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PSA: Windows XP!
11 years ago
General
Not sure if this affects anyone watching lil' ol' me, but nonetheless; a friend of mine asked me about it, so I figured I'd put out the information I have.
On April 8th, three days before publication of this journal, Microsoft officially discontinued support for Windows XP, Microsoft Office 2003, and (possibly) Microsoft Security Essentials on XP (I've heard mixed stories about the latter; probably best to assume it is though).
What does this mean for you? If you're running Vista or later, nothing. Don't sweat it, you're cool. If you're running XP, however, this obviously does not mean that the computer will shut off and never come back up or anything like that, or else you wouldn't be reading this now, since I'm late. :) However, there will be no new official upgrades/updates for any reason, and thus any security problems that develop will NOT be fixed. Additionally, it's basically an 'all clear' to manufacturers of hardware and software to stop worrying about making their work compatible with XP. It's up to the individual MFG to determine when they want to stop supporting it, but now they can basically do so at any time, and without warning if they wish.
How do you fix this problem? Well, if you're a world government, you can pay Microsoft fabulous amounts of money to have a support team at your personal disposal. For normal users, though, the best option hands down is to upgrade to a newer version of Windows. If it's a newer computer or was really high-end, it might be as simple as buying a newer version and running the disc. In my work, I normally say that if the processor is not dual-core or more and 2GHz or more, or the computer has less than 4GB of memory, or the video card is not on the list of supported cards for Win7/8, that it should be upgraded. However, it it fails more than one of those or it's older than about 5-6 years, it's worth considering just replacing it - you'll be happy in the long run, and it might actually be cheaper in the long run.
What if you can't get a new version of Windows right now? Then you're in a pickle. I strongly recommend upgrading ASAP. But in the mean time, there's a few things you can do to try to make yourself safer.
1. Avoid online banking/online shopping/etc. Use your smartphone for that if you must, things like that. Anything that exposes personal details is vulnerable.
2. Ensure you have a good antivirus program. Panda Cloud Antivirus is a decent choice; it scans 'in the cloud', so it doesn't slow down your computer much, and always has the latest virus definitions that the company has available. It does require an internet connection to be able to do anything, though. Also consider using SuperAntiSpyware and either MalwareBytes AntiMalware or ChicaPC Shield to sweep for spyware periodically.
3. Back up any documents you may have with personal information onto a flash drive or something of the sort, remove them from the computer, and only plug the drive in when you need them. This will help reduce the window of opportunity for a virus to hit them. Also, backing up important data in general is a good thing, no matter what OS you have.
4. Make sure you know where your recovery disc is. If you don't have one, check to see if the software the MFG loaded on the computer has the ability to make one. If you don't have THAT... hopefully you'll replace the OS before it's an issue, but if you know that you will not be able to under any circumstance any time soon, contact the MFG as soon as possible to see if they can send you one. That way, if a virus DOES get through, you can reinstall Windows if you have to.
5. Make sure you have drivers. Some MFGs will include a drivers disc; if so, that's usually sufficient. If not, see if the MFG still has a support page for your model of computer and download any relevant drivers, put them on a CD or flash drive or something.
6. Make sure you have WinXP upgraded with the latest updates from Windows Updates; so far as I know, you can still do so, there just won't be new updates. If not, try using WSUS-Offline v9.1. Later versions will NOT support WinXP, so that's why I mention that version. It's a sort of third-party repository and automatic installer for Windows Updates, so it should work as an alternative.
7. Wherever possible (some sites will not let you, of course), discontinue use of Internet Explorer immediately and use a browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, as they're much more up-to-date than IE8 and will be more secure because of it.
8. Start saving money and shopping around for a new computer, as that's the ONLY long-term fix.
This looks like a lot of work, but hopefully it won't be because you'll already have most of this. But making sure you follow those steps will at least help you keep your data and your computer safe.
I don't normally say this, but please either echo this journal or at least link back to it, as this is something that affects millions of people.
On April 8th, three days before publication of this journal, Microsoft officially discontinued support for Windows XP, Microsoft Office 2003, and (possibly) Microsoft Security Essentials on XP (I've heard mixed stories about the latter; probably best to assume it is though).
What does this mean for you? If you're running Vista or later, nothing. Don't sweat it, you're cool. If you're running XP, however, this obviously does not mean that the computer will shut off and never come back up or anything like that, or else you wouldn't be reading this now, since I'm late. :) However, there will be no new official upgrades/updates for any reason, and thus any security problems that develop will NOT be fixed. Additionally, it's basically an 'all clear' to manufacturers of hardware and software to stop worrying about making their work compatible with XP. It's up to the individual MFG to determine when they want to stop supporting it, but now they can basically do so at any time, and without warning if they wish.
How do you fix this problem? Well, if you're a world government, you can pay Microsoft fabulous amounts of money to have a support team at your personal disposal. For normal users, though, the best option hands down is to upgrade to a newer version of Windows. If it's a newer computer or was really high-end, it might be as simple as buying a newer version and running the disc. In my work, I normally say that if the processor is not dual-core or more and 2GHz or more, or the computer has less than 4GB of memory, or the video card is not on the list of supported cards for Win7/8, that it should be upgraded. However, it it fails more than one of those or it's older than about 5-6 years, it's worth considering just replacing it - you'll be happy in the long run, and it might actually be cheaper in the long run.
What if you can't get a new version of Windows right now? Then you're in a pickle. I strongly recommend upgrading ASAP. But in the mean time, there's a few things you can do to try to make yourself safer.
1. Avoid online banking/online shopping/etc. Use your smartphone for that if you must, things like that. Anything that exposes personal details is vulnerable.
2. Ensure you have a good antivirus program. Panda Cloud Antivirus is a decent choice; it scans 'in the cloud', so it doesn't slow down your computer much, and always has the latest virus definitions that the company has available. It does require an internet connection to be able to do anything, though. Also consider using SuperAntiSpyware and either MalwareBytes AntiMalware or ChicaPC Shield to sweep for spyware periodically.
3. Back up any documents you may have with personal information onto a flash drive or something of the sort, remove them from the computer, and only plug the drive in when you need them. This will help reduce the window of opportunity for a virus to hit them. Also, backing up important data in general is a good thing, no matter what OS you have.
4. Make sure you know where your recovery disc is. If you don't have one, check to see if the software the MFG loaded on the computer has the ability to make one. If you don't have THAT... hopefully you'll replace the OS before it's an issue, but if you know that you will not be able to under any circumstance any time soon, contact the MFG as soon as possible to see if they can send you one. That way, if a virus DOES get through, you can reinstall Windows if you have to.
5. Make sure you have drivers. Some MFGs will include a drivers disc; if so, that's usually sufficient. If not, see if the MFG still has a support page for your model of computer and download any relevant drivers, put them on a CD or flash drive or something.
6. Make sure you have WinXP upgraded with the latest updates from Windows Updates; so far as I know, you can still do so, there just won't be new updates. If not, try using WSUS-Offline v9.1. Later versions will NOT support WinXP, so that's why I mention that version. It's a sort of third-party repository and automatic installer for Windows Updates, so it should work as an alternative.
7. Wherever possible (some sites will not let you, of course), discontinue use of Internet Explorer immediately and use a browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, as they're much more up-to-date than IE8 and will be more secure because of it.
8. Start saving money and shopping around for a new computer, as that's the ONLY long-term fix.
This looks like a lot of work, but hopefully it won't be because you'll already have most of this. But making sure you follow those steps will at least help you keep your data and your computer safe.
I don't normally say this, but please either echo this journal or at least link back to it, as this is something that affects millions of people.
