Windows 7 vs. XP?

[ChattanoogaPhil]

To answer your question about what you saw... You saw what Microsoft characterized as an "exception" to no longer supporting XP. Regardless of saying they will no longer provide support for XP, MS can do whatever they want.

As far as installing 7 on your machine... I would caution against it unless you have a dual-core CPU and 4gig RAM or better. In general, I think it is a waste of time and money when you can get a new PC for $300. In any event, this should answer most all your questions about going from XP to 7. Upgrading to Windows 7: FAQ - Microsoft Windows Help

My guess is that you don't get involved with the OS much and rarely venture beyond simply clicking on an icon to use a program. If so, don't fret about 7. If you can get into a rental car and locate where the gas pedal and brake is you'll likely be able to operate 7 just fine. Maybe it will take a bit to learn where the cup holders and cig lighter is, but you'll figure it out.

 

[ChuckS1]

This is seriously dangerous advice.

An exploit is NOT the same thing as a virus, and what protects against viruses may not even SEE an exploit, and in fact is extremely likely NOT to.

An exploit is something which takes advantage of a vulnerability of the operating system. I'm unaware of ANY anti-virus which patches the kernel or supporting mechanisms of the operating system. There's NO anti-virus program which is going to patch the operating system to prevent a stack overflow from a specific manipulation of a particular port.

Exploits don't have to be aimed at specific computers. They can be directed at entire subnets, and from large forces of hijacked "zombie" computers.

Saying that you should stick with an obsolete operating system with no security updates is like saying that you don't need a gun because nobody is specifically looking to rob, rape or murder YOU.

Well, to each his own, but for the OP's benefit, if he likes XP, stick with XP. I wouldn't lose any sleep over not switching operating systems. To use your gun analogy, just because S&W started selling 9mm semiautos doesn't mean my Heavy Duty doesn't still shoot as good as ever.

 

[cmort666]

Well, to each his own, but for the OP's benefit, if he likes XP, stick with XP. I wouldn't lose any sleep over not switching operating systems. To use your gun analogy, just because S&W started selling 9mm semiautos doesn't mean my Heavy Duty doesn't still shoot as good as ever.

Sticking with an obsolete, unsupported operating system is like not carrying a gun AT ALL, and relying on statistics as "protection".

The VAST majority of people in the world in 1912 didn't drown in ship sinkings. That doesn't mean that the people in steerage on the Titanic wouldn't have benefited from more lifeboats.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

You can keep using XP if you do not use the internet.

If you do use the internet, use a browser other than Internet Explorer. Even then you will be at risk for rouge web sites.

Make sure that you have all important files backed up off line to a flash drive or external drive.

I have one XP PC that I use to support older version development tools. It is turned on rarely and I do not use it for email or browsing.

 

[POPPER]

Although I am no PC expert by any means I suggest you get windows 7 while you can. Every one I know who got stuck with windows 8 at work home or whatever say that program rally stinks. I had an old 32bit tower with XP in it for years and really liked it. My wife has had a 64bit 7 program for sometime so I was a little familiar with it. In my case I went shopping for a refurbed Dell with a 64 bit program on it and haven't looked back quite honestly. Took a bit of getting used to a bit different setup for awhile but in all honesty it is a fine program and has a lot of automated features etc. that my old XP didn't so I have no complaints. New or refurbed towers with windows 7 64 bit I might ad are getting harder and harder to find and you sure don't want to mess with 8. That's my take on it

 

[Krell1]

I'm not a PC expert either but I did have a laptop that completely crashed. I thought of looking for a new one but decided to try a repair job. I replaced the hard drive ($48) and the reloaded Win7 Home Premium. I didn't have the code I needed to start it so I used one from a different computer. A few days later I kept getting messages that my code was not valid. I went ahead and called in and followed the steps I was given, entering a lot of numbers, and it now is registered and working OK. I had to update a lot of drivers which was relatively simple but slightly time consuming. A side benefit of doing this was that I was free to load any programs I needed without having a lot of files I didn't need. So far, the computer has been working well with no crashes or other issues. Now I feel the need to get a part time job with the geek squad.

 

[Texas Star]

This is all very helpful. I don't know my capacity, as the computer is a Frankenstein item installed by my brother. He'll need to check if it'll support adding Win. 7.

Our third brother once expressed surprise that I have so little
capacity. Is this RAM? He said that I should have a lot more.

My preferred course is to keep XP and change to Firefox for a browser. I think...I haven't seen Firefox in use. I know that my brother likes Chrome and he installed it already. But I'm reluctant to use it, as Google is so intrusive. And I'd have to learn to use it.

I do have Avast, which updates automatically and when they prompt me to do it. I also use Spybot. So far, so good. Avast has caught/blocked a lot of bad sites and photos.

I obviously go Online; you see me here! I do a lot of research and am on several boards similar to this one and search for info on celebrities, history, pictures of fish, animals, guns, knives, planes, whatnot. I visit Amazon.com and other sales sites and write fan fiction on the major site for that.

And I'm writing a novel, in Word. Very important!

I e-mail some, too. Who doesn't? And I watch videos on YouTube and listen to music there. I play DVD's.

I DO NOT play games on the computer. I have neither time or interest for that. If XP doesn't support that, I'll never miss it.

If it won't expose me to attacks, I'd really just prefer to stay with XP. But Windows 7 does seem safer.

Thanks for the feedback. Have we missed anything?

I do know that I've read several computer topics here and NO ONE seems to like 8.0 or 8.1 or Vista.

 

[cmort666]

Our third brother once expressed surprise that I have so little capacity. Is this RAM? He said that I should have a lot more.

He could mean RAM or hard drive storage. Without knowing how much of either you have, it'd be hard to say.

RAM is where the operating system and your programs actually RUN when you use them. If you don't have enough, the system will be slow because it's constantly swapping things onto and off of the hard drive (which is MUCH slower) in order to free up RAM to do things. In fact, some things just won't run at all.

Insufficient hard drive space will cause the computer to drastically slow or even crash because there's no place for things to be written to non-volatile storage. If you're out of hard drive space, the OS will usually warn you. As inexpensive as hard drives are these days, there's really no excuse to have less than 500gig of storage. I've got a 2 terabyte drive in my system and (among others) a 2 terabyte external drive. If your system is sufficiently old, it may have drive size limitations in the BIOS, as well as limits on the size of RAM.

One consideration which some people neglect when upgrading is that if the processor is not 64 bit, it can only run the 32 bit versions of any operating system, be it XP, Windows 7 or Linux for that matter. That in turn limits the amount of memory which the OS can recognize to 4gig (actually slightly less). That's why I tell people thinking of upgrading the OS, to just buy a new machine and migrate the data, if it's sufficiently old.

I got my mother's old 32bit Toshiba laptop when she bought a new Windows 8 machine. I have a very limited need to run Windows programs on it, so I installed 32bit Ubuntu Linux on it. With a memory upgrade, it runs MUCH faster than it did under Windows XP.

In turn, I sent my cousin in Chicago my old IBM Thinkpad with XP on it when her Acer with Vista on it died while I was finishing up completely reinstalling everything at Christmas time. It was just for her to have SOMETHING to use until she can afford to buy a new machine or get the other one fixed. The problem is that:

1. She's obsessed with "neatness", lives in a tiny studio apartment, and doesn't want a desktop and monitor, or "wires".
2. It's a laptop, and for me to diagnose the problems would involve AT LEAST buying a new power supply and or battery, which at the time neither of us could afford.
3. She has very limited funds either for repairs or a replacement. Nor do I know ANYBODY in Chicago whom I'd trust to work on it.

She's so religious that she makes Amy Semple McPherson look like Courtney Love, so she's going to avoid a lot of exposures that a lot of others might have to viruses and malware. That being said, she's been told that she needs to get a replacement as soon as possible.

 

[cmort666]

My preferred course is to keep XP and change to Firefox for a browser. I think...I haven't seen Firefox in use. I know that my brother likes Chrome and he installed it already. But I'm reluctant to use it, as Google is so intrusive. And I'd have to learn to use it.

I do have Avast, which updates automatically and when they prompt me to do it. I also use Spybot. So far, so good. Avast has caught/blocked a lot of bad sites and photos.

That's not really a good solution.

Things which attack the vulnerabilities of the operating system on a fundamental level are basically irrelevant to either the browser or anti-virus and anti-spyware. It's like having a burglar alarm installed and the installer posting the disarm code on the internet. An OS exploit will likely completely sidestep any anti-virus program.

Remember, that kid in Belarus isn't working on a way to attack YOUR XP machine. He and his friends are working on a way to attack EVERY XP machine... IN THE WORLD. Once they find a way (or ways), without updates from Microsoft, what will get him into a machine in Vicenza or Vientiane will get him into YOURS as well. And they're not targeting just one or two machines, they're targeting EVERY machine they can access by IP subnet.

If I were writing a book, that's not a chance I'd be willing to take.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

You really need to change your operating system to win 7. The different browsers was just different browsers. I like Foxfire and use it a lot on my desktop.
On this iPad right now I am using chrome. In fact I am talking to Chrome.
Cause if you can talk the talk, Chrome can walk the walk.
I believe Chrome is the only browser that you can use on all platforms.
But your problem is not your browser, it is your operating system.
Your brother needs to bring in a external hard drive, save all your documents and pictures and do you a clean Windows 7 load.

 

[THEWELSHM]

Ok here's the deal the experience I had I love 7 ,tried 8 hated it because I was used to XP format . I am writing this post on my reloading room pc which has XP. I have good antivirus software so will see how this plays out. For those folks with small processors I would down load windows 7 32 bit. 64 wont work for you it will need to much memory .Also if you have Lotus or some of the older software you may get printing issues. I have 64 bit 7 (I love it) on my main machine in the house. But this one still XP Im not moving anytime soon ( although I would suggest using Firefox Instead of Explorer hell of a difference on the XP machines ( not saying MS would sand bag us) but seems to be the case.My 02

thewelshm

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

This is all very helpful. I don't know my capacity, as the computer is a Frankenstein item installed by my brother. He'll need to check if it'll support adding Win. 7.

Our third brother once expressed surprise that I have so little
capacity. Is this RAM? He said that I should have a lot more.
.

Click the (Start) button

Click (My Computer)

My Computer page will pop up and you should see a list of drives. Hover the mouse over Local Disk C: (don't click) and a tiny window will pop up that says Total Size. That is the size of your hard drive.

On the left side of the same My Computer page is a column. The first part of the column is labeled Sytem Tasks. Right below that click (View System Information). A System Properties window will pop up with the CPU and RAM info.