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Bloody Microsoft

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by Topbox, Jan 22, 2020.

  1. Excellent choice sir !

    I've been using Mint on one of my machines for years , and have recently upgraded to the latest version .... 19.3
    The upgrade was slick and painless and it runs perfectly ,
    " right out of the box " .
    I use a few other Linux systems but Mint is a breeze for newcomers .

    There's only one snag with Linux in general and that is gaming
    .... it's possibly the biggest obstacle to more people switching from Windows .
     
    #21 oldtech, Jan 22, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2020
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  2. Being a Luddite I don't know what gaming is :D
     
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  3. You got streets with corners on where you live harry?
     
  4. Streets? Oh, yeah those things with houses on - no we just have roads with panoramic vistas either side :D

    Wise man once said 'at the end of every straight there is a corner'.......
     
  5. The XP you saw being used on-board ship is part of a closed system with no straightforward way of introducing malware into it.

    Plus, the MOD was receiving XP updates and fixes from Microsoft long after the Public could no longer get them. In fact, it only stopped in the past year or so.
     
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  6. I think it's like posh gurning...
     
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  7. That chap was Bertram 'Fred' Francis
     
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  8. I’ve looked at doing this on my wife’s but my knowledge is limited and I fear I won’t be able to fix later or add the software needed!
     
  9. Yes indeed , it's known as an " air-gapped " system in the security business
    But it would be a foolish person who thought that it made them " safe " .

    That's precisely what the Iranians had at their nuclear facility but dear-oh-dear , along came Stuxnet , and they watched helplessly as their priceless centrifuges shook themselves to pieces .... literally !

    Stuxnet probably infected every single computer with an internet connection , and then removed itself without a trace if it didn't find exactly what it was looking for .

    Whoever created that had access to some of the best coding skills on Earth
    ... so who made it ? .... and how did it get into " air-gapped " Natanz ?

    There are some very good documentaries on it .... and you don't need to be a Sheldon to get hooked into the story .

    BTW - That malware has the most elegant coding I ever saw ,
    in forty years of programming experience ..... :)
     
  10. Can you think of a system that is "safe"?

    There's always a flaw that can be exploited. Software vulnerabilities, human vulnerabilities, hardware vulnerabilities. The point is, with an "air-gapped" system, there is no more and no less security to be found using XP, Win10, Linux or DR-DOS 5.0, for that matter. They are all subject to PEBCAK security failures.

    The point is, the XP system you saw on TV is no more vulnerable than any other OS, in context you saw it.
     
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  11. I am a total Luddite but found it pretty easy - there are lots of Linux help sites on google, if you want to try you can copy your MS operating system and re-install later if you don't like it, I still have my old XP on the original hared drive (I also upgraded to SS drive at the same time) :upyeah:
     
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  12. I have XP in a Virtual Machine on my home PC because the flatbed scanner I own is perfectly serviceable ... but was designed for Win95 and wouldn't run on Win7 or anything more modern.

    Hey, if ain't ain't broke ...
     
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  13. Good way to try it first is to install it to an external drive (even something like a 8gb USB stick will do) and run the PC from that to see what you think.

    Only thing I found to be careful of is to make sure the boot loader is installed on the USB and not the internal HDD.
     
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  14. We are actually in total accord here Loz .

    I started out today by wanting to say that old operating systems , end of long-term-support etc. do not necessarily make a system inherently unsafe .
    I probably expressed myself in a woolly way ...

    PEBCAK .... BANG ! .... you hit the nail right on the head .

    And that's how the entire Anti-Virus industry popped into existence ...
    to protect every click-happy idiot with a computer from their own foolishness.
    To pander to their fear and paranoia while hogging system resources , and
    "phoning home " with who-knows-what so-called " anonymized " data .

    Of course I can't ..... but I get paid by people who believe that I can ,
    or that I can at least make their systems more safe .
    :)
     
    #34 oldtech, Jan 22, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2020
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  15. Y2K :):upyeah:
     
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  16. I'd like to thank everyone for the effort and insight.

    But, to use an IBM phrase (I think) my fear, uncertainty and doubt have just increased.

    The suggested alternatives sound nice and easy and just the ticket. But when your starting from a blank piece of paper I don't really want the stress.

    So, I've bottled it. Keeping Windows 7 won't do so I've gone and bought another PC.

    I didn't want to do that many miles on two wheels this year any way.

    TB
     
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  17. Its what we've all done since Windows 3.1 (or apple 2e or something). Good for you, decisive action ends the problem!
     
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  18. And for those of you who don’t have a iPad and use your windows PC for porn - a bootable Linux USB stick is a very safe option! ;)

    Trust me - I’m a professional! :innocent:
     
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  19. @PerryL - Windows 10 should have automatically updated your OS version before this happened unless you have stopped it. What version of Windows 10 are you using?

    In the search box on the taskbar, type winver and then press Enter. This opens the About Windowsdialog box, where you'll see the version of Windows 10 that's running on your device.


    [​IMG]

    Windows 10 has multiple versions - released as feature updates on a regular basis - you must update your version within 18 months of release to stay supported. Let me know your version and I’ll let you know what your options are.
     
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