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Post new topic Microsoft to end support of Windows XP on April 8, 2014
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Author Topic:  Microsoft to end support of Windows XP on April 8, 2014
Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 5 Mar 2014 9:39 am    
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Ken Lang wrote:
Wiz. I have an xp computer here that I plan to upgrade the xp stuff before Mar 8. I don't use it, but might as well get it up to the latest xp.

I also have an xp computer in New York that I won't get to till May. Do you know if I can save xp upgrades on a thumb drive to use for that. I don't intend to use any xp computers for internet.


Ken;
You'll need to go to the Microsoft Download Center, find XP patches and Hotfixes and download as many as possible. Be sure you save Service Pack 3 and any CPU fixes if you have an HP computer with an AMD processor.

Do not assume that you can protect an XP computer that goes online, unless you follow these guidelines.

  • Apply all patches that are or were available for XP, Office components, Internet Explorer, etc.
  • Apply updated versions of Adobe Reader and Flash. Uninstall all versions of Java, or uninstall anything outdated and disconnect it from your browsers.
  • Update any Apple software, like Quicktime, iTunes, etc.
  • Login as a Limited User for daily use
  • Use Firefox instead of IE. Install and learn to use the NoScript Add-on.
  • Do not click on links in email unless you hover over them and verify that the URL is what it claims to be and you have dealings with the sender and expect the message and link. Some of your friends may have compromised email accounts sending spam, exploit, or phishing links.
  • Assume that They are out to get you, because They are.
  • Be super careful of what you "like" or "share" on Facebook. Some items posted by your friends could be scams they fell for and shared.
  • If you use any IM programs, make sure they are up to date.
  • If any of your software contains a check for updates link, use it. If you have the option for automatic updates, select it.
  • Install a security program that guarantees to support XP and gets at least daily, if not hourly automatic updates.
  • Consider adding the paid version of MBAM as a security backup.

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Ken Lang


From:
Simi Valley, Ca
Post  Posted 6 Mar 2014 7:27 am    
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Thanks Wiz. I have win 7 computers for going on line.
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Wayne Carver

 

From:
Martinez, Georgia, USA
Post  Posted 10 Mar 2014 6:45 pm    
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I'm looking strongly at Ubuntu, Xbuntu, or Lbuntu. It was recommended to just use the regular Ubuntu rather than one of the lite versions.
Would running them within a program like Virtual Box allow me to review them and check to see if they are compatible with my hardware including my wireless internet adapter?
If I choose Ubuntu as my operating system, what do I do with WindowsXP if I don't want two operating systems on my PC? Should I start fresh with a formatted erased hard drive? Does Ubuntu copy any programs over from XP? Should I just leave the XP system on the PC and boot from Ubuntu?
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Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 10 Mar 2014 8:08 pm    
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Wayne Carver wrote:
I'm looking strongly at Ubuntu, ...
If I choose Ubuntu as my operating system, what do I do with WindowsXP if I don't want two operating systems on my PC? Should I start fresh with a formatted erased hard drive? Does Ubuntu copy any programs over from XP? Should I just leave the XP system on the PC and boot from Ubuntu?


Ubuntu has plenty of support for most hardware devices. Just install it and boot into it automatically, or manually, by choosing it at boot time. No need to delete XP, until you are really sure you're done using any programs you installed into it.

Absolutely nothing "carries over." from XP. No programs, no settings, no data files, no icons, nada.

However, you do get a file explorer that can be used to see your old files. Whether or not they can be opened is another story. We're talking apples and oranges.

That said, typographically speaking, one can install WINE, which is a translation layer that allows some Windows software to run, to some degree, under Linux.
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"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog
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Wayne Carver

 

From:
Martinez, Georgia, USA
Post  Posted 11 Mar 2014 3:41 am    
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Wiz Feinberg wrote:
Wayne Carver wrote:
I'm looking strongly at Ubuntu, ...
If I choose Ubuntu as my operating system, what do I do with WindowsXP if I don't want two operating systems on my PC? Should I start fresh with a formatted erased hard drive? Does Ubuntu copy any programs over from XP? Should I just leave the XP system on the PC and boot from Ubuntu?


Ubuntu has plenty of support for most hardware devices. Just install it and boot into it automatically, or manually, by choosing it at boot time. No need to delete XP, until you are really sure you're done using any programs you installed into it.

Absolutely nothing "carries over." from XP. No programs, no settings, no data files, no icons, nada.

However, you do get a file explorer that can be used to see your old files. Whether or not they can be opened is another story. We're talking apples and oranges.


Thanks for the info, when installing Ubuntu on my hard drive with XP, do I manually creat a partition or does Ubuntu do that? I was looking at making a Live CD to try the Ubuntu operating system and it said one could resize a partition from that CD if needed.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD
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Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 11 Mar 2014 8:12 am    
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Ubuntu normally installs inside a folder on the disk drive you specify. It modifies boot.ini to add its own boot option, asking you if you want it to become the default OS. If you answer yes, you boot into Linux. If you answer no, you boot into XP. I would recommend testing Ubuntu first, before allowing it to take over.

You can manually change the boot order by right clicking on My Computer, choosing Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings > Default operating system. Make your new selection, set the amount of seconds to display the boot menu, then click OK.
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"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog
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Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2014 8:16 am     Final Windows Updates for Windows XP & Office 2003 is TODAY
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Today is April 8, 2014. This marks the final Windows Updates for the XP operating system and MS Office 2003. Please run Windows Update from all XP computers, sometime after 2PM your time.

Once you have applied these updates and rebooted, you are totally on your own to protect these computers from malware, viruses and information stealers. Most anti-virus programs will continue to run on XP and will receive updates for at least one more year. But, none that I have looked into have any long term commitments planned, except for paying customers.

If you must continue operating XP computers for some programs that will not run on Windows 7 or newer, follow best security practices, as outlined below.


  • Keep XP PCs off the Internet.
  • Keep networked XP computers behind hardware firewalls, with public facing ports closed and remote services turned off.
  • Make sure that the XP Firewall stays active and enabled at all times. It may block a dangerous packet coming from other infected computers on the same network. This is how computer worms spread internally.
  • Operate XP with reduced user privileges, if possible. A less privileged user account is almost 90% less likely to become unknowingly infected than one with Administrator privileges.
  • Less privileged users could still be tricked by clever wording on pop-up prompts to run an installer, so beware requests to run unexpected executables.
  • Uninstall unnecessary or un-needed programs.
  • Delete temporary files and defrag every so often. I use CCleaner every night.
  • If the PC must go online, install MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.
  • Also install an anti-virus that supports XP and receives regular updates
  • Disable the View option that hides known file extensions! A lot of malicious executables are disguised as images, or PDFs (by substituting icons). Double clicking to open them actually launches the malware installers.
  • An unprotected offline XP computer can still become infected if you plug an external USB or networked drive into your computer and that drive contains a malicious Autorun installer.

_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog
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Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 27 Apr 2014 11:30 am     New Internet Explorer 0-day in the wild. No patches for XP
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Microsoft has confirmed the discovery of a new zero-day exploit targeting most versions of Internet Explorer (v 6 through 11). The attack vector is new and has not yet been patched. A successful attack crashes the IE browser, then causes malicious code to run in the background. Users with Administrator privileges on XP, or on newer OSes with UAC turned off, will be instantly exploited.

This is the first official zero-day exploit announced since support for XP ended on April 8, 2014. There will be no patch at all for XP users, for this or any other security vulnerabilities to be discovered.

Those using newer supported operating systems will be receiving official patches, either on Patch Tuesday, May 13, or possibly sooner, in an out-of-band patch.

Microsoft has made available a specialized security policy enforcement tool, named EMET, which can mitigate this and many other zero-day exploit attacks. You can read about EMET here.

My best advice for XP users is to stop using Internet Explorer and choose a different browser brand. Current builds of Firefox and Chrome are two of the best available and Opera is good. Safari is to be avoided like the plague.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog
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Ken Lang


From:
Simi Valley, Ca
Post  Posted 2 May 2014 7:09 am    
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Micro soft has relented about XP and is supporting it again. I had 11 updates upon opening my XP computer here in NY, and reading about the change I updated it again using the computer update in XP. It put in 21 updates.

Now I have my new win 7 laptop upstairs and this updated XP in my basement. I guess too many computers is better than not enough.
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Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 2 May 2014 7:27 am    
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Ken Lang wrote:
Micro soft has relented about XP and is supporting it again. I had 11 updates upon opening my XP computer here in NY, and reading about the change I updated it again using the computer update in XP. It put in 21 updates.

Now I have my new win 7 laptop upstairs and this updated XP in my basement. I guess too many computers is better than not enough.


Ken;
With just one exception*, the updates you got when you booted up you less used Windows XP computer were published up to April 8. Any XP computer is entitled to the remaining updates, even after the original date they wrer released. If you had to reformat and reinstall XP, you would still be entitled to the existing updates and service packs. That is, as long as you hold a valid product key and are able to convince a Microsoft rep to re-activate XP on the phone.

* The one exception I mentioned was an out-of-band patch for a 0-day exploit targeting Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11. Since the last version available to XP users was IE 8, and since the final round of updates was less that a month ago, Microsoft chose to include XP in this particular Windows Update. They had no obligation to do so.

Bottom line: don't assume that once you have applied all currently available Windows updates, including the last one issued on May 1, that there will be any new ones for your XP computers.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Wiz Feinberg


From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 14 Jan 2020 8:50 am     Topic to be archived.
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Since this topic hasn't had any replies since 2014 and is about a long outdated operating system, I am removing the sticky setting and will let it disappear into the archives. It will still be findable through a search.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website


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