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What to do about Windows XP?
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D Voice
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 26 Jun 2010
Posts: 232

PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 10:35 pm    Post subject: What to do about Windows XP? Reply with quote

[to get this out of the way at the outset: can't/don't want to spend the money right now on hardware and OS and other software upgrades at this time. want to use existing hardware]

As you probably know, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows XP as of April, 8th. It will still work, but they will stop issuing security patches, etc.

I use several older (formerly Dell office) computers in a network, My oldest and least powerful is also actually my quietest, so I use that for recording.

Thinking about putting the computers doing the recording, editing, Office, and other applications behind the firewall, giving them no or only limited internet access; and another for browsing and online running Linux (Mint- Cinnamon or distro 13, which will be supported for at least 3 more years; or maybe play with Ubuntu Studio).

Anybody else in this situation, or with thoughts or recommendations on the matter?

(Besides the cliched "get a Mac" or "upgrade to Windows 7", as I said, will do that- maybe when Windows 9 comes around- but looking for good solutions for right now).
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Jason Huggins
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Joined: 12 Aug 2011
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do a search for Windows XP. This exact question was asked a couple weeks ago with quite a few responses.
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heyguido
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
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Location: RDU, the Geek Capitol of the South

PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Meh...

XP is a stable environment. Has been for quite a while now.... And will continue to be.

Run a good Antivirus, a proper firewall, schedule scans on a nightly basis while you sleep.... And backup religiously.

And, seriously.... When was the last time you talked to Windows support? Knowledge Base is your friend.

"Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep... Starts when you're always afraid, step outta line, the man come, and take you away.... "
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Don Brookshire
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Bruce
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let me ask a question born of total ignorance of Windows and XP...

If you've got several XP's available to you, and the main thing XP upgrades are good for is virus protection and such, is it possible to disconnect your recording computer from any contact with the Internet so it doesn't have a chance of getting infected?

I haven't seen this mentioned for years now, but I remember some folks saying they kept their recording computer totally off-line to avoid trouble and had a separate machine for interaction with the grimy underbelly of the Web.


B
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heyguido
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Absolutely. The best way to keep your critical systems secure is to operate in an isolated environment. This is true regardless of your choice of operating system.
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ballenberg
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's something:I record files on the studio computer, save them, then copy them to my main office computer for editing and sending. This works nicely for my setup and even gives me an automatic backup copy. But, is there a way to keep my studio computer off the Internet,while still having it be connected the the other computers in the network. Yes, everything is XP. Thanks in advance.
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bobsouer
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Joined: 15 Jul 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

D Voice (I'm sorry, I don't remember your real name if you've shared it here),

If you keep your XP computers completely off the Internet, and use a Linux distro (Mint is a fine choice. I've tried Ubuntu Studio, but couldn't get my firewire audio interface to work with it, but it does work well with USB audio interfaces.) for your Internet access, you should be in good shape.

The ideal solution from a security stand point would be to use a "sneaker net" solution to transferring files from your recording/editing system to your Internet computer for uploading to your client. That way there's no chance of anything sneaking through your network to infect your XP systems.
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Ed Fisher
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Joined: 05 Sep 2012
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I couldn't agree more.

Keeping your computer offline is the way to go if you are paranoid about viruses.

However, I also recommend a relatively inexpensive piece of software called "Acronis True Image Home." OR, if the cloud is your thing then fine. But an automatic backup EVERY NIGHT will protect you from possible damage or loss. What I like about Acronis is you can do incremental backups so that if you discover you picked up something nasty that you didn't notice for a few days...you can return the "image" of you computer to EXACTLY the way it was on any previous day to the infection or corruption. PLUS you still can access your most recent backup as if it were a free-standing hard drive to retrieve your most valuable info if needed.

No. I don't own stock in the company. But have had the program SAVE my bacon more times than I can count.

And...in a worst case scenario, when the Zombie Apocalypse comes... you can always simply grab the USB hard drive and run out the door. (taking all of your info and programs with you, to help rebuild civilization)
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Bish
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 8:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have one Windows machine that gets fired-up once in a while... it's an old Dell laptop running XP. There are times, even when you're a confirmed Maccie, that it's handy to have around.. and with this beast, I don't have to run a virtual machine on the MacPro.

One day I might upgrade to to Win 7, but for the moment, XP works just fine, and will continue to do so for a long, long time... I forget the figures, but I thing at least 30% of Windows machines are still running XP... and like it or not, there are still a lot of units running Win 95 or 98... the world has not come crashing down around the ears of the users... a lot of ATMs and the like use OS/2 ... talk about unsupported!!!

Every Win XP user that's scared into buying Win 7 (or, heaven forbid, cool is another sale... ca-ching ... if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just keep a close eye on what happens, and if the world does crumble as the massed hordes of East European hackers destroy civilization as we know it, be prepared to change.

Oh Don... I was singing the last line of your post by word three... old farts rule!
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Lee Gordon
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bish wrote:

Every Win XP user that's scared into buying Win 7 (or, heaven forbid, 8 ) .


Or a Mac. Sarcastic

But seriously, Don is exactly right. As long as you practice "safe computing," you don't need no stinkin' updates.
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ccpetersen
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

+1 to keeping the computer isolated. We have a render farm and network. A couple of years ago a trusted client sent us a hard drive and we didn't practice safe computer sex; plugged it into the server (ouch!) and it delivered a nasty payload. Lost two weeks of work. Now, when stuff comes in, we have a dedicated laptop that is attached to NOTHING, not even our wireless network, that we use to plug these things into. It runs a virus scan, etc. and finds nasties.

As for XP, we have it on many of our render nodes for now because some of the video plugins we use for specialized dome videos don't play well with upgraded editions of some of our other software (*cough*Adobe*cough*)
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georgethetech
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Create another user account that is non-admin and use that, you'll be safe from anyone or anything installing crap on your machine (says poppa Leo Laporte).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfCRuDGxM8M
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Lance Blair
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Windows is currently running a $100 cash-back program if you upgrade to windows 8.

I'm on 8.1 (way better than cool and it's fantastic and lightning-fast. The whole 8 interface is clunky, but it is wonderful (high resolution images) for non-work related apps. Everything else I do on the desktop.

W8 is almost safest for viruses - because who is going to bother to hack that??? Nobody uses it! Smile

I have an old XP laptop, and it's a problem. It's so slow now, and word processing programs and anything outside of my DAW barely work anymore. It takes like 10 minutes for it to start up, and I've cleaned and updated it as much as possible.
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jasbart
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My office computer is a 2010 Macbook Pro running Parallels. I run only one program on Windows XP, Quicken Home & Business 2010. My stupid question is: If I don't access the internet from the Windows side, by either Internet Explorer or Windows Firefox, am I still exposed to malicious little viral stuff that's just waiting for me to let my guard down?

Keep in mind that I'd like to remain plugged in and online on the Mac side when I open Quicken H&B on the Windows side.

Thanks, Jim
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jasbart
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

heyguido wrote:
"Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep... Starts when you're always afraid, step outta line, the man come, and take you away.... "

I never knew "...the man come..." was the lyric to For What It's Worth. Damn I've been singing that song wrong for a long time.

Pardon the thread jack...

Jim
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