AstroSkipper

Totally agreed! For older (not as old as mine) hardware, Windows 7 is a very good choice.

If I had to choose between Windows XP x86 and x64, I would always go with x86. The driver support is much better in x86.

At this point, I would like to say thanks for all your efforts in building XP- compatible versions of youtube-dl and yt-dlp. I use your builds for a longer time, and they are great. Hopefully, this permanent throttling issue can be fixed again. For that, I totally agree with @VistaLover. I hate Google for all these unnecessary changes.

Telemetry is not my main problem with Windows 10. The overall restrictions inside this OS, the access to the system only via account, the cutted rights of an administrator and the disastrous user interface are much worse.

I'm glad you like this tool! For Windows 8, there is of course a larger selection of compatible AV programs. Unfortunately, the situation is totally different for Windows XP (and Vista).

Restoring AU/MU/WU using a proxy server There is a new method to restore AU/MU/WU in Windows XP (and also for other Windows versions, which are not topic here, though). This method was created by @ItCoder. Here is the link to its post: He provides a specific installer for each Windows version. Here is the link: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsVjtW11rJfA3FQANrgg_QXRMgfx?e=lCF2lV The installer for Windows XP is XP.exe. I didn't test this method. No need here for a further method to restore AU/MU/WU. I already have two working methods to check for updates. My system is fully updated, and new updates won't come anymore as we already know. Unfortunately, the whole method is not really well documented. Therefore, I can't say much about it. It seems you have to execute the installer, follow the prompt, and then it should work. It is perhaps interesting that this method is also said to restore AU. If you tested this method, it would be very interesting to participate from your experiences. Feel free to comment! Cheers, AstroSkipper Edit: More details about this method here:

BTW, there is additionally the possibility to update MWAV - eScan Antivirus Toolkit offline. On their homepage, an weekly offline updater can be downloaded. To update offline an offline AV scanner is a bit funny, but in any case simply great. Here is the link: https://www.escanav.de/german/content/products/generic_eScan/escan_mailscan_weeklyupdates.asp Cheers, AstroSkipper

Thank you for your opinion and thoughts! First of all, I have to mention that I am a die-hard Windows XP fan, and it is still my main operating system for more than 20 years. It has the most important things I need. Working with Windows XP always fills me with joy. I feel free, not monitored, not controlled and not incapacitated. But if I had to switch to another Windows OS, it would be Windows 7. I completely agree with you, Windows 7 was or is a worthy successor to Windows XP. As for Windows 10, I try to avoid using it whenever I can. In this OS, an administrator is no longer really the boss. Microsoft no longer considers users capable of making their own decisions. And all in the name of security. I don't feel free in this OS, but controlled, bullied and monitored, no matter what hacks and modifications have been made. That's one of the main reasons why I don't like Windows 10 and up. Greetings, AstroSkipper

I administrate an older notebook which was originally delivered with Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit. After I had upgraded the hardware (SSD and RAM), I installed Windows 10 Professional independently and completely on a second partition. I use the boot manager BOOT-US to select the desired OS when starting the notebook. I can absolutely understand why Windows 7 is your favourite. I am already having a crisis when you can only log into your own operating system with an account. I don't like Windows 10 and up.

Maybe, the most recent version also works under Win 8.1+, and they simply forgot to update their homepage. I can only say that this tool works as advertised and does its job. Not so easy to find XP/Vista-compatible antivirus tools nowadays.

@roytam1! Do you know if there are or were any attempts to localize MailNews? Binary Outcast seems to provide Interlink Mail & News in English only. Same for your release of MailNews. New Moon can be localized by existing language packs after some modifications in terms of dev tools. I already did that for the German language pack, and it works great which can be found here: My German language pack for New Moon 28 For Serpent, there is a project on board.eclipse.cx. But in the case of MailNews, I found absolutely nothing. All existing language packs for Thunderbird don't work anymore as expected due to all changes that have been made. I should still mention at this point that I am currently in the process of developing a German language pack for MailNews from scratch to use this great email client in my native language. I do that in form of a private project at the moment. Greetings from Germany, AstroSkipper

As I already mentioned, I chose Xubuntu LTS, too. It is leightweight, compatible with old hardware, and a lot of program packages are available. Managing, fixing, flashing Android devices and repairing devices is my main use of Linux. And, I was always successful, at least until now.

Update notification! The Root Certificates have been updated and are now from 28-02-2023. Here is a screenshot: Therefore, my self-created, offline Root Certificate Updaters in the section 11.2.4. Downloads related to Root Certificate Updates (in the first post of this thread) will also be updated as soon as possible. Cheers, AstroSkipper

Here are two screenshots of MWAV - eScan Antivirus Toolkit, one of the program's main window, the other of the updater, both taken from my installation: The installer file is about 300 MB in size. To install MWAV on the computer, I recommend extracting the installer manually to the target directory and calling the executable file mexe.com or MWAVL.exe there. Reason: If the installer is called directly, all files are extracted to the system's temporary folder. For me, this is not an option. The program is compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7/8 and 2008, comes from Germany and is currently available in version 22.0.52 (DB). Don't worry, the program's interface is in English if this is your system language! Getting a second opinion in case of doubt or checking the system quickly, offline, is a good idea in any case. I have therefore integrated it into my system. Kind regards, AstroSkipper

While researching for an antivirus program which still works under Windows XP, I came across an interesting offline virus scanner that is still fully XP-compatible. The program is called MWAV - eScan Antivirus Toolkit. It is free for private and home use. MWAV provides the ability to scan for any virus, spyware, adware or other dangerous software on your computer. MWAV requires no installation and can be run directly from your computer, on whatever media. It can also run when other antivirus software is installed on your computer. The database is continuously updated to detect new spyware and adware, and the scanning engine is constantly improved for faster and smarter detection. Their homepage is in German. Use a translator if German is not your native language. Here is the link: https://www.escanav.de/german/content/products/MWAV/escan_mwav.asp

Linux is great and can be very helpful, especially if problems occur which can't be solved in Windows. And Linux is especially valuable if you are an Android user like me. Android is based on the Linux kernel, so Linux is predestined to communicate with Android devices. No driver problems in Linux when an Android device is connected to the computer, as is unfortunately very often the case in Windows. Of course, you should choose the Linux distribution that is best suited for you. There are so many, and it is not so easy to find the right one. It should therefore meet your needs and fit your hardware. Greetings from Germany, AstroSkipper

FYI, real, independent booting of OSs is only possible if the OSs have been installed independently and completely. How this can be done and checked is described in this article "Check independence and completeness" here: https://www.boot-us.de/eng/tips_i02.htm Cheers, AstroSkipper

I never used dual boot, i.e. two OSs installed in the same partition. I always use an independent booting of each OS. Each of my system partitions are independent from the others. Boot-US can be installed into MBR of your hard disk, floppy disk or bootable USB stick. If you boot into a OS, all other system partitions will be hidden. All my system partitions have been backuped by an imaging program. If something goes wrong in one of my system partitions and can't be fixed easily, I simply restore the saved image.

On my old Windows XP computer, I installed a Linux distribution on a separate partition years ago. I decided to go with Xubuntu, a distribution for low-performance systems. With the installed boot manager Boot-US, I can select the desired operating system when I start the computer. For each OS, you can set in Boot-US which logical partitions are to be available. Linux as an additional alternative to Windows is simply great. My main operating system is still Windows XP and will remain so, though.

To force the installer of DreamMail Pro 6.6.6.2 to use English instead of Chinese as the installer language, I updated my small loader that does this when it calls up the setup program. It must be executed in the same directory in which the setup file is located with its original file name dmpro_setup6.6.6.2.exe. Here is the download link of my loader Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6662.exe: https://www.mediafire.com/file/6byu8gx1g996m3r/Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6662.7z/file Although some virus scanners detect this file as malicious, it is just a false-positive as always. Use my loader to force an English install, only if you trust me, of course! Cheers, AstroSkipper

A small update information! DreamMail Pro is now available in version 6.6.6.2.

That's correct. Only username and password is not sufficient anymore. The email client has to support OAuth2 or app password to access a Google account. Gmail's web interface still works with username and password, of course. And Android's Gmail app works without any problems if the user has logged in their Google account. I mention this as I am an Android user for nearly ten years. Windows XP and Android (and rather rarely Linux) are my main OSs. For example, DreamMail Pro (I wrote about this email client in some previous posts) also works with Gmail under Windows XP, but only via app password, at least in the version 6.6.5.9. No real OAuth2. MailNews supports a real OAuth2. It opens an own window to allow access to your Google account. No app password needed.

As promised, some further information about MailNews. It's now my standard email client in Windows XP. All my email service providers are supported by MailNews. I talk about GMX, WEB.DE, Gmail and Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail, now the light web version of Microsoft 365). It works without any problems, simply great. Here are some screenshots from my installation: I installed a lot of extensions from both Binary Outcast and Thunderbird.net, without any modifications, no editing of install.rdf, right out of the box. Furthermore, I activated the embedded calendar Lightning. I am very happy with MailNews, no cumbersome and heavy loading web interfaces anymore. This means I can fully recommend MailNews. Cheers, AstroSkipper

Every security software which still works under Windows XP is worth to mention. Truth be told, I am not a fan of Norton (Symantec) security solutions anymore. Just too restrictive, deletes things without permission, heavy load on the system, more of a disempowerment of the user.

There is nothing more I can tell you. In my browser Mypal 68.13.0b, the uBlock Origin site on addons.mozilla.org doesn't appear unless the user agent is set to a higher Firefox version (>= 78). Anyway! uBlock Origin 1.47 won't work properly in Mypal 68. It is not meant to work in Mypal 68. Gorhill changed the minimum version not without reason. @Milkinis! For more information, read this post from @VistaLover: