Users currently on Windows XP...

Thread Starter

Externet

Joined Nov 29, 2005
2,201
Hi.
How do users manage XP to handle the current pushy demands and features of the web and software ?
Is there obscure hidden versions/updates of this now-unsupported OS that appears as consensus, the best performing and intuitive version without today's excesses ?
Or are you individually tailoring XP to needs and to overcome the limitating hurdles ?

Is there a XP 'fanatics' site you may suggest to learn what is being overcomed ?
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,618
Google chrome is becoming increasingly harder due to no support for XP, I really have little problems using Mozilla Firefox.
My service provider has a free membership to a pretty good security program.
Max.
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
Hi.
How do users manage XP to handle the current pushy demands and features of the web and software ?
Is there obscure hidden versions/updates of this now-unsupported OS that appears as consensus, the best performing and intuitive version without today's excesses ?
Or are you individually tailoring XP to needs and to overcome the limitating hurdles ?

Is there a XP 'fanatics' site you may suggest to learn what is being overcomed ?
I am still using XP for my technical stuff, using the same software that I have used for years. Libre Office Suite handles my documentation needs and will up and down convert docs from all versions of Office (all for free!). On the very rare occasion that my needs run into a compatibility problem, I will use my laptop on Win 7 or my social interface computer on Win 8 and then convert the result to work with 32 bit applications.
I find that the new operating systems and software use so much memory and disk space and other resources that they are noticeably slower than the older, much simpler XP. I don't know of any XP user group sites but XP is still the operating system in use in 25% of North American PCs.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
Because of the severe security concerns, we had to establish a program to take all XP machines off the network (at my past employer, a university). Because many instruments required XP, a serious problem with using a < $500 PC as a necessary component of a > $100,000 (sometimes much more) Instrument, we had to leave some machines in place but off the net. Updates are complex and dangerous, and procedures were developed to deal with them.

We had previously designed cloistered networks for labs, which helped. It was possible to leave the XP machines locally networked, but isolated to the lab.

The hardware sometimes had to remain with proprietary controllers we could not make run in newer machines. It stinks.

The most frustrating case was a ~$100K detector for a SEM that ran under OS/2 Warp, in a DOS window but it simply refused to run under any version of DOS alone, and we couldn't install Warp on any other machine, so eventually the original computer died and the detector became useless, not because it failed but because a computer we could have replaced for $100 couldn't be replaced.

XP is a security nightmare, so if you are going to use it, be very careful with connections to the Internet.
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
It is amazing how many programs will run on XP. In my case, some of the software that I am running was acquired while running Windows 98. XP is where I go to run simulations, draw images, work on firmware. No security worries because there is nothing worth stealing -no banking or credit card information for example, and anything that gets into the machine is welcome to send out copies of everything because there is very little confidential material, all of which is worthless without context. Loosing files? The entire disk drive image is backed up hourly on a separate machine.

Still looking to move to Windows 10 so I can run some more modern software but that is not a priority right now.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,845
If something isn't supported by the old software on XP, I use a Win10 computer.

I like XP because I've been using it since it first came out (I had a dual processor computer running Win98, but the second CPU couldn't be used until XP was released). I also have computers running Win98 and WinME because I need Win98 functionality for programs that access the parallel port.

When I browse from XP, I only go to trusted sites. I home my Wife is doing the same.

I finally have most of my scripts ported to Win10, so I'll be making the switch soon because too many sites are refusing to allow old browsers to connect.
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
If something isn't supported by the old software on XP, I use a Win10 computer.

I like XP because I've been using it since it first came out (I had a dual processor computer running Win98, but the second CPU couldn't be used until XP was released). I also have computers running Win98 and WinME because I need Win98 functionality for programs that access the parallel port.

When I browse from XP, I only go to trusted sites. I home my Wife is doing the same.

I finally have most of my scripts ported to Win10, so I'll be making the switch soon because too many sites are refusing to allow old browsers to connect.
We are the victims of planned obsolescence. One day soon we will be forced to throw away perfectly good equipment that does everything we need it to do and replace it at our own expense with modern equipment that does not meet our needs but does just about everything that we don't need. And they call that progress?
Duh.jpg
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
My understanding is that XP can be compromised just by being connected to the internet even without being connected to a site, or is that not correct?
If it is not on the other side of a NAT connection, it is vulnerable to various exploits concerning ports open for file sharing and the like. But most of the time home networks will not allow direct access, the connection must be initiated from the inside to establish the NAT.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,845
My understanding is that XP can be compromised just by being connected to the internet even without being connected to a site, or is that not correct?
I'm pretty certain you have to go to a bad site.

My DSL modem is configured for stealth mode and I only open up the ports I use.

I don't open suspicious email; even after it has been checked by the virus scanner. I check the message source of anything the least bit suspicious to see if anything looks like it's being spoofed. Whenever I have the option, I request that email be sent as plain text.
 

danadak

Joined Mar 10, 2018
4,057
I found I needed Win 10 to keep up with tool evolution, but also needed XP
for some legacy equipment I still use. So PC runs Win10, and I installed
Oracle VirtualBox to run XP. So far so good on compatibility.

Regards, Dana.
 

eetech00

Joined Jun 8, 2013
3,859
If it is not on the other side of a NAT connection, it is vulnerable to various exploits concerning ports open for file sharing and the like. But most of the time home networks will not allow direct access, the connection must be initiated from the inside to establish the NAT.
Not really. NAT is not intended to provide security. The internal device is potentially vulnerable once a NAT connection is established.

eT
 

eetech00

Joined Jun 8, 2013
3,859
My understanding is that XP can be compromised just by being connected to the internet even without being connected to a site, or is that not correct?
That is VERY correct, simply because MS no longer tests XP for vulnerabilities or exploits, where, if any were found, would lead to patches....which MS no longer provides.

eT
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
Not really. NAT is not intended to provide security. The internal device is potentially vulnerable once a NAT connection is established.

eT
That’s exactly what I said. If the device does not make establish a NAT connection outwards, it cannot be connected to on a given port from a given external address.

What are you adding?
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
I'm pretty certain you have to go to a bad site.

My DSL modem is configured for stealth mode and I only open up the ports I use.

I don't open suspicious email; even after it has been checked by the virus scanner. I check the message source of anything the least bit suspicious to see if anything looks like it's being spoofed. Whenever I have the option, I request that email be sent as plain text.
Just to add clarity, if you are connected to the Internet, even through NAT, and you don’t have explicit firewall rules limiting the connections allowed by an XP box, and you install malicious software that uses the net for C&C or some other purpose, you will have a problem even if you don’t browse to bad sites. But, you can’t be compromised over your network connection behind a NAT router unless something initiates the connection from the inside first.

tl;dr: Don’t click on anything that you don’t have complete knowledge about on a Windows XP machine or you’re at grave risk of being owned.
 

eetech00

Joined Jun 8, 2013
3,859
That’s exactly what I said. If the device does not make establish a NAT connection outwards, it cannot be connected to on a given port from a given external address.

What are you adding?
What I stated is not exactly what you said.
What you said implies that nat provides security...it does not.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
What I stated is not exactly what you said.
What you said implies that nat provides security...it does not.
Sorry, I didn’t imply anything about security. You misread it.

If an XP machine is connected to the Internet via NAT and it does not make connections to the outside itself, nothing outside will be able to make connections to it. That’s not “security”, it’s just a fact.

NAT has side effects that prevent exploits from outside. You are the one who brought “security” into the conversation. You said “not really”, but what I said is really true.
 
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