Computer Services Ending or Beginning in July

GEEK FREE
By Joe Callison
8 July 2023

Computer Services Ending or Beginning in July

IMPORTANT! If you have used Google Hangouts, Google +, Picassa, or other now unsupported Google features in the past, you may have photos or videos stored in Google Album Archive which will disappear on July 19. If you want to save them or are unsure if you have anything stored, the Google Takeout link in your Google account is how you can download them. Follow the steps below:

1. Click on your Google account photo (or letter in a circle if no photo) at the top right of any Google page you are signed in to (Chrome, Gmail, etc.) and then click Manage your Google Account.
2. Click Data & Privacy in the list on the left side of the home page for your account.
3. Scroll down the page to “Download or delete your data” and click on “Download your data”.
4. On the Google Takeout page, click the “Deselect all” blue text above the list of products. Then scroll down the list to AlbumArchive and click the checkbox to select it.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the list, making sure nothing else is checked, and click the “Next step” button.
6. The default settings are Export once, File type .zip, and File size 2GB which can be left as is. Then click the “Create export” button. Google will email a notice when it is done, with a link in the email to download your files that will expire in 7 days from when the email is sent. Clicking the button will download your files and also open a “Manage your exports” page. It should not be necessary to click the Download link on this page as you should already have the download. The Google Takeout page will also list your last export and have a download link if you can’t find the email.

For users of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1: These unsupported operating systems have also lost support from Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and probably any other Chromium-based browsers. Firefox is not a Chromium-based browser and has released its last Extended Support Release (115 ESR) on July 4 which will be supported for a minimum of 60 weeks. At that time they may also decide to end support of these operating systems. You can still upgrade the unsupported Windows operating systems to Windows 10, which will be supported until October 14, 2025, for free by using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool download available at this link Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

Ending support does not mean they quit working, but they no longer receive any updates, including security updates. Some websites, like financial or medical, may also quit opening in unsupported browsers for security reasons.