All Things Technology Related Thread

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

Ok,

So a question for everyone.

background - My mom is nearing 80 years old, uses XP, and Money 2003 for all her needs - she does do online banking with the couple of credit unions she uses, and outlook express (yes it's still out there). I keep her antivirus up, run malwarebytes often and don't think that she needs to worry about microsoft's end of support for XP. She uses a kindle, but gets very flustered with any small glitches. Personally, I dread the day she would have to go to windows 8, or even a Chromebook.

Question: In each individual's opinion, is the end of Microsoft support going to cascade quick enough to cause her enough grief that she ought to get a new system sooner rather than later? A sidebar is that her sister in Germany has no tech saavy family/friends, and if my mom ought to change should my aunt, who has a similar system there.

Windows Options

Possibly the easiest option is buying a copy of Windows 7 (likely the 32 bit version given the age of the laptop) pop in the disc and install. Can't say for certain but seeing as how the disc would probably view the install as a simple upgrade most of her files would stay in tact. Though if that wasn't the case you likely would receive an explicit warning from the installer.

You could get her a bargain laptop with Windows 8 and then install a Windows 7 System Builder. Keep in mind the Windows 7 system builder is bare bones and won't even include Office. The nice thing though about system builder versions of Windows is they don't come with bloatware. So no Norton prompts, Skype, Mcafee, etc.

Another option with a Windows 8 laptop would be downloading any one of the numerous classic start button apps that for the most part allow you to avoid using the Metro/start menu as little as possible if not completely.

Though a word of warning in buying any laptop make sure the touchpad doesn't have have any crazy features. My Dad bought a Leveno laptop a year ago that had all these smart touch features and it made even basic things such as double clicking a royal pain so moral of the story try before you buy. Or at least look very closely at reviews

Linux Options

Another way to salvage the current laptop is you could install a windows like version of Linux in Linux Mint for free. As long as shes not to attached to Outlook and Money 2003 you should be able to find plenty of alternatives for alternatives for Linux.

She also wouldn't even need to commit to Linux Mint right away. All you would have to do, assuming its like most computers is burn the Iso/download to a disc, put it in the disc drive, select the live system option from the prompt menu which should start up automatically when you turn on the computer, and she could try it out without risking making any changes to her computer. (Live CD Simple Tutorial, Live CD In Depth Tutorial)

I use live discs all the time with Virtual Machines and my own systems and they really are great for playing around without risking any permanent changes unless of course you click the install button on the desktop. BTW don't click the install button on the desktop until you're sure thats what you want to do, lol.

A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs in a computer's memory, rather than loading from a hard disk drive; the CD itself is read-only. It allows users to run an operating system for any purpose without installing it or making any changes to the computer's configuration. Live CDs can run on a computer without secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive, or with a corrupted hard disk drive or file system, allowing data recovery. A live ISO is an ISO image of a Live CD which can be used in virtual machine environments, mounted as if it were a CD/DVD and used as the virtual machine's boot CD. Live CDs, ISOs, and images usually include an operating system available without charge or restrictive licence such as Linux, rather than a commercial one such as Microsoft Windows, for legal rather than technical reasons.

Potential Problems with Linux

Keep in mind though that while the Linux option might be viable it could easily become troublesome. For example if the Live CD doesn't start up when turning the computer on you would have to reconfigure the boot order from the 80's like UEFI menu on your computer (aka mashing F12 when your computer starts up).

Theres other potential hickups like say you were to install Linux along side Windows XP, well for me the boot loader didn't install properly so when I booted up my computer I didn't even have access to the Linux OS I installed even though I could see from my disc manager that it was there. Easy enough to fix with a program called boot repair but I was still driven nuts for a day or two.

Of course theres also the chance that everything could go off without a hitch. The first time I installed Linux on an old 2008 HP laptop everything went smoothly. I selected install Ubuntu Linux along side Windows 7 and soon enough everytime I booted up my computer I was given the option to boot up Ubuntu Linux or Windows 7 with Windows 7 being the default if I didn't select anything within 30 seconds.

The second time I tried to install Scientific Linux on my own rig I ran into the same problems I described above that provided me with some decent experience on troubleshooting but it was still a pain. Granted I'm sort of a hobbyist so I find even the frustrating parts enjoyable....at times.

Personally I'd suggest trying the LiveCD and if it doesn't boot up the first time you start your computer with the disc in the disc tray then just forget about it. Unless you're willing to go through with learning how to trouble shoot a LinuxOS install, the $100 for a copy of Windows 7 might be worth the price. After all can you really put a price on sanity?