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Ask HN: How do I secure Windows XP?
I have a few relatives who are resistant to change and are still using Windows XP. Does anyone have any recommendations on how best to secure XP?
I found bitdefender[1]. Has anyone ever used this?
1. https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/security-for-xp-and-vista.html
- schwede 9y agoYou should really convince them to make the change. XP was was end-of-lifed April 2014.
- seanwilson 9y agoCan you not get them to upgrade? It's a losing battle sticking with XP.
- jklein11 9y agoThat's the ultimate goal but they are dependent on software that has also reached EOL. I'd like to get everything moved over within the next few months but in the mean time I'd like to patch them as best as possible
- seanwilson 9y agoPersonally, I would gift them a basic Chromebook. Technical support for relatives is a bottomless pit otherwise. :P
- neilsimp1 9y agoI agree. I'm willing to bet that if their naive enough to think Windows XP is still a good idea, then their computer usage probably exceed beyond emails/Facebook and the like. A Chromebook is inexpensive and will meet all the basic needs.
- thijsvandien 9y agoCan't you virtualize those bits? Hopefully the VM can be isolated from either the internet or the host (i.e. no shared filesystem or networking).
- romanhn 9y agoAre you providing friends-and-family support? If they are stubborn about moving on, you should be stubborn about continuing to support them. I think you can make a very reasonable argument there. None of the answers here actually address your question. Probably not a coincidence.
- jklein11 9y agoI wouldn't say they are stubborn about moving on, it will just take a little bit of time for them to migrate everything over. In the meantime I don't want to leave them exposed
- mike-cardwell 9y agoDisconnect it from the Internet and fill the USB ports with epoxy.
- ProMarc 9y agoWhy XP? There's so much more OS.
- WhiteSource1 9y agoUpgrade Or move to Linux
- limeblack 9y agoThis may be rather obvious but I would either dual boot(and disable the internet XP side and install antivirus or disable USB drives also) the machine or run the software in a VM. I have an EOL software for W7 and that is my plan at this point. The advantage with VM it that it rather easy to take snapshots.
- niutech 9y agoEnable the POSReady registry hack for getting the updates: http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued...