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How to secure a Windows XP SP3 PC for Internet?

Astro52 -  
brucine Posted messages 24741 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   -

Hello,

I’m thinking of giving away my old laptop (Windows XP SP3 from 2005, very high-end for its time), when I go back to the southern Moroccan village where I'll be living part of the year.

It no longer has antivirus; it has already had a second life offline.

The laptop could continue to be used offline, but if it could also go a little on the internet, that would be better.

But for that, I need to install basic security before giving it to people who have never used a computer.

What are the risks today when on the world wide web with Windows XP SP3? What are the solutions to secure basic use?

Thank you

2 answers

  1. Astro52
     

    Thank you for your replies.

    The computer obviously does not meet the minimum requirements for Windows 10 and there will be no drivers for Windows 10.

    I take note that it is not possible to secure a computer running Windows XP connected to the internet. I had hoped it was too old to still be targeted by attacks and still old enough to have a basic firewall included.

    I hadn't thought about the spam question; it is true that with their very minimalist reading level it would probably be very difficult for them to distinguish truth from fiction.

    Undoubtedly it is safer to make it an offline workstation to run my educational software for children, the Office 2007 suite (it has an associated license), display photos larger than on the phone...

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    1. brucine Posted messages 24741 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   4 154
       

      I don’t know if the PC has minimum hardware requirements for Windows 10, nor if the manufacturer has provided Windows 10 drivers for your hardware: for the latter point, you need to check the manufacturer’s website.

      There is indeed a firewall included in XP, but it’s no longer up to date.

      Spam is only annoying, but not dangerous: the problem lies in malicious attachments, malicious sites as well, and the download of dubious software that may contain viruses.

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      1. Astro52 > brucine Posted messages 24741 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention  
         

        Do you think that if I connect it to the Internet with a very, very restrictive whitelist parental control, it could work? Without antivirus that won't be updated and with Windows firewall?

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      2. brucine Posted messages 24741 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   4 154 > Astro52
         

        I don’t think anything: in theory, why not, but it is quite difficult to control what everyone does in multi-user mode and to verify what they can download or not, including email attachments, except perhaps under XP Pro to implement a local security policy and of course to back up installation media and data on an external medium in case of need.

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  2. blux Posted messages 2045 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   3 455
     

    Hi,

    you can install Windows 10 with a second-hand license key that will cost you only a few cents:

    https://www.cdiscount.com/informatique/logiciels-a-telecharger/windows-10-pro-professionnel-licence-cle-activatio/f-1077604-auc7625862037983.html

    With that, you’ll be able to enjoy a security setup more suited to today’s uses than with XP..

    A+ blux           "Fools dare anything.
    It’s even how you can recognize them"

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    1. brucine Posted messages 24741 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   4 154
       
      Hello, It is by no means a given that such an old machine has the minimum characteristics for Windows 10 and, even more so, the necessary drivers; we should verify their existence on the manufacturer’s site (perhaps try Windows 7?). 100% security does not exist, but the successive evolutions of browsers and operating systems have, in particular, been aimed at addressing security flaws discovered since their launch. It is almost no longer possible to browse Windows XP with an updated browser; the best compromise is Firefox ESR 52, but by definition it is no longer updated, and anyway an increasing number of sites forbid browsing from XP. The issue of security remains less prominent if the browsing behavior is safe (untrustworthy sites, attachments, software from untrusted sources...) and if we assume that one can only be targeted by targeted attacks, but somewhere, even if there are security software still updated for XP, nothing prevents flaws, even rendered non-detrimental for the user protected, provided they are not filtered by a box, from representing a danger to others due to their dissemination from this workstation on the Internet. A product like Comodo will still provide this protection reasonably, but at the cost of resource consumption that can be prohibitive on an old machine, and being anyway unsuitable to entrust its configuration to novices. In summary, there is no longer any way to navigate even on some common sites with XP, nor any way to secure it in an acceptable manner for beginners, except perhaps limiting its use to safe sites and using email while refusing all attachments.
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