Being Forced to Leave Windows XP for Windows 8.1

Ladywriter1968

I have always used windows xp and this has always suited me and my needs. Now I read with discomfort that XP will be ending security updates in April, meaning if I and others remain with XP we are open to security threats etc.

I have all my files on my XP, does this mean if I change over I will lose all my stuff and have to do a complete reinstall of every single program again?

I dont know if this new program download is a free one or we have to go out and buy it?

I have an older pc as well so wonder if it will accept this new arrival.

Any ideas or points here from anyone?

Gloomendoom

Unfortunately, you will have to pay for the upgrade to Win8.

However, before you spend any money, do a Win8 compatibility check on your current computer.

Loads of info here...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/upgrade-to-windows-8

spannerzone

Windows 8 is not a free upgrade so you either have to buy it and install in place of XP, assuming your PC is powerful enough and compatible to run it or buy a replacement PC. I imagine there are millions of unsuitable XP computers out there that will get junked due to this.

If installed Windows 8 to replace XP then yes, you'd have to re-install all your programs (assuming you still have all the installation software/CD's) and also reload your documents/pictures etc. THis assumes your old software is compatible with Windows 8 of course, oh and not forgetting printers, scanners etc. All these need checking.

Now whether everyone will rush out to replace XP is doubtful, many people will probably continue to use it and hope their antivirus/anti malware software protects them from nasty things but you won't get updates from Microsoft to patch their software should an exploit be discovered.

JJ_Egan

Probable win9 next year as well .
Pay depends upon how much too much and i would start looking at Ubuntoo
Other choice is to stay on XP and ignore security updates as said .

grumpycrab

XP will still work with suitable anti-virus (e.g. MSE updates through to April 2015) and CHROME browser (supported under XP until mid-2015).

If you upgrade you should backup all data.

Compatibility checkers for w7 -> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor
w8.1 -> http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/upgrade-from-windows-vista-xp-tutorial
(you can also go to 8 with Win8Pro upgrade approx £55 then manually upgrade to 8.1 but its a bit of a pain...)

closed

backup with disk imaging software, continue to use xp and a virus scanner, stop worrying.

every machine is open to security threats, only a small proportion get infected.

colin79666

If you don't like the thought of Windows 8 you can always move to Windows 7. The latter will be getting security updates until 2020.

Ladywriter1968

Thanking you for all your advice and help, and yes I have been worrying a bit about this actually. I checked my system and as its older it wont take the new windows anyway. But you are also right that not everyone is gonna suddenly rush out and camp sleep outside pc world for new programs and pcs and some will continue to run on their normal ones and take that chance, and they stating that our anti virus progs wont catch all, do they catch every single little thing anyway. Thanks for all your inputs, any more are welcome. or do you think they are doing this to make people panic to go out and buy their new programs and or pcs.

Daz2009

I certainly wouldn't risk going online with an xp computer after the microsoft support stops

abibee

From what I've read, Windows 8.1 is pretty good on older hardware, and even more so with future updates to it, so it should run pretty well on an older computer.

I made the jump to Windows 8.1 and the first thing I installed was Classic Shell, I've not looked back.

securityguy

Daz2009 wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't risk going online with an xp computer after the microsoft support stops

I'm not sure I'd be as concerned. This is rather theoretical for me as the only XP instance I have is a VM driving an old printer, and it doesn't go near the outside world. But I don't think I'd panic.

If I used my PC to watch pr0n, download warez and pirate video off bit torrent I wouldn't connect it to the Internet post the cutoff, because the chances of serious problems, problems which Chrome and a virus scanner will struggle to deal with, are sufficient to be worrying (not high, but certainly not zero). So if the users of my machine included a teenage boy, I would get Windows 7 or 8 asap. But if I used it to read MSE and the BBC website, watch iPlayer and read my email off Gmail, I think I'd be reasonably relaxed about it: I'd install Chrome, make sure I had a good virus scanner (or Microsoft are now offering another year on security essentials, too) and keep good backups.

The Catch-22 is that anyone disciplined enough to run XP safely post the cutoff probably isn't running XP in the first place. And if you're still running IE6, then you are going to end up in a horrible place. But provided you're reasonably careful, I can't see that the risks will be suddenly unacceptable.

Of course, the longer you go without upgrading, the harder the upgrade becomes: there is an XP to 8.1 upgrade path, but finding hardware that will run both is not straightforward. You might be able to keep running XP safely for a few more years, but there will come a point where you can't, and of course if your computer dies it's unlikely you can run XP on its replacement without some serious messing around that the sort of people still running XP are unlikely to want to do. I suspect that people like the OP are unlikely to want to get involved in virtualisation, for example. They can't stave the inevitable off forever.

Me? I need XP until my label printer dies. And as it's an industrial printer that runs on current consumables, and I only use it a couple of times per month, that's probably ten or fifteen years. But VMware still supports Windows 3.1, so I can't see XP support in my virtualisation going away anytime soon.