XP Users: Day 4

All is going well on my 2 machines.

I run Microsoft Updates every day, and today for the first time, I saw 3 0's on each machine, meaning there were no updates of any sort. This is to be the new norm from here on in, the only exception being I may see a MSE Definitions update file.

However, I run a full MSE scan on both machines at 2 AM every day. So far these scans have been clean, with no issues found. Prior to the scan I indicate that a check for updates should be performed, and I continue to get updates almost every day. This is all good.

What is not all good IMHO is the MSE window. Microsoft is sure out to scare everyone they can into buying a new computer. It is very likely that neither you nor I could run Windows 7 or Windows 8 on our older XP machines.

So I continue to ignore all of the red ink and keep a watchful eye on things. I always check the MSE History tab to make sure there were no problems found.

Yesterday I ran Spybot on both machines and again, no problems were found.

XP Users: Day 2

All went well on my 2 XP machines today. There were no XP updates except for MSE definition files. MSE runs a full virus scan at 2 AM each day. It did early this morning. No problems on the machines. I ran a Spybot scan today on both machines. No problems found.

I installed MSRT last night thru automatic updates. I ran the full MRT scan. Again no issues.

Things seem eerily quiet!

XP Users: Updates

I was surprised this evening to find 9 updates for one machine and 10 for the other. There was a wide variety of updates including Windows XP Security updates, MSE definitions update, MSRT, and some MS Office updates.

I am guessing the XP Security updates will be the last?

XP Users: 0 Days to go!

Well, it's here, the last day of support for Windows XP. Last night I checked for updates on both of my XP laptops, found one or two and installed them, and ran full virus scans on both machines. As of this moment, they live and appear to be fine.

I use Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) for my anti-virus program on both machines. As long as I see updated signature files coming from Microsoft I will keep on using MSE. When that changes I will change to another free anti-virus, but for now it's a daily watch on these machines.

Good luck to us all!

XP Users: One day to go!

Spend whatever time you can reviewing all that you should have done by now, by reviewing the blog posts below. Make sure you have backed up all of your data. The absolute worst case scenario would be that your machine gets corrupted and you lose all your data. In that case, it's probably time for a new machine.

I do not expect any real problems, but who knows? It is always best to be prepared. If you have any questions you can write me at pcdoc@brpcdoc.com.