What are we going to do about XP?

The final few XP browsers and antiviruses are ending support. There is a bit of hope, though. Hackers aren't targeting XP systems as much due to the EOS. I think that one day, either someone releases an antivirus for XP with the latest definitions...or hackers and viruses no longer target XP at all. Then we will be safe.

 

Yeah but security through obscurity is no strategy either. It's like basing financial plans on hope. That's no strategy.

It was said on here in another thread that people shouldn't push others off of using Windows XP. True enough for offline applications. Even I have Windows XP running a small audio jukebox. But for online use, you put others at peril. I know longer subscribe to the FUD beliefs that XP users profess about Microsoft not updating XP. You should want to patch your system. Yes, the POS Ready updates do fix that situation for now, but once 2019 comes to pass, XP should be abandoned.

Perhaps this Classic OS mentioned in the off-topic forum might provide an alternate. But for now that's vapourware. And will it run on new hardware and WDM drivers, support newer DirectX revisions, browsers and applications? Will it be x64 ready?

We'll see. I'll bet if many of you purchased a refurbed Duo-Core (less than $200.00) with Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8/8.1, and saw how newer Windows versions take advantage of newer hardware, a lot of the slow and bloated arguments would go out the window.

 

Having decent AV, I have not had malware cripple any of my machines. I have, however, from time to time, picked up 'Root-kits' which have been extremely difficult to eradicate.

When this has occurred, I have relied heavily on the experience of the larger community of users, and the information which gets posted on line. ie wading through the alternatives that search reveals, in succession.

I suspect my XP use will cease when suchlike occurs, and that community collective of solutions is no-longer to be found.

 

There is an IDE called Mono. Even Linux users are being advised to remove Mono from their systems, on account of the malware aimed at Windows via Mono, fouling Linux systems.

My point is, some malware is more OS-agnostic than other, and as such represents a continuing threat to XP users.

I don't know the locus of the action of these, but in recent years. we have had secure sockets which have been NOT secure, JAVA scripts getting hi-jacked, security holes in near universal apps such as PDF readers etc etc

So I do not think we will be safe because no-one is targeting XP specifically.

 

Whilst I am developing ClassicOS as an alternative, maybe another proposal is me, my team, and some guys here could develop our own indie Internet Browser?

 

@towgers, until you get the classic os up I am trying zorin 9 os on my dell latitude laptop d800 with a pentium processor, I had to go through a couple of loops to get past pae disabled and force a pae, and so far it is installing,

 

@Elizabeth23 its been a bit since you posted that comment. How are you liking Zorin9?

 

I did not get much chance to try it as owner wanted xp pro reinstalled on that laptop I was playing around with.

did not like the fact that I had to do a workaround to force pae, to get it to boot, but I did get it installed only to have to wipe the drive and then install xp.

 

I have ran XP64 for many years. I use Spywareblaster (free) and SuperAntiSpyware free which I run manually.
I also have a large host file to block many bad ip's.
I pay no attention to virus and or hacker scare propaganda.

 

Jody well said but you forgot something, really many things, first dropping support for xp was just another company rape job on the public, where no one matters but the companys, thats psychopathy run wild.

its a anti trust issue, if people don't bitch and just give in to it, the USA will look worse then it does now, and right now its a vomit picture.

mean while Avast is the new XP support.

7 and up are just even worse mental insults.

 

Hi Priscus
fact is MS and other folks who were abused as children are/is making the net harder to use with XP by making sites/programs that simply don't include xp as a viable log on., it is a huge Anti-trust suite waiting to happen

 

Hello. I am new to the forum. I know that major anti viruses and browsers have dropped support for XP, but there are still some great options to choose from. I personally use Panda as antivirus and Mypal as my default browser. Also, the best way to avoid getting virus is, well, common sense. So do not go to sketchy or questionable websites and you should be safe.

 

Welcome Ayan
Jody's post above holds true, he's very down to earth, however, Avast has tried to deal with the XP issue and has done well cause they know they have a 300 million XP user base. if your wasting life time on the net gaming ETC your gonna get hit and go down. but if your just using something like "Start page" browser which is a "free proxie" supported by ads, going straight to mail by book mark, you should have zero fears, tho you tube will barely play Etc.
I know some folks are just trying to have money to "eat with" let alone "Keep up" with all these ruthless and lawless changes.

Look into "No script" and "Self destructing cookie" which catches a lot of crap before it can ruin you.

I just rebuilt a "7" with a full Terra byte Drive, it is a little more "Autistic" but better in other ways, you can move up to seven on most XP machines, get Jody to help you, he 's one of the smartest folks on this forum.

Stay close to nature, go to bed early, burn a candle, MS was stolen from Steve Jobs, by a Punk who did not have the brains to make it work well, don't let that become your problem.

 

Great O/Ss are like old soldiers ... like General MacArthur they don't die ... they just fade away

 

I have been running XP 64 for years with no antivirus.
"Statistics show that only 1% of the users affected by rootkits are using Windows 64 bit, and that most infections occur on 32 bit operating systems."
I have a large Host file and Spyware blaster. Occasionally I start and run the free version of SuperAntispyware. I have been to questionable websites and torrent sites without a single problem. The are many free virus check-remove one use type programs if I want to check my computer but I don't want any of the running continually.

Mypal is the best XP browser for watching online videos.
You won't know what you are missing until you use an up to date browser like Chrome or Firefox in Youtube Studio running under Windows 10. Half or more of the options don't show up in an XP browser.
I can plug in another SSG hard drive and run Windows 10 if I want. I disabled all automatic updates and Windows Defender on Windows 10. This greatly increased the speed. Windows 10 can be updated manually. My computer has an I7-2600 with 8gb of ram and a couple of SSG hard drives. One SSG has Windows 10 Enterprise X64 2016 LTSB on it. I have backup images of XP and XP 64 and Windows 10 if I ever need them.

 

Glarysoft Malware hunter still supporting XP https://www.glarysoft.com/malware-hunter/

 

You already are safe. I have been running 'unsafe' XP Pro on an old OptiPlex 960, using 'unsafe' browsers (Firefox 52.4.0, Mypal, and Centaury) for over three years now. For the last year without antivirus, unless you count Malwarebytes Free and Superantispyware. Other than 3 or 4 PUPs, I have had zero malware, after an estimated 5700 hours on the internet, going to every site I could get to, including those dens of malware iniquity (porn sites). The much ballyhooed viruses, trojans, rootkits, keyloggers, etc., constantly threatened by M$, and their legion of parrots continue to be MIA, long after the EOL/EOS 'calamity' of 2014.

Want to be safe? Ditch the wifi crap. Get a wired-only router (MikroTik, Ubiquiti, Gl.iNet, etc.), and engage its SPI & NAT hardware firewall. Before you connect your PC, take it to a shop for a full malware scan. Connect it to internet via the router. First thing you do is download software firewall (I use a silly Outpost Firewall 2009), Malwarebytes Free, Adwcleaner, network/port monitor, and a decent uninstaller. I'd bet you will be as safe as I have been. Experience over the last 3+ years has convinced me all this twaddle about EOL/EOS is just that. At best a molehill blown into a mountain. At worst, an M$ attempt to deploy their own große Lüge, to stampede the sheeple into buying one rendition after another of their always insecure and corporate malware-infested OS.

https://www.cvedetails.com/product/739/Microsoft-Windows-Xp.html?vendor_id=26
https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-26/product_id-17153/Microsoft-Windows-7.html
https://www.cvedetails.com/product/26434/Microsoft-Windows-8.1.html?vendor_id=26
https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerab...sion_id-200932/Microsoft-Windows-10-1607.html

A quick comparison shows little if any improvement. M$ resources never goes into security....unless it is to try to make corporate crapola like DRM, HDCP, and so on as bulletproof as possible...and they even faceplant in that.

 

Jody your a real mature help here often, thanks

What are we going to do about XP?
I will tell you, same as has already happen, more and more kids will grow up without a childhood and do just what they have been doing, getting weirder and weirder, pretending their adults cause they have seen so much "Net Junk".

The most advanced device in the world is a table of contents,
Autistic MS threw that out and turned it into a mind destroying "Dart Board".
they can't read poetry, they do not understand art, being touched and loved is a frigging Abstract to them, and when a person is abstracted from touch and emotional coherence they get just what you see out there-total stranger to them selves dizziness. can't talk about their deepest feelings, all the while making some of the worst art and music in history cause that un developed junk inside them is spilling on the life canvas, and its just gets stranger with ms seven which i post here with.

Admin ASIDE , who is most often mature and helpful,
all these vacuous, mindless, meaningless figuring and processing of numbers nothing to time lost forever, to protect yourself in your own bedroom, which was once a fortress of psychiatric safety to grow in, is the only problem there is.

 

I have not had a firewall or antivirus on XP 64 for many, many years.
I don't pay any attention to security risk fear mongering.
If needed I can install a backup image.

 

Very little of the panic to “upgrade” from XP is about cyber security ... it’s mostly about corporate greed. I am cynical and suspicious enuf to think “clandestinely sponsored” malware developers are a reality ... create a crisis to use as leverage to squeeze gullible consumers.