How feasible is it to use XP after Microsoft stops support?

I simply "replied" to the last message under the imaging issue.
I was not paying attention to who knows and who is ignorant.
These caveats are meant for those who have had problems.
"You" meant any reader, not you.

I had reason to assume you were writing to me. I'm sorry.

However, my comments are still valid. I don't know why Microsoft decided to add an invisible partition that had never existed before, but I do know that if I let it remain it destroys my ability to restore from an Acronis backup. If I reinstall and eliminate it, then there is no problem. The system works just the same, so why complicate matters? I just make my C drive my system-- all of my system.

The reason is that a backup of two drives requires that the data be restored to two drives at once. This doesn't work, since one of the drives doesn't have a drive letter. I tried it and I wound up having to do a repair installation off of the Windows 7 disk.

Everyone cannot eliminate the hidden boot partition. For example, HP does not include Windows install CDs and restore DVDs will reinstall the same boot partition. One can enlarge this partition and install XP on it and have dual boot. I have discussed the method before.

I understand about off the shelf systems (unless you download the full retail or OEM version of the software, which Microsoft allows for Windows 7), but the idea that this is a boot partition is wrong. It is not a boot partition. It is a second partition containing operating system files. It is part of the operating system. As I wrote, this screwy set up can be eliminated, but it requires a clean install and specific instructions.

All operating systems have a tiny boot partition. This cannot be altered or messed with. The idea of putting an operating system on two partitions, though, is very strange. It was not done before. Up until Microsoft came up with that silly idea, the system was always located on the C drive-- and only the C drive.

I will try to locate the official download site for the images and see about posting it. I downloaded them all a long time ago (I repair computers for friends), so I have not visited the site in a very long time. Be aware that these images cannot be used without a valid license for Windows 7. If you have such a license (and you do if you have an off-the-shelf system with Windows 7 preinstalled), then you can burn the images and use them freely as copies of the operating system. This allows a clean install. Of course, the clean install will not have any of the additional software installed by the manufacturer and it may not have sufficient drivers, so be careful with it. Make sure you know how to do it properly first. (This is to everyone, not just the person I replied to!)

Since Windows 7 is being discontinued, I don't know how long this will be up. Also, remember, as I said, that this is NOT a "free" version of Windows. You must have a legal key to use it. It is for recovery of a PC that already has a licensed copy of Windows on it!

I hope CNET leaves it up.

http://www.dxdo.com/digital-river-direct-download-links-for-windows-7-editions-free/

Do not, under any circumstances, wipe out your hard drive with a legal, operating copy of Windows on it until you know that you have your software key available! If the sticker is faded or picked-at, you may be unable to reinstall! Make certain FIRST! There are ways to get that key, but not if you have wiped out the information.

I use Acronis all the time, however, I always use it to make a clone to another drive instead of an image backup, this way I can actually boot to the clone to test it rather than just assuming that you have a good image.

I select a spare hard drive the same size or larger than the drive I want to clone and use a SATA to USB adapter to connect it to the computer. Then boot to the Acronis disk and run clone. Once the clone is complete, boot to the USB drive and test.

The other plus to this is if something goes wrong with your hard drive you can be up and running in about 5 minutes by simply booting to the clone.

Note: I always run a chkdsk on the original drive before imaging or cloning.

There are other ways (and not everyone has a spare drive to use for this purpose), but making a clone is the easiest way to accomplish this.

I agree, that not everyone has spare hard drives, but drives are relatively cheap and you really cannot put a price tag on backups because the value of data is different for everyone. You also have put a price tag on the time to reinstall Windows and put everything back the way you want .

If your data is irreplaceable and important to you, then having a minimum of 3 backups over and above the original data is not unreasonable. And I normally recommend that backups should usually be on 3 different types of media. So a clone, plus a data backup to a USB drive,DVD or Network drive and then some form of Offsite backup which could include Cloud or some other form of backup like Crashplan to someone else's computer would just about do it.

Backing up a computer does not have to be expensive.

But a drive is not the only way to go. It is one of many options. I use Carbonite, I periodically back my data (which is separate from my system) onto DVDs (with a minimum of two copies), and I use a variety of other methods over time. My backup drive would no longer hold even a quarter of my data.

The point is to plan and implement a backup strategy.

However, I keep my data separate from my system, which is on a small, fast drive. It can still be done, even with Windows 7. The "libraries" can be associated with folders on other drives, and a little bit of attention keeps the data from being saved to the C drive.

My system backups are made to a separate hard drive in my computer, to DVDs, and to flash drives. I make full backups every week, and I keep 6 week's worth available on the main computer for all of my computers (I copy the flash drives onto the main computer for the other computers). I burn DVDs about every 6 months. I have a strategy and I use it consistently. It is harder than yours, but it works well.

Cloning is the simplest way to restore an image of the
entire drive if all the data was saved on another drive.

4Denise thanks for the link to Digitalriver.

I found it very useful.

I pointed out in one of my responses that lack of post-Service Pack 3 updates would be a problem.

How specifically do you download hundreds of updates without installing them? (Not being a smart-***, it's an honest question.)

And can they be installed from a file on the computer rather than through the download service? I realize it is possible to create versions for large-scale support that can be loaded from an in-house server, but can the basic files normally installed by running Windows Update just be run by clicking on them (or preferably from a batch file)?

I have never done this, but I know that it can be done. My solution, though, is to do a clean install of the OS and any absolutely necessary software (which you know will not ever be replaced), get the updates, and then back up the system using a good back up program. This gives you a fully updated copy that you can use for clean installs. If you think it out first, you can completely personalize it to your needs before you actually back it up. Burn at least two copies.

As for downloading the updates to install later, you might try examining Microsoft's site (a huge prospect, I know) and typing various questions into the search function. I have never bothered, but I know the instructions are there, somewhere.

Go to this link:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389

This will tell you how to get service pack 3 for Windows XP. You can download it and burn it to a disk. Just double-click on the file to run it.

Then type "Windows XP updates" into the search box, choose to only search Microsoft downloads, and click. When you get to the list, choose to sort by date, newest first. You can get them one at a time, all the way until you get to service pack 3, which has all previous updates on it. I am not certain that it is as simple as clicking on the files to run them, but at least the files will be there, and you can find out later how to install them.

It's a free program that will tell you what will and won't work.

MS DOS based games like the original Doom probably won't work properly as you're not loading device specific drivers for a sound card and such. Been through that with some older games on XP even.

XP 32-bit will run DOS and BASIC programs written for DOS. With some tweaking, it is possible to get the printer to print from DOS.
XP 64-bit, Visa and Windows7 will not run DOS.
Windows8 apparently will run DOS.

"...new operating systems have a tendency of "surprising" you with the fact that some of your favourite programs will no longer run."

Would you believe that much of my software came from W98? first I installed it on W2K , and then on W7HPx64 . I had only one app refuse to work: Eudora 3.0.6lite, a 16-bit app

I have never had to set "Compatibilty mode" for any software! In my ExpERIENCE, anything that works in XP will work on at least W7. OTOH, W8 or later could be almost as disastrous as XP or Vista.

Gordon.

Actually you can buy a USB-3 adapter for XP. I have one on my main XPpro desktop and it works great. I also have a wireless adapter in there too. No problems.

And as far as connecting, my DOS, WinME, XPpro, and Win7 all talk to each other with no problems and even the DOS machine gets out to the internet when I want it to using the old Netscape Navigator.

As far as your 10 year limit goes, a good machine will just be broke in in 10 years and if you know anything about computers you can keep it running in top speed and probably faster than some of the new stuff coming down the block.

Remember the less overhead the faster the machine will run and as everybody knows Microsoft knows how to add overhead and slow down even the fastest machine available.

The XP install is 500 megs (roughly) whereas the Wndows 7 image is right around a gig. I don't have Win8 available at the moment to check, but it is either 2 gig or 4 gig.

Most of the XP machines out there may not be having PCI-Express slots. @ 200-300 for a decent box, why do you want to bother with 512MB or 1 G machine with 250MB hard drive and IDE? Why?

Just because a machine did not come with XP, that does not mean that XP cannot be put on it. Incidentally, I have had numerous machines with XP on them, and all of them were far superior to what you are describing. You are making an assumption that has nothing to do with reality.

"If dealer parts can't be had though, my car has enough of a fan base that re-production parts get made. This is something to keep in mind with XP as well. "

There are developers that continue to support, for example, distros of Red Hat Linux that are past end of life. The difference is, Linux is open source, Windows is not. The information to write security patches for Windows XP is not available to most people. Whereas, anyone with the requisite skills can manufacture parts for your car, or write code for RHEL.