Question for the techies re XP

From what ?

obnoxious and sarcastic replies to your questions ?

it would appear not.

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Mr Milk said..

Shouldn't the protection fees that I've been paying to Norton keep me safe?

No, not always. The Norton subscription tries to keep away the Malware and viruses that are trying to attack your machine, but there may be vulnerabilities in the actual code of XP that become known and are used by attackers to try and get access to your machine. As Windows is a huge bunch of code, there will be vulnerabilities that pop up every now and then and people rapidly learn how to use them.

I think in practical terms, if you only use it for browsing well-known sites, you should be pretty safe, but if there is a major vulnerability, you won't be protected. As everyone should, keep external backups of any data that you think is worth keeping, even if you have the latest version of Windows. You never know when your machine might break down.

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FormulaNova said..

Mr Milk said..

Shouldn't the protection fees that I've been paying to Norton keep me safe?

No, not always. The Norton subscription tries to keep away the Malware and viruses that are trying to attack your machine, but there may be vulnerabilities in the actual code of XP that become known and are used by attackers to try and get access to your machine. As Windows is a huge bunch of code, there will be vulnerabilities that pop up every now and then and people rapidly learn how to use them.

I think in practical terms, if you only use it for browsing well-known sites, you should be pretty safe, but if there is a major vulnerability, you won't be protected. As everyone should, keep external backups of any data that you think is worth keeping, even if you have the latest version of Windows. You never know when your machine might break down.

But surely any major holes would have been found long ago

What would you hate to lose? Keep that backed up regularly.

Are you of any value to a hacker? Do you have plans for nuclear submarines on your PC? Are you a CEO or similar?

Assuming not, and you're backed up, then you probably have very little to worry about.

I'm not familiar with any malware for example that can install itself through a browser, and then use it to gain access to your banking. I'm sure it exists but it's not common. I've never heard of anybody having this done to them.

If people want to rip you off they steal your identity by going through your mailbox. It's much easier.
I personally know a few people that this happened to. Had credit cards in their name they weren't aware of.

obvious dear breezers XP = x partner = divorce

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FormulaNova said..

slammin said..

I was surprised to learn that XP is used for many ATM machines. Guess they'll go Linux?

XP or CE? I think there have been cut-down versions of Windows to use in embedded applications for a while now. I think they carry different names, and probably have different support structures. I think with the nature of these devices, you shouldn't need updates, and they shouldn't be generally accessible via the internet.

That's what I heard on the ABC Radio by the techie. Definitely XP for many ATM's. It was core to their detailed report about MS's announcement.

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Mr Milk said..

Shouldn't the protection fees that I've been paying to Norton keep me safe?

Nothing is fail safe...
but Mr Milk...doesn't your computer run like a slug with the combination of XP and Norton?

Trend Micro is a better choice with XP

XP 64 bit and Nortons is not a mover and shaker either

or if you don't surf dodgy sites AVG free + Malwarebytes will do

But getting Nortons off of a PC can be a long winded job as well