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Question

XP support after 2014

Dec 31, 2013 1:10AM PST

XP forum,
I plan to stick with XP as long as possible but I hear that MS is
going to stop supporting it in 2014. If I have to re-install it
from my CD sometime after that will I still get all the upgrades?

Thanks for any reply.

Jerry

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Maybe.
Dec 31, 2013 1:18AM PST

You can get the network install version of SP3 today and since this has been asked a lot, you could see what others are writing.

Why not backup the HDD image and not worry?
Bob

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Answer
As has been widely discussed
Dec 31, 2013 1:44AM PST

As has been widely discussed, the lack of support just means no new updates. So as soon as support stops for XP, the moment a new exploit hits for any newer version of Windows, ne'er do wells will immediately check to see if XP is also vulnerable. If it is, you and anyone else still using XP are screwed because at best you'll be able to mitigate the risk for such attacks and quite frankly if you knew how to mitigate the damage from attacks you A) wouldn't need to ask questions about the lack of XP support and B) you would have long ago moved to at least Vista which will be supported for a few more years yet. If it were me, I would either be immersing myself in every single article on computer security I could find and trying to work out how much of it will be applicable to XP once the clock runs out, fully realizing that it will be an uphill battle that will never get easier, only harder, and will consume an ever greater amount of time and energy the more time passes, or deciding that I have other things I need to be spending my time on, setting my ego aside, and just upgrading to something new.

Maybe now is the time to be trying out Linux if you don't want to upgrade your hardware or this is the excuse you've been looking for to buy a new system since the old one has been a reliable workhorse and doesn't make justifying the decision easy.

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How does upgrading from XP to 7 affect programs and files?
Mar 1, 2014 6:01PM PST

I'd like to know more specific info regarding upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7. Will doing so erase all of my programs, like my TV tuner software, my printing software that the computer came with and that I cannot reinstall, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Panda Security, my Pop-Up Stopper, my webcam, etc.? I feel completely overwhelmed. I have no clue in the world how to reinstall some of those. Or will it just erase my "My Documents" files? I have those backed up already.

I found a tutorial on the subject. It says, "Select the partition where you want to install Windows 7 and click Next. You will need at least 5716MB free space. If you don't have enough free space to install Windows 7, you will receive a warning. If that's the case, you will need to format the partition where you previously had your Windows XP operating system installed. WARNING: Formatting a partition will erase all existing data on the partition - proceed only if you have backed up all your files."

It only mentions files, not programs. I like that. Also, where is this 5716MB free space? According to Belarc, I have 21.99GB hard drive free space and 36.32GB usuable hard drive capacity. Is that different from these other specs that I knew about when I acquired this computer: 2.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 (what's a gigahertz?), 16KB primary memory cache, 256KB secondary memory cache, 1016MB installed memory or RAM.

Does all that mean that if I have enough free space (and do I?) I can download Windows 7 and have it on my computer at the same time as Windows XP? Meaning the partition formatting, whatever that is, is doing it somewhere else other than where Windows XP is? Meaning that it won't affect my programs or files? I realize that when you turn on a computer you can only see one operating system, in this case either Windows 7 or XP. So I don't know how to word that part of the question - if 7 and XP can co-exist on my computer at the same time, how can I transfer all the programs and files from XP to 7 first before making the computer turn on to 7, with the last step being deleting XP after the programs and files have been moved to 7.

Any help, please? I appreciate it very much.

(Also, I have copied my Program Files folder to a USB stick for now, but I have a feeling copying it back to a Windows 7 system isn't the answer. And I still don't know where to find Word or Google Chrome (my secondary browser), because they don't appear to be under Program Files. Maybe under Application Data?)

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Re: upgrade
Mar 1, 2014 7:56PM PST

Technically speaking, it isn't an upgrade. It's a clean install. An upgrade is only possible from Vista.

You old programs and data might be saved in a Windows.old folder (if there's enough space on your hard disk, but there isn't), but it won't harm at all to have your own backup on your USB-stick (great idea).

Although some programs (maybe half) will be able to run without re-installing (for those you copy the folder from Program files in the saved version or in your backup to your new Program Files), some other programs (the other half) needs to be reinstalled from the original setup file (or a later version you download now). It's everybody's guess which of your programs fall in what category, so the safe thing is to assume that none will run and all need to be reinstalled.

More specifically in your list:
- Internet Explorer comes with Windows 7, no reasons to worry, although you lose your cookies and need to restore your favorites from the backup
- Outlook Express doesn't come with Windows 7 and be run. A common choice is to replace it with Thunderbird from Mozilla. A less common choice is to replace it with Windows Live Mail from Microsoft. Both are free, and with both, you'll have to import your address book from your old Windows (make a .csv-file!) and old mail from Outlook Express.
- Google Chrome is easy to download and install again
- Word needs to be installed from the Office disk it came on. But Word 2000 and Word XP might give issues in Windows 7.
- for printer and webcam you'll have to get Windows 7 compatible drivers from the manufacturers site or from Windows update during the install. With some bad luck they don't exist.

Taking everything into account it's best to buy a new PC. That's $400. A new Windows 7 retail license is $200, a new Windows 7 OEM license is $100, so effectively it's $300 more than the cheapest way to install Windows 7. And you'll get a faster computer which will last longer than your current one, that really is old and outdated.

A friend of mine (who, like you, still has XP) is able to buy a refurbished Lenovo laptop with Windows 7 via her work. Then she asks me to install a wireless router, transfer her files and (re)install her printer and some programs (including a mail program). It would be wonderful also if you could find some local help.

Best of luck.

Kees

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In addition
Mar 1, 2014 10:22PM PST

In addition to what Kees said, you don't want to try running Windows 7 on a Pentium 4, let alone one with only 1GB of RAM. You could do it, but you wouldn't be happy with the results. Windows Vista and later versions of Windows are all intended to be run on systems with at least a dual-core CPU. At best you have a single-core hyper-threaded CPU, which is not the same thing. Hyperthreading basically just means that the CPU can run a second process, but it can only use parts of the CPU not being used by the primary process. A dual-core CPU would have the full computational logic of the CPU duplicated.

You will want to get a new computer. I would also suggest that then and now you immediately stop using both Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Both of those programs are enormous security hazards, especially the outdated IE8 where XP is marooned. Outlook Express has long been a spammer's wet dream come true. You can replace IE with Firefox or Chrome, try both, keep the one you like better. Outlook Express... I'd recommend Mozilla Thunderbird myself being the best of the free options, but email clients are a dime a dozen, some paid some free, or you could even move yourself over to a web mail service like Gmail where you only need a web browser. But come April, Internet Explorer is likely going to be the primary means of ingress for ne'er do wells onto XP systems.

In any event, if you need to start saving for a new computer, do so starting yesterday and you can help buy a little additional time by dumping high risk programs like IE and OE. If you buy online most companies will offer the option of installing Windows 7 instead of 8, usually for a small additional fee. Honestly, I don't think it's worth paying extra to avoid Windows 8, but sadly a lot of people have a tendency to become attached to specific ways of doing things and don't understand the benefits of learning new things. That old saying about how the brain is a muscle isn't just some empty platitude, it's backed up by neurological research. The more you engage your brain, such as learning a new OS or program, the more it staves off dementia and just the gradual reduction in one's mental faculties later in life. So don't look upon it as a problem or burden, but rather an opportunity to learn something new and keep your mind as young as possible.

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Your replies
Mar 15, 2014 8:11AM PDT

I am 51 years old now. I am tired from working as it is. Re: both Kees and Jimmy Greystone's replies: I don't know whether to start crying, or to pass out for a few weeks. "Overwhelmed" is too light a word for what I am feeling now. I don't know what will happen now. But thanks for your time in posting those answers.

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In addition
Mar 28, 2014 4:36AM PDT

I am in a position where I will have to continue with XP way after April. If I remove the products like IE and Outlook, would it be safe to surf the internet, emailing and do banking using Google Chrome?

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Define "safe"?
Mar 28, 2014 4:39AM PDT

It's never been absolutely safe and well folk continue to fall prey to so many hacks that I have to write it's not safe in any absolute sense.

With Microsoft signing off that no more patches as well as leaving items unpatched, it's up to you to decide. There are fine replacements for free that can do better and you see those in this discussion. It doesn't have to be "Windows."
Bob

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It'd be safer
Mar 28, 2014 10:17AM PDT

It'd be safer, relative to using IE, but the relative safety will diminish at an increasing rate over time and you'll still be well behind the pack.

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Answer
former XP diehard
Dec 31, 2013 3:02AM PST

Your leaving yourself wide open for hacker attacks an stuff...Go to Win 7 you won't be disappointed..
It won't be right away ,but as time goes by with no new security updates , your vulnerability window widens .
and these hackers know it.....XP still is the predominate platform worldwide...the hackers know it..Relying on
outdated updates for protection be like spitting against the wind...
As a long time XP user , there were updates/cumlitive updates that were time sensitive , with a warning that
these would not be available should-u jump over it.....XP was " STELLER " and difficult to leave even sad . That
was 60 days ago