My old XP box is close to death; the problem may be with the power supply. Options?

Yeah, right.

No way with file curation/management - unless the data has never been migrated to a commonly used format of today. But that does not make XP superior or modern operating systems inferior.

Classic computer interfacing, maybe, but that's to be expected. My classic analog VCR tape player "interfaced" with my classic CRT TV via S-Video just fine. But none of my current TVs support S-Video. I guess that means old CRT TVs are better.

 

@NormanF,

There are some Windows 7 licences for sale ? Is it actually possible to use them ?

´And when you advise others to "ignore the sermons about connecting to the Internet with XP", do you just leave it at that as was done here? Or do you "teach" those people specifically what they need to do - to include the necessary consistent self discipline needed to avoid every time clicking on extremely realistic, but malicious links?´ Windows XP is not for everyone. But for some people it´s the right choice. I wouldn´t want to run ANY OS without an imaging system.

 

One thing I don't really find suprising is that just a matter of months since Microsoft's campaign to force users to abandon Windows 7 and 8 we now have an all out viral ransomeware assault on those still using XP. You can be sure if you or me introduced such to the world the FBI would have already nailed us and would know exactly when and where we did it. That is the difference between real criminal cyber attacks and corporate assaults on specific groups of users. We have seen similar attacks on bit torrent users for years. If I were you or anyone else using XP I would consider installing a linux distro and if you have any problems setting it up post in the linux forum. You will find linux users are more than willing to help newbs get up and running.

 

Don't count on it. One of Microsoft's biggest complaints is the NSA new about the vulnerability in Windows months ago but failed to tell anybody about it Instead they just sat on it for who knows why. It was not until some traitor stole the NSA information then released it through the criminal element known as Wikilieaks that it became publicly know.

Had NSA not horded this information about WannaCry, something could have been sooner to prevent it or at least marginalize its impact.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...calls-out-nsa-for-stockpiling-vulnerabilities

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...-stockpiling-for-wannacry-ransomware-outbreak

Let's not forget also that Microsoft released an update for this in March. But sadly, many think they are smarter than the bad guys and Microsoft and failed to roll out the those updates/patches. That is just irresponsible too.

Well said.

The issue is not about running XP. The issue is about XP having access and exposure to the Internet. If you have an old XP system, no one is saying to get rid of the computer. Repurpose it. Load it full of hard drives and change it into a NAS. Turn it into a backup server or use it to stream music and videos through your house Just block internet access to it in your router. That's what I did and it worked great! Or use it learn Linux. That is a great job and opportunity to extend the life of this reliable hardware.

I'm a hardware guy. A certified electronics technician. I love it when hardware refuses to die. But this isn't about the hardware. It's all about running unsafe software on it.

 

You can still find copies of Windows 7 on sale on eBay. That may be a good choice if you're worried about running an an unsupported system. You can use the Microsoft Upgrade tool to determine whether your computer supports upgrading to Windows 10. The greatest weapon against malware isn't security software; its the human mind. Don't open e-mails from people you don't know and as a rule delete all e-mail with zip attachments - they may be hiding suspect malware inside them. Do backups of your system, including making bootable USB drives so you restore Windows when need be. You should be safe online. If your PC doesn't support Windows 7/10, consider moving to Linux - its secure and and user-friendly.

 

Well, whatever the world thinks.. Windows XP is right for me. Maybe if it starts breaking down or crashing or keeps getting infected then I'll change. But so far that hadn't happened.

The only reason why I don't use Linux is that it doesn't have/support some of the software I use. Maybe that will change someday.

 

@bill Bright
Yes Microsoft said on the ransomware outbreak that they find it painful to see and then released updates for Windows XP. ONLY for those paying for custom support. Ohh for the crocodile tears.......

 

That's totally not true! They released a patch for all XP and Vista users. Nobody had to pay a cent.

 

You can install VB in Linux, install Windows inside it and run needed applications. WINE has gotten better but it doesn't support every Windows program.

 

That's a possibility. I've done that before, but have not fully vetted the solution. Someday if I get extra time, it's just not a priority now when what I'm using is still working.

 

What a crazy good idea THAT is.

Only thing that kept me distant from Linux was not interested in learning all the command strings etc. other than that Mint is pretty cool.

This thread has me thinking again about all the great safety programs that tightens XP too.

 

@ Stapp, and ghodgson, thanks for posting your experiences. Stapp, may I ask if you are using your XP box online?

@bill I think your head is so far buried in the sand even those Floridian critters wont reach it. No matter how much you bully people with your self entitled posts people will likely just ignore you all the more - as they should. Singling people out like as if MisterB and I are the ONLY ones against the rest of the world or accuse people of saying what they didn't say, or twist what they did say, doesn't do you any favors either - but then that's your classic trademark isn't it. As you can see not everyone agrees with you. As for your narrow minded M$ fanboi-ism, your abysmal views are pitifully bereft of sane thinking. Go take a look in the privacy section of this forum, for example, and see the numerous outcries against W10, which I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.

I said "Wilders is primarily a security and privacy forum, something that seems to be lost on you."

Yes on you

Which, unlike hardware, has a whole section SPECIFICALLY dedicated to privacy issues, again, something that is lost on you. (if you've ever posted there I haven't seen it)

Nonsense. You don't know what you're talking about. Yes security and privacy are separate yet they go hand in hand A LOT. As for reality, I think you are clueless, so no I wont jump to your dictates and I hope all those who are OK about their XP boxes, and have qualified their statements (a brief caution is all that's needed), take no notice of your irrational pro MS tirades.

Yep more narcissists out on the net breathing out their threatenings. They especially love forums to spout their nonsense, I've found.

Great post. For those who care, check around, you never know what's sitting on shelves. I've been fortunate enough to come across boxes no one wanted. My only regret is that I didn't get more when I had the opportunity. If I'm eventually locked out of XP because of hardware, depending on the landscape I'll probably go linux and NOT W10 their worst spy OS to date.

 

lol Yeah, all those dozens and dozens of narcissists who, for the first time in history all agree on the exact same thing, are all wrong. Why? Because you say so.

You, because you cannot defend your position with even a single link to any corroborating evidence, or to one recognized expert, declare everybody else is wrong and your only line of defense for your position is to a launch "personal" affront against me with name calling and more.

Who agrees with you? MisterX? Another forum member? What makes him the authority? Because he, like you, decided all the security experts around the world are wrong and should be "ignored"? What makes you an authority? Because you say so? Where's your supporting links?

Oh yeah, you can't find any so you decide those I provided are just narcissists. What's a narcissist, Reality? It's someone who admires their own attributes. Well, you are the one who is claiming you are right simply because you declared it. That's narcissism. You don't even care that your XP systems are threats to others because you truly believe you are smarter than the bad guys and Microsoft and all those experts. That's narcissism.

You can follow the link in my sig to see if I might know something about computer security. But I sure am not smarter than the bad guys or all those experts. So I claim to be right, not because I said it, but because I did my homework and expert after expert after expert says XP needs to go way. And threats like WannaCry demonstrate it.

Now you can get the last word in because you know you have to. That's fine. Others can read the sources I cited, or search for their own. They are all over.

Unless you can cite any supporting evidence besides another anonymous forum poster, I'm moving on.

 

Well, one can remain ignorant and rely on "unknown security providers" 100% of the time. Or one can develop an understanding of how an older system works, its weaknesses and strengths, and incorporate that knowledge into developing safe practices - including carefully choosing non-invasive, non-annoying, non-system-hogging security proggies.

Not bragging or getting smug or anything, but the concepts I learned on the Apple II back in the day are incredibly valuable today. They carry over to today's latest rigs. Concepts of course, not rote specifics. Concepts that help you size up situations and intuitively pick the right tool for the right task, for example.

And it is that modus operandi, so to speak, which allows me (and others) to safely use XP now and into the future. I'm pretty confident my mainline rigs (XP) don't transmit malware. And they haven't needed a restore due to even the slightest virus. And that I'm quite proud of. Yup.

 

One of my XP installs is going on 11 years now. Use it for many diverse applications. I like the reliability and stability, no nagging about constant updating and restarting. No blue screening. An absolute solid workhorse I can depend on day in and day out.

 

Impressive!

Would like nothing batter than to contribute something useful to this thread but now is not the right time with such a cool back and forth between you guys on my most favorite old platform.

FWIW I will NOT part with my XP install discs or tons of security apps and tweaks, some of which I managed to make work on 10 right now.

Awesome material in this thread. And fact vs opinions or vice versa

 

Would it be even more impressive if I said I can work throughout the day, hibernate or suspend it at night, and resume perfectly fine the next day - without shutting down or rebooting - for months on end - with no memory leaks or slowdowns?

I only reboot now and then as a feel-good measure or to let an application install/uninstall to take full effect. The longest I had it going was like 3 or 4 months, then I restarted for some reason. Probably to evaluate something or blow the dust out or maybe to do an off-line backup.

 

Hi, Reality.
I have win 7, win 8.1, and win 10 (and win98 ).
Win xp does everything any of the other win OSs do.
Online, offline, any of it. I've run it for many years.

Caveat is that I run it virtualized after the AV is updated, and any browsers run sandboxed.
Also, if you have not already stored up hardware & drivers, it will get more & more difficult to keep xp going.

 

@Bill_Bright bright , ´traitor´ ? Wasn´t it released through wikileaks ? you´re really close to the establishment, aren´t you ?

 

As I said above,

So yes, it was released through Wikileaks. But how did Wikileaks get the information? A traitor violated the "oath of office" he took when hired swearing to protect the information under his care. He not only stole it, he ran away to Russia and China and disclosed it to Wikileaks.

Only in the sense that I worked for many years supporting secure networks for the government put me somewhat on the inside. But that in no way means I am on their side - it just means I honored the oath of office I took when I hired on.

NO DOUBT the NSA was running unchecked and rampant perpetrating MANY violations of trust instilled on them to protect the innocent public . And it was right, IMO, to expose those violations. Just not in the way the traitor did it.

Two wrongs don't make a right. Yes, their "practices" and "actions" were wrong and needed to be exposed, but not the information itself. There are many avenues a whistle blower can take to report improper behavior without risk of retribution - even within such organizations as the NSA, CIA, DoD, White House, etc. Stealing highly classified information then "fleeing" away to Russia and China with it , revealing that information to our enemies and to Wikileaks is NOT the way to blow the whistle. So absolutely "traitor" is the right word and treason is what they did.

For those relatively few individuals with the necessary expertise and discipline running XP in a virtual environment, I sincerely apologize. That is a safe way (for now) to run XP on a system that connects to the Internet. And if that was suggested right from the start instead of simply telling users to ignore the sermons of expert advice overwhelmingly given by the entire security community (with yet no exceptions cited in this thread), this topic would have moved in a very different direction.

So again, if any XP users reading this thread run XP in a VM/sandboxie environment before you connect to a network with Internet access, then I apologize again. You are not a menace to the rest of us and I should have made that point from the start.

And for the record, if it proven true that Microsoft had the patch for XP back in February that would have protected XP from the WannaCry malware, and they failed to release it until a few days ago (as suggested by The Register) because their official stance is "XP is no longer supported", then I say shame on Microsoft! And this MS fanboy (as I was accused of being) and MS MVP will sure let them know it too.

 

I'm responding to earlier posts I saw and will come back later for the more recent ones which I've only glanced through.

@bill
Anonymity has nothing to do with it. I'd sooner believe an anonymous person who proves him/herself over time than a self back-patting narcissist that blazes his/her credentials abroad saying look at me. However, just to show you there's no hard feelings, even though you're a presumptuous bully and repeatedly misconstrue what people say, I have and still will evaluate what you say and either take it on board or discard it. My point is whether I know your name or not is irrelevant in that evaluation.

Now, instead of acting like the final authority on more than what you should, what about going to the privacy forums and reading all about peoples ongoing disgust in one form or another about W10 then come back and tell me I'm the only one who is "paranoid". Thanks in advance! There's also lots of info about the NSA including how MS and others are in cahoots with them.

If the above challenge is too much then don't let me stop you

I don't find it surprising either. They don't want people on an OS they can lock down and configure themselves - MS and others want their fingers in your pie and that's where this nightmare is heading.

@ stapp, that was about the age of mine when the power button caused issues. I also powered down every night. May you get more years yet!

Yes. Like Kerio 2.1.5, very light weight...also using portables where possible and testing them in Sandboxie first in case of any excess baggage installs.

My first XP just kept on keeping on. I learned on it, and it was very forgiving. If I ever had a BSOD I don't remember it. Before I got an UPs I had a few very nasty (rural) power cuts (that would cycle on and off in the process), but XP always faithfully booted afterwards. In those early days I got a dialer as a driveby download from a legit site - that's when I got Kerio, started learning a few things, and got that scum off of the system. I was very inexperienced but I rolled my sleeves up and got to it. I'm always learning. I've never had anything since and never had to re-install OS in those 13 odd years. Also early on AV's became so bloated I was literally forced to abandon them as I was on dialup. I learned to protect myself in other ways like adopting healthy practices, and I've never gone back to AVs.

 

Healthy practices vs antivirus.. Healthy practices win out every time. If I have a suspicious file I'll send'er up to VirusTotal.

 

How To Fix a Computer That Turns On and Then Off
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-fix-a-computer-that-turns-on-and-then-off-2624444

As far as those still using Windows XP online I would recommend making changes from the
default OS install which can be found on this forum as well as other places on the net.
The more you can reduce the "attack surface" of the OS the better off you'll be.

To better secure your machine:

Use Software Restriction Policies
Run in limited user account
Disable or better yet remove all versions of Internet Explorer
Sandbox your browser and use a security/privacy extension
Registry tweaks such as 1806 as an example
Disable or remove any unneccessary Windows services
Use system wide virtualization software
Run in a virtual machine (could use a Linux distro as host)
Use firewall that monitors both inbound/outbound connections
Install security software that's proven effective against exploits
Uninstall SMB in network connections
Disable netBIOS over tcpip in Device Manager

NOTE: Disabling NetBios over Tcpip in Device Manager may cause problems with installed
software such as third-party firewalls so always make backups before making changes to the OS.

 

Hi login, Thats true. Thankfully when I installed XP on the HP computer I'm using now, I went to their website and downloaded a boatload of drivers for this particular computer. Last time I looked (a few days ago) they weren't there. When this hardware dies the problem will be getting necessary drivers for the next piece of hardware. I don't understand yet how this scenario fits into installing XP in a VM. Virtual machines remain on my to do list. I simply haven't had the time to do it.

My justification for using XP partly comes from Wilders. Some time ago I started a thread "Building your own privacy package" and was so privileged to have the help of a really knowledgeable member, noone_particular. ( BTW gotta love that handle) Some of the most respected voices on this forum also gave their input but to all who posted I remain grateful. Certain things stick in your mind. When noone_particular mentioned that XP was the last MS OS where you can close all the ports that gave me serious pause for concern. I challenged anyone to refute that (with the purpose to learn) and there's been no takers.

There is no way I'd recommend XP to anyone who isn't prepared to learn how to secure it including tightening up on any happy clicking. There is a wealth of info right here on this forum for just that purpose whether it's the thread I started (no credit for me, but to those who contributed) or ones like "The Kerio learning thread"

@Keatah, bloat isn't the only reason I'm not keen on AVs - I respect peoples choices but personally I don't like that they have an open door to my system. . However for certain family members who have no inclination to learn how to otherwise protect themselves, I won't complain.

@KeyPer, Hey nice to see you again. Great post.

@bill

Yes you should have. Too bad you continue to fail to acknowledge those who said they use XP also gave a caution though. Until you amend that error I won't be taking you seriously. Ditto for discrediting the veracity of someones knowledge just on the basis they prefer anonymity.