer to even be able to try it.

I just suggested to him that he do without the updates, provided they aren't needed for functionality. Because either way, its a security risk on any version he has. I'm not sure how practical running without internet access is, but I did also mention that to him tonight.
 
i followed your instructions and skipped the wall 'o text and gave the correct answer. not my fault you dont like it. tell your "dad" to stop doing whatever he is trying to do, he is not IT as you pointed out.
This isn't Reddit. Please just go away.
 
For the love of god, stop reporting this thread because someone disagrees with you.
I reported like 3 posts from these assholes. Don't put a 'report' button if you don't want to do your job and address reported posts.

There's no need for arrogance like this. If you or others don't want to respond to my question, don't respond. Don't be childish pricks. Just ignore the post and move on. Simple.
 
I reported like 3 posts from these assholes. Don't put a 'report' button if you don't want to do your job and address reported posts.

There's no need for arrogance like this. If you or others don't want to respond to my question, don't respond. Don't be childish pricks. Just ignore the post and move on. Simple.
Lol
 
I reported like 3 posts from these assholes. Don't put a 'report' button if you don't want to do your job and address reported posts.

There's no need for arrogance like this. If you or others don't want to respond to my question, don't respond. Don't be childish pricks. Just ignore the post and move on. Simple.
Enjoy your vacation.
 
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