What will happen to my XP in April 2014?

Nothing will happen other than Microsoft will stop offering updates. Keep you safety programs up to date and your should be fine for a long time yet.

Thank you owbist for a quick response to my question. My Dell Dimension DXP051, 2.79 GHz; 2.00 GB of RAM, Windows XP Home Edition (2002);Service Pack 3, Seagate Free Agent Drive 232 GB; Cable Hookup; Google Chrome; Microsoft Security Essentials...So I should be fine for a whle. I Disk Cleanup, CCleaner, ATF clean, defrag regularly. Thanks again....

How do you get all the available updates after support has ended?
I have an old laptop made for Windows 98 or 2k.
I installed Windows 2k on it and then tried to go to Windows Update.
I thought I would get the updates up to the point where they stopped supporting 2k.
What I got was a message saying Windows 2k is no longer supported.
So I couldn't update it to where they discontinued new updates.
I ended up installing XP on it and it runs it, but slowly.
How do you get the old updates if you need to reinstall the OS
after they stop supporting it? I certainly don't want Windows 8.

Pooh Bear

I have an old 286/386 win 3.11 Gateway with Turbo Boost and dual 3.5/5.25 floppy drive. Last I tried - it still works fine.

Its probably super safe - What crook or hacker in their right mind would want to spend time writing software to infect something only a handful of people in the world might still use.

This post was edited by mikie on Tue, Mar 12, 13 at 12:54

That's a thought, Mikie. Maybe after our machines are several generations older than the current, they are actually safer from the malware infections. Your reasoning makes sense.

A machine that's too old to run up-to-date security software might face a bigger risk on the internet than a modern one that has proper protection.

True viruses are nothing more than simple programs. Many programs are backwards compatible through Windows versions. If a current legit program runs on the machine, so too might a virus.

Funny, I was talking to someone about this tonight. We have 3 desktops (XP), one laptop(XP), one notebook (XP), and one Windows 7 laptop. All run well except the oldest desktop (7yrs) which is out of memory due to my husbands photos.

I have no desire to buy another computer when they all work well. I would try to sell two desktops as they were used for office work and are in great shape, but who would buy XP. My netbook works great too.

Jane

Quote from World Start Newsletter (dated 3/13/13)

"Question: At the present time I have Windows XP. I read that I will no longer be able to use XP in 2014. Is this correct? Can I switch to Windows 7 at that time or will I have to go to Windows 7 before that time. If I have to switch how do I switch to Windows 7?

Answer: As I pointed out in this article, you are not alone. Estimates say 40% of Windows users are still running XP. A whole lot of people still use Windows XP. Microsoft is ending support for XP in 2014, but that doesnâÂÂt mean your operating system will suddenly stop working. It just means that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates, fixes for bugs or offer any customer support for the program. The troubling issue is the lack of security updates.

Upgrading to Windows 7 is pretty simple, you just purchase the program and install it on your computer by putting a disc in the drive or downloading the program. If your computer is older, you will want to make sure you meet the system requirements for Windows 7. As for Windows 8, unless you are upgrading to a touchscreen computer, IâÂÂd suggest sticking with Windows 7. ThereâÂÂs a bit of a learning curve with Windows 8. IâÂÂm adjusting to it now and really canâÂÂt recommend the experience to others. " end of quote from World Start

Upgrading to Windows 7 is pretty simple, you just purchase the program and install it on your computer by putting a disc in the drive or downloading the program.

Personally I would not consider upgrading an older computer. First buying another operating system seems silly because once the older computer quit you would have an operating system you likely could not use again. That said, you could easily use it on another machine if you build it yourself but most folk will not go that route despite it being a relatively easy task.

You could not use XP anywhere else because it is tied to the specific motherboard it was installed on by the manufacturer.

Windows 7 seems to be available for around $100 and more for Windows 8 now. That is about 25% of the price of a new computer with an operating system already installed.

I totally agree owbist...I would not consider an upgrade on my old Desktop that has XP either because the computer is little too old, but I wanted to let people know they could if they wanted to...just another option....

I'm considering installing Win 7 on two desktops which, even though 4 yrs old, haven't been used heavily. They were office machines and didn't have heavy use. They both have 3G of memory. I have a netbook which is 2 yrs old and came with XP. It only has 1G so I'm not sure. Might just use it for email.

Jane

Jane, what would you hope to accomplish by changing to Win 7? If the PCs are running ok, I'd leave them alone.

I wouldnt worry too much. I have 3 98 machines here, that still work perfectly. While they are a bit slower on the internet than XP and Vista, etc etc, they still are pretty tolerable to use, and they will still do anything I want them to do. Since they are older, and since I have limited space to set up all these computers, and have way too many, the 98's do live in the closet, but I pull them out often, update anti virus, transfer some pictures to them so that is always updated. The biggest problem is sitting on the floor to use them, since those big monitors weigh a ton. :-))

Snidley, I probably won't do anything until XP support ends. Wonder how easy it would be to upgrade Win 7 to Win 8? That might solve the password problem I have with the Win 7 laptop. It doesn't have a lot of ram though.

Jane

If a person did upgrade to Win7 you would have to ensure the old computer could handle it..have to check the min requirements

I would like to know how to make the fonts dark black on myWP things like my filing cabinet etc any suggestions? WXP I an hardly read the file names once I get into a document I can change them (the insides)