Keep Your Windows XP

[minimotos95]

a +1 on LibreOffice, i use it on both linux and windows it's great way to save a few bucks. you can get a lot of great free open source programs on linux.
one thing about most linux distros is there's no silverlight so you can't stream netflix, out of the box. there's some work-arounds available for that though including emulating windows.
what i would do if i needed a secure system is install a linux distro to a thumb drive, so there's no need for a second computer and only use it for banking, shopping or anything you need the highest level of security for. i bet if there's a security issue it's going to be on the banks side of things not yours if you are even taking basic of security precautions.
now that i think about it don't ATMs still use windows XP?

 

[SoulRaven]

Greetings!

One thing people need to realize is that Microsoft has been feeding windows users a huge line of BS for years. The major reason for all of their supposed upgrades is so they can gain access to all of your personal information, browsing history, etc. It has never really been about what they tell you. Sure, they did a few upgrades, because it made THEM big bucks. Their idea of security updates usually meant they had figured out a new way to circumvent anti-virus programs to access your information.

The very first thing that most security experts do is to disable automatic updates immediately, uninstall ALL previously installed updates, then re-install only a select few updates.

There are millions of people using XP and any fool who chooses to not support it, will be losing millions of potential customers. It has been estimated that there are still over 10 million Windows 95 users, and the XP distribution was HUGE by comparison.

The logs on one of my sites show that 8% of the users are still using 20+ year old browsers, including Netscape. That may sound like a small insignificant number, but it totals up to over $10k per year that I'd be missing out on if I didn't support them.

I'm just a little guy when it comes to ecommerce sites, under $200k/year. But I don't know any business that would willingly toss out 8-10% of the potential customers, and if you included all of the XP users, it would probably total well over 50%.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[caseyc]

I learned the hard way to not trust automatic Microsoft updates. I stopped doing automatic updates long ago. That's because sometimes after doing an update, apps or things that used to work correctly would no longer work right after doing a Windows update. I would then have to go to the "restore" feature and choose a date to restore my computer back to where it was prior to doing the Microsoft update. Plus the fact a full Microsoft update would sometimes take over a half hour to do its slow-@ss process. Having to do a forced restart always peeved me, plus even after a restart, Windows still needs many minutes to finish its updates. Nowadays, I sometimes let many months go by before I even think about allowing my computer to do a Microsoft Windows updates. The whole process is just annoying.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

While I think Windows XP was one of the best OS's ever from Microsoft, I would upgrade ASAP.

Here's what's going to happen:
1. Microsoft releases security fix for Windows Vista, 7, etc.
2. All Windows versions share a lot of code base
3. Hackers now know of a likely vulnerability in Windows XP
4. Anti Virus companies may face difficulty protecting from OS flaws
5. Hackers gain access to your system

If you cannot afford to upgrade Windows then switch to Linux Mint for free. It's very Windows like and supports tons of hardware. LibreOffice is very Office like.

I tried to load Linux on a disk from online instructions and never could get it to work. I've heard its very secure. Wish I understood more about this stuff.

 

[SoulRaven]

I tried to load Linux on a disk from online instructions and never could get it to work. I've heard its very secure. Wish I understood more about this stuff.

Greetings!

Linux is a derivative of Unix, to keep things compatible, and they all have more holes in them than Swiss cheese...

Every time you hear of someone hacking a website/server, it's usually either Linux or Unix that they hacked. Unix dates back to the early 70's and was written in C which was obsolete before it was ever released in the IBM world, and assembler language, which is one of the most hackable things out there. Just guessing I'd say that over 90% of all Linux/Unix systems are easily hackable.

I would NEVER recommend Linux/Unix to anyone. I work on those servers that have been hacked all the time... Total POS!

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[Stargazer]

I'm so sick and tired of dealing with the crap that computers and the internet have created! I chose this lifestyle to simplify, not complicate my life. After Target, I took a couple of steps backwards. Now with Heartbleed, I am taking a couple more. Soon, even this site will be off my list.

Best wishes and Good Luck!

 

[minimotos95]

Greetings!

.....

I would NEVER recommend Linux/Unix to anyone. I work on those servers that have been hacked all the time... Total POS!

I would like to note one of the most secure desktop OS's available right now, openBSD is unix-like. any OS connected to the internet can and will be hacked, linux isn't any easier or harder to hack into than windows server and desktop when the same security measures are taken but both are easily hacked by a school kid with too much time on his hands, I believe nobody is going to actually hack you unless you are running a server or they are out to get you, identity thieves generally rely on applications downloaded by the victim rather than hacking the machine.

all this XP talk has me wanting to test MicroXP to see how it runs on that Pentium 3 machine I have sitting in the corner.

 

[Mac J]

Windows 8 is a drag for the first 30 hours of frustrating brain racking then settles down to a nice platform. Then, a prompt to upgrade to Windows 8.1 comes across the monitor and your off once again.

Now that Windows 8.1 has settled down I'm beginning to enjoy it. In many ways it's easier, simpler, and faster to use than the Windows XP it replaced. I'm not trying to contradict what anyone here is thinking I'm just saying that that is how it is currently working for me.

 

[akrvbob]

I primarily use my laptop for productivity with lots of writing and photo work and I've fallen in love with Win 8.1. There's no question a touch screen improves my productivity (speaking only for myself). The whole App side is useless to me but I just ignore it and it doesn't affect me.

On my 11 inch Lenova Yoga with 128 gig solid-state drive it's speed blows every other laptop I've used right out of the water.

For me (and me alone!) Windows XP is a distant memory I wouldn't consider going back to. I own a laptop to produce work and this one does it better than any other I've had.
Bob

 

[Starlight]

Hacking, hmmm.
My first website was an attempt to establish a directory of sites that DID NOT USE THIRD PARTY COOKIES (tracking cookies). It was a painstaking bit of work but I believed in it. IMO the biggest... the hugest... the most devastating development of the internet... was the adoption of "pay per click" and "pay per view" advertising.

In my research, I discovered that there were online businesses that were bankrupted by this. They got clicks and views... but no bites... no incoming. The problem lay basically in the UNKNOWN aspet of their expenses, I suppose. Step in... googleads... to solve this badly designed problem... and the other three or four basic "click ad" corporations that track every interest you may have ever intentionally or unintentionally considered in your web surfing.

MY DESIGN WOULD HAVE BEEN -- pay per space -- just like magazines sell space... and let the market determine what your space is worth. This would make budgets much more predictable... and oh so much more less intrusive. If I want to see ads about buying solar, I'll request it. I don't need the adclick industry to decide it for me.

Same way with Facebook. The default in FB is not "most recent" it is -- well, it is what FB thinks you want to see. This "thinking for you" method is also used by Windows... with its "automatic indexing" -- which is basically making duplicates of what IT DECIDES is your most important files. By unclicking that option in my computer properties folder... I find my system runs faster. Stopping "automatic updates" speeds up the internet... becuz that's the first thing your browser wants to do.... go check in at your various programs' pages so they can search your system for what it may or may not need.

BLAHHHHHHHHH --- AHHHHH -- AHHHHHHH

---

And add to that -- you have to agree to let them do this or you can't download the programs that you need. You have to sign away rights you don't even understand... and if you're not careful... they'll change your default browser for you.

---

Anyone remember the "good ole days" of PORN ADS ???
Then one day something strange happened... I watched a video and my speaker buzzed... picking up a sonic signal of some kind. I wondered if it was my phone "beeping" to the mothership -- but it happened at the same place in the video every time. So... what... who... was it signalling... pray tell.

 

[SoulRaven]

I'm so sick and tired of dealing with the crap that computers and the internet have created! I chose this lifestyle to simplify, not complicate my life. After Target, I took a couple of steps backwards. Now with Heartbleed, I am taking a couple more. Soon, even this site will be off my list.

Best wishes and Good Luck!

Greetings!

Computers and the internet can significantly improve peoples lives, and that is not where the problem lies.

In 1979 the League of Programmers reached it's peak at 75 qualified programmers, myself being one of the charter members. Today it stands at 24, with the rest having either retired or died. Most of us are now past retirement age, myself included. Membership has always been open to qualified programmers, yet there hasn't been one since 1985.

The schools are cranking out programmers that wouldn't qualify as bottom of the barrel trainee's. They're teaching them "Webonics" and creating terrible new languages that are full of bugs, like PHP, UNIX, Linux, and a plethora of others because these fools can't really write or edit a legitimate program or website. Assembly Languages and Assemblers were written so unqualified programmers could write programs.

I blew the whistle on this so-called "Heartbleed Bug" back in the 70's and told them it was a recipe for disaster. Just like I've been telling them that the new Credit Card smart chips are no good. Basically they decided not to listen me... So here we are today, in a world of hurt, caused by corporate greed decades ago. To be honest, I'm surprised that it took this long, since it has been one of the #1 security breaches and money losing propositions for years. And it's not just on the net, it is on every single credit card & debit card out there too, they're just not telling anybody that part, and the new so called "smart chips" are going to exasperate the problem even more. It was a design flaw in the original concept decades ago. What good does it do to put a padlock on something and then hang the key on a string right beside it!!!

The good news is that nothing's really any worse than it has been for decades, just somebody with some clout finally found their voice. The bad news is that it's going to take a long time to fix every server, and every credit/debit card out there, along with all of credit/debit card terminals in every business in the world.

I wouldn't worry a lot about it though, President Carter passed a law that says that consumers can not be held responsible for losses that are incurred by the actions or inactions of the financial institutions.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[SoulRaven]

Hacking, hmmm.
My first website was an attempt to establish a directory of sites that DID NOT USE THIRD PARTY COOKIES (tracking cookies). It was a painstaking bit of work but I believed in it. IMO the biggest... the hugest... the most devastating development of the internet... was the adoption of "pay per click" and "pay per view" advertising.
---Trimmed---

Greetings Starlight!

Just more examples of corporate greed, and the sheep who keep letting them get away with it.

They're just not content with all of the honest and ethical ways to make money, and the lawmakers and politicians are equally to blame.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

---

I have both xp and 7. I like the xp better, but have noticed that lately it has been gettting more "clunky" as more updates have been added. I too had to turn off the upates because it would suddenly just freeze up while trying to update.

I've also had problems with the update feature pulling in "websurf add malware" virus. The only way I've been able to get it out is to spend the time searching for it manuelly and then add/remove it.
--- trimmed ---

Greetings!

Run AVG Free Anti-Virus on your system, full check, then do the same with Super Ant-Spyware Free.

Once you have completed those, go to http://piriform.com and download and install CCleaner and Defraggler.

With CCleaner, Just click on Run Cleaner under the Cleaner tab, oonce completed, click on the Registry tab, click scan for issues, then click to fix them all. Finally, under the Tools tab, click on Startup. Under each tab, disable everything you don't want running in the background all the time slowing windows down. Close out the program.

Run Defraggler, and when finished your computer should run considerably better and faster than before.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[offroad]

Think people are better off getting a memory chip hard drive. Basically instant reboot. Money better spent.

 

[Starlight]

Seems to me I had a problem with AVG a couple of years ago. I downloaded the deluxe version... not the smaller program it offered (I had used it on another computer and liked it, so I committed myself to a bigger download.) Well... there was no setting that stopped the constant upgrading (if I remember the exact problem correctly). Then... when I tried to uninstall it... I had no "uninstall." I ended up going into the download files, isolating the automatic update into another folder, but I think I still had problems, like a ghost that kept showing up. To be fair, it may have been a bad download or an incomplete download or a corrupted download -- but I was very unhappy. I just wanted to run it for a cleanup and found it was in my registry.

---

@CamperVanMan
who said:
"In 1979 the League of Programmers reached it's peak at 75 qualified programmers, myself being one of the charter members. Today it stands at 24, with the rest having either retired or died. Most of us are now past retirement age, myself included. Membership has always been open to qualified programmers, yet there hasn't been one since 1985."

-------------
Being curious... I tried looking this up to see what it was.
Can't find it.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Seems to me I had a problem with AVG a couple of years ago. I downloaded the deluxe version... not the smaller program it offered (I had used it on another computer and liked it, so I committed myself to a bigger download.) Well... there was no setting that stopped the constant upgrading (if I remember the exact problem correctly). Then... when I tried to uninstall it... I had no "uninstall." I ended up going into the download files, isolating the automatic update into another folder, but I think I still had problems, like a ghost that kept showing up. To be fair, it may have been a bad download or an incomplete download or a corrupted download -- but I was very unhappy. I just wanted to run it for a cleanup and found it was in my registry.

I run Norton myself, but I hear good things about AVG.

Anti-virus programs NEED the constant upgrading to deal with constantly evolving threats. An out-of-date av program is worse than useless - it gives you a false sense of security.

Any program you put on your hard drive to run is going into your registry. That's the way the operating system is designed.

If the program is run from removable media - such as a dvd or usb drive - you can avoid that.

Regards
John

 

[SoulRaven]

@CamperVanMan
who said:
"In 1979 the League of Programmers reached it's peak at 75 qualified programmers, myself being one of the charter members. Today it stands at 24, with the rest having either retired or died. Most of us are now past retirement age, myself included. Membership has always been open to qualified programmers, yet there hasn't been one since 1985."

-------------
Being curious... I tried looking this up to see what it was.
Can't find it.

Greetings!

No website, never has been. Once upon a time there were monthly physical meetings that rotated around the country. Now we're doing teleconferencing. Just had one about the so called "Heartbleed Bug".

We were the guys who were designing how stuff worked, dating back to before the internet. Before the internet, there were BBS's, and gov/university/scientific email that needed to be encrypted to maintain security.

Today, we still handle big security breaches, each of us run our own computer security firms. Normally one of us will be called in for problem fixes, but if it's a big enough problem, we still collaborate with each other.

Seems as though we are a dieing breed though, and I'm not sure what will happen when we're all gone. Guess time will tell. I think I'm getting ready to give up all of the traveling myself, and just offer remote services. I'm almost 68 now, and my body wants to start slowing down.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[compassrose]

About a month ago, I "upgraded" from a 2006 Desktop running XP (motherboard is dying I think) to a "new-to-me" refurbished Notebook PC (from Cowboom.com) running Win 8. I miss my XP. I have to buy new programs to do what I need to do (mostly a new Printmaster so will upgrade to Print Shop). I have been downloading programs off the internet that I had on my old desktop. This laptop came with 60 days of Norton (yuk) but I just installed Malwarebyte and Iobit's Advanced Sytem Care. I need to get Crap Cleaner. I do not care for the "apps" thingy. I have a hard time finding what I need to find. I need to download the no tracking program I had on the desktop. I still need to download a lot of things. I did download the OpenOffice that I have used for years (I build my own spreadsheets to keep track of costs). Never did like MS's stuff. My "old" computer does not "talk" to my new computer so I am manually transfering files very slowly. Once done, I will clean off the hard drive, pull it out of the desktop and put it in a case so I can copy all my DVD's onto it. I downloaded Handbrake and VLC so hopefully I can copy everything. I have an older hard drive from another computer that I plan on doing the same thing to. I hope to eventually get all my movies to the hard drives and then simply copy from one hard drive to another as they get old and fail. I just want to be able to store my movies in a smaller footprint. Now I just have to figure out how to play the movies from hard drive to TV! Sometimes I hate technology.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Compassrose and others:
I am needing to upgrade to a new laptop soon (almost assuredly Win8). What are you using for anti-virus, ad blocking, cookie crumbling, etc. I would appreciate help, as I am not up to all the latest tracking, malware, adds, spyware and whatever else out there that I need to be protected against.
Help would be much appreciated, Spiff

 

[Starlight]

@Optimistic Paranoid who said:
"Anti-virus programs NEED the constant upgrading to deal with constantly evolving threats. An out-of-date av program is worse than useless - it gives you a false sense of security."

-----------

Yes, there are new bugs every day and I suspect in the multitudes. Great selling point for "anti-virus" programs. I just didn't like "instant upgrade" and had set it to upgrade once a week at a certain time of the day. Still... my system ran noticeably slow. It was running a daily scan from the files that already existed (if I remember correctly, anyway). I think that it was this that I could not find the setting for. When I got so p'd off and tried to uninstall, it didn't have an uninstall program. This thing was in my registry files and... well, all in all, I was unhappy with it.

Actually, I don't worry much about that junk anymore. I am careful where I go on the internet... set my internet settings so I'm warned when I get sent to another site than the original... and I download only legitimate files from reputable sites.

 

[Mac J]

Compassrose and others:
I am needing to upgrade to a new laptop soon (almost assuredly Win8). What are you using for anti-virus, ad blocking, cookie crumbling, etc. I would appreciate help, as I am not up to all the latest tracking, malware, adds, spyware and whatever else out there that I need to be protected against.
Help would be much appreciated, Spiff

When I upgraded my PC it came with Windows 8. It quickly recommended that I upgrade to Windows 8.1. Both 8 and 8.1 came with 60 days of free Norton.