atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories Win Xp TEOTWAWKI

On the MS website, there used to be an option if you were thinking about upgrading to Win 7. It would scan the programs on your system and let you know what would, would not and any questionable programs.

It also told you whether or not your system was able to support Win 7. Might still be there...

For older apps which don't work on Vista or 7, on Windows 7 you can download XP Mode (only for Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate editions) which allows you to run XP within 7 (essentially Microsoft Virtual PC). I've used this recently to get QuickBooks Point of Sale 5.0 working on a Windows 7 machine.

I'm worried about compatibility with Windows 8.1.

Any of our computers purchased since I have been there (3 years) have been Windows 7. Anything new is 7, many of our programs would not work with 8 anyway.

Most of the shop floor PCs which are only used for our ERP system (no internet access) are XP.

I'm back with more... [gripes and complaints]

MS, in my opinion, is deliberately playing games to force us to "upgrade."

In the good old days, a person could download a "cumulative update roll-up," basically an update installer executable [.exe] that included all monthly updates released after the last actual service pack.

Armed with the last service pack and the roll-up burned together onto a CD, a person such as myself could go around and bring a dozen Xp workstations up to date with relative ease.

There is no cumulative roll-up available for Xp Service Pack 3. Instead, MS offers DVD5 ISO files, one for EACH monthly update. To bring an Xp box up the "final" [right now] state of patched, you need to download and burn a zillion separate ISO files...

Before anyone says it... Yes, a person could just install SP3 and then run "windows update" to install all the post-SP updates. Allow me to mention that the windows update site does not work anymore for any of the Xp boxes in my world.

If anyone knows where I can get a cumulative update roll-up for Xp SP3, please tell me. I would really rather be totally wrong about this [won't be the first time], and have it turn out that I am just too old and slow to actually find it...

Also, poking around on the web turns up this:

https://www.msfn.org/board/topic/162206-unofficial-xp-sp4/

Has anyone here used this "nlite" package referred to in the thread? Is it trustworthy?

Jim Bennett
===================================================================
"Everything is perfect about the past, except how it lead
to the present." -Homer Simpson

If those dozen XP computers (or any Windows PC for that matter) are connected to the same physical network, setup a WSUS server. Updates are pushed out automatically to the computers pointed to the WSUS server. You can setup automatic approval for new updates or manually select which updates you want to push out (great way to keep control of bad updates that Microsoft occasionally pushes out). WSUS is free and saves on bandwidth since the server keeps the repository of all updates.

I've been working on XP computers recently and all of them work just fine on the Windows Update page. What version of IE are you using on those dozen XP computers? If you have an old version of IE (<6.0) than I might understand why Windows Update page fails to work correctly.

Hawk82,
Thanks for the suggestion! You make it sound easy

Truth is, I am not a Network Admin by any stretch of the imagination. My customer with the dozen or so Xp boxes has their own people, and the overall attitude there is kind of like "we don't need no stinkin' updates..."

I was mostly citing them as an example of how easy patching Xp boxes could be, if there was a cumulative roll-up package available. That said, I still have several Xp boxes of my own that I would like to update, as well as being able to do a clean install of Windoze that is fully up-to-date [to the extent that it is possible]. For this, it would be nice to have an SP disc and a roll-up disc, to make the process relatively quick and easy.

Has anyone ever tried this:

https://www.wincert.net/forum/topic/5143-addon-onepiece-xp-post-sp3-aio-update-pack-v770/

It seems that all of the "unofficial" update packs need to merged with the SP ISO ahead of time to make one installer executable. This doesn't seem all that hard, but as I said, I am not an IT guy, and when I read the threads on the various forums, they lose me about three sentences in. Much head scratching ensues...

BTW, the Xp boxes that hang on the Windoze Update site are all running IE 8.

Thanks Again,
Jim
==================================================
Speaking from a secure undisclosed location.

Jim,

You can get Window 7 at Newegg.com
Windows 7 pro - 139.99
Windows 7 Home - 99.99

Ken

I am sticking with XP that is currently running on the machines that have it. If I buy new, I will get win 8.1, what choice do I have? My win 7 laptop will stay 7 for now as well due to the fact I have learned upgrades usually cause more trouble than they are worth. Any machine I have in the field running XP is directly related to my telephone, call accounting and voice mail systems and I have no choice but to leave them as they are...which is working.

Now my wife's laptop is using Vista...man I hate that OS! The laptop is too old and weak to run 8.1 so she may be looking at something new soon.

My wife now has a new HP touchscreen laptop with win 8.1. I am learning it, not as bad as I thought it would be. I installed Kaspersky anti-virus program on the new laptop and on my XP machine. MSE died a planned death today so I needed something quick.