Laptop with XP?

Lakeuk

Just change the theme to windows classic

elektra

closed wrote: »

what exactly does she dislike?

I'm curious too. I know you say you have tried and didn't want suggestions for staying with Windows 7 but I'm going to give mine anyway. Could she learn from a book, sometimes easier than learning from close family.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=windows+7+for+dummies

Many books available in libraries too.

No offence meant to your sister re the title of the books.

quotememiserable

Why not just re-format it and install XP. Millions of people still use it. Given SP3 and independant anti-virus and firewalls its perfectly sound. The fact that microsoft will stop supporting it isn't important, because who uses microsoft support anyway?

gjchester

quotememiserable wrote: »

Why not just re-format it and install XP.

More and more you'll find the drivers are not being written for XP. Some PCs are even now starting to come with BIOS versions that cannot run XP. XP is 12 years old. It's not realistic to expect the hardware makers to write drivers for an almost obsolete operating system.

quotememiserable wrote: »

The fact that microsoft will stop supporting it isn't important, because who uses microsoft support anyway?

There may be support via 3rd parties now but they will start to cease once Microsoft stop support. Once the vendor stops supporting a product the 3rd party support starts to vanish. Try and find anti virus software for windows 2000 or windows me. Both vanished a long time ago. The only reason XP has been supporteD for so long is many business's used it over Vista and they were willing to pay for support.

You may think you don't use Microsofts support but who do you think provides patches each month? Without patches to the underlying OS any anti malware will be much harder to implement fully.

Windows 7 has already been superseded. Staying in XP is not viable security wise long term.

Lum

Would installing Classic Shell help at all?

macman

I can't understand anyone seeing W7 and XP as radically different. If she'd bought W8, I could see why, because the initial interface is totally different.
I'd just tell her that support is ending in a year, and once that happens her laptop will no longer be secure, new peripherals won't run under XP, etc.
XP has been the most long-lived software Windows ever produced, and a great OS in many ways, but it's time to let it fade away gracefully now.

GunJack

Or, if she's REALLY insistent, point her at something like these, swap OS & license with her existing machine, and go from there..... cheap and most with XP Pro and warranty

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/cat.php?search=Laptops

gjchester

GunJack wrote: »

Or, if she's REALLY insistent, point her at something like these, swap OS & license with her existing machine, and go from there..... cheap and most with XP Pro and warranty

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/cat.php?search=Laptops

Or Morgan Computers, http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/c/404/Laptops-Netbooks/

However doesn't address the fact that in 14 months Microsoft pull support for XP so any security holes after that will remain unpatched. XP is know to have various security holes, and as it's so popular is the main target for malware writers, not having vendor support will not make it better.

If I wanted to write malware for XP I'd seriously think about writing it next year as once Microsoft stops patching XP security will be a major headache for XP users.

Remember also for most home users they got moved to Vista in 2007 as home PC vendors switched PCs to Vista. Anything that's less than 6 years old with a XP licence will almost certainly be ex corporate, and have seen more use than a home PC, and been used 40+ hours a week for it's life...

rockandroller

Just get the "FREE XP USER EXPERIENCE SOLUTION" for both Windows 8 and Windows 7. (it's excellent downloadable freeware called "Classic Shell")

Even my 82 year old Dad is OK with that (and he is an XP devotee...)

hint: find it at ClassicShell "dart gnat" ;-)

50Twuncle

googler wrote: »

I've been running two machines with XP for years, most of that time with no virus scanner. Nothing adverse has happened.

If you were running machines without virus scanners (shame on you !!) - how do you know that you were not infected and how do you know that you did not pass any infection on via email ?