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What to do with PC running on Windows XP

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  • 22-01-2014 8:26am
    #1
    Kevin McCloud
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,797 ✭✭✭


    My PC is running on windows XP, as its being unsupported what is my best option here, can i get windows 7 free from my XP licence or do i need to buy the windows 7, any help much appreciated thanks. :)


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    #2
    wingnut
    Registered Users Posts: 1,939 ✭✭✭wingnut


    Kevin McCloud wrote: »
    My PC is running on windows XP, as its being unsupported what is my best option here, can i get windows 7 free from my XP licence or do i need to buy the windows 7, any help much appreciated thanks. :)

    Won't make any real difference, you don't need to do anything. If you want to upgrade you can buy a licence. If it's an older machine you could look at putting the latest version of ubuntu on there it's free.


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    #3
    yoyo
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,016 Mod ✭✭✭✭yoyo


    Try Linux Mint or Lubuntu would be my advice. Using XP after April will pose a security risk as any newly found vulnerabilities (and there's bound to be a few!) will remain unpatched. You could also purchase a Windows 7 or 8 license. I'd recommend this only if the pc is relatively decent (dual core CPU~ 2GB+ RAM) but even still it depends on your needs. For internet browsing/email/videos/music etc. Linux works very well

    Nick

    My Beer Glass collection site 🍺

    My Irish Callcards site



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    #4
    PrzemoF
    Registered Users Posts: 1,931 ✭✭✭PrzemoF


    OP, what software you're using on your PC? Linux mint might be the best option for you.


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    #5
    notmymark
    Registered Users Posts: 104 ✭✭notmymark


    You most certainty do need to do something… The OS will continue to work but come April 8th Microsoft will no longer be supporting it. That means no more security updates, so if you leave it as is and are connected to the internet it will only be a matter of time before something happens. One option is to improve security on the machine and there are loads of blogs and posts on the internet about various things you can do. However this is not a “full” solution.

    Another thing to realise is that most hardware and software manufactures probably aren’t going to be updating their products or drivers for XP.

    The best option is to upgrade to a different version of Windows, another OS or simply buy a new machine. Like was said above, Ubuntu, Mint and many other distributions of Linux are free. Most also have the possibility of putting it onto a bootable USB key or CD meaning you can boot direct from that and try it out before you do a proper install.

    I think a new version of Windows 8 will cost over €100. Although it’s not really advertised you can still find Windows 7 to buy in a few places. Also it’s worth noting that Windows 8 Pro has free downgrade rights. As yoyo said this should only be done if your computer has the correct specs.

    The last option is to buy a new machine. Similar to above, most computers in the shops are Windows 8 but you can find some Windows 7 ones (HP is your best bet).


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    #6
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Kevin McCloud wrote: »
    My PC is running on windows XP, as its being unsupported what is my best option here, can i get windows 7 free from my XP licence or do i need to buy the windows 7, any help much appreciated thanks. :)

    What do you use it for? Maybe its not even on the web?


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