"Let me know Should I stay or should I go"
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wcolwell last edited by
You're talking about Windows XP?
If so, this is clearly not the best forum for such advice.
But, assuming you're talking about whether you can keep an older computer running Windows XP, I'd suggest you pack it in and do one of the following:
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Buy a newer computer running Windows 7. That will see you through till 2020. It's amazing what you can find even used on Ebay. I have snagged two HP ultralight notebooks recently in great shape for $125 each, with 250GB hard drives, 3GB RAM, running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, which included Microsoft Office 2010 Starter (free functional Word and Excel).
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Update your Windows software to Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit). But you'll also want to add RAM to get to at least 2GB. If youre computer needs too much new hardware, you're better off buying a newer one.
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Back up your files and restage your computer with a Linux distribution. If you're new to Linux, I would strongly advise SolydX. Another reasonable candidate would be Linux Mint Xfce edition. These are fairly easy for computer-savvy folks to load even if they are new to Linux. Nonetheless, this will be too complicated for people not comfortable with computer tech. If you or a friend got these loaded, your older computer will run these much more efficiently than it did XP, and if you have at least 1GB of RAM, you won't need to add memory. Some software will be familiar or similar to what you've been running in Windows.
There are lots of good articles on the internet re: this topic (what should replace XP), prompted by Microsoft's dropping support for XP. The basic answer though is NO, you're not safe running XP any longer unless your computer is simply not connected to anything.
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wcolwell last edited by
And YES, I'll respond to most posts that reference The Clash (if I see them)!
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blackbird71 last edited by@joshl, from http://java.com/en/download/help/sysreq.xml (my emphasis) :
As of April 8, 2014 Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP and therefore it is no longer an officially supported platform. Users may still continue to use Java 7 updates on Windows XP at their own risk, but support will only be provided against Microsoft Windows releases Windows Vista or later.
Keep in mind that Java 7 will be officially retired and go unsupported for all systems in April of this year, in any case.
In the same Java.com page, system requirements for Java 8 do not include an entry for Win XP, but instead apply to Vista SP2 and up. The Java 8 JDK development tool will install manually on XP systems after a fix made in September, but will remain unsupported for XP. Bottom line: Java is now unsupported for Win XP; updates for Java 7 are continuing to be issued until April for all Java 7 installations, but no guarantee is made they'll work for XP. Java 8 is not compatible with XP, period.
At one time, Java was the most common computer infection vector. Now, it's surpassed by Flash. If you run with Java, just make sure to disable it when not needed via its control panel or via the browser plug-in control. In the latter case, just be careful that a rogue/infected download you make still doesn't invoke it covertly.
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A Former User last edited by
Keep in mind that Java 7 will be officially retired and go unsupported for all systems in April of this year, in any case.
Thanks*:|*
- I don't like 7;
- MicroSoft informed me I can't upgrade freely any more;
- I'll be acquiring Linux, I only wonder how it'll inherit my current files - except the progs, sure.
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Well, I guess I'll be trying to postpone the :rip: till this April...
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A Former User last edited by
There was some Java update today - installed normally, with a certain minor issue.
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blackbird71 last edited by
Today just got a security update again - a malware deletion tool.
If you're referring to the monthly KB890830 MSRT tool, Microsoft sometime ago said they'll continue offering it as an update for XP until, well, until they won't. In other words, the MSRT program they're presently using doesn't itself change much, other than where it looks and what for. So until that evolves too greatly with the arrival of their newer operating systems, they'll keep on providing it to XP as well as other later operating systems. As much as MSRT helps clean users's systems of certain malware, it also informs MS about the degree and distribution of occurrance of a variety of especially problematic malware, so they have something of a vested interest in keeping it going for XP. What they are NOT going to do is provide any further effort into plugging vulnerability holes in XP, even if they plug those same holes in their other software.
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blackbird71 last edited by
While I agree that XP is becoming a relic from an online perspective, if a user for whatever reason wants to keep an XP system alive and running, that's up to him. From a file system and debugged code standpoint, the OS has become quite solid. For online usage, of course, the XP user must recognize and accept the eventual security risks and the ever-widening circle of incompatibility issues he will soon encounter. If XP works fine for what the user wants, there's nothing wrong in continuing to use it (keeping in mind the preceding caveats). I still run Win98 and WinXP systems for various computational reasons, but I won't ever take the Win98 system online any more since almost no current antimalware software will work with it, either to protect it or to clean it. The XP system will not be far behind it over the next couple of years, as compatible anti-malware starts evaporating.
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A Former User last edited by
Black, you say one can even go online for the nearest year or two? Or it implies special skills/attention?
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blackbird71 last edited by
Black, you say one can even go online for the nearest year or two? Or it implies special skills/attention?
A lot depends on your tolerance of risk. What I've adopted in the past with an old operating system is a method of keeping my eyes continually open at some security forums for reports of new vulnerabilities in the old operating system. If nothing shows up and as long as you can keep getting updates for your antimalware, you really face nothing more dangerous than what you're already facing online. If you start seeing reports of new vulnerabilities affecting XP (which of course won't be patched), then you'll need to explore how those impact you in what you do online, whether there seem to be any workarounds outside of XP or any protective settings or disabling you can adopt to keep you safe. What finally killed Win98 online for me was the eventual inability to obtain any decent Win98-compatible antimalware updates or software after around 2009 or so. The last year I ran the system online, I had every thing web-facing locked down to the point of utter inconvenience to avoid the risks of getting whacked, since I couldn't keep the antimalware up to date any more - it all finally just became too much of a hassle, and I took the system offline in 2010.
If I had to guess at a point where XP users will start to feel a measurable pinch, I'd probably say by about 2 to 3 years from now. After that, things will likely start going downhill fast, at least in terms of finding much compatible new software. Once antimalware makers stop making new product versions for XP, their updates for their older XP-compatible versions will begin to cease not long thereafter (a year or two more, max). No guarantees, of course, but this is what has previously been rather typical for an expiring software.
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A Former User last edited by
IIRC, Microsoft announced they would maintain MSE updated till July this summer...
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blackbird71 last edited by
The thing is, July will be upon us before you know it. It's only a guess, but I suspect Microsoft will dump MSE for XP users well before some of the other free AV houses (who will likely keep XP support going for a couple of more years), simply because Microsoft has a vested interest in herding folks toward their newer OS product lines. I'd seriously be checking into reviews and user comments regarding other free AV's compatible with XP in the meantime, before July arrives.
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A Former User last edited by
If you're going to continue using XP and want to avoid an infected system, you must now make it a practice to frequently and routinely check for security-alarm reports out on the net regarding new XP exploits that can penetrate your system. New exploits pop up literally overnight, and many of them are designed to affect even an old operating system. If you discover a legitimate report, you will need to take your own remedial action (if any is even possible) to protect your system. Microsoft is no longer informing you or protecting you against risks to your old operating system. Don't count on antivirus necessarily blocking them, especially for older systems and especially right after the exploits first appear. This is particularly true for those threats that can be delivered as drive-by exploits from ads embedded in otherwise innocent websites. Anything brought onboard your system in the future will represent a possible risk of containing a new exploit, and that risk will only grow as time goes by and your system obsolescence grows. It's unpleasant, but it's reality in the modern digital world.
To keep your risks low, you will have to more than ever practice "safe hex" in where you browse, what (if anything) you download, and what you enable in your browser. If you can, you should disable JavaScript in your browser for your casual browsing, even though it will break a number of sites; enable it only for sites you absolutely trust that have few if any ads. Adspace is normally rented out to other sites that may not have been fully vetted by the hosting website, and are the most common portal for drive-by infections. JavaScript is a scripting language that allows websites to do things on your system, and it can be and is essential to a lot of infection methods.
What you decide to do, is of course up to you and your reasons for doing so. Just recognize the risks involved going forward if you elect to continue with an obsolete system. To reiterate, from here on, preserving system security will be your greatest challenge, unless you simply keep it offline. If system security will be much harder to maintain, then act accordingly in terms of what you do with the system.@blackbird71
What about SP3?
