chermany4ever

Impressive! You've given me a lot of information in a very short time. Feel like getting started right now, but if I do, I'll be locked up again for weeks and I don't think I can keep up with this pace. I'll make progress little by little instead. For now, I was also taking advantage of this small window of "stability" to test other interesting software for 11, some tweak applications like Wintoys, they say it works great and I have to learn how install that app from outside the Store. I'll continue with these for a bit to see how they work, if they cause problems or if they're worthy and keep that in mind when I start from scratch again with a clean install. Thank you so much for all the info NHTPG.

The How-To guide would be welcome. Won't abandon XP. Today I was using it after many weeks of struggling with 11 and everything about it is comfortable and straightforward. This Phoenix version is from 2022. The times I tried to make radical changes to the OS ended up with irreparable problems that forced me to start from scratch. 11 looks beautiful and I've discovered new programs that blew my mind, like Zen browser. But I have the feeling that if you want to get along with 11 you have to walk on eggshells.

Hello friend, thanks for joining. I've been trying different debloated versions for weeks. Tiny11, several X-Lite releases, miniOS11... unfortunately I had instability issues with all of them. The kind that don't leave you alone and make you decide it's not worth it. That's why I was almost ready to settle with X-Lite 10 Optimum when someone recommended that I try X-Lite 11 Phoenix. Works very well but... comparing XP with Windows 7, they improved the robustness but also made an attempt to “shield” the OS so that you can no longer do what you want with it. With 10 and 11 I've noticed that they've made more of an effort not only to shield it but also to condition you to follow the path they lay out for you and if you stray from it... a sad screen appears and Windows won't start anymore. Since the XP days, the first thing I always do when clean installing is permanently disable Windows Updates and the Windows Firewall. Here -after much struggle- I was able to force 11 to stop downloading updates. But in all the versions I tried, the Firewall is not only enabled, it's forced-enabled. Although you can go to Services and Stop it somehow, you cannot access to Disable it. Only one of these versions did not have it enabled -which made me happy- but after a while of installing programs and tweaking it to my liking, it suddenly activated itself out of the blue and that resulted in problems, incompatibilities and instability to the point it became impossible to cope with. It's as if in these newer versions of Windows all native services like Windows Update, Defender, Firewall plus other programs, are all interdependent, so if you decide to do without one, it results in a series of problems wich ends up creating so much instability that it becomes unbearable. After so many attempts, I've learned a lot about what to touch and what not to, let's say, to not interfere with the system's "sensitivities" in an effort to keep it stable, even if I have to go along with it, like this decision to discard TinyWall and install GlassWire, accepting the native firewall. That way I've achieved some stability = fewer problems. Honestly, what you're telling me gives me hope and makes me want to keep investigating. But that would mean starting from scratch with another clean installation... and as I said, I've spent many weeks on this and as the seasons are changing, I won't have the time to sit here for so long anymore. But I appreciate the info, as always. I'm leaving you an image so you can see that the "Windows Defender Firewall" cannot be disabled, or at least, I was unable to achieve it. If you have any information on whether the Firewall can really be permanently disabled without ruining the OS, let me know. Maybe I'll give it a try. Everything I tried on my own, in-depth Google searching, was unsuccessful.

It was being blocked by TinyWall. Seems the latest version for Windows 10 and 11 you have to allow certain necessary services in TinyWall to be able to browse thou I also suspect incompatibilities with the Windows Firewall, which apparently in these versions can no longer be disabled. So installed GlassWire which is a "friendly" Windows Firewall manager and it works fine thou now I'm having some problems with the wifi adapter. Seems system instability. Of these trimmed versions of X-Lite, Windows 10 feels more stable than 11 but I must admit that 11 is much prettier. I'll try to surf and try to deal with the problems to see if I can achieve some acceptable stability. Thanks again guys!

Hello jumper. You did it! It worked. I was using the new driver. Trying the old XP one worked. The problem was I still couldn't connect but after a little comparing bertween XP and Windows 7 I noticed in XP there was no such thing as WPA2 security protocol. Turns out I needed and update from that era and in spanish! So it almost beat me but fortunately I was able to find one link alive! So I got it working now. In fact, now I'm trying to upgrade from Windows 7 to X-Lite 10 and 11 versions and they run great but after a day or two where everything worked I'm having trouble and getting "no internet, secure" messages... thou XP 32 is still able to connect and enjoy full speed. All with the same adapter. Very strange. Thank you jumper.

Hello jumper. Thanks for taking the time to look at the drivers page. The adapter came with a CD which I used initially to install the drivers. When it didn't work, I think the first thing I did was go to the TP-Link drivers page to see if there was anything else that might. The thing is that TP-Link has different pages for each country. I don't remember seeing two different drivers when I made the attempt but if they were there it's very likely that I chose the most up to date one. I have this habit of always going for the latest drivers available. I was able to check that the file I've saved is that one, the latest. I will try to install it again using the previous one. Being two years older maybe they'll work. I certainly hope so.

Hello guys. I'm having problems with a wifi adapter. It's the TL-WN8200ND v2 that I bought especially cause it works with XP but I can't make it work. I was able to test it in another PC that has Windows 7 and it works fine. Has a lot of reach and I can make the most of the 5mb connection speed. Thought about buying it cause the prior one I have that works in XP is also a TP-Link but one of those little ones that doesn't have great range and since I'm far from the router the only way to navigate was sharing the wifi signal from the cell phone -which does see the signal- and though I manage to navigate my speed is limited to 1MB. When I plug the card at the USB port the light turns on but when installing the drivers the system fails to communicate with the card. I don't know if it may be a conflict with the old drivers of the little card? Thought that cause wanting to go back to the old card I couldn't, even when uninstalled everything that had to do with the new one, so was forced to return to an image of my system. Also thought perhaps the problem was that I used SP2 so I tried to install XP SP3 to check but it didn't work either. Any ideas?

Imagine you go to the hospital 'cause you feel unwell and the Doc says "ah go home, in the end you die". If Mozart had had that mentality he wouldn't have left us his great music that has stimulated intelligence, happiness and the will to live in millions of other human beings, although he didn't live long. In short, I don't think we should downplay importance of millions of things life involves 'cause of death. Even software. You said sometimes you entertain yourself by re-programming. I love software because I feel it makes our lives easier. Sometimes we're annoyed by what software does on our machine... but what software do we install on ourselves? I think we humans are still very unaware of the impact our attitudes can have on the lives of others. I'm thinking of doing the same. Discarded Supermium 'cause it destroyed my system. I'm having more patience with Thorium 'cause it works better and you've helped me a lot to make it more stable on my system but I feel it's too heavy, I don't depend on Google for anything, I don't Sync, so I feel much more comfortable with 360 Chrome 13.5 Redux1 ungoogled. It's very light, it works very well, I even was able to install a couple of security extensions and it doesn't accumulate any space on my disks. I feel with Serpent and 360Chrome I'm fine for my browsing needs. At least for now. As I always say, I recognise the effort and as another fellow here said, I totally agree: the more options the better. Thought it was irony! I'm a musician, I love the arts, I've made my machine the perfect home theatre for me. Music, movies, forums. Very little social media these days 'cause I think they're completely polluted with fear mongering and yellow journalism. I'm very interested in the opposite of that. So I follow a few people I find interesting and uplifting. Sometimes I leave a lot to context thinking what I say is understood. I wanna clarify I was referring to what I believe is a consumerist tendency that dictates that, for instance, next year your mobile phone won't work 'cause it won't be compatible with "something" so you'll have to buy another one, and so on and so on and so on. What we do here and in other spaces shows with some work, wit and will you can move forward without spending much or paying for ignorance or as the guys working on Linux show, you don't need to use way too many resources to have an up to date experience. I understand that often new structures need new bases but I also understand that it's possible to make new structures work on used bases if it does no harm.

even Nosferatu had a sense of humour...

Thanks for the accuracy. Made me remember my first experience with a portable... was a game! Don't remember exactly which one but in those days they already came in 3 or more CDs and the process of installing could be tedious not to mention the thousands of files that were copied and other modifications to the system, you'll know better than me. So, the fact of downloading a single zip file with a folder that when unzipped you could just run the .exe and play... it was like magic! I think they were called "Direct Play". That's when it all started for me and from that moment on I always look for portables. Give me portables.

To rebel against trends, against what seems to be imposed. Not bad at all. Sometimes I look at the guys who spend months making their Linux distro, I admire them. Sometimes I draw a parallel between what they do and what we do here. I don't feel we're that far apart. Sometimes I even fantasise about us releasing a new XP, completely free, fresh and modern for not so new machines. Bring your laptop back to life!

Shouldn't be so radical, yes. Happens when you're into customising the OS completely to your liking and something in the environment ruins it. Some of these programmes not only look great but add some functionality that I think is genius. Paradoxically they seem very sensitive and susceptible to the environment. Not a big deal anyway, with images you can go back. It's more laziness and the desire to avoid getting angry.

Can't talk about McAfee, it's never been my cup of tea, but Avast? I don't want to talk bad anyway, not even doing it with Thorium 'cause of this personal problem this experience brought me, on the contrary, I recognize and appreciate the effort. But the truth is I see installing programs as a thing of the past. Very occasionally, if there's no other way around and I really want to test some software, what I do is create a fake user account, that kinda creates a parallel space where later, if you have problems, you can delete the user and that's it. You avoid problems in the personal one. Which makes me think sometimes you get overconfident with portables.

In my book portable is a program that you can run without installing it. Many and I mean many times installed programs and then when installed or uninstalled ended up with corrupted files, crashes, other programs crashing, etc. Don't care so much about being able to continue where I was but knowing that I can run the program only when I need it without that meaning a bigger problem, like now, that I have to go back to a healthy system image because a program somehow damaged it.

What's THORIUM_PORTABLE.bat then? There's no way to save changes to it?