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 Post subject: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 4:26 am 
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I see that Windows are no longer supporting XP. Of course they've sent some info, which is aimed at scaring those of us still using it into purchasing something else, but can anyone tell me what will be the implications of continuing to use it unsupported. :?

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 2:00 pm 
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Naked Security website wrote this some while back:


What if you plan on going past 42?

We're not going to argue the point that you should change your mind at the last minute and upgrade all your remaining computers at once - not today, at any rate.

We shan't try to browbeat you into admitting that you'd probably end up saving yourself time and money if you simply retired that XP-only $2000 printer you bought 13 years ago, and replaced it with a smaller, faster, lighter $100 model with 16 times the pixel resolution, and 128 times the memory.

We'll leave out the guilt trips about how your ever-weaker security will put the rest of us at ever-greater risk.

And we'll skip over our surprise if your objection is that you don't like the fact that Microsoft is asking you to pay to upgrade, but you aren't willing to put your mouth where your money isn't, and switch to a free alternative. (There are many, including Linux and various incarnations of BSD.)


Eight tips re Windows XP

Instead, we'll assume there are unavoidable reasons why you have to keep sailing on the Steam Ship Windows XP for a while longer, and simply present you with a list of eight tips.
1.Get up to date in April 2014, and check you have every patch that Microsoft has ever offered you. 08 April 2014 will be your last Microsoft patch, so you probably won't be revisiting Windows Update.
2.Keep updating other software that you may be using, such as Flash, Java, your anti-virus, and more. Sophos Anti-Virus, for example will be supported on XP SP3 until at least 30 September 2015. (See tip [8].)
3.Consider tightening up the restrictions imposed by your anti-virus and your endpoint firewall (if you use one). If you must keep XP computers going, try to shrink their operational universe, so that they get used only when necessary, rather than whenever it's convenient.
4.Remove all software and drivers you are not using. In fact, make an active effort to minimise the set of applications you permit on your XP computers. Even software that is still being patched depends on operating system components that aren't, and it simply may not be possible for your vendor to work round lower-level holes in Microsoft's code.
5.If your anti-virus has an Application Control feature, use it to enforce any software restrictions you decide upon in tip [4]. Application control lets you set rules like, "Skype and other instant messaging clients aren't allowed at all, so we don't need to worry about any data they might leak."
6.Put your XP computers on their own network, and limit access into and out of that network as strictly as you can. If you are a Sophos UTM user, you can add UTM gateways to set extra, stricter network filtering for your XP computers, such as blocking email and instant messaging traffic, and preventing the use of social networks.
7.Urgently get rid of administrator-level user accounts if you have any left. You should have done this years ago, throwing out any desktop software which required administrator privilege to work. It's now more important than ever to do this, in order to reduce the scope of an attack if hackers do manage to get in.
8.Get on with your personal or organisational efforts to get rid of XP. Tips [2] to [7] don't really buy you more time - they just reduce the risk while you catch up. Don't be in this position again when 01 April 2015 comes around.

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 4:18 am 
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Thanks for that Denise. Think I get the gist of it, erm, maybe :oops: :eh? That it's recommended I tighten up my anti virus & move to another system as soon as I can?

So does that mean I need to get a new computer, or is there anything I can update/install on this one? Bearing in mind it's a seven year old laptop with what's now considered a low amount of memory.

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:15 pm 
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If you can afford it, get a new computer.

Link to one that should suit

http://www.johnlewis.com/toshiba-satell ... ageCount=2

I have a higher version of this one and am pleased with it.

Windows 8 is a little different to XP but there are ways to make it more like the classic style we are used to.

If you want to transfer everything from your existing computer to the new one you will also need one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Microsof ... uctDetails

You connect the two machines and can see the contents of the old machine and 'drag and drop' onto the other one.

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 4:17 am 
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Oh blimey, I was afraid you'd say that :shock: I daresay I could afford a new laptop, but the thought of chucking out something that ain't broke worries me! Or will it rapidly become broke if I don't do something soon - Is this really the end of the road then?

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:31 am 
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I know that feeling of not wanting to dispose of something before it is broken but in my own experience of computers, it's best to get the new one while the old one still works. That way you can get the new one set up pretty much as the old one. Having had my first PC die on me, I lost 'stuff' - I had a back up of my data but it was the things I'd forgotten about, not used for ages, and the settings that took me ages to get resolved on the new one. Plus I did not have my e-mails backed up so lost a lot of mails and contacts I'd been building up for my musician friends and that was a big loss.

I still have the first computer I bought which is a Sony VAOI laptop which at the time was over £1,000 (but on undersale and with my discount cost me a lot less) with it's 40 GB hard drive, 256 mb of RAM and dial up internet and seemed like the best thing ever. It still works and gets used occasionally for a couple of things I have been unable to find a way to do in Windows 7/8. But it is so slow, if you do get a new one you'll gain immediately from the faster speed.

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:40 am 
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I think I'd best start looking then...... :shock: :wink:

The Toshiba laptop you show the link to looks good. I was considering a Toshiba a couple of years back, but never pursued it.

Also had a look at refurbished laptops running Windows 7. They seem to receive very good reviews. I'm a bit dubious about refurbished though, I mean, am I likely to get a scruffy old heap with some new innards? But that way I could get a Compaq, which is what I'd like & am familiar with (with a bit more memory than I have at present) & Windows 7 looks far less likely to frighten me :roll: I basically just want to browse the internet without being virused & keep Amazon in the luxury to which they've become accustomed.

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 11:39 am 
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Yep - buy an new one Lofty! - had a HP laptop years back and replaced it with an Acer about 7 years ago and again 2 years ago with a Lenovo.

The HP died on me - just like Denise and stuff was lost - like lots of pics of the real 'poppy dog' - so made sure that didn't happen again with the Acer.

The old laptops are still in a box in the attic with my LP's and 45's...


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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 11:43 am 
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Windows 8.1 is not bad, once the 'tiles' appear on the screen you just click on one of them and you are in a screen you will recognise. I don't use any of the Apps (the tiles that appear).

Windows 8 is fast, turning the PC on is almost as quick as turning on an Apple product, not quite but certainly faster than turning on a Windows XP, Vista or 7 machine.

The tiles are better suited to tablets and touch screen machines so with 8.1 Microsoft put back some of the functions we had in XP and 7.

If all you are doing is internet and e-mails it will be pretty straightforward.

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 Post subject: Re: No more XP.....
PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 12:58 am 
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New computer ordered :shock: Keep expecting the current one to do a Mission Impossible style self destruct in five seconds. Hope I'll be able to get to grips with Windows 8.1. Change makes me very uncomfortable :?

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