Now that XP is gone how urgent….

Is it that I get a new OS??

My XP machine still works great but I do not need to be hacked right off the bat…
How much time do I have??

Although Microsoft’s website encourages users to upgrade promptly, the several IT pros I’ve talked with agree that the need to upgrade or replace computers isn’t necessarily as imminent as Microsoft makes it out to be. Today’s deadline doesn’t mean the end of your computer! Computers using Windows XP will function fine after that today – however, they will, overtime become more susceptible to viruses and other problems due to the lack of updates and security patches. So it is a good idea to start planning for your next computer, and perhaps saving up some $ depending on what you’re looking to get. Depending on what you use your computer for and how often, I’ve heard recommendations to plan to replace in the next 6 months, others within the next year.

Honestly, I’m surprised Microsoft doesn’t extend the deadline for Windows XP’s end of support. I’ve never known SO many people to be affected by an end of support before.

If you don’t do too much windows type stuff, you could switch to Linux and stay completely up to date, in fact, with Ubuntu, you can do a side by side install super easy.

Don’t conduct any banking or anything sensitive until you upgrade.

The computer in my man cave has been running windows SP3v1 for years and I’ve never installed any updates for as long as I can remember on it. A lot of windows “must install critical updates” are for the most part non essential to most of your every day browsing(hint:get off IE and don’t use it…). I do know my way around a computer’s OS and its registry very well so cleaning something off is very simple. Even so, for the every day user, don’t look at crap you aren’t supposed to and click on suspicious pop ups. If you have kids, then upgrading is a good idea. i have computers /w XP, 7 and 8. I prefer XP and 7. I’m not a fan of 8. If you’re completely computer illiterate, upgrade just to save yourself the hassle.

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Honestly, I’m surprised Microsoft doesn’t extend the deadline for Windows XP’s end of support. I’ve never known SO many people to be affected by an end of support before.

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I believe they already extended out to this date. They wanted to can it earlier. I also am skeptical of any XP updates they have had and how aggressive they have been with them.

Personally, if I had an anti-virus installed and was careful, I wouldn’t be concerned for a long time. That’s me though and I don’t offer that as advice, because I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else.

Before you update check to make sure your existing computer has the minimum requirements to run windows 7. 7 takes way more of everything than xp. My old computer did have the minimum so I upgraded it . It barely worked it was so slow I ended up junking It and bought a new computer.

The IT folks at my job took it pretty seriously. They unplugged the all the computers in the office that we’re running xp at the end of the day today. Not to be put back on the network until they can be upgraded.

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The IT folks at my job took it pretty seriously. They unplugged the all the computers in the office that we’re running xp at the end of the day today. Not to be put back on the network until they can be upgraded.

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I’ve never met someone in IT who wasn’t overly cautious. I’d say work computers are a different story.

But like I said, that was just me, I don’t recommend it for anyone else.

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don’t look at crap you aren’t supposed to and click on suspicious pop ups. If you have kids, then upgrading is a good idea. i have computers /w XP, 7 and 8. I prefer XP and 7. I’m not a fan of 8. If you’re completely computer illiterate, upgrade just to save yourself the hassle

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I get a call from the Mother-In-Law every now and again… “My Computer is infected. I got a pop-up that told me so. I clicked on the message and it is running very slowly. Should I pay $59,999.24 to have them clean my computer? the message said it would clean all viruses made in the last 300 years”.

Ok.. made a little of that up… But seriously.. no matter how many times I have told her to NOT click those pop-ups.. and to just exit off of them.. and that her computer is fine since I set up symantec on it… She still clicks on them or calls me every time one comes up.

I also HATE 8. my company just migrated from XP to Win7. In fact, My team has 130 computers and the last couple were just changed over the other week. My wife has a Win8 computer. I refuse to help her with it. I just can’t stand it.

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The IT folks at my job took it pretty seriously. They unplugged the all the computers in the office that we’re running xp at the end of the day today. Not to be put back on the network until they can be upgraded.

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I’ve never met someone in IT who wasn’t overly cautious. I’d say work computers are a different story.

But like I said, that was just me, I don’t recommend it for anyone else.

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For the record… I was trying for dry humor. Maybe I should try using those little emoticons. I thought pulling the plugs on all the xp machines was a bit of dramatic overkill. They were like a pack of wolves hunting a rabbit

Any home or non work place pc using xp will be fine for a long time.

Microsoft

Oh good. I was thinking that unplugging all the XP computers was a bit much, too, I just didn’t want to say anything. We have about 12 computers at my work still running XP and I imagine we’ll be getting them all updated in the next couple months or so. God only knows what people are doing to them until then… downloading fancy screen savers, games, and clicking on pop-ups. Over the years we’ve had several computers taken over by rogue software parading as anti-virus software. Those things suck.

Thanks everybody

I have an older computer that has not had a virus since the kids moved out of the house 10 years ago….
I’m running an AV,pop-up blocker and bot killer now, and running Chrome, so I should be good for awhile..
I’ll just save up and buy a new puter…

Thanks again

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For the record… I was trying for dry humor. Maybe I should try using those little emoticons. I thought pulling the plugs on all the xp machines was a bit of dramatic overkill. They were like a pack of wolves hunting a rabbit

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Ah, I guess no actions and policies surprise me that come out of the IT department.

Oh sure they end XP just when I was going to upgrade to it from my Win 95.