Retirement of Windows XP,,,change to Linux?

vicwatson wrote: »

In "lay" man terms what does all this mean? I understand support such as security updates etc will cease from April.

Do I need to buy a new operating system, like Win7 or 8 or should I carry on with XP and run the risks of having my computer "invaded" by hackers etc ???

What does one need to do to keep ones computer secure?

1. MS (or third party) discovers a security hole allowing someone to turn your PC into a remotely controlled zombie/slave
2. A delay (measured in days, weeks, months, years)
3. MS issues a patch that fixes the problem
4. You install the update that should fix the potential problem, so your PC stays under your control

Somewhere between point 1 and 4 a bad guy is makes some malware using that security hole. If it hits you before you install the patch then your PC is "hacked".

6. You might be able to fix the problem updating your system, scanning for malware, reinstalling and so on.

A security hole the will be discovered & exploited after April will not ever be fixed, so points 2 to 6 are out of the picture.

A hacked PC can be used to steal your personal information, bank/card details, send spam, mine bitcoins, keep alive a irc account or make a network attack. It happens all the time, but after the deadline you will not be able to recover from it, because there will be nobody to fix the hole.

If you need any help deciding what to do I'd suggest to open a new thread, post what's your typical PC usage (internet, photos, fb, music etc.), some details of the hardware (i.e. it's 6 years old pc) and you should get an advice if you can try linux or go windows 7 or maybe something else.

An Ri rua wrote: »

HI guys, thanks all. Its definitely Broadcom. Have been using the terminal. Have used lspci etc. Entered lots of commands from Ubuntu forum but nothing worked so far.
Had Ubuntu 10 on it as a dual boot so downloading 13.10 now on another machine and hoping it will work with the Broadcom card. No ethernet connection either. It sees it but the indicator keeps 'spinning' and doesn't connect.

Will also try easypeasylinux on a live usb on it. Although I note that that distro has fallen by the wayside / not supported since last summer? Still, reckon I'll check it. Will also try Puppy and DSL just for ****s and giggles. Neither of them can find wireless on my MSI U135. Xubuntu works sweetly however.

Ah the joys of tweaking. I feel like I'm back on Windows 3.1 or an old Apple

That "lspci" is for us!!! We want to see the output! It stands for "list pci" and it shows what devices you have in your laptop - that doesn't change with system, so use whichever works for you.
It's not about entering lots of commands - it's about entering the right ones! (See that old thread - exactly same problems there)
If your wifi works with xubuntu it's almost 100% sure that we can make it work with any other linux distro.

niallb wrote: »

I get the impression you're looking at update dates on distrowatch, which are not the same thing as OS updates.
Easypeasy hasn't been updated in 4 years and won't be again. It ran really well on my old Asus 701 in 2010. It may even support your wireless card, but getting one of the newer browsers working may be a a problem. DSL was great fun back in its day, but even though there was a flurry of "new release candidate" two years ago,it doesn't seem to have revived and the latest release is about 6 years old. Unless you have a lot of experience and a desire to wake up a particular supported device, forget them. Puppy has more potential, if you can find a build that suits you - it's a pretty good system.

Here's another suggestion though - have you considered chromiumos? Turn your laptop into an opensource "chromebook".
The builds from arnoldthebat are updated daily with standard drivers, but he has a special build for broadcom wireless cards here:

http://arnoldthebat.co.uk/wordpress/2013/12/16/broadcom-special-edition-build/

It's a quick download, and boots from USB, but can be installed to disk.
If your graphics card isn't supported he also does a build with older video drivers.

If your wifi is working with xubuntu, stick in a USB drive and mount it.
Copy the firmware files it will have installed from /lib/firmware to your USB drive, and then you should be able to copy them to the same location on any other distro which will get you past that problem which people usually solve by downloading wireless firmware over ethernet.

Give PrzemoF the output of lspci and lets see what we can do!

Thanks, no I was following up on easypeasy as someone had it working well on their Inspiron 1300. I then noted that it had ceased being supported since July 13. According to its creator Jon Ramvi.


No, no ethernet or wireless with Xubuntu 13 on the Inspiron 1300. But using it on an MSI U135. Attempted Ubuntu 13.10 on live USB (10.04 worked bery well before) for the 1300 but encountered a 'pae' issue. Have read that its a simple workaround for my chip (I upgraded to a 2.0ghz Dothan over Christmas. V sweet speed upgrade when coupled with Linux).

Edit "If your wifi is working with xubuntu, stick in a USB drive and mount it.
Copy the firmware files it will have installed from /lib/firmware to your USB drive, and then you should be able to copy them to the same location on any other distro which will get you past that problem which people usually solve by downloading wireless firmware over ethernet." Sorry, I misunderstood. Will copy from lib/firmware on MSI U135 to the 1300. Hadn't realised there would be Broadcom drivers downloaded in the MSI's build. I see them now. Will let you all know if this works.

Thanks so much re the ChromiumOS links. That is V interesting and something I will look at. Yes, using lspci its definitely a Broadcom. difficulty in providing that output is that I have no connection at all on that laptop. Ethernet connection just keeps spinning.

As I've downloaded Ubuntu Live USB (I know it sounds silly but I downgraded to a 10GB eMobile package with an e3131 and use an MR-3420 to push it around the house), I don't have the luxury of multiple distro downloads that I used to have. Can use wifihub but not a great solution either! As someone said, a Linux magazine CD might be in order. To test a few distros. Might check the local library, being a skinflint

Thanks for the tips re DSL. Found it a lot less friendly than Puppy Lucid, yes. Will try Puppy on the Inspiron 1300. The MSI U135 didn't like it one bit. ie no wireless, can't recall if ethernet.

I'm sure if you ask nicely here some people will download the iso images and post them to you if money/internet is an issue.

There are still 32 bit ISOs of distros available ....... its what I used on the Inspiron 1300 last weekend (PCLinuxOS).

As mentioned I used the Win XP driver with Ndiswrapper ..... I believe I read on the net somewhere that Ndiswrapper did not work with drivers for later versions of Win.

I think I had to reboot to have the wireless connection work.