Looking for Windows XP

[DragonRider]

I had a crash on my hard drive on my laptop, and since I replaced the hard drive with a new one, I am unable to reinstall of XP from the backup copies that came with the computer. Looking for an original copy to do the install. Does anyone have one laying around that I could use or buy. My IT son in law doesn't have one and he installed another operating system on my laptop but I hate it. I want XP back.

Edited May 27, 2017 by DragonRider

[CaseyJ955]

I'll have a look around, I'm using 7 now on my desktop and it rocks. XP was a good OS as I recall. I'm fairly sure I have a copy but doesnt it have some online reg/activation hassle you have to go through?

 

I just bought a laptop with win10 on it and I lack the English words to describe how much I dislike that and how alarming the lack of privacy is, even after locking it down. I'm planning to do a duel boot system with Linux, which is probably a good option for you, and it's free. There are several different distributions, some very similar to windows I understand.

 

I'll have a peek for my XP disk and if I find it you can have it. I'll update this evening.

[camos]

I want XP back.

If you use your laptop to connect to the Internet, staying with XP is not a wise decision. That WannaCry hack that caused so much trouble and was been in the news a little while ago targeted a vulnerability in Windows that was patched last March...almost two months before the hack attack.

[videoarizona]

If you use your laptop to connect to the Internet, staying with XP is not a wise decision. That WannaCry hack that caused so much trouble and was been in the news a little while ago targeted a vulnerability in Windows that was patched last March...almost two months before the hack attack.

 

 

FYI,

Microsoft released a fix for the security issue with Win XP a couple of weeks ago as well for the WannaCry hack. It should be on the web site. I'm running Win XP 3 and the fix took only a few minutes to download and install.

[camos]

FYI,

Microsoft released a fix for the security issue with Win XP a couple of weeks ago as well for the WannaCry hack. It should be on the web site. I'm running Win XP 3 and the fix took only a few minutes to download and install.

Good one, that was very nice of Microsoft, considering how long it has been since they stopped supporting XP.

[videoarizona]

Good one, that was very nice of Microsoft, considering how long it has been since they stopped supporting XP.

 

True. But since WinXP is still about the most popular OS out there....I'm glad they still realize that!!

[bongobobny]

I was an XP fan myself, but I also liked 7 over XP as it seemed to be just as stable and a little more versatile than XP! Unless there is some specific program that will not run on 7, I suggest going with that OS IMHO...

[djh3]

Here is link for XP patch.

[Condor]

I've run just about every OS since Windows 95. Now I'm a Win7/Chrome kinda guy and since going that route I haven't had the issues I was experiencing with I.E.. I also run CCleaner to keep things tidy... So far so good....

[Starpheus]

I'll have a look around, I'm using 7 now on my desktop and it rocks. XP was a good OS as I recall. I'm fairly sure I have a copy but doesnt it have some online reg/activation hassle you have to go through?

 

I just bought a laptop with win10 on it and I lack the English words to describe how much I dislike that and how alarming the lack of privacy is, even after locking it down. I'm planning to do a duel boot system with Linux, which is probably a good option for you, and it's free. There are several different distributions, some very similar to windows I understand.

 

I'll have a peek for my XP disk and if I find it you can have it. I'll update this evening.

Stardock Software makes a Windows 10 start menu program that will give you the old familiar Windows 7 GUI on Windows 10. You can try it for free and if you like it's only $4.95. I tried it for 5 minutes before I made the purchase! Link here http://www.stardock.com/products/start10/. It makes a world of difference for an old guy trying to run a new OS.😃

 

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

[SilvrT]

DragonRider

 

I may have some WinXP CDs at work. Will check tomorrow and let you know.

 

One issue you will encounter with WinXP is you may not be able to run newer web browsers and as such, may not be able to view certain web sites.

Edited May 30, 2017 by SilvrT

[SilvrT]

I've run just about every OS since Windows 95. Now I'm a Win7/Chrome kinda guy and since going that route I haven't had the issues I was experiencing with I.E.. I also run CCleaner to keep things tidy... So far so good....

 

DITTO re: ccleaner.

 

I've been using Win10 since it first came out for free. Wife runs it too. Zero issues. Keep in mind the recommended hardware before installing it.

[ragtop69gs]

I'm pretty sure I have a copy of XP on disk, with all the MS service packs. If you still need it I'll try yo dig it up out of the archived software. I also have MS 3.1 if you want to go that route.

[CaseyJ955]

DITTO re: ccleaner.

 

I've been using Win10 since it first came out for free. Wife runs it too. Zero issues. Keep in mind the recommended hardware before installing it.

 

It seems reasonably stable, not quite as intuitive as earlier windows but manageable. The issues I have are privacy/security related. I spent quite a while researching ways to exterminate Cortana and sort through some of the other blatant privacy intrusions designed into windows 10 and some of them are quite difficult to eradicate. If it is possible to secure 10 then it is above my scope of knowledge. It's insane the amount of bloatware and spyware win10 forces on you after you pay full price for a comp, and a lot of it cant be uninstalled by conventional means if at all. Some of this is as I understand it an integral part of the OS so it's there to intrude, like it or not. I have decided not to allow it to access the internet until I find a way to ditch win10, I'm afraid I'll end up with a HIPAA violation otherwise since I plan to use it for work. From what I can see after doing some research and talking to a few others more savvy than myself is that windows 10 is a data mining/distributing program clumsily disguised as an OS. How can MS ever be trusted after releasing an OS that has such disregard for privacy? I went through all the menus and did some regedits recommended by friends but there seems to be no way to stop the bleeding of data. Even with no activity on the comp there is internet traffic, to many red flags with this one for my liking.

 

I plan to wipe it clean and install Linux after I play with a few different distributions and see which one suits me the best. In an era where our rights and privacies are rapidly being eroded I refuse to allow my own computer to exacerbate the problem. It is absolutely appalling what windows 10 is setup to do right out of the box, absolutely outrageous. /--rant mode off.

 

I was unable to find my old XP discs, if nobody else has one I can check with my son, he may have something.

[SilvrT]

I went through all the menus and did some regedits recommended by friends but there seems to be no way to stop the bleeding of data. Even with no activity on the comp there is internet traffic, to many red flags with this one for my liking.

 

 

You haven't mentioned Task Scheduler. Have you done anything with it?

[CaseyJ955]

You haven't mentioned Task Scheduler. Have you done anything with it?

 

I cant recall that one specifically, I think there was a regedit and workaround to disable it. I killed everything I could using a few informational sights that helped quite a lot locking windows 7 down. You can kill the notifications and "stop" the scheduler, BUT windows updates will still happen, those updates can return privacy settings to default (really bad). I have done exhaustive searches and not a damn thing on how to actually pull these weeds out by the roots. They are always operating in the background. Stop and disable the services and next reboot they come back, if not just a few seconds later. I feel like I have really no control over this thing that I paid hard earned money for. It pisses me off in ways that I cant even describe that MS gives me 0 choice in the matter of features and updates, updates presumably via task scheduler if I understood that right. Do you know how to actually kill it?

 

 

Here is one and there are many others that cover it. I know some but not enough to really grasp how MS spun this all together. Why is obvious to me and it sure isnt in the best interest of the end user.

https://superuser.com/questions/1034673/how-to-disable-a-windows-schedule-task-in-windows-10-using-the-utility-schtasks

 

Heres something I didnt know until I already had the system. There is an actual keylogger (yes, records every keystroke) installed by MS, but I think that is actually killable. Why would anyone ever buy another MS product ever again after 10 defies explanation. I'm boycotting MS just as I have HD and GM. Gone! http://www.pcworld.com/article/2974057/windows/how-to-turn-off-windows-10s-keylogger-yes-it-still-has-one.html

 

Not trying to hijack from the fellow looking for the XP disc, I'll still check around if nobody has one handy.

[BlueSky]

Is windows 10 worse than Google for mining data?

[Red1]

I'm not a computer geek by any means. I have a guy who is. When I was wanting to upgrade a few years ago, he recommended I from XP to Windows 7 because Windows 8 sucked. But - I have several programs I really liked that would NOT run on 7, so he installed a "virtual machine" that runs Windows XP and all the XP programs. I access it thru a desktop icon. Don't ask me how to do it - I just know it can be done. If you are interested, I can give you his phone # - he might be able to do it remotely.

 

I have Windows 8.1 on my tablet. Not a fan. Especially of the "subscription" software. My Office Suite no longer works because I refused to pay the annual extortion fee. I've switched to Libre Office - an open source program - I run that on my tablet and PC.

[CaseyJ955]

Is windows 10 worse than Google for mining data?

 

I went through some privacy policies for Yahoo and Google and it was at that time that I went with a pay email service focused on security. I would highly recommend anyone using Google, facebook, twitter or Yahoo and other services to sit down and skim through the things you agree too when you click AGREE. Its sobering. Anything free is either going to try to lure you into a pay service or (likely AND) mine data for targeted advertising or other nefarious purposes. Have you ever noticed how insanely hard it is to read a EULA when the font is gray and all caps? It's by design, they would prefer you not read that stuff before you agree to it. When you click AGREE you give them permission to essentially go through all your stuff and distribute it as they see fit. It's insane!

 

I unplugged my Smart TV and AVR from the net, went to secure pay email service with no backdoors, rooted my phone and installed Cyanogenmod but for windows 10 I cant see any way to secure it. Windows 10 is a bridge to far for me, it has taken to much control out of my hands and force fed me a ton of junk I dont want or need, in the process jeopardizes my or my clients PHI and other sensitive data. IMHO windows 10 is about the worst thing ever.

[SilvrT]

FWIW for anyone reading .. While CaseyJ obviously hates Win10 for various reason's, as I said earlier, I've been running win10 since it came out and about a year ago (maybe less I can't recall) I had a hard drive crash which was after the free version was discontinued so I bought a copy of win10 and installed it on my new hard drive. I checked last night and I have not had a single update since. During the install, I did go through numerous settings and disable a lot of things.

 

Yes, there are scheduled tasks in the Task Scheduler that Microsoft sets up and there's several in there that are worth disabling. Spend some time poking around in there as there are a lot of them.

 

Also FWIW, the only thing I dislike about Win10 is in a domain environment, it doesn't work with Active Directory user profiles with Win Server 2012R2 or less ... you must upgrade your domain controller OS to a newer version which IMO is an underhanded method of Microsoft to force businesses into buying more software.

[SilvrT]

OK, what happened to @DragonRider ?

 

I PM'd him that I have a WinXP CD and requesting his mailing address ....

 

[DragonRider]

Still here Rick, just sent you a message saying Yammer has one on the way already. Thanks again.

 

 

OK, what happened to DragonRider ?

 

I PM'd him that I have a WinXP CD and requesting his mailing address ....