Resolved Best thing to do with an old XP box

Seriously. Someone I know has a rather slow XP unit that they are gonna replace with a nice quad core (i7) with 16 gigs of RAM. I'm gonna be jealous helping them set it up. Anyways, what is the take on these old XP boxes? Will they simply become spybots, malware ridden? Should they be destroyed, or given to some poor family?

I mean, even though MS Security Essentials is no longer running on XP, there are other AV that are..... So are they doomed over the next year or two to become malware ridden? If so, the best thing to do would be to mercy kill it, and destroy it (or at least, throw it out), even if someone might have a use for it....

I realize that MS is still offering support for a price for XP, but computers like this would not be used by a business, but by a poor family.

 

I haven't done it just yet, but I am seriously thinking about turning my old XP unit into a network attached storage (NAS) device.

You can follow my thread below if you are interested in using a product like NAS4Free...

http://www.windowsbbs.com/other-pc-software/107314-anyone-ever-use-nas4free.html​

There is another NAS software program called FreeNAS, but it requires more computer resources than NAS4Free.


EDIT: My thread has a link to a great NAS4Free tutorial, but I will post it here too...

Installing and Configuring NAS4Free on a Windows Network​

 

I just installed Linux Mint, and so far it is not bad.
I have not tested much, but it behaves nicely

Sven

 

I don't know for whom they are providing updates--corporate clients? The copy of MSSE on that XP box had a red castle icon in the system tray, and no way to turn on real time protection, with a message that MS support for XP had expired.

 

Protection is still enabled. Last week, Msoft pushed out an program update that enabled all the MSE "no longer supports the O/S" garbage. But there is still daily
definition updates. If you are saying your MSE is not working go into services.msc and restart the program

 

OK, that seems a rather confusing approach, but MS stopped asking me for advice a while ago

 

I plan to take mine apart, use the HDD (300GB) in an portable external box, replacing my current 80GB unit. I'll copy over all the data to whatever computer I get to replace it, then scrub everything else out. I'm going with a Windows (probably W7) lap-top to replace it, still considering options and prices.

I'll see if either of our local computer stores want any of the bits (LCD display and tower with internals). I might keep the Yamaha speakers to use with our kitchen flat-screen TV as its audio quality is poor. If nobody wants the bits, they'll go in the recycle bin.

 

I don't know that what I did was the best thing or not, but this is what I did. My wife and I shared the XP desktop. I bought a new laptop with Windows 8 installed, upgraded it to 8.1 and installed start 8. Then moved the email to that laptop. This was in preparation for the end of support for XP. I planned to use the old XP desktop for things like photo storage and editing, quicken, anything that did not need the internet.
Then I did a fresh install of XP on the desktop, which really improved the XP performance. Next I installed sandboxie and I am running the internet browser inside the sandbox. Now we have 2 computers. What surprised me was my wife has adapted to the laptop and spends a lot of time on it. This works out great for me because I like the larger display on the old XP desktop and we can both be on a PC at the same time.
So I plan to keep my XP desktop until it dies.
Gordon

 

XP still runs great. I plan on using it till they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

 

To follow up on my earlier post, I'm seriously considering switching to a lap-top, so that I still have a Microsoft capability when we're travelling in the RV. I couldn't live with only Momma's iPad!

I'm looking closely at a Toshiba "Satellite C-55" unit, offered by Costco. It has 10/100 ethernet, a Pentium processor running at 2.6 GHz, (my current tower is at 2.1 G) a 500 GB hard drive (current tower 300G), 8GB RAM (currently 2G), Intel HM86 graphics (currently integrated with the motherboard) and MS Office 2013 Home/Student for $450.

I need a new wi-fi printer, since DW's iPad requires Airprint and a laptop would need ePrint. I'm thinking about a Brother MFC-J650DW, which has both of these wi-fi printing features and Amazon offers it at $100.

These both look like fairly good deals, particularly the Office 13, as I'm still using Office2003! Any negatives? Comments appreciated.

 

Isn't Office 2013 a yearly subscription program now?

I'm using Office 2007, but I kind of dread moving on to later versions after hearing of some user discontent.

 

I got this Toshiba Satellite 2.5 years ago on sale at BestBuy for $100 bucks less than other laptops with comparable RAM & cpu speed. It wasn't a ripoff, but if I had my money back I would have bought another model--most likley an HP. Several months ago, the battery stopped taking a charge. Bought a new battery, and it won't take a charge either. Folks here suggested that there was a mobo problem, which would cost a lot of money to replace (relative to the replacement value of this laptop). Since the beginning, the fan has been turning on repeatedly (athough not on the highest speed). I'm just waiting for the fan to go out....

Funny thing, is that people in other computer forums were saying how much they loved their Toshibas. Never again, that's all I've got to say.

As far as Office 13, you can get the software installed on your computer, or MS will sell it to you for a subscription. Read the fine print and make sure that you are getting the actual software that is or can be installed. They are selling Office 2013 for $40 to educators and students, so just be aware that you can get a download pretty cheap from MS (if you qualify).

EDIT: Wow its worse than I thought. The unit on the costco website is only offering a one-month trial of 365, the MS Office subscription program. I don't know if you have to get online to access the software (or if you can still work on your laptop offline), but regardless, iits only as good as your subscription is current. Check out MS prices for this. Honestly I used Office 2003 until 2010 came out, so a subscription to 2003 would have cost me an arm and a leg. If the pries

 

Thanks for the warning on Office with the Toshiba from Costco. The impression was given on the Costco website that it was regular Office 2013 Home and Student version of the program, without any subscription rubbish. I'm not interested in the "cloud" Office 365. The price at Costco expires early next week, so I need to do more research quickly. The same lap-top is on offer at OfficeMax in this weekend's newspaper ad for a better price than Costco, but without Office.

I have an overall preference for HP machines, but I'm hearing bad reviews of some of their current cheaper offerings. I'm limited to about $450 plus about $100 for a new printer, so getting Office 13 in the price was an incentive. I'd honestly prefer a Win 7 OS, but I'm willing to give 8.1 its day in court. My son-in-law has a multi-station licensed Win 7, so if 8.1 turns out to be a pile of dod-doo, I do have a fall-back.

 

After all the hoopla about Windows 8, yesterday was my first actual experience with it. Every single Windows computer at home and the only ones I touch at work, all have Win7. I have to say that I tend to take a lot of time acclimiatizing to a new UI (such as with the ribbon in Office 2007 and beyond), but I just don't see how the Windows 8 scheme is any quicker at all than the traditional programs menu, and clicking to see different sections IMO really slows things down. That said, there are free and pro programs that can give it a start menu, so I'm not worried. Quite frankly I'd rather have a more modern OS and a small freeware utility that gives me a start menu, than Win7. But that of course is personal preference. YMMV as they say.

I gotta say that hardware detection was pretty good (2 old printers and a 2yo monitor were up and running smoothly enough), and Windows 8 installed pretty quickly (running on a new HP)--turning on a new computer was actually a pretty pleasant experience.

 

I'm thinking of keeping the old clunker just to use for photography processing, completely off the internet. It's well supported, with a 300GB C: drive and a 120GB D: drive and has a good quality flat-panel monitor. It has always worked well with my HP Photosmart 100 for doing 4 x 6 prints.

As a replacement, I'm giving serious consideration to a 15.6" Toshiba C55 laptop. I can get a stripper from OfficeMax for $340, or one with Office 2013 installed from Costco for $440. I'm not sure if the Officemax one has a DVD-RW and it doesn't have Office installed. I'll be looking for an all-in-one (Print, Copy, Scan and Fax) wireless printer that can handle both ePrint and AirPrint (since DW has an iPad) and am leaning towards a Brother.

Does anyone have any dire warnings for either of these selections? I've seen some very negative comments about Office 2013 - what was the previous version? I'm running Office 2003 on my current box!

 

I can vouch for Office 2010. I've used it for a few years now, and I love it. The trick to Office 2007 and greater, is simply getting used to the Ribbon.

Since you are used to 2003, I'd try a trial download of 2013 (if they still offer them). I looked today, and there is an MS Works Suite 2006 that has a version of Word 2002, that will run on Windows 8. The ribbon really is a change, and it was not universally liked when it first came out. I've used 2013 a few times at work. Can't really say much. It looks like 2010, but with a UI that recedes more into the background than 2010 does. It functions much the same....

 

I came across a Lenovo at Amazon for $420. It was in an advertising header on this website. It has speed and capacity very similar to the Toshiba I almost bought and is a Win 7 machine. At Amazon, I can buy with a credit card, whereas Costco only allows either Amex or a debit card

It doesn't have an Office-type program in it, so i'll have to find one. I looked at Office 2013 on Amazon, and almost all the comments from purchasers were negative, so I'm looking around for a substitute. Having to scrabble around translating ".docx" things to ".doc" has become a real chore.

I'm beginning to suspect that Microsoft has lost its way someplace, Windows 8 wasn't well received and Office 2013 appears to be a bit of a turkey also.

 

I think MS really goofed things up with Win8. I wouldn't touch it without the Classic Shell start menu.

For Office, I'd recommend what I did in an earlier post---either use an older version of Word that will run on Win8, or do a trial download first of 2010 or 2013 (if they allow that). As I said, 2013 is much like 2010's ribbon. If you are used to 2010, there really is little of a learning curve with 2013; if not, then I'd think about whether I want to make the jump, or stick with Word 2002/2003.