Thanks everyone. A mixed bag of feedback, but mostly stick with XP and keep programs updated and run antispyware and antivirus programs. I do those already. I browse on Firefox and Chrome - never IE. Thanks Pipsy for your perspective. I hear it - and will keep it in mind. But given those that feel caution is sufficient for now, and my real constriction to switch systems this spring, I will probably continue with all cautions. Here are some follow up questions from everybody's posts: 1 - Unplugging external drive when not in use. I have a problem because my Synology NAS is always in use - as is one of my two external hard drives. First, I have lots of video stored on both that the family accesses to transfer to our Tivo's to watch on the television. That needs to be plugged in. I also have my desktop and my daughter's Mac esktop set to back up to the NAS weekly. Owbist - can you (or others) tell me what kind of vulnerability I'm exposing myself too? 2 - Can somebody provide a link and explanation of the ESET online scan? That's one new to me. 3 - I tried NoScript on my firefox and disabled it. Azinoh and the XP security article I mention below, both recommended it. But when I tried it, it was really interfering with a lot of things I was doing. That's been awhile so I dont' remember specifics, but it was just a big pain. Can somebody tell me more about the protection it offers - and are there settings to address how often it popped up and interfered with things? 4 - I do keep flash and java updated. I know many disable java, unfortunately one of the streaming stock programs I run depends on it. 5 - For my work laptop running Windows 7, I had a BSOD from conflicts with Avast. It was a known issue and was recommended to use MSE instead. If MSE isn't that good, should I risk trying Avast again? if there was a conflict in August/September, is it likely fixed since then? anybody know about this? 6 - In another post on this topic, somebody recommended this site/information: http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/securing-xp-pcs-after-microsoft-drops-support/ This site is certainily suggesting to stop with XP - but offers some safety measures if you continue. One was setting up IE so that it can't connect to the internet (but will connect to the homenetwork). "Disable Web browsing: After support ends next April, consider reconfiguring Windows XP to block its access to the Internet. (Remember: You’ll no longer need IE or Windows Update for system updates from Microsoft.) To do so, open IE, go to Tools/Internet Options, and then click on Connections. Click the LAN settings button (see Figure 1) and then check the “Use a proxy server …” box (see Figure 2). Next, enter 127.0.0.1 into the Address box. Finally, check the “Bypass proxy server for local addresses” box." Until this week, I had not encountered proxy servers. I stumbled on it bc. in updating my husband's Windows 7 computer, somehow both chrome and FF got reset to use a proxy server and they weren't connecting to the internet. Using Chrome's troubleshooting info, I was able to disable using proxy server. But now that I've seen the setting, I could set up proxy server for just IE. My question is, will this prevent me from accessing the internet using FF and Chrome (I don't think so but want to be sure)? Is there any reason to do this if I'm the only one in the family with an XP computer and I don't go on IE? Lastly, why do I need to keep IE if I'm not getting Windows updates? is it also for other microsoft updates that I could use (like Word)? Thank you. Lynn.

Just a few days delay and the computer that I had configured is no longer available. So I guess I'll "downgrade" a bit and get one with 3rd generation Intel i5 and on board graphics. Only additions I chose were some USB3 ports on the front and a wireless adapter, both of which added a total of $20 to the sale price. Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Processor 3rd Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3330 quad-core processor [3.0GHz, 6MB Shared Cache] Graphics card Integrated Intel(R) HD Graphics [DVI-I & DVI-D, DX 10.1] Memory 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs] Hard drive 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive Office software Microsoft Office Trial Primary optical drive SuperMulti DVD Burner Productivity ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0 Sound Card Beats Audio (tm) -- integrated studio quality sound Keyboard and Mouse HP keyboard and optical mouse Networking Wireless-N LAN card (1x1) Starting price $619.99* Price epp price icon $607.59* Instant rebate -$100.00 Total: $507.59 Does this sound like a pretty good deal? I'll decide by Monday if I'm going to buy it. I have a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse and powered Creative speakers with subwoofer. I may need an adapter to continue to use my present monitor, but that shouldn't be a problem. It is 5x4 and I prefer that to widescreen.

I didn't have any special problems turning up my Gateway Laptop with W8 a few months back. The biggest problems I had was learning (trial and error) to make one of the W8 tiles a start for Firefox (browser). When this is done the desktop converts to a W7 look. Yea, there's a lto of other "goodies" and I slowly started using them. In spite of the fact that it sometimes facilitates my crashing a dialog via my browser I love the "smart" touch pad. I find it hard using W7 laptop not being able to scroll using two fingers on the touch pad - I guess that's the feature I use the most. The last and only time I was ready to throw out a new notebook, an Acer, was when I couldn't get Vista to set up an network interface (best I can recall, these years later). But as I had purchased it from Walmart I just took it back and said I didn't want it - they refunded my purchase price. I found a demo laptop with XP and purchased it - that was my first Gateway.

that is xpSP3 support does not end until 2014 if on SP2 it has ended already. If you have one with Vista have you done both service pack updates to your Vista? That made a huge difference in Vista and made it much more like 7. Vista and 7 are quite similar. If they are all working fine and doing the job you need them to do then just stick with it till there is a real need to move up. Just be sure to keep not only windows updated but all the other things like flash, java, adobe etc those can leave you very open to infection if not kept updated. Using the secunia tool can help with that. Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI) on any unit that is not left on you run the risk of having an antivirus program that is way behind on it's definitions, that is why it is really much better to leave it on daily enough to allow those to install so that when you do turn on the pc it is not opening without the most current protection in place.