Computer Question

[a nameless entity]

It is interesting to hear that Windows 10 scales to what you have. But I wonder how well it would do with only 1 gig of RAM and a 4x agp mobo.
I actually do have enough money saved up at the moment to buy a decent rig, -but barely. I have been waiting for just the right thing to come along, and also to see what it is that will break in this old house that will yet again eat those saved up dollars just like every other time before.

We'll see what happens.

************
I am resisting the inevitable trend towards a totally wired world. I don't have a tablet, laptop, or notebook. I no longer own a cell phone and don't want a new one. But even the public library is switching to something called "Zino" for magazines. I need to ask them if I have to own a tablet for that. And many books are switching to the e-book format, especially many older titles that have had their printed versions retired due to age or loss. I guess I'll need a tablet for those too. But I DO NOT WANT ONE.

[Dr.Flay]

Useful feedback.
My (now dead) Win7 box is installed with Virtual XP, so I could run anything that needs an older OS.
Windows !0 does indeed scale well due to the modern mobile market, but you will have to manually check that drivers can be found for your HW.
Those that get offered the upgrade, are only offered it if the drivers are available. Some Windows 7 and 8 users are still waiting.

Tip: To avoid a whole lot of the privacy related nonsense in Win 10, it is best to install it off-line

Damn! I knew the Avira XP support was running out soon, but missed it fly by.
The AV Live ISOs will become the only option for a full AV scan on XP.

This DOS program Xen could be fine. Very often security tools ring alarms because of the things they can do.
eg. many of the NirSoft tools flag as RiskWare or hacking tools, because they do things that you would not want a hacker to do, but you may need to do when salvaging or fixing a PC.
On my XP box I am starting to have to rely more on various tools that integrate VirusTotal scanning.
I use the same tools on newer Windows but they are becoming far more useful to XP.

You can upload the Xen.exe and the original zip (if you have it) file to https://www.virustotal.com
or use the desktop tool https://www.virustotal.com/en/documenta ... lications/

Microsoft have 2 useful tools that can lookup VirusTotal results for any files you have running, or are automatically run on boot.
Here are the last XP versions
Autoruns for Windows
http://wayback.archive.org/web/20151228 ... 63902.aspx
Process Explorer
http://wayback.archive.org/web/20151211 ... s/bb896653

[Hermskii]

Kelly scores again. Stop using XP. At the very worst use Windows 7 which is still my favorite but Win 10 is pretty awesome and I have it on everything at home now too. Only this old computer I run the 5 servers from still uses XP and that will certainly not happen much longer.

[KellyD]

Yeah, I've read that XP is now to be considered as unsecure because exploits continue to be found and these will not be patched properly. Even insecurities in things like Java and Flash need core architecture changes to block the problems, not just updates to those programs themselves. Anything running XP probably shouldn't have a direct connection to the outside internet now (just to be safe).

[medor]

I run xp 64 and all is fine

[Hermskii]

medor,

Listen to Kelly. XP can no longer be protected period. Nothing can defend it now. If you won't take Kelly's perfectly good advice than at least take my equally awesome advice: Backup!-Backup!!-Backup!!!

That goes to everyone out there still using WIN XP. At the very very worst you should be using Windows Vista and that sucks balls now too but does still have support from all venders.

The lowest level operating system I would use right now is any version of Windows 7 but the Windows 7 Ultra 64 bit is still my favorite OS out there right now followed closely by Windows 10 Pro 64 bit.

[Nelsona]

Meh, I will QUIT using X_P in year 2_0_1_9 when last "support" will end. There is a solution for getting an Up to Date X_P right in this period which perhaps you don't know - I'm not gonna post the solution in forum - some spirits might be warming up too much, just look around and see...

[David]

So.......Upgrade to Windows 10, is it worth it?

For those who upgraded from 7 or 8 or 8.1 to Windows 10, are you happy with your choice?

I like 7. I do not like 8 and 8.1 is not my choice either. I do not have a lot of experience, very little experience with Windows 10.

I like 7, I know 7 and I am comfortable with 7. I know the "free upgrade" will end July 29th. So I am trying to decide to stay on the horse I like and I am comfortable with or get on a strange horse.

[KellyD]

YMMV but I converted every computer in our house and never regretted it. Win10 scaled from my ancient laptop to my gaming rig and did great across the board. No issues on anything.

[Hook]

So far, I like Win10.
There are some very minor issues that I know can be worked out, but I just have to get off my butt and fix them.
One is that when playing UT, my screen is darker than it should be and won't adjust. (Dr.Flay has the simple fix)
But, I would do it!

[David]

Browser does not support.jpg

I have noticed for some time now that IE 11 is giving me the message "This browser does not support video playback" on multiple websites. I have tried to search for an answer but so far the only one that is constant is to switch from IE to another browser like Firefox or Chrome. I do use Chrome a little and it does not have the same issue, but you would think there is a real solution out there to make IE 11 play videos.

This is a link to the video (screenshot above). Again IE 11 will give me the message but Chrome plays it fine. http://mashable.com/2015/12/15/woman-an ... 7WtNY5RPqC

Any ideas on how to fix it, minus the switch to another browser?

[EvilGrins]

I have noticed for some time now that IE 11 is giving me the message "This browser does not support video playback" on multiple websites.

I get that periodically on Twitter, but not consecutively. It's like that browser issue comes up every so often but goes away later.

Maybe a current memory issue?

I use Chrome, by the way.

[Dr.Flay]

IE + video plugins is a ticking time-bomb, and since it is no longer developed the ticks are getting quicker.
The biggest threat is IEs lack of ability to load plugins only if clicked on. You have no choice but to let all the plugins run when you open a page.
As it is no longer developed It is falling behind in HTML5/CSS3 support, so as you go down the road many newer WebGL players will not be compatible.
I have this problem in old Opera 12, so Firefox is my browser for some modern sites.

Hardly any people make extensions for IE, so you probably can't replace the functionality like other browsers.
There used to be some activity, but I don't think there is even a still developed UserScript addon.
TrixIE looks like your best option there https://sourceforge.net/projects/trixiewpf45/
With a "Greasemonkey" type addon, you can make sites behave or look different, by using "UserScripts".
eg. I use one that makes Youtube use the VLC browser plugin, and one that gives me a volume control on Bandcamp !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greasemon ... r_browsers

If you want a more secure/private version of Chrome, try the builds made by Avira
https://www.avira.com/en/avira-scout
or a more configurable/customisable build made by Vivaldi
https://vivaldi.com
Both are more private than the default Google build (that loves to chat back to base all the time, watch your keystrokes, and hog 50% core and 250MB RAM while updating, even though you didn't run it yet).

Currently at this point of 2016, IE has 786 known vulnerabilities, and most of them are via video plugins, because they also have the most vulnerabilities.
https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerabilit ... lorer.html
The year is just over half way done, and IE has more than tripled the amount of "CVEs" since last year.
That is one leaky boat to be sitting in !
Firefox is also full of holes, but has an active upgrade cycle and there are many addons that help to negate security and privacy problems.

Total critical vulnerabilities 2015
Browsers


Software

[David]

Thank you Dr. Flay. You explained it well where others just said to dump IE.

[Dr.Flay]

Glad to help clarify things. No point in knowing not to use a thing, if you don't know why.
You would then be simply following someone else's opinion, not yours.
It should be your decision, even when it is a decision you don't like (I had to give up Netscape navigator, because it turned into Firefox)

I still use IE as a fast offline reader for local pages I have saved.
Old Opera 12 is still useful and secure due to the amount of extensions, and the fact that hackers are not interested in it, but all Windows users have IE, so all hackers want to break it.
Same as all Apple users have Safari even if they don't use it the OS does, so all hackers go for Safari as the gateway to a Mac or iPhone.

You can see what sort of things a virus or hacker could make use of in your browser
https://browsercheck.qualys.com
http://www.browserscope.org/security/test
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/viewMyClient.html

Privacy leaks
https://panopticlick.eff.org
https://www.browserleaks.com