Life after April 8: what exactly "end of support" means for XP?

[DK]

Will *any* Windows/Microsoft Update work on XP?

Will old updates and fixes still be available online or not?

E.g., if I have a computer that was offline since 2009, would it be
possible to update it to 2014 in May 2014?

Also, if I continue running XP, would I be able to get Office 2007
or .NET security fixes on it?

Strange that such a basic info is hard to find...

Any ideas?

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Will *any* Windows/Microsoft Update work on XP?

Will old updates and fixes still be available online or not?

E.g., if I have a computer that was offline since 2009, would it be
possible to update it to 2014 in May 2014?

Also, if I continue running XP, would I be able to get Office 2007
or .NET security fixes on it?

Strange that such a basic info is hard to find...

Any ideas?

Current thinking is that the *update* servers will remain online for a
while at least (and the activation ones); how long is anybody's guess,
but taking a sort of average of what people are thinking, "at least a
year" seems to be popular.

The info. is hard to find as MS - quite understandably IMO - don't want
to commit themselves. They _have_ specifically said that _definition_
updates for MSE (though not updates to MSE itself, or even MSE itself at
all) will continue to be not only available but generated, until IIRR
2015.

You _should_, therefore, be able to get the updates (including O2007 and
..net, inasmuch as those are available for XP at all). The one problem
with your old PC is that the current version of Windows Update (well,
the servers that serve it) won't work with IE6; I'm not sure when the
later versions of IE came out, but if that was after 2009 (or you hadn't
updated it), you'd have to get IE8 separately - which you can still do,
it's just not automatic. (I'm not sure if the current WU works with IE7
- I think not.)

 

[DK]

In message <[email protected]>, DK
<[email protected]> writes:

Current thinking is that the *update* servers will remain online for a
while at least (and the activation ones); how long is anybody's guess,
but taking a sort of average of what people are thinking, "at least a
year" seems to be popular.

Thanks! That sounds encouraging.

The one problem
with your old PC is that the current version of Windows Update (well,
the servers that serve it) won't work with IE6;

Just last night I fully updated XP using IE6 (the only times I ever
use IE). But I get your point and will install and update IE8 right away
just in case.

DK

 

[Ian Jackson]

Thanks! That sounds encouraging.


Just last night I fully updated XP using IE6 (the only times I ever
use IE). But I get your point and will install and update IE8 right away
just in case.

Only a couple of weeks ago, I did a virgin install of XP Home with SP1a,
and then all the subsequent updates (SP2, SP3, and probably around 200
individual ones). IIRC, you couldn't install SP3 until you had upgraded
IE6 to IE8.

On MSE, there's now a link to a message on one of Microsoft's websites:
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/end-of-support.aspx>

One of the FAQs is:
Will existing updates still be available via Windows Update after April
8, 2014?
Yes, all existing Windows XP updates and fixes will still be available
via Windows Update and WSUS.

So I guess (hope) it will be a case of business as usual - except that
there won't be anything new.

 

[DK]

Only a couple of weeks ago, I did a virgin install of XP Home with SP1a,
and then all the subsequent updates (SP2, SP3, and probably around 200
individual ones). IIRC, you couldn't install SP3 until you had upgraded
IE6 to IE8.

That's really odd because I have SP3 on the very same machine I writing
this from and it has never seen IE8. Every update was done with IE6.

On MSE, there's now a link to a message on one of Microsoft's websites:
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/end-of-support.aspx>

One of the FAQs is:
Will existing updates still be available via Windows Update after April
8, 2014?
Yes, all existing Windows XP updates and fixes will still be available
via Windows Update and WSUS.

Great news!

This is funny though: "PCs running Windows XP after April 8, 2014,
should not be considered to be protected". As if they ever were! Weeks
and months of unpatched vulnerabilities, with the worst kinds actually
coming from Sun and Adobe.

DK

 

[BillW50]

In Ian Jackson typed:

Only a couple of weeks ago, I did a virgin install of XP Home with
SP1a, and then all the subsequent updates (SP2, SP3, and probably
around 200 individual ones). IIRC, you couldn't install SP3 until you
had upgraded IE6 to IE8.

I don't recall my SP3 machines having to be updated to IE8? Although
that was years ago and maybe things has changed. I don't use my SP3
machines too often, but maybe I should fire one of them up and see if it
has IE8 or not.

 

[Jon Danniken]

In Ian Jackson typed:

I don't recall my SP3 machines having to be updated to IE8? Although
that was years ago and maybe things has changed. I don't use my SP3
machines too often, but maybe I should fire one of them up and see if it
has IE8 or not.

I have been able to install sp3 from a downloaded (redistributable) copy
without updating IE6.

Jon

 

[Paul]

I have been able to install sp3 from a downloaded (redistributable) copy
without updating IE6.

Jon

That "IE8 behavior" could be due to the following.

User initially installs WinXP. User installs IE8.
Machine gets messed up. OK, time for a Repair.

So user decides to repair install. You're supposed to
remove IE8 before doing the repair install. If you don't,
people have discovered that you can "fix" this problem,
by reinstalling the Internet Explorer you were
using previously. It seems, if you reinstall the version
of IE you were previously running, it puts enough new
files in there to fix up whatever the repair couldn't
deal with on its own.

If you were running IE6, then needed to do the Repair Install,
it's quite possible that IE6 would have worked and been enough.
(No need to add IE8 at that point.) Although I have run into
some security setting problem in IE6, where I couldn't activate.
Entirely too much stuff on the computer, depends on the
Internet Explorer huge collection of security settings.

Paul

 

[Good Guy]

Current thinking is that the *update* servers will remain online for a
while at least (and the activation ones); how long is anybody's guess,
but taking a sort of average of what people are thinking, "at least a
year" seems to be popular.

The info. is hard to find as MS - quite understandably IMO - don't
want to commit themselves. They _have_ specifically said that
_definition_ updates for MSE (though not updates to MSE itself, or
even MSE itself at all) will continue to be not only available but
generated, until IIRR 2015.

You _should_, therefore, be able to get the updates (including O2007
and .net, inasmuch as those are available for XP at all). The one
problem with your old PC is that the current version of Windows Update
(well, the servers that serve it) won't work with IE6; I'm not sure
when the later versions of IE came out, but if that was after 2009 (or
you hadn't updated it), you'd have to get IE8 separately - which you
can still do, it's just not automatic. (I'm not sure if the current WU
works with IE7 - I think not.)

I suspect MS will release an activation patch sometimes next year when
it has a good knowledge of how many people are still using XP. The
already released patches since SP3 will remain online for sometime
because it takes time to remove all of them.

 

[Zo]

BillW50 formulated the question :

In Ian Jackson typed:

I don't recall my SP3 machines having to be updated to IE8? Although that was
years ago and maybe things has changed. I don't use my SP3 machines too
often, but maybe I should fire one of them up and see if it has IE8 or not.

I've had SP3 since it was released. In fact, I don't believe they had
an IE8 when it was released (memory fading) Used IE6 up until this
January when I attempted to run the 2013 TaxFree software and was
notified that I needed IE8 in order to run it (that's when I installed
IE8)

 

[casey.o]

That's really odd because I have SP3 on the very same machine I writing
this from and it has never seen IE8. Every update was done with IE6.

The first thing I did when I upgraded to SP3 was to download IE8. I
hated IE6 (and IE5 too). IE8 is not too bad, but I prefer Firefox and
lately, Seamonkey, because FF is getting too bloated. On my laptop, I'm
sticking with Firefox 8.x. It works fine and is still fairly simple.
But I do have IE8 on there too, and have been using it more often
lately.

You can just download IE8, and save it. You dont need to keep
installing it from the web. I have several computers and am on dialup.
I just save the IE8 install file, and there is a patch for it too, which
I also have saved.

Whenever I install XP, I apply SP3, IE8 and that patch all at the same
time. Unfortunately, being on dialup, I cant add all those other
upgrades. I'm hoping someone will burn them to CD or DVD and offer them
on Ebay for a fair price. I just dont have a fast enough internet
connection. Even the local WIFI spots are not real fast where i live.
And I sure cant haul a desktop computer to McDonalds or my local library
to use their WIFI.

You'd think Microsoft would offer their final upgrades on CD or an ISO
file, but they're too busy pushing their latest bloat....

Of course, if every one of us called Bill Gates, and really bugged him,
he might budge <lol>.

 

[Ian Jackson]

I have been able to install sp3 from a downloaded (redistributable) copy
without updating IE6.

Jon

I'm sure you're all correct. However, this was a virgin install from a
2002 disk, and I'm pretty sure that there was some point where the
updates couldn't proceed unless I had IE8. As I wanted IE8, I let it do
the upgrade.

 

[Ian Jackson]

You'd think Microsoft would offer their final upgrades on CD or an ISO
file, but they're too busy pushing their latest bloat....

I too would have thought that a final all-embracing bumper-bundle of XP
updates (call it SP4) would have been a good idea. However, would a
service pack make you have some of the updates you didn't really want?

 

[casey.o]

I too would have thought that a final all-embracing bumper-bundle of XP
updates (call it SP4) would have been a good idea. However, would a
service pack make you have some of the updates you didn't really want?

This brings up a question. What have the updates since SP3 really done?
Since I cant install them on dialup, I have not. I have SP3 saved and
update to there. I'm aware that soem of the updates are security
related. Those I'd like to get. But what else is there? Is any of it
really needed? I'd think that by the time to they got to SP3, that all
the bugs were worked out. I'll take a guess that there may be some
features added to Media Player. I know there is a update for IE8 (which
I have a a separate file). What else is there? I'd think one would
need to be a real computer whizz to know all the details.

From what you said here, if there was a SP4 released, couldn't it be
made selective, so the user could select what they want? I know when I
install SP3, it just does it, but for example, when I installed XP or
even Win98, I can choose to install or not install certain things, such
as the games, or specific utilities, or that feature that for people
with disabilities (cant think of the name of that). I can also go back
and remove parts later. I removed OE and Windows Messenger recently
from one of my new installs, because I will never use them. On my Win98
computer, I removed IE, which is mostly a part of the actual OS, but
there is a way to remove the part that loads as a browser. I removed
that years ago, and it did not hurt anything, in fact it made the OS run
faster.

It would be nice to see a text file that actually shows what all the
updates are. If i could see such a list, and noticed something that
seems real important, I'd probably download those as files. Thats one
nice thing about using Win98, it dont attempt to install them, it just
saves them. I guess the same thing could be done if booted from Linux
or any other OS.

 

[Bob F]

Will *any* Windows/Microsoft Update work on XP?

Will old updates and fixes still be available online or not?

E.g., if I have a computer that was offline since 2009, would it be
possible to update it to 2014 in May 2014?

Also, if I continue running XP, would I be able to get Office 2007
or .NET security fixes on it?

Strange that such a basic info is hard to find...

Any ideas?

Are updates still available for windows 2000? That would tell us something.

I have slipstreamed XP disks for Pro and Home versions which, with my WSUS
offline update files and MS updates I've downloaded enables me to install
virtually every update Microsoft windows updates looks for without downloading
from Windows Update. I need to do one more pass to fully document the full
install, so I will not need MSUD to verify the full install.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>,

even Win98, I can choose to install or not install certain things, such
as the games, or specific utilities, or that feature that for people
with disabilities (cant think of the name of that). I can also go back

I think you mean "Accessibility". I think most of it doesn't take much
space, but you could remove/not install it if you wish. I find Toggle
Keys, for example, useful (it alerts me whenever I hit caps lock by
mistake!), and I'm not disabled.

and remove parts later. I removed OE and Windows Messenger recently
from one of my new installs, because I will never use them. On my Win98
computer, I removed IE, which is mostly a part of the actual OS, but
there is a way to remove the part that loads as a browser. I removed IEradicator?
that years ago, and it did not hurt anything, in fact it made the OS run
faster.

(I run the '95 shell on my '98SElite machine - faster and more
reliable.)

It would be nice to see a text file that actually shows what all the
updates are. If i could see such a list, and noticed something that
seems real important, I'd probably download those as files. Thats one
nice thing about using Win98, it dont attempt to install them, it just
saves them. I guess the same thing could be done if booted from Linux
or any other OS.

Agreed. (Take a look at WSUSoffline.)

 

[DK]

Are updates still available for windows 2000? That would tell us something.

I have slipstreamed XP disks for Pro and Home versions which, with my WSUS
offline update files and MS updates I've downloaded enables me to install
virtually every update Microsoft windows updates looks for without downloading
from Windows Update. I need to do one more pass to fully document the full
install, so I will not need MSUD to verify the full install.

I hope pirates/hackers eventually release "Windows XP Pro Final" version.

 

[Bob F]

I hope pirates/hackers eventually release "Windows XP Pro Final"
version.

It looks like I'm down to one install disk followed by 2 passes of WSUS offline
to get a completely up-to-date XP installation or repeir installation.

 

[DK]

It looks like I'm down to one install disk followed by 2 passes of WSUS offline

to get a completely up-to-date XP installation or repeir installation.

Well, maybe for a benefit for the rest of us, you could package and post
those WSUS offline updates somewhere? Along with the instructions of
how to use them would be nice

 

[Bob F]

Well, maybe for a benefit for the rest of us, you could package and
post those WSUS offline updates somewhere? Along with the
instructions of
how to use them would be nice

Get it here.
http://www.wsusoffline.net/

It's pretty easy to use. You run the UpdateGenerator.exe to gather the wanted
updates, snd go into the client folder and run UpdateInstaller.exe to install
them on your OS. If you have a network, you can just double click on the
UpdateGenerator where the files are stored from the PC you are trying to update.

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/maik...-without-an-internet-connection-and-wsus.aspx

WSUSoffline only gets the security updates. Others, like Windows Media Player,
you should download from MS. I basically ran Windows Update just far enough to
find out which updates were needed after WSUS finished, and downloaded those by
searching on the MS download site by KB# I then used nLite to slippstream
everything I could easily with it into a more complete XP install disc. Some
things aren't so easy to do that with, so I made a list of those for manual
installation. That includes updates related to things that WSUS installed, like
..NET files, and the WMP, neither of which I could find an easy way to slipstream
in.

nLite is a pretty amazing tool for slipstreaming, although is does have a few
limitations.