Happy birthday, Windows XP!

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Hottentot

Or it expected me to have a brain.

Some time ago I was reading in a forum on malware, and there was this user who seriously boasted with that the never uses firewall and anti-virus, instead avoids threats by practicing what he called "intelligent surfing."

No, he did not receive much laughs or mockery, instead some very angry replies, and well-deserved, because this fool helps to spread inflections via his system without even being aware of his system being infested, and things like rootkits and drive-by-downloaded malware he obviously never had heard of. You must not even executer some file anymore by clicking or opening something to have these things going active. Just landing on a site is enough - not more is needed.

"Intelligent surfing". Well, I'm all for it. And part of intelligent surfing is to have a firewall, antivirus and malware solution on guard, always. And I mean commercial packages with the full allways-active feature set, not some downgraded testing versions with manually launched HD-scans only.

UAC is part of an overall strategy as well.

Most people whose systems are infested, are not aware that they are infested. Most involuntary members of zombie networks do not know they are part of a zombie network.

I am quite certain that if all subsim-member'S systems would be checked all at once for security breachings and malware being present, a very huge group, probably even the majority would have an unpleasant Aha!-experience.

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Some time ago I was reading in a forum on malware, and there was this user who seriously boasted with that the never uses firewall and anti-virus, instead avoids threats by practicing what he called "intelligent surfing."

So now me saying that I don't like being held in hand becomes synonymous to all that?

I can see clearly enough where this is going. And I'm going to follow my own advice from the other thread.

[Skybird]

Hottentot: "The point was that I never had to tell XP to STFU."

Skybird: "Because XP did not have that security feature. Mind you, it is a security feature, like there are also some more security features that 7 has and XP not."

Hottentot: "Or it expected me to have a brain."

Skybird: wondering. Frowning eyebrows and still wondering. Then: "Some time ago I was reading in a forum on malware, and there was this user who seriously boasted with that the never uses firewall and anti-virus, instead avoids threats by practicing what he called "intelligent surfing. (...) "

Hottentot: "So now me saying that I don't like being held in hand becomes synonymous to all that? I can see clearly enough where this is going. "



I don't see the problem. Maybe you see where this is going. But since ""or it expected me to have a brain" I did not even know anymore where it was coming from. The lack of a security feature due to years-earlier release is not linked to that being a brain thing.

I just said that UAC is a security feature. It is meant to limit the spread of an infection due to the current user account having limited rights only, or hinder a malware to gain control of software installed that the user currently logged in has limited or no rights for. That way, the infestation process gets hindred, slowed down. Or the malware must become more active to overcome these obstacles, raising the probability that one of your scanners smells the smoke in the air. - And I did not say that I assume you were that other user from that other forum. I just wanted to make clear that you cannot avoid threats by using your brain exclusively - that you also need some tools and procedures - like UAC for example. You cannot defend yourself against drive by downloads by choosing to surf "smartly", because you do not know which sites are infested. And it is not only the obviously suspicious sites. Unfortunately. That is where that guy simply was wrong, and misled.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

I'm getting Win7 64-bit for X-Mas, tell then I'm going to keep using XP.

[STEED]

I have no issues with my XP and may long it go on.

[GT182]

Steed I had no issues with XP until last week. I have to reinstall my HP 5610v Officejet software but can't do it. I keep getting a Print Spooler not Running error mssg. I found a program that said it fixed it... MS' Mr. Fix Center. Which says it's fixed but not running, and that's as far as I can get.

I need to buck up and either do a 'Repair' for XP, reinstall, or upgrade to 7 or 8. I've heard good things about 7, but so far not crazy about 8 and the looks of it.

Tyrant, 'downgrade rights' sounds good if.... you can really downgrade back to XP. I can get an Upgrade for 59.00 or a OEM copy for 109.00 from here.... http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/WEM...=WEM3303&cm_lm Not a bad deal at all. I'm just wonder if you must reinstall games and all software after the ugrade from XP to 8. I've never done the upgrade route before.

[the_tyrant]

Originally Posted by GT182

Tyrant, 'downgrade rights' sounds good if.... you can really downgrade back to XP. I can get an Upgrade for 59.00 or a OEM copy for 109.00 from here.... http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/WEM...=WEM3303&cm_lm Not a bad deal at all. I'm just wonder if you must reinstall games and all software after the ugrade from XP to 8. I've never done the upgrade route before.

from what I read, you can't go down to XP unfortunately:

Windows 8 Pro includes downgrade rights to:

• Windows 7 Professional
• Windows Vista Business

Maybe ask tiger direct or even Microsoft about it. After all, Microsoft licensing is notoriously difficult, they even have a certification for people who understand how it works.