vipejc

1 - NAT translates your EXTERNAL to the INTERNAL, not the other way around, as you "think" 2 - NOW you say your Router is set to Stealth (now that you know what it is), which is good 3a - You misunderstand PING. Reread the text after another test -OR- read this (still applies) - http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/topic/p7hcgl/ping.htm 3b - The Router MUST allow that so your ISP can "find" you to assign an IP (an assumption on my part). It WILL be opened on the Router and then Closed (or at least SHOULD be). In all other cases (Ports) you are "invisible". 3c - The setting on your PC Firewall on you INTERNAL IP is applicable regardless. The GRC test is testing your EXTERNAL ROUTER IP Address, and NOT your INTERNAL PC IP Address. I thought I made it clear about MY settings and "how stuff works" (I gave you links to learn about that). 3d - Your XP Firewall does NOT do Stealth Mode (ref. the MS TechNet article link), so yep, it's NOT "invisible". 3e - IOW, someone OUTSIDE can "see" your EXTERNAL IP (an attack on a Router is kind of foolish), but they would be BLOCKED at the PC (Internal IP) but still "there". Be aware of requirements for WWW/FTP/FileSharing ports. I personally had a little "learning curve" to set myself up for this stuff on my INTERNAL IP PC 3d Party Firewall. I see no reason to provide you with my paricular settings since you aren't "serving" anything and (apparently) connect to the Router -AND- any Local LAN PC's would have to have their Windows Firewall set up to allow intercommunications for (at minumum) File Sharing (look at the other settings in it). Side note: It's entirely possible to make a simple "base" (even an OLD one) PC with One NIC In and One Or More NICs Out and use it as a router by installing a DHCP/NAT Server type of OS (Linux or any flavor of MS Server). I've done that on my Server before. In THAT case it would STILL have to respond to a Direct Cable Modem (not a router) request in order for the Modem to assign the Dynamic (single) IP. You're protected as well as can be. Just do some more "light reading" so you'll understand better. HTH So again I ask why is the Windows XP Firewall responding to ping requests when I have it set to not "Allow incoming echo requests" set under ICMP settings? Shouldn't this setting make me invisible and simulate stealth mode?

What limitations do you face using 9x or ME in 2014? Can you still access the Internet? Have you lost the ability to watch YouTube videos? Can you no longer bank and shop on the Internet through SSL? Do certain buttons and features on websites no longer work because your version of Flash or Java are too old? Is your web browser awfully slow and takes a long time to render webpages? Do you think sometime in the future you'll be forced to retire Windows 9x or ME? Feel free to add any other issues you have.

Thanks for all that firewall info. Stealth mode is safer because a computer that can't be seen is safer than one that can be seen, but my gateway uses NAT, which means my internal IP address is translated into the external public IP address of the ISP, which is in a stealth mode, meaning I'm very safe from probing attacks. I took the GRC tests and my system passed all tests except the one where it responded to pings. This isn't a big concern, because even if a hacker tries to hack my computer, they're not getting in. They'll be like a person with a plastic hammer hitting a concrete-walled fortress. LOL But one thing I don't understand is I have the Windows XP Firewall set to not "Allow incoming echo requests" under the ICMP settings, so why is my computer responding to pings?

...ever heard of "stealth mode"? And see Post#34 - there ARE OutBound connections - call them "Phone Home". No, what's stealth mode? And I know the XP Firewall doesn't protect against outbound connections, but if you don't let a hacker in, it's not an issue.

WinPE should follow the basic system requirements of the OS it was created from. So for WinPE4/5, it would match the CPU requirements of Windows 8. So I think you would be correct. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/system-requirements Obviously the other reqs are invalid, although you probably do need 1GB for a 64bit PE4/5 to function properly. Yeah, just to be safe, I'm sticking with PE 3.1 because it's compatible with all my hardware and I don't want to risk problems just to get some useless new features.

Sure , and if my grandpa had 5 (steel ) balls he would have been a pinball. jaclaz XP installations run on legacy hardware and since Windows PE 4.0 uses Windows 8 code, the chance it'll work is slim.

If your Windows XP installation uses hardware PE 4.0 and up doesn't support, it becomes an OS issue.

After 4 hours or so of tough research, I found the answer. Windows PE 3.1 is the last version for Windows XP. Windows PE 4.0 supposedly won't run on a system with a CPU that doesn't support NX, PAE, or SSE2. Could you confirm this, Trip? Why can't Microsoft just be intelligent and say that? Just because they cut XP support, doesn't mean Microsoft should stop telling people if newer programs and tools support XP. I really can't stand stupid!

I know Windows PE 3.0 works with Windows XP, but what about the newer Windows PE 3.1 to 5.1? If Windows PE support is discontinued for Windows XP, what's the last supported version? Microsoft has a habit of not telling people that older operating systems still work with newer tools.

I forgot about it.

FSP Group

I'm just going to monitor the system. If it crashes again, I'll run an extensive VRAM test. If it passes, I'll swap out the old power supply for the new one. If it fails, I'll swap this video card for a new one. Just have to play the "process of elimination" game until I can solve this riddle.

Just for fun I enabled the Windows Firewall log for a few hours and tracked all the dropped packets. I had no idea somebody was trying to attack my computer almost every second! Now I really see why a firewall is critical to any computer connected to the Internet. NAT alone would be a security risk, but unlike what you said, the Windows Firewall closes ALL inbound ports, so a hacker can't get in the system.

You're exactly right, but if it still works as expected, I'm not going to buy a new one. This problem is something different, and I'm hell bent on finding out what it is.

No, my power supply is fine. It's 420 W and about nine years old. The card doesn't use more than 45 W and the system uses around 180 W.

Guys, I've used onboard video for 10 years, and never did I have an issue with it. Well, then my 17" CRT monitor died, so I was forced to buy a new monitor. The monitor I bought has a DVI interface, and since my motherboard only has a VGA interface, I bought what I thought was a great mainstream AGP graphics card, a HIS ATI X1650. I installed the card and the latest drivers. The card seemed to work great for a month or so, but then I noticed issues as I used it for different things. The first was an issue where Flash would lag while watching HD videos. This is because even though the card supports HD video and hardware acceleration, Flash uses the CPU to process video through software and my CPU isn't powerful enough to process HD video by itself. When I watch streaming video in HD, the CPU temperature rises as high as 65 C, the video lags, and then the computer crashes. Lesson learned: I can't watch HD streaming video. Okay, fine I accepted that. The next issues are intermittment and cause the computer to crash while using my web browser. Sometimes it crashes while I copy-and-paste text and other times it just crashes when the CPU temperature rises to 65 C while watching standard streaming video in 480p, or browsing a webpage with a lot of advertisements, like animated banners. I have tested the VRAM using the quick test, and the card has no errors. If the system crashes again, I'll run the extensive test. Is it normal for a graphics card to crash all the time, sometimes after a few days and sometimes after weeks? Did I sacrifice stability for power? The card's fan also makes a loud noise on startup but then runs whisper quiet once it warms up, and the fan does work fine. I just want to solve this. I've tried almost everything, including disabling all browser add-ons and updating my browser and all its plug-ins. It's so annoying when the video card drops the connection, the monitor goes to sleep, and I have to press the reset button to set the system straight again.

I just learned my gateway uses NAT only and has the hardware firewall disabled. I can enable it, but I know it's disabled by default to prevent connection issues. I know NAT isn't a firewall, but it is a form of security. Am I safe with the NAT-only gateway and the built-in Windows software firewall? I think so, but I want to hear your thoughts. NAT takes my real IP address and translates it into a fake IP address when making external connections to the Internet, and the Windows firewall offers solid protection from inbound traffic, which is fine, as the hacker would never get on my system to send outbound traffic.

Yes, 13 years or so of patches and improvements UP TO April 8, 2014. Don't think for a second that the elite hackers won't research Windows 7 or 8 security holes and then reverse-engineer them, test them in XP, and if they work, put them on the black market to the highest bidder or just use them themselves to exploit XP systems. That was my real concern, and it was a legitmate one, not some newbie nonsense rant. Please note I wasn't in any way saying you are just noob ranting. It's cool. I don't know everything. Nobody does. We computer users need to always share our knowledge so together we can stop all these sales pitches and make the best personal decisions for our computers. MS is not half as smart as all of us and our collective knowledge.

But one thing does worry me, and I'd like for you to answer it. A popular computer guy named Eli the Computer Guy, who is very arrogant and makes very little sense, said that any XP system with an OS vulnerability can be hacked, even if it's just used as a server, cash register, or ATM, because any device connected to the Internet, whether wired or wireless, that uses broadband and is always connected to the Internet is a target for hackers. [...] In principle, anything directely connected to the WAN is more at risk than anything behind a common, garden-variety, router (or wireless router), which firewall (the proverbial hardware firewall) is activated and correctly configured. If there is a router firewall between your machine and the WAN, then its the router firewall (in ROM, linux or proprietary OS) that is seen from the outside. Now tell me please, how can a hacker attack a XP machine that is always on, but which that hacker cannot even see? I say: FUD!!! And I say more: long live XP! Sounds like it can't. Well, thanks for clearing this up. All these replies just confirm that XP is completely safe for a home user now and forever.

Yes, 13 years or so of patches and improvements UP TO April 8, 2014. Don't think for a second that the elite hackers won't research Windows 7 or 8 security holes and then reverse-engineer them, test them in XP, and if they work, put them on the black market to the highest bidder or just use them themselves to exploit XP systems. That was my real concern, and it was a legitmate one, not some newbie nonsense rant.

Jaclaz, you should hear this tool named Eli the Computer Guy. Watch his stupid videos on YouTube about the end of support for XP. Here's my impression of him. OMGZ! You must kill XP now! All XP machines are sitting ducks and will be shot on site. It is essential that you buy Windows 7 or 8, now. If you don't, your computer will blow up, or a hacker will take over it and turn it into a zombie bot and destroy the worldz! The funniest thing he said was XP wasn't built for broadband or security, and that XP systems should be disconnected from the Internet and put on their own little private island. Well, Eli, my XP loves broadband. It's so fast and I get so much work done. Love the thing. LOL

Then it sounds like I have absolutely nothing to worry about, as I'm as careful as they come and haven't had a virus in over 10 years! I just wanted to make sure I didn't overlook something because I invested a lot of time and money into XP. Look, the truth is MS just wants everybody to upgrade to Windows 7 or newer and stupidly spend $200 for a dummed down OS with a lot less functionality and slightly better security. But the truth is Windows 7 and newer also have OS exploits that will also need to be constantly patched as they age. The only reason 7 and newer don't get hacked as much is because they're much newer. Someday they'll be in the same boat as XP. The truth is XP is the most stable and productive OS in the world, and only a fool would stop using it. If MS would just get some intelligence and work hard to surpass it, so many people would say "Yes, this new Windows makes XP look like DOS. It's so much faster and more productive. No more Blue Screens. Just a world better." Then even I would drop XP. But that will never happen. MS was always okay until mid-2006. Never great at anything, but mostly passable. Then once Gates left, it's been all downhill. Every MS product is a joke, from the Xbox 360 to Windows 8. So simply put, don't buy any Microsoft products. It's nothing but a money-making game. They want to play computer Nazi and force upgrades, instead of making people want to buy. It's pathetic. And I just want Microsoft dead and buried. The world doesn't need them anymore. The moral of this story is simple. Either Microsoft starts working harder and always works hard to keep pushing technology in the right direction, or they need to just GTFO of business. The game never stops. Microsoft likes to make an OS and support it for 2 years. Then they say time to upgrade for no good reason. They just want stupid money. And if they earned my money, I'd be happy to give it to them.

Den, I'm the leader of the hate-MS tribe, and I know 99.9% of it is scare tactics and fear mongering for MS to try their hardest to force upgrades because they're too stupid and lazy to legitimately make an OS better than XP that people actually say "OK, this blows XP away. I must have it." But one thing does worry me, and I'd like for you to answer it. A popular computer guy named Eli the Computer Guy, who is very arrogant and makes very little sense, said that any XP system with an OS vulnerability can be hacked, even if it's just used as a server, cash register, or ATM, because any device connected to the Internet, whether wired or wireless, that uses broadband and is always connected to the Internet is a target for hackers. He then says and the user doesn't even have to use the Internet, click a rogue e-mail link, download a rogue attachment, or go to a rogue site. That makes me think that if a hacker does find an OS exploit, no protection can stop them from hacking my computer because there's no OS patch to prevent it. So I could be sleeping, and then all the while the hacker randomly breaches the built-in XP firewall or something and takes over my computer. Is that true, or is this more "I love MS" BS? And I just want to say F you, Microsoft! You'll never get another penny from me. Thanks for XP, suckers. I'll be using it forever for free. LMAO

So then a hacker can't get inside a local computer if you don't install malware and practice safe browsing and good security? Then what's all this fuss about XP OS vulnerabilities are a hacker's playground?