Andromeda43

If you bought your Windows 7 PC in a big-box store, instead of building it yourself, I'd almost guarantee that it has Malware on it, starting with whatever lame AV software was installed and then there's the Wild Tangent Games (known spyware). Takes me about an hour, to totally DE-Bug a new PC these days. It's a crime!

On XP I could pin an internet shortcut to my taskbar,(Quick Launch Toolbar) so I could quickly and easily open up a web page without going back to my desktop to find the shortcut. But, on windows 7, it won't allow me to pin a shortcut to my taskbar (Quick Launch Tool Bar). Is there a way to circumvent this annoyance? Befuddled in Florida

Lets see.....51 years.....that would take us back to about 1963. Things were certainly different then. No computers (PC's) and cars certainly didn't have an ECC or any of the electronics we have today. It was certainly a much simpler time. I'd go back there in a second, if I could. B)

I've not installed a cpu chipset driver in ...... oh.....more years than I can remember. Normally, when you install an OS that's compatible with a motherboard, the OS itself has and installs the correct chipset drivers. It blows my mind, how many compatible drivers that now come with Windows 8.1. It installs on many 9 yr old PC's with never a whimper. I just installed 8.1/32/Pro on a nine year old eMachine, with an Intel X2 cpu and only 1 gig of DDR2 ram. Everything came up working..... sound graphics and LAN, all working AOK! Win 8.1 is a breath of new life for many older PC's. I question whether MS designed it to work like that, or not, but that's the way it turned out. Kind of neat....Eh? Cheers Mates! B)

Sounds like you ran afoul of an old Seagate drive. I never did like all that rubber myself, but I never removed it from any drive either. They didn't do that for very long. It soon dissappeared. You've really got an oldie there! It's amazing how many of those old drives are still running. I recently found a really old, 4 gig drive. And yes, it's still running, although not much use anymore. Besides being very small, it's slower than molasses too. lol Good topic! B)

And, how about the 8088 processor and discrete ram chips that had to be plugged into sockets on the motherboard? Now, that's a stroll down memory lane, at least for those of us old enough to remember it. It's been a real chore, to keep up with all the hardware upgrades since 1980 when I built my first PC-XT, and then got into the PC Building and Repair business. Before that, I was a big time player in the Commodore 64 game. It's sure been a wild ride!

I'm another Black Viper fan. For anyone who installs or does Tune-Ups on multiple PC's, the info from Black Viper can be formulated into a batch file, so that unneeded services can be either disabled or put into Manual mode, in just a few seconds. That also eliminates possible errors in resetting selected Services. Some Self-Proclaimed Experts, will swear that shutting down unneeded services does nothing to improve performance. I leave that up to you. Eh? Just in the chance that turning off things you don't need, will indeed improve performance, I do it anyway. It doesn't seem to hurt anything. Happy Computing! B)

Unless this is a specially built SERVER, it was never designed to run 24x7. Home PC's are built with Hobby Grade components specified for a minimal duty cycle of maybe 8 hours a day, followed by a shutdown. There are actually things in Windows that can only be done during the shutdown procedure, like re-writing the registry to the hard drive. As witness by the OP, the longer a system is left running, the more negative the performance. (that goes all the way back to the early days of the IBM PC) Even if the PC is used for receiving Fax's and needs to be left on Overnight, it should be taken down once a day anyway. Just sayin' B)

My 8.1 Desktop theme. "European Landscapes". No sheep jokes! B)

THOR! Still a great story, with a great Actor.

After all the epic answers, let me just say, "I tried it, I like it and I'll KEEP IT!". It works wonders for those who can't stand all the metro crap. I won't set up a Win-8, or Win-8.1, PC without it and one other program, "Grant Admin Full Control". B)

I've used nothing but AVG FREE both professionally and personally since it's early days. It's definitely NOT Trash, Crap or any of that negative stuff. It does things and finds problems that other AV programs totally miss. But AVG 2014 is a Beta Test version, not a formal release, so don't expect any miracles. I did install it on my Windows 8 hard drive and there were problems. I don't remember the details but I wound up removing it and replacing it with AVG 2013 FREE, which works just fine. That would be my suggestion here too. B)

I'm sorry.....with 16 computers that I try to keep running and updated, it's easy to get them mixed up. The 12 year old PC, I did build, with Windows ME on it. When I got it back a few years ago now, I upgraded it to XP-Pro-SP3 and it runs it admirably. I have W8 now set up and running on a 2005 model eMachine, with the AMD cpu and 3 gigs of ram and a 160 gig SATA hard drive. Sorry for the confusion. W8 installer picked up everything on the little eMachine but the sound. ??? It's basic AC 97 so I don't understand that. Anyway I installed a Soundblaster sound card and W8 picked it right up and now I have sound too. For an emergency Backup PC, it works darn well. Maybe not the fastest PC ever, but it puddles right along. Right now, I'm on my main PC, which I built in 2005, and which has had some slight upgrades over the years. It runs XP-Pro-SP3 very nicely as my everyday OS, and Windows Home Premium, Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8.1 Beta, all on separate hard drives. "Never the twain shall meet". One OS never sees the others and they all get along nicely on the same PC. Windows XP will be alive and well here, till I decide otherwise (like that's going to happen, anytime before the Rapture)

To somewhat quote a famous man, "they will have to pry XP from my cold, dead, hands". And to quote a previous poster, "It works!". That about sums it up for this old tech. I own 16 computers and all but one run XP. One, 12 years old, runs Win-8, and runs it dang well too. I'm a moderator on a Windows 8 forum, but I'll never run it as my everyday OS. Cheers Mates! B)

Dang it! Ya stole my question! SP2 is so OLD School !!! If you gripe to MS, they won't even talk to you till you've done all the updates! Sorry! That's just the way it works.

After years, of watching Adobe Acrobat Reader get larger and larger till it was almost the largest program on my PC, I finally came across a new program called "Foxit Reader". After trying the new program on a secondary PC, I decided to install it on my main PC. I didn't know just how deeply installed into my OS was, Acrobat Reader, so I used the UN-Install program "Revo UN-installer Pro", in Advanced mode, to get all of Acrobat Reader out of my OS. It removed all the program files and then scoured the registry for any left over entries, and there were a bunch of them. Finally, when I was sure that Acrobat Reader was completely GONE, I then installed Foxit Reader. It opens and runs a lot faster than Acrobat Reader and takes up only a small fraction of the space on my hard drive. It also interfaces with Firefox, my browser of choice. Happy Computing Mates! B)

Wow! I've had kudos from both a Super Moderator and a Supporter, so I guess I'm not too far afield in my own thinking. I don't have any real proof, that MS is purposely putting out updates with the idea of jamming up peoples PC's and forcing them to buy a new PC with a New OS on it. But it does appear that more XP PC's than ever before are falling prey to MS Updates. I've taken service calls on several XP machines in my own customer base, that were definitely rendered inoperable by an MS Update. In some cases I was able to fix the problem and in another case the damage was so great that I had to backup the person's data files and then reformat the HD and reinstall XP. So what is MS really updating anyway? The OS? It's already 12+ years old, so what could be wrong with it at this late date? MS has been trying to FIX Internet Explorer as long as it's been alive. It was a piece of crap the day it was first released and it still is. Fixing Security holes.....it's like plugging all the holes in a screen door. Forgetaboutit !!! Don't rely on MS for your computer security. Your security is in YOUR hands, and is dependent on what Security package you decide to use. If you don't know how to protect your own PC, then call on an expert to help you. I install a whole Package of Security Software for my own customers, and they, like myself, stay 100% malware free. (as long as they keep their software up to date, and I even give them printed instructions on just how to do that) For years I and thousands of other PC users, relied on Netscape for our browser, because we just couldn't stand I.E. More recently, most of us have changed over to Mozilla Firefox. I was there on day #1 when the full version of Firefox was released and over a million users downloaded it, within the first 24 hours. So I rely on MS for Nothing. I have my own Package of Security Software, some FREE and some paid-for, and Firefox is my browser. That's really all I need. I do keep my PC clean of junk, on a daily basis, with a simple little batch file that runs from my Startup folder, every time I boot up my PC. And, at least once every day or two, I run another batch file that backs up all my data files, to two external media. Then at least once a week I back up my entire C drive using my old reliable backup program, Ghost 11.5. But, I also have Windows 7 installed on a separate hard drive and Windows 8 on another. So if I ever get a piece of hardware that won't run on XP, I can always run it on one of the newer OS's. NO Problemo! Cheers Mates! B)

After reading most of the posts here, I have just one suggestion, based on 30+ years of my own PC experience and some very bad experience with Dual Booting, on a single Hard Drive. I take a line from the railroad industry, "never the trains shall meet". And in my own PC I change that slightly to read, "never the OS's shall meet". It's a fairly well known fact, that if one OS can see another OS, it will try to "fix" it. I don't remember the details now, but XP and Windows 7 seemed to mess with one another. One would erase the restore points created by the other. (or something like that) So now I have XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 all installed on separate hard drives, all set up to run on my main desktop PC, but never all connected to run at the same time. I only power up the drive, with the OS, that I want to run at any one time. The other drives remain UN-Powered so there is absolutely NO freakin' way that one OS can interfere with another OS. If I want to take one OS-Drive out and use it elsewhere or reformat it and put on a different OS, there is absolutely NO way that's going to interfere with my main OS. I know this flies in the face, of all the explanations given here.....but that's just my own take on the problem of dual booting. Happy Computing! B)

An old Eastern European, (I think it was a Serbian) once said "ve don need no stinkin' support!" And I agree with that. If XP actually dies, it will be because of Updates from MS that KILL it. Apparently that's exactly what they want to do. Witness, the number of posts from people complaining that their XP machine would not Boot Up and Run after an MS Update. The answer to that is simple....."Turn off those dang updates!!!" It's NOT MS that's going to keep you safe anyway. He who thinks that is in for a Rude Awakening! It's YOU who will keep your XP safe, and the good Anti-Malware packages that you select to use. And how pro-active you are in keeping your computer clean and backed up. Never rely on MS for computer security. Cheers Mates! B)

I prefer "City Lights". It's an easy download from MS.

Ya know, there are some pretty darn good programmers in this world, that don't work for Microshaft and don't even like them. Witness the Unofficial Service pack for Windows 98, and the Classic Shell program that works for both Windows 7 and 8. Also the "Grant Admin full Control" program for both Win-7 & 8. That one is a real jewel. And all the Act******, that are floating around out there, in cyber space. Wherever there comes a need, someone will fill it. The whole world hates a vacuum. If MS doesn't want to issue a SP4 for XP, someone else will. XP will be alive and well and in everyday use, long after I'm dead, gone and forgotten. Count on it! B)

Going all the way back to Windows 98, I've been using a batch file to do my daily housework (cleanup) on my PC. It runs from a shortcut on my desktop and also a shortcut in my 'Startup' folder. I started with the batch file lines in the former post, and then added a few more, specific to my own PC, to also delete the cache from Firefox, the Prefetch folder, the Recycle Bin, etc. * * When using Deltree.exe, if you create a line that says "Deltree /y "C:\temp" it will totally remove the 'temp' folder. That's not exactly what we need to do. We only need to empty the folder, not delete it. So the line should actually read, "deltree /y "C:\temp\*.*" That will empty the folder and leave the folder itself alone. Do that with every folder that you desire to "Empty". Or you can get specific.....deltree will let you just delete a certain file or group of files from a folder. For instance I found very old temp files in my Windows folder, so the Deltree command to clean up that little mess would read: Deltree /y "C:\Windows\*.tmp" where only the temp (.tmp) files would be deleted and all other files would be left alone. The Deltree.exe command is probably the most versatile and powerful command ever written into DOS by MS. I hate that they opted to abandon it in XP and won't even let it run in later OS's. They did, however, expand the options for the Delete command that can be used instead. Even .tmp files and Temporary Internet Files are stored in multiple locations in Windows, so those locations can be added to your XPCleanup batch file. Just do a file search for .tmp and you'll find all their hiding places. Add all those locations to your own cleanup batch file. Your own cleanup batch file will grow exponentially as you search out locations where junk files like to hide. My own XPCleanup batch file is now about thirty lines long. But it still takes only a few seconds to run. I put a generic copy of my XPCleanup.bat program on my web site for quick and easy download. www.drwho.in All the way, up through Windows ME, the "Deltree.exe" file was present in Windows. But for XP the file had to be copied over from a previous OS. And, to keep things simple, I just put it in the root directory. It will not run at all in Vista, Win-7 & Win-8. You have to use the Delete command on those OS's. That modified batch file is in my Windows 7 Stuff .rar file on my website. Just for fun, I wrote a modified XPCleanup batch file, that first counts all the files on the C drive, and then deletes all the common junk files, then counts the files again and posts the difference. That's the number of junk files that it deleted. I like to run that on PC's that I've never worked on before, that still run XP. On one recent house-call, I ran that on a man's PC and it took out over 100,000 junk files. We had a nice little chat for the several minutes that it took that program to run. His complaint was, "my PC is running so slow, I can't stand it anymore!". Oh yes, that PC also had several hundred trojans and pieces of Spyware on it. Once de-bugged, tweaked and cleaned, that little PC ran better than new. Keeping one's PC clean, neat, defragmented and running at top performance, isn't rocket science, , , it's just a matter of using what has already been supplied to us in Windows (and sometimes DOS). Again, for max OS efficiency, I highly recommend that anyone wanting to run XP/SP3, do try to get up to 2 gig's of ram installed. Yes, XP will run on 256 meg's of ram, but not efficiently. Two gig's seems to be the sweet spot. Long Live XP! B)

WOW! Now you're playing in MY backyard! Game ON! I've spent the last 13 years, collecting and utilizing speed up tips and tweaks for Windows XP. I learned early on, that XP is loaded with every service that any person anywhere in the world running any programs would ever need. Whew! Can you say "Overload" ??? I did go to the Black Viper's web site and I used his advise about what services to either Disable totally or at least put into Manual mode. That can take a huge load off of the CPU and ram as the PC runs. Doing those changes manually in "Services.msc" is one way to do it, but it takes forever. So, being an old Batch file fanatic, I wrote a batch file to reset all the unneeded services. It takes only a few seconds to run. Similarly, there are a number of registry tweaks that can GREATLY enhance the efficiency of Windows XP. Those too, I relegated to a script, so they take only seconds to apply. Then there is another Tip that I've not found an easy way to turn into a batch file or script, but it takes only maybe a minute to perform manually, so that's how I still do it. Here is the text for that Tip. Shorten the Boot Time in XP, Vista & Windows 7 Go to the start button, choose run, then type msconfig and press Ok. On the system configuration window, choose Boot tab. Check “No Gui Boot”, then lower the timeout to a more manageable time. I choose 3 seconds in stead of 30. (windows won’t accept a lower number than 3) Next choose advanced options. This is where you can choose how many processors you have. Most modern PC's are duo core (2 processors) with some quad core (4 processors) then choose OK. The Windows default is only 1 core. Now choose apply and OK, reboot and you should see a marked decrease in boot time, And an increase in Run-Time efficiency. If I were there, it would take only a few minutes to effectively 'Double' your PC's efficiency. Drop me a PM if you need more details. Cheers Mate! Andromeda B) PS: For a more efficient PC, DO keep your PC clean of junk files and then keep it de-fragmented. I suggest this be done on a regular WEEKLY schedule. Using Window's own Disk Cleanup, in extended mode, is a good place to start the cleanup process. There have been several very good write-ups on how to implement that.

WOW! Finally a topic I can sink my teeth into. The very first time I saw Windows XP on a PC, I thought "What a piece of S***!", , , who would ever want to use this thing? I finally learned to work with it and after a couple of service packs it actually became a workable OS, in my estimation. I still rail against all the "Permissions" thing. Hey, it's MY PC, I don't need your dang permission to do Anything with it. But after it's all said and done, I have XP beat down to size and running just fine for everything I need to do, like working this forum. So just about the time I'm sitting back, relaxing and really enjoying my computer, MS comes along with another new OS. I worked as a moderator on a Windows 8 forum for about nine months. I downloaded and installed every new Beta version that MS released and found out that without some extra tweaks and Software, like the "Classic Shell" I really couldn't stand Win-8 at all. So many programs that I rely on daily, simply will not run on Win-8 and we've found out that there are thousands of pieces of hardware, like printers and scanners, that will NEVER work with Win-8. So totally discounting Vista and Win-7 as 'Old News', the question now for many PC owners is, "Do I keep running and fixing my old XP PC or do I get a new PC which will have Windows 8 on it?" In just the last six months, I've sold several PC's that I've 'Refurbished' here in my own shop, that still run Windows XP/SP3 and do it very nicely. In many cases, I've installed newer and more powerful PSU's and added more RAM and even installed newer, larger and faster HD's. But in EVERY case, I shut off Auto Updates, disable all the unnecessary Services and tweak and tune the OS for max efficiency. Then I install a very good 'Package' of security software (all FREE versions) and the little PC is ready for several more years of good service. As a PC tech, I really don't see the end of the XP era. (not anytime soon anyway) Keep it clean and virus free and it will run forever. (more or less) Cheers Mates! (from a very happy XP user) Andromeda B)

As a working PC tech (but retired) I still have many older customers who are hanging on to their XP computers like an old and trusted friend. Pretty much everything that was ever wrong in XP has been fixed, with Service Packs or my own tweaks. It now runs just fine without any more interference from MS. In fact, their updates have caused more problems with XP computers world wide than any recent virus. I got tired of running service calls to reverse the damage done by MS updates and I've just started turning OFF Auto Updates on every XP machine I work on. I turned them OFF on my own XP PC several years ago now. Most MS updates involve still trying to FIX that nasty thing they call Internet Explorer. I mostly just ignore that thing and use Mozilla Firefox instead. Life is too short and too complicated anyway, without letting MS sabotage our favorite OS. So my advise to everyone and anyone, is just Turn Off Auto Updates, use Firefox for your browser, sit back and enjoy life. I do! Cheers Mates!