BajaNomad - Nomads who lost Windows XP

Nomads who lost Windows XP

Osprey - 4-18-2014 at 04:03 PM

Right after Easter my tech guy will come over to download Windows 7, get rid of Outlook and secure my computer best he can. Am I the last Nomad to do this? Those who didn't have to upgrade by buying a new computer; what problems have cropped up if any?

I've been using my computer to write books and stories, store pix and do research. I don't use it for music or big files and in several years I've only used about 12% of my original gigs so I don't see a good reason to buy a new computer yet. What say you geeks?

blackwolfmt - 4-18-2014 at 04:18 PM

Hey osprey, I use firefox with XP, Avast sent an email last month sayin to read this link it said if you have service pack 3 and XP you are still good to go?? and the techy forums mentioned if you want to make sure your safe when doing banking stuff use gchrome, so that's what I do now, from what I have been reading most peeps with SP3 are holding on to XP, I am just waiting a bit because I'm gettin a laptop soon with windows 8 I guess, then I will update :coolup:

Timo1 - 4-18-2014 at 04:21 PM

Nuthin wrong with 7....love it

chuckie - 4-18-2014 at 04:27 PM

Going to 7 next week.....

blackwolfmt - 4-18-2014 at 04:31 PM

Hey you 7 guys, can you still use firefox,malbytes and Avast like on XP???

wiltonh - 4-18-2014 at 04:34 PM

If you are thinking about going to Windows 8, please try before you buy. My brother picked up two Dell machines for his place and about 3 to 4 hours into playing with Windows 8, he told me that he was not sure he would ever figure it out.

Turns out that one of the keyboards was bad so he was fighting both hardware and software problems. I showed him how to get around a bit and reorganized his tile interface so he could get to the desktop easily. Once all that was done, he told me that if he spent a lot of time with Win 8.1 he might get it figured out.

Once you get Win 8.1 update 1, you should be able to boot directly to the desktop which would have helped him a lot.

Make sure that you boot the machine and figure out how to get to things like the control panel and file manager.

mrfatboy - 4-18-2014 at 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by blackwolfmt
Hey you 7 guys, can you still use firefox,malbytes and Avast like on XP???

Sure can. 7 is great. I'm not even bothering with 8. Microsoft has a history messing up every other OS. That's why XP and 7 are solid.

[Edited on 4-19-2014 by mrfatboy]

woody with a view - 4-18-2014 at 06:16 PM

don't go 8....

windows 8.1

captkw - 4-18-2014 at 06:43 PM

my laptop took a beer and stopped working so I shopped around and bought almost the same Toshiba c-55 (15.6 screen) satellite for $278.oo on sale (new) and spent the better part of a day to reconfigure it....widows 8 is a whole new ballgame !!! and no more support (new) is avable for windows 7 ......of course # 9 is probly on the drawing board.. after MANY changes its fine...and you can always download back to windows 7 if you want.......K&T

[Edited on 4-19-2014 by captkw]

woody with a view - 4-18-2014 at 06:58 PM

actually, win7 is still being supported..... it's XP that is in the realm of hackers and the non-informed. don't use XP anymore....

windows 7

captkw - 4-18-2014 at 07:01 PM

Hola,I read in "WIRED" magazine that no "NEW" stuff is coming from windows for 7 that's just what I read !!!

woody with a view - 4-18-2014 at 07:12 PM

that could be. keep in mind XP was issued in +/- 1997. win7 was issued in +/-2008 so i bet they will support it for a few more years.

Win 8

bajaguy - 4-18-2014 at 07:18 PM

Got two new Toshiba 15.6" Win 8 laptops from WOOT (http://www.woot.com/)

Had both set up by the local Punta Banda computer guru, Cyberbug Bobby

Transferred all data from an old Win 7 machine and all data from an XP netbook.

Apparently there is an application that makes Win 8 look and work like Win 7........both are up and working great

susaninlapaz - 4-19-2014 at 06:42 AM

well, never being one to go with a new trend, I just bought a used notebook with xp on purpose because I've never liked windows 7 as well, and you couldn't pay me to touch 8. all this agitation about "new" security issues reminds me of y2k hysteria. I am a total luddite and will repost on this thread when I need loans from you all cuz my bank account was hacked...as for xp not being "supported" I have NEVER gotten any real help from Microsoft in my life.

woody with a view - 4-19-2014 at 06:46 AM

i'm talking patching known holes, updating software, etc.... not "help".

wiltonh - 4-19-2014 at 08:03 AM

Before you dump XP, take a look at what you might loose. Last year we sold our home and moved about 85 miles away. The realtor offered to email me documents that I would fill out and then I scanned and emailed them back.

In this process I found out that 2 flat bed scanners and 1 film scanner did not have Windows 7 drivers. I also found out that 2 of the printers that I was using did not have Windows 7 drivers. Granted these are old devices but they still work just fine. I got down to one old XP machine that could scan and another one was connected to the only printer that would work.

I have moved all my personal data over to Windows 7 but I plan to keep one or two XP machines around to run the old peripherals.

Most new printers now days, come with a scanner so when my best old printer lost a pixel in the color head, I decided to purchase a new printer rather than a new head. The cost was less than $10 more for the new printer than the old head. The new printer comes with Airprint which allows us to print directly from Apple and Android devices. Actually the Apple software works well and the Android software works some times.

Any hacker that thinks there is anything of value on my old XP machines will waste a lot of time.

Hook - 4-19-2014 at 08:39 AM

If anyone is interested, Costco.com is still selling Toshiba and HP laptops with Win7 Professional. Many also ship with 8.1 CDs but they are pre-loaded with Win7. That's the route I am going. My XP machine of seven years is finally dying. It has been the workhorse computer for the whole house for many years.

Skipjack Joe - 4-19-2014 at 11:23 AM

Wiltonh makes a good point. Whenever you upgrade your OS the driver issue often comes up. It can be a pain after that.

At my job we upgraded to Windows 7. They resolve all these issues. At home I'm holding to the XP as long as possible.

Windows 7 is a fine, reliable operating system.

win 8.1 and older periphery

capt. mike - 4-19-2014 at 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wiltonh
Before you dump XP, take a look at what you might loose. Last year we sold our home and moved about 85 miles away. The realtor offered to email me documents that I would fill out and then I scanned and emailed them back.

In this process I found out that 2 flat bed scanners and 1 film scanner did not have Windows 7 drivers. I also found out that 2 of the printers that I was using did not have Windows 7 drivers. Granted these are old devices but they still work just fine. I got down to one old XP machine that could scan and another one was connected to the only printer that would work.

I have moved all my personal data over to Windows 7 but I plan to keep one or two XP machines around to run the old peripherals.

Most new printers now days, come with a scanner so when my best old printer lost a pixel in the color head, I decided to purchase a new printer rather than a new head. The cost was less than $10 more for the new printer than the old head. The new printer comes with Airprint which allows us to print directly from Apple and Android devices. Actually the Apple software works well and the Android software works some times.

Any hacker that thinks there is anything of value on my old XP machines will waste a lot of time.

I am with you. My xp machines [desktop and laptop] are both old and needed replacement, I bought a new HP desktop with 8.1 installed, got office 2013 and IE 11 all built in. Now the new HP does not "pair" up with the older XP machines on my home network. The other 2 XPs still talk to each other. I was able to transfer files from my old XP desktop and my Carbonite subscription to the new HP using the network some how - but my work horse HP laser B&W only printer does not have drivers for 8.1 so I will use both my XPs as side jobs needed and only the new HP for internet connection. I put MacAfee on all 3 machines due to a special that came with the new HP. I think I can safely go on line occasionally with the XP machines with MacAfee in place as internet security.

Lindalou - 4-19-2014 at 05:43 PM

I still have XP with no problems and plan to keep it as long as possible also.

Printers

bajaguy - 4-19-2014 at 05:50 PM

We have two brother printers about 4 years old. I was able to go to the Brother web site and download updated drivers to both laptops by choosing and downloading the Win 8 and 8.1 OS drivers and the printers communicate and function as designed and work with both laptops configured to look like Win 7.

[Edited on 4-20-2014 by bajaguy]

monoloco - 4-19-2014 at 05:50 PM

I'm glad I have a Mac and don't have to worry about any of this, it's 4 years old and runs the latest operating system flawlessly. I just upgraded it to an SSD and 8gb of RAM and now it works better than ever.

bajadogs - 4-19-2014 at 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco
I'm glad I have a Mac and don't have to worry about any of this, it's 4 years old and runs the latest operating system flawlessly. I just upgraded it to an SSD and 8gb of RAM and now it works better than ever.

Yep yep

woody with a view - 4-19-2014 at 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hook
If anyone is interested, Costco.com is still selling Toshiba and HP laptops with Win7 Professional. Many also ship with 8.1 CDs but they are pre-loaded with Win7. That's the route I am going. My XP machine of seven years is finally dying. It has been the workhorse computer for the whole house for many years.

NICE!

DianaT - 4-19-2014 at 07:37 PM

AFter a learning curve, I learned to really like Windows 8.1 and the touch screen, but I am still fighting with ASUS of the lemon of a computer I bought.

Not only does it keep turning off on its own, the touch screen keeps quitting and all they keep doing is reloading of OS and return me a computer full of viruses, malware, adware --- tons of junk.

It is back at customer service and they want to do the same thing and I am saying NO. It is one of those things of trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results that is insane.

So I think Windows 8.1 is a good thing, and I will never buy another ASUS. Every company can have a lemon, but when customer service is rotten, well, not much can be done about that.

mulegejim - 4-19-2014 at 08:17 PM

Go to 7...if your printer doesn't work buy a new one they aren't that expensive and scan print, etc. Also the new printer will most likely support WiFi which most of us will like. DO NOT USE XP ON THE INTERNET AS YOU ARE ASKING FOR PROBLEMS. Just my 2 pesos. Jim

capt. mike - 4-20-2014 at 10:41 AM

I think since Microsoft security essentials is no more for XP all you need is a good internet security program and firewall like MacAfee or PC Matic and you can go on line, but you won't get any patches for sub programs and files working in XP. it should be a short term approach - get 7or 8 if your machine can handle it, or like I had to - get a more modern machine.

DianaT - 4-20-2014 at 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lencho

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT
AFter a learning curve, I learned to really like Windows 8.1 and the touch screen,

I've used touch screen tablets for a while now and like the concept. Last week I went into a computer store and tried various Win8 touchscreen laptops, and was APPALLED at how much the screen moved when I touched it; doesn't seem like they considered the touch aspect when designing the hinge system. As I said, I LIKE touchscreens, but I thing the manufacturers have some thinking to do about their touchscreen laptop implementations...

Maybe that is why my touch screen quit? I didn't use it all the time, but I did use it and yes, it does move.

At this point, I am thinking I will have to trash my less than 1 year old ASUS laptop, so maybe I won't get another touch screen on a laptop for now. Or I will just continue to use it in its faulty condition.

I may just get a large tablet for travel.

bajaguy - 4-20-2014 at 12:25 PM

The touchscreen mode can be disabled

Neal Johns - 4-21-2014 at 07:44 AM

I went to Win 7 a few days before XP died. I rebuilt my computer with a Crucial 500 480 GB SSD (about $237) a new motherboard and CPU chip. Unbelievable fast. My Current Wife :-) is cleaning up a lot of old family pictures and it used to take a half minute just to pull up a picture to edit, now it is instantly. Bite the bullet and go to an SSD for speed and Win 7 for security.

I was completely happy with XP but the hackers are out there....

greengoes - 4-21-2014 at 01:15 PM

50 Open Source Replacements for Windows XP

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/50-open-source-replace...

Linux based....and free. A few closely mimic XP.

Osprey - 4-21-2014 at 01:38 PM

More tech savvy people than I thought!! Thanks so much. Here's what I did:

Since I have 1 gig of RAM, 87 % hard drive capacity left (450 novels left in this old machine and I'm 77 years old) I kept my XP, downloaded Avast and punched in another gig of RAM -- $100 bucks, back in business and I don't have to learn any new systems or worry about things I wanted to keep that might be lost in the transfer.

blackwolfmt - 4-26-2014 at 08:30 AM

So just got another Xp update from avast, sounds like they are taking over where Microsoft left off and will continue to keep Windows XP safe especially with chrome browser

http://blog.avast.com/2014/03/12/avast-will-continue-to-support-windows-xp-for-home-and-business-users/

Ateo - 4-26-2014 at 08:42 AM

Don't be afraid to get an Apple MacBook Pro. I've had one for 9 years. No hassles. I will never own a Windows computer again.

XP Alive and ..............

MrBillM - 4-26-2014 at 10:13 AM

Well here.

So far.

Although I've got two machines running Win 7, I still like XP better and I'm trusting McAfee (along with usually very cautious habits) to keep me safe.

Interestingly, two weeks ago I received a call from the AMEX fraud line telling me I had a "possible" fraud attempt made on my card and I accepted their suggestion to have it replaced.

I, of course, immediately thought of the XP vulnerability, but it appears much more likely that the problem lay elsewhere such as a vendor.

Barry A. - 4-26-2014 at 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Neal Johns
I went to Win 7 a few days before XP died. I rebuilt my computer with a Crucial 500 480 GB SSD (about $237) a new motherboard and CPU chip. Unbelievable fast. My Current Wife :-) is cleaning up a lot of old family pictures and it used to take a half minute just to pull up a picture to edit, now it is instantly. Bite the bullet and go to an SSD for speed and Win 7 for security.

I was completely happy with XP but the hackers are out there....

Hey Neal, I sent your comments over to my tech-savvy son, and he said, "RIGHT ON". Next weekend I go down to Chico with my computer for him to convert it over, like you said.

Many thanks.

Barry

mrfatboy - 4-28-2014 at 02:34 AM

If your using XP (which you shouldn't) don't be using IE

Serious Internet Explorer flaw puts XP users especially at risk

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/27/internet-explorer-securit...

JZ - 4-28-2014 at 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Osprey
Right after Easter my tech guy will come over to download Windows 7, get rid of Outlook and secure my computer best he can. Am I the last Nomad to do this? Those who didn't have to upgrade by buying a new computer; what problems have cropped up if any?

I've been using my computer to write books and stories, store pix and do research. I don't use it for music or big files and in several years I've only used about 12% of my original gigs so I don't see a good reason to buy a new computer yet. What say you geeks?

You should get a new machine. They are cheap as dirt now.

JZ - 4-28-2014 at 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ateo
Don't be afraid to get an Apple MacBook Pro. I've had one for 9 years. No hassles. I will never own a Windows computer again.

I have a Mac from work. It's not worth the cost if you are playing out of your own pocket.

shari - 4-28-2014 at 09:12 AM

I have a question for you techies...if I do the Unbuntu Linux deal, will my existing programs like photoshop etc still work the same? I am still using XP but with Avast and Firefox browser.

wiltonh - 4-28-2014 at 03:06 PM

None of your after market programs that run on Windows XP will run on Ubuntu. There are cheap or free programs to do the same function but sometimes they do not have all the bells and whistles you are used to.

One option is to setup a dual boot system where it asks you which OS you want to boot when you first turn it on. That way you can try Ubuntu or any other version of Linux and still go back to Windows with a reboot. You would be able to try programs like Gimp for picture editing to see if it does what you want.

My feeling is that running Windows XP with Firefox or Chrome and Avast, you should not have a problem. Just to be on the safe side, I use a password manager which is encrypted. If someone did get only my system, they would find it very very hard to get to any sensitive information.

shari - 4-28-2014 at 03:11 PM

thank you...I'm not sure what an after market program is..like photoshop? Would Picasa still work? I like the idea of the dual boot idea to try it out. How would I do that? Should or can I even get rid of IExplorer? How do I set up an encrypted password?

BajaNomad - 4-28-2014 at 03:31 PM

I believe most, if not all, of the Linux distributions still run as "Live" DVDs/CDs.

You burn the disc, and boot your system from the DVD/CD drive... and it all runs in memory - doesn't even touch the hard drive.... all to "test" the distribution out before installing it/them. Of course when you turn off the system, you lose everything you didn't save to a permanent memory source.

No need for a dual-boot install if there's a live CD/DVD of the distribution. Might run slightly slower while only in RAM, but still gives one a good idea of the interface, default software, etc.

One can uninstall, or install, many different choices of open-source software when installed (even in RAM-only, but you lose the change when you shut the system down).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_CD

wiltonh - 4-28-2014 at 04:06 PM

After market programs are ones that you purchased and put on your computer after Windows XP was installed. Most of those programs came on a CD or DVD and you had to pay money for them.

Programs like Firefox and Adobe Reader were downloaded and you can do the same for Linux. Chrome is also a good choice.

The password manager I use is called eWallet and it is not free. I purchased a copy for my Laptop, my iPhone and my Nexus 7 tablet. It runs under Windows, IOS and Android. They all sync over wireless. I keep several hundred username and passwords in it. It is an old program so there may be newer, or better ones, around now. I have heard that Lastpast is a good one but have never used it.

Many of the Linux versions come with a loader that allows you to run from memory or put it onto your hard drive. They will give you the option for creating a dual boot. Dual boot can be more difficult to setup as you need to create a partition for Linux to run in. The program normally will do it for you but it may ask questions that you may not understand.

wiltonh - 4-28-2014 at 04:08 PM

It looks like there is a version of Picasa for Linux.

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/desktop/image_viewing/goog...

PaulW - 4-29-2014 at 07:56 AM

Options exist to keep XP are available. Third parties are offering to keep the security holes repaired that Norton and Mcaffe do not address. Seems like these 3rd parties services are not free. Putting OS7 or 8 on an old machine probably requires internal hardware upgrade. And going to a new technology refereed to in the other posts is not what we wanted to do. What we did as bought a new machine. Non touch and went to OS8.1 Upgrade. Non touch works fine. After a steep learning curve all is well. The old printer works after finding the correct driver.
An even better solution would be a new machine with OS8.. then pay someone to install OS7 which would be the easiest upgrade of all, and result in the best WIN OS ever.
PaulW

JoeJustJoe - 4-29-2014 at 10:55 AM

Here is what I did with one of my older computers that still used XP:

I saw that Windows 7 or 8 costs about $100 dollars, although you could download a copy for as cheap as about $70 dollars. So I called around to these many Asian computer shops by my house, and Craig's list, and I found somebody do install a new copy of Windows 7 for $60 dollars, and they also threw in Office for free. Great deal, and my old computer is back up and running. Sadly you have to do a clean install, although you could back up some of your old programs.

I also like Linux ( Ubuntu) because a while back some nuts were trying to hack my computer, and re-route it, and from time to time I have been hit by viruses all on my own. So someone turned me onto Linux awhile back, telling me that Linux is pretty much virus free, because most of the viruses are written for Windows operating system, although any operating system
could be hit with a virus, the odds greatly favor you, if you're using Linux or Mac computers. Linux also seems to run faster on my older computer than Windows.

So I also went to the Ubuntu website, and downloaded:

Download Ubuntu Desktop

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

I picked my flavour, 64 bit or 32 bit.

I downloaded Ubuntu.

and then went to this page because I wanted both operation systems Windows 7 and Linux on my computer, and I wanted to try it first on a bootable USB Stick.

How to create a bootable USB stick
on Ubuntu

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on...

I then went to this site and downloaded the universal USB Installer that you will used to download Linux on you USB stick and be able to bootup Linux.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as...

This was very easy to do, and the hardest part for me, was getting into the screen on start up, F-12, or F-2 on most computers, so you get your computer to first boot from a USB stick.

I tried Linux out a little bit on the USB stick. It was working fine, but this "try out version" doesn't work as good, as the one you put on your hard drive for some reason. ( a few years ago I downloaded the "try out version" and it worked very well, but then one day it crashed)

So the next time I started up my computer. I just installed Ubuntu onto my hardrive, and choose to keep Windows 7 too. I took out my USB stick, and went back to the boot screen and set it back to where it was before.

Now I have both operating systems on my computer. I would definely try out Linux first, because it's takes a while to get use to, including the different ( free) softwear that you could download.

I haven't tried it, but I hear that Gimp may be an open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop, although if you really want to. I also understand you can run "Photoshop" from Linux, but you must first download a Windows interface first.

Neal Johns - 4-29-2014 at 11:53 AM

Barry,
Your son is a genius (of course that makes me one too!). :lol:

blackwolfmt - 5-3-2014 at 07:46 PM

FUNNY!! I see that microsoft updated xp once yesterday and just got through doing a another, today HHMMM :?:

bajadogs - 5-3-2014 at 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by blackwolfmt
FUNNY!! I see that microsoft updated xp once yesterday and just got through doing a another, today HHMMM :?:

I think it's funny that those of us who use Apple products don't have threads begging for solutions that go on and on. XP is how old? It is DOS based? Wow! I don't have time for that.