Windows XP RIP - Arrrggghhh!

CarrieLee

OK, so I am late to the party here, but I just found out today that Microsoft is ending its support for Windows XP next week. I've been reading a couple of articles about what exactly will happen to my laptop if I keep running it on XP after April 8th, and, quite frankly, I'm now in a bit of a panic!

I don't know a whole lot (anything) about the technical side of things - all I know is that while my laptop is getting on a bit it generally works fine and I'm very happy with XP. I use Windows 8 for work and I hate it so really don't want to resort to buying a new laptop with windows 8 on it. A Mac is out of the question at the mo as I don't really have the funds.

So, can anybody who knows anything about this (since I don't) shed some light on whether I have to stop using my XP laptop next week? This is the laptop I use for everything by the way - banking, downloading etc. etc.

I have an anti-virus etc. but I don't know if that's going to save my laptop after next week!

Is it totally insane to keep using XP after April 8th?

Is my only option to fork out for a laptop with the dreaded Windows 8? I had a look on PC World earlier and all the laptops seem to come with Windows 8 now - so I guess 7 is no longer an option?

Help!

colm_c

Your PC will work as normal, nothing will happen to it on the 8th.

What is happening is that there will be no further (unless critical) updates to the OS from Microsoft.

Some newer versions of the applications you have may not be compatible in the future.

Nothing to panic about. You've got a good few years left out of your PC yet.

greasepalm

it just means no more updates as my lappy and desktop are both xp and will keep using them for the moment,have got a windows 7 desktop and lappy when needed someone told me w7 can be done ??

ah nice as i use a 5-1 on my desktop.

flutered

plus the fact that $soft has done a deal with the chineese gov to keep their billion plus xp os up to date,it will not take long for them to filter out on the web.

CarrieLee

colm_c wrote: »

Your PC will work as normal, nothing will happen to it on the 8th.

What is happening is that there will be no further (unless critical) updates to the OS from Microsoft.

Some newer versions of the applications you have may not be compatible in the future.

Nothing to panic about. You've got a good few years left out of your PC yet.

Thanks! But what about spyware/malware hack attacks (is that even a term?!) etc? I read an article earlier that said anyone who keeps using XP after next week is looking for trouble from these things...

degsie

Some tips for you..

http://www.techguylabs.com/blog/keep-windows-xp-secure-after-april-8-support-deadline

yoyo

CarrieLee wrote: »

Thanks! But what about spyware/malware hack attacks (is that even a term?!) etc? I read an article earlier that said anyone who keeps using XP after next week is looking for trouble from these things...

If I were you, I'd either look into upgrading to Windows 7, or if you only need the machine for basic web browsing/emails/Office etc. check out a free Linux distro such as mint.
In all honesty it's going to be a bad idea to keep XP going after EOL kept on the Internet. Many people will continue using it which will make it a more attractive target for virus/malware writers.
Also, unlike ignorant opinions spouted online, windows 8 is not all that bad. It is essentially a more secure and quicker windows 7, and can have a "classic" start menu configured as easy as installing this download. If you do go for a windows 8 laptop, don't worry about it. It's not that bad..

Nick

Mr. G

As Nick mentioned, a cheap and cheerful option may be to go download and install a Linux operating system.

One of the most widely used Linux OS is Ubuntu. I've started using CentOS and like it, I liked Mint also. Centos and Mint are very similar.

The Ubuntu community have great documentation on how to install it. It has Firefox/VLC/LibreOffice/Thunderbird/Adobe Flash etc in the software library.

You can always try it without installing it or go back to Windows if you hate it.

Microsoft will be releasing final updates for XP in April. It will be May when exploits become an issue in XP because they wont get patched. An advantage of which Linux has is that it is maintained by a community so any exploits are quickly spotted and patched.

ressem

As mentioned, it won't stop working.

There will no longer be updates provided on 'Patch Tuesday' of each month.

Less and less new software and hardware will be tested and have drivers for it.

Using internet explorer 8 (or lower) to browse the internet really really should be avoided. (but that's been the case for years).

If you have a home business that involves handling credit cards then not upgrading would be a violation of the PCI-DSS rules. I'd say you've got an obligation to upgrade if you are storing anyone else's contact details on your machine.

Assuming it's just your family machine, then you should be more diligent about running a good (paid) antivirus scanner + firewall, and backups.

We won't know how real the talk of 'black hat hackers hoarding exploits' is for few months. End of support didn't make a dramatic difference to windows 2000.
On the other hand plenty of supported windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 users have spent years using infected machines already, oblivious.

Regarding windows 8, I've to put up with non-techie colleagues who with 6 months use still complain vociferously about getting dumped into metro apps.
It also has an irritating habit of stalling, for a minute+ when hitting Ctrl-alt-del. (i7, with no user programs running )
And those fullscreen screen takeovers to drive you to the windows store to install 8.1, and those forced timed update restarts have caused me to switch off automatic updates :-/

Problem with Win 7 is acquiring a legal working version as a home user. Not supposed to use OEM. Upgrade versions cost stupid money on amazon.

PropJoe10

The main thing to do after April 8th is NEVER use Internet Explorer in XP again. The web browser is the most easily targeted area of your OS for malware, so steer clear of IE - use Firefox or Chrome, and make sure its updated to the latest version at all times. Also disable any Java plugins in your browser, keep your antivirus up to date, and run regular scans with Malwarebytes. Also, set up a new user account as a "limited" account rather than computer administrator, and use that.

EDIT: On the Linux thing, my suggestion would be Lubuntu. Its menus are quite similar to XP, its free, and it'll run very well on old systems. There's free equivalents for any Windows program, and there's no real need for antivirus protection in Linux either. Probably the best way to go.

CarrieLee

Thanks for all the suggestions.

PropJoe I've already done most of what you suggested so hopefully I'll be OK for a while. I might look into Lubuntu too. (Have never heard of it before yesterday, but it seems to be a popular choice from what I've read online.)

Yoyo, I use Windows8 on my work computer, so I am familiar with it, just not a huge fan. I'll definitely look into downloading that classic start menu you mentioned. Thanks for the help.

faolteam

Lubuntu and Ubuntu

They are largely the same with subtle differences with the main exception that of its default windows environment in use, Lubuntu uses lxde while Ubuntu uses its own Unity window environment.

Some other Linux suggestions for XP users are Zorin OS which is another Irish distro and is specifically designed for the Microsoft user for easy migration over to Linux and Elementary OS, another Debain/Ubuntu based distro, which I currently use daily.

And from next week, Win 98 will be actually safer to use online than XP..

faolteam

which would you recommend Lubuntu, Ubuntu, Mint or Centos

faolteam

faolteam wrote: »

which would you recommend Lubuntu, Ubuntu, Mint or Centos

I have introduced ZorinOS to my Uncle (who is in his 70's), my Brother and a girl I live with, who are all not tech savvy, and all really like it.

If you have 1GB of Ram or less I would probably recommend lubuntu as it really is light on resources.

That's the beauty of linux, there is such choice.

And here is another option, Jolicloud, it's simiilar to chromiumos, actually was out before it I think, and it does work quiet well on old machines and very easy to use.

Have fun...

faolteam

im using a Dell Vostro 1500 xp

do u have to uninstall xp from laptop? what happens all your documents that are on microsoft word will they just go on libre ???

Sure try lubuntu, you can burn straight to DVD or a USB flash drive with UNetbootin and you can even run it without installing it on your computer.

faolteam

NoDrama wrote: »

Sure try lubuntu, you can burn straight to DVD or a USB flash drive with UNetbootin and you can even run it without installing it on your computer.

when u say burn straight ?

do i not uninstall xp ?

Gadgetman496

faolteam wrote: »

when u say burn straight ?

do i not uninstall xp ?

You can boot straight from the CD or USB and either go straight to the desktop from there or you get the option to actually install it if you want

Cuddlesworth

colm_c wrote: »

What is happening is that there will be no further (unless critical) updates to the OS from Microsoft.

There will be no updates. Companies who have paid for further support will receive zero day patches. Normal Windows XP machines will receive nothing.

When support ended had for Windows 2000 I don't think it had anywhere the current level of active users XP has or had as many products using it as the base image.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

faolteam

faolteam wrote: »

when u say burn straight ?

When you download the OS (Operating System), it is generally packaged as an image of a disc (iso, img, etc) to which you burn (copy) to disc. I would recommend using ninite to download the appropriate program, ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP will suffice, if your burning to disc, UNetBootin if to a usb thumb drive.

faolteam wrote: »

do i not uninstall xp ?

You can try if first once you have the OS on disc, you can restart your computer and ensure that the boot (start up) priority in the BIOS selects your DVD/CD disc player first and then the OS will load, you can actually try it as it will be loaded to memory, this is called a live CD, you can also install it from here, though see following note.

You should back up all your important data to an external drive, the path where most of your important stuff will be located will be \Documents and Settings\$USER$ also if you use ROS or similar these will be located in the C:/ (root) drive, copy these over also.

Use Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder to obtain your licences, just in case, save it to a text file to an external source.

Ubuntu has wubi which you can download within a windows environment to install linux, it is an easier way to install, though at a price as the trade off is you don't receive all the benefits in performance.

I have a HP here with a similar spec as yours which was being thrown out for recycling at work, I just put Linux on it and it has a new lease of live.

Here is a video of a lubuntu installation (within virtualbox)..

I recommend you try lubuntu, and if you hate Linux, ensure you have your licence key and media for an xp install, though I doubt you go back..

PropJoe10

Phoenix wrote: »

I have 2 gig ram pentium 4 dell 3100 32 bit whats the best linux OS for me?i use the pc for documents,internet watching videos etc

If you want something relatively speedy, I'd go for Lubuntu or Xubuntu on that. Xubuntu uses the XFCE desktop which is really nice and functional. Could also try Linux Mint if you wanted to, should be plenty of juice in that machine to run it nicely.

faolteam

if i do nothing and just leave it the way it is ? and just delete internet explorer ?

irishgeo

faolteam wrote: »

if i do nothing and just leave it the way it is ? and just delete internet explorer ?

itsw not that easy to delete internet explorer.

degsie

faolteam wrote: »

if i do nothing and just leave it the way it is ? and just delete internet explorer ?

Wait....



Probably nothing....

PropJoe10

faolteam wrote: »

if i do nothing and just leave it the way it is ? and just delete internet explorer ?

You cant delete IE but make sure its not your default browser, and go into Add/Remove Programs, Remove Windows Components on the left hand side, and untick the IE box. It'll mean that it'll disappear from all your menus etc.

flutered

irishgeo wrote: »

itsw not that easy to delete internet explorer.

you will need to go into the hard drive to fine all of it, use one of the force uninstallers to get rid od it, then check your down load folder, your document and files, as there will be bits of it hanging about, always turn off your browser when not using it, a pain i know, try combofix now and again, the last time i used it a taail from where ever was discovered and automatically, total virus scanner used in its manual form is a beaut, files and folders can be loaded one by one, slow i know, but if only done one or two each day you will be fine, rouge killer ran now and again is another excellent bit of kit, keep them in an usb stick, that way they will be strange to the machine and the virus or trogan, so it you have a new infection it will try and stop them from running. oh keep emisoft on the stick as well, if you get into trouble you have the cure,enough for now, if you follow the above you should have xp running happily in a couple of years time, BUT always be on the lookout for new software, yahoo i believe is the best search engine,there are many sights out there to you you entertained and trouble free, at times it is best to be like some of the ould wans of yore very nosey about freeware.

faolteam

flutered wrote: »

you will need to go into the hard drive to fine all of it, use one of the force uninstallers to get rid od it, then check your down load folder, your document and files, as there will be bits of it hanging about, always turn off your browser when not using it, a pain i know, try combofix now and again, the last time i used it a taail from where ever was discovered and automatically, total virus scanner used in its manual form is a beaut, files and folders can be loaded one by one, slow i know, but if only done one or two each day you will be fine, rouge killer ran now and again is another excellent bit of kit, keep them in an usb stick, that way they will be strange to the machine and the virus or trogan, so it you have a new infection it will try and stop them from running. oh keep emisoft on the stick as well, if you get into trouble you have the cure,enough for now, if you follow the above you should have xp running happily in a couple of years time, BUT always be on the lookout for new software, yahoo i believe is the best search engine,there are many sights out there to you you entertained and trouble free, at times it is best to be like some of the ould wans of yore very nosey about freeware.

thanks for that

yoyo

Windows Explorer and other system components are largely related to Internet Explorer so you cannot completely uninstall it. It's the same with some other OS's as well. If you have an old XP machine your best off either upgrading Windows or switching to Linux, which is ideal for most users. It's the actual OS that will be the target after April the 8th, not just simply the browser (although obviously using IE8 would be even more unwise from a security perspective).

Nick

bmm

This sounds a bit like the millenium bug all over again. The computer industry needs people updating their hardware & software. :rolleyes:

Keep Your antivirus & firewall in good nic and you wont have any problems. I've had windows update switched off for years and have never had any issues with malware.

yoyo

bmm wrote: »

This sounds a bit like the millenium bug all over again. The computer industry needs people updating their hardware & software. :rolleyes:

Keep Your antivirus & firewall in good nic and you wont have any problems. I've had windows update switched off for years and have never had any issues with malware.

Many people have this attitude, and as a result makes XP a very attractive target to hackers even moreso as they know it will no longer be patched.
It's quite likely malware and virus writers have been saving up exploits in XP ready to launch once it goes EOL. Also security updates for Vista, 7 and 8 may also apply to XP, which can be reverse engineered and used to exploit older OS's.
Exploits don't necessarily just rely on web browsers either, plugins, documents, images to name a few can be used to exploit systems

Nick

maki

bmm wrote: »

This sounds a bit like the millenium bug all over again. The computer industry needs people updating their hardware & software. :rolleyes:

Keep Your antivirus & firewall in good nic and you wont have any problems. I've had windows update switched off for years and have never had any issues with malware.

Sorry, but that's just terrible advice. An antivirus or a firewall will not protect you from a kernel level exploit.

There will literally be no way to completely secure an XP machine in a few weeks. Zero-day exploits will remain zero-day forever.
All it takes is a site to run some code that exploits Java or Flash or any number of third party application, which in turn will exploit a known (and never to be patched) hole in XP. With kernel level access your anti-virus is now redundant, and the code can download whatever malware or spyware that it wants.

Just because you never have had malware doesn't mean you can't get it. The odds are certainly going to increase come next week.

Gadgetman496

Have MS already released the last updates for XP or will there be a final patch prior to EOL on the 8th?

PropJoe10

gadgetman496 wrote: »

Have MS already released the last updates for XP or will there be a final patch prior to EOL on the 8th?

The last Patch Tuesday is next week, I'm assuming. After that, it'll be every man for himself

bmm

maki wrote: »

All it takes is a site to run some code that exploits Java or Flash or any number of third party application, which in turn will exploit a known (and never to be patched) hole in XP. With kernel level access your anti-virus is now redundant, and the code can download whatever malware or spyware that it wants.

Most antivirus programs contain a suite of measures to prevent this from happening. Firefox & Chrome will continue to support xp and this includes the security of the browser in an Xp environment. Avast is free and checks every web page that i visit. If i was to install a malware program on my pc i have a firewall program that will tell me that a strange program is trying to access the network, this will alert me to this issue.

I sense there are allot of vested interests trawling forums, trying to frighten people into buying new hardware & software.

yoyo

bmm wrote: »

Most antivirus programs contain a suite of measures to prevent this from happening. Firefox & Chrome will continue to support xp and this includes the security of the browser in an Xp environment. Avast is free and checks every web page that i visit. If i was to install a malware program on my pc i have a firewall program that will tell me that a strange program is trying to access the network, this will alert me to this issue.

I sense there are allot of vested interests trawling forums, trying to frighten people into buying new hardware & software.

Installing a Linux distro is free, and much more secure than keeping XP. Anti virus software or modern web browsers will not stop zero day exploits, in an ideal world they would, but unfortunately they don't

Nick

Cuddlesworth

bmm wrote: »

Most antivirus programs contain a suite of measures to prevent this from happening. Firefox & Chrome will continue to support xp and this includes the security of the browser in an Xp environment. Avast is free and checks every web page that i visit. If i was to install a malware program on my pc i have a firewall program that will tell me that a strange program is trying to access the network, this will alert me to this issue.

I sense there are allot of vested interests trawling forums, trying to frighten people into buying new hardware & software.

Chrome have extended support till April 2015. They have no intention of being linked to the malware panhandling machine that XP will turn into past that date.

bmm

"the average vulnerability window of a zero-day exploit is about 10 months. However, it can be easily shown that this window can be several years long."

Going by this Windows 8 which will have plenty of holes and if it takes on average 10 months for these hole to be filled then you need to be relying on a good firewall & antivirus and not on Microsoft .

yoyo

bmm wrote: »

"the average vulnerability window of a zero-day exploit is about 10 months. However, it can be easily shown that this window can be several years long."

Going by this Windows 8 which will have plenty of holes and if it takes on average 10 months for these hole to be filled then you need to be relying on a good firewall & antivirus and not on Microsoft .

Web browsers are not designed to detect viruses or suspicious behavior. Yes click to run or disabling plugins if "known to be vulnerable" is great, but not 100% security.
A zero day exploit could easily attack a web browser on any platform. If the OS is still being supported, however, it makes it harder for malware/virus writers to attack a system.
Windows Vista onwards are also a considerably more secure OS than a stock XP install, as none of them default to an admin account the same way XP does.

Nick

bmm

yoyo wrote: »

Web browsers are not designed to detect viruses or suspicious behavior. Yes click to run or disabling plugins if "known to be vulnerable" is great, but not 100% security.
A zero day exploit could easily attack a web browser on any platform. If the OS is still being supported, however, it makes it harder for malware/virus writers to attack a system.
Windows Vista onwards are also a considerably more secure OS than a stock XP install, as none of them default to an admin account the same way XP does.

Nick

i think you are clutching at straws . A good antivirus program will protect a web browser just fine in any OS. Flash player is as vunerable in Windows 7/8 as it is in xp. Also xp has been around so long at this stage and has had so many holes filled, that surely it will take some years before Windows 7/8 are as secure as xp (prediction).

Microsoft has to sell licences to make money, it's as simple as that.

bmm

bmm wrote: »

i think you are clutching at straws . A good antivirus program will protect a web browser just fine in any OS. Flash player is as vunerable in Windows 7/8 as it is in xp. Also xp has been around so long at this stage and has had so many holes filled, that surely it will take some years before Windows 7/8 are as secure as xp (prediction).

Microsoft has to sell licences to make money, it's as simple as that.

What about compliance for businesses? Put aside your argument for a good AV or application layer firewall, I wouldn't expose an XP box with what you recommend within a network with an IPS and IDS in front of it.

I agree with what you say about MS licences, though as I said earlier, if you are to stick to a legacy MS OS, and that is what this OS will be from this Tuesday, you would be far better off getting your hands on Win 98 which believe it or not will be safer, or just go with linux, I'm typing this on lubuntu with chrome and other applications in use and all it is consuming is 800mb of RAM, and this is a nightly (14.04 LTS) which will have support if I stick with it until the end of 2019, Win 7 will be 2020.

So there is choices available and some are more secure and come gratis...

And XP would have being a dead horse long ago only for the introduction of Netbooks...

PropJoe10

NoDrama wrote: »

What about compliance for businesses? Put aside your argument for a good AV or application layer firewall, I wouldn't expose an XP box with what you recommend within a network with an IPS and IDS in front of it.

I agree with what you say about MS licences, though as I said earlier, if you are to stick to a legacy MS OS, and that is what this OS will be from this Tuesday, you would be far better off getting your hands on Win 98 which believe it or not will be safer, or just go with linux, I'm typing this on lubuntu with chrome and other applications in use and all it is consuming is 800mb of RAM, and this is a nightly (14.04 LTS) which will have support if I stick with it until the end of 2019, Win 7 will be 2020.

So there is choices available and some are more secure and come gratis...

And XP would have being a dead horse long ago only for the introduction of Netbooks...

People seem to have very conflicting views on this. Personally, I think XP will still be alright for a home user to use for the next while, as long as they are careful with their browsing habits and downloads. But for businesses, it should be an absolute no-go. Doing business on an unpatched OS is very foolish from a compliance point of view. I must check out the new Ubuntu family distros. Big fan of Lubuntu and Xubuntu, both excellent alternatives to XP.

Mr. G

It will be interesting to see statistics on the uptake of Ubuntu and other Linux OSs. Ubuntu are rolling out their own phone operating system which looks pretty cool.

I think it's particularly hard on some businesses and schools to fork out for new licenses if they're not on the software assurance programme. Granted schools get discounts but still.

yoyo

bmm wrote: »

i think you are clutching at straws . A good antivirus program will protect a web browser just fine in any OS. Flash player is as vunerable in Windows 7/8 as it is in xp. Also xp has been around so long at this stage and has had so many holes filled, that surely it will take some years before Windows 7/8 are as secure as xp (prediction).

Microsoft has to sell licences to make money, it's as simple as that.

XP is a nightmare even now for security in its default configuration. Vista onwards introduced UAC which make them more secure for the average user. Windows 8 has Smartscreen which makes it even more secure than Windows 7 and below for the average user.

Mr. G wrote: »

It will be interesting to see statistics on the uptake of Ubuntu and other Linux OSs. Ubuntu are rolling out their own phone operating system which looks pretty cool.

I think it's particularly hard on some businesses and schools to fork out for new licenses if they're not on the software assurance programme. Granted schools get discounts but still.

It will alright. I just advised someone with a older Dell laptop to install Linux mint to replace XP with. I don't think businesses would be quick to switch as ultimately although Linux is free enterprise level support is not, and Microsoft are quite competitive when it comes to this

Nick

Cuddlesworth

PropJoe10 wrote: »

People seem to have very conflicting views on this. Personally, I think XP will still be alright for a home user to use for the next while, as long as they are careful with their browsing habits and downloads. But for businesses, it should be an absolute no-go. Doing business on an unpatched OS is very foolish from a compliance point of view. I must check out the new Ubuntu family distros. Big fan of Lubuntu and Xubuntu, both excellent alternatives to XP.

The average home user? The one with 20 toolbars on their browser, the ones who open every mail that say "check out this cool video"? I think a lot of you underestimate what's going to happen. A really good exploit will come out and it will get pushed hard. Popular websites will be hijacked, emails will come on strong, small "holiday" apps will spread like wildfire. While some of it will be the usual "malware" scam apps, most of it will undoubtedly end up for botnet use. EG, the stuff the person doesn't see.

PropJoe10

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

The average home user? The one with 20 toolbars on their browser, the ones who open every mail that say "check out this cool video"? I think a lot of you underestimate what's going to happen. A really good exploit will come out and it will get pushed hard. Popular websites will be hijacked, emails will come on strong, small "holiday" apps will spread like wildfire. While some of it will be the usual "malware" scam apps, most of it will undoubtedly end up for botnet use. EG, the stuff the person doesn't see.

To be honest, an average home user who is using an XP machine in the state you described is already going to be at serious risk, never mind after the end of support. An XP machine thats well maintained with up to date browser, flash player and limited user account should still be relatively secure - I still wouldnt recommend it to a user as being ideal, but alot of people will be taking this route. I am recommending Linux Mint or Lubuntu to any XP users I know.

mrtom

I understand security essentials will continue to provide “Anti malware” signature updates for a period, so does that mean it's anti virus sigs are no more?
Am considering "The WhiteHat Aviator™ Web Browser" to reduce risk.
https://www.whitehatsec.com/aviator/
thoughts...?

PropJoe10

mrtom wrote: »

I understand security essentials will continue to provide “Anti malware” signature updates for a period, so does that mean it's anti virus sigs are no more?

No, as far as I'm aware, the antivirus definitions will be updated until sometime next year. You wont be able to install it on XP after 8th April but if you have it installed it'll keep working.

KAGY

PropJoe10 wrote: »

.... I am recommending Linux Mint or Lubuntu to any XP users I know.

I hope you are ready to provide all the free tech support that they'll be expecting

All this talk about just switch over to [insert poster's choice of Linux distro], it's not as easy as it seems.
For the average punter, for general online use - go for it, once it's set up click Firefox or Chrome and everythings the same.

If you are even slightly techie - i.e. have used the control panel and know what a command line is - go for it too - you'll find that you'll probably like the extra control you have over your PC. Also some of the programs they have, for free, are better than the windows equivalent.

However, if you have come to a computer late in life after overcoming your technophobia - you will need to have a friendly nerd on speed dial. Why: your favourite windows programs will probably not work (at least without some tweaking).
Whlie LibreOffice is a great program - it can mess up formatting of existing Word documents, there are little things too like no right click and drag in Calc (Excel).
All your little windows programs that you bought in Tesco like the family tree program, may not even work at all, and certainly not out of the box.

I teach computers to older folk, and I would be wary about changing them over without them having someone that can fix the little showstopers that will pop up.

My recommendation to them: keep using XP for a while, but think about upgrading / getting a newer hand-me-down. IN the mean time, get someone to set up a non-admin account for them on the computer, keep your antivirus up to date and don't use Internet Explorer