Wiz's Computer and Website Security Blog

If you operate a Windows 98, ME, or NT computer online, with AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition protection, this statement on the AVG Free Supported Platforms page will be of utmost importance to you.

"* Some older operating systems such as Microsoft Windows ME, Microsoft Windows NT and Microsoft Windows 98 will only be supported until August 2008 as a minimum."

While this policy statement does not specify an actual date in August 2008, for the end of support and the last three words are vague, the intent is quite obvious. At some date in, or shortly after August, 2008, they will probably issue a new version of AVG Free, which will not install on Windows 98, ME, or NT computers.

People with these affected operating systems may think that by simply not upgrading, they will be able to continue to use the existing version. It is true that their version of AVG will still function, but when Grisoft stops releasing automatic updates for the previous versions, these folks are going to be unprotected against new and altered threats. In today's world that is tantamount to no protection at all.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is currently updated automatically, once a day, but users are free to check for updates manually, as often as they wish. Thoise who do will usually find that definition files are updated several times every day. I have even created a means of checking automatically, every hour, on the hour, using Windows Task Scheduler. The details for the current version are shown below. Note, that you should check the path and destination directory names for your installation and alter them accordingly, before using this task.

Start in: "C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG7"
Run: "C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG7\avginet.exe" /SCHED=
Schedule Task: Daily
Start time: (when you want to start checking for updates)
Schedule Task daily: Every 1 day(s)
ADVANCED settings
Check: Repeat task
Every: 1 Hour(s)
Until: 24 hours
Click OK, then click Apply, then OK again, to save and exit the task scheduler.

These parameters will run the automatic online updater every hour, on the hour. If updates are not available it will appear and disappear in a second or two. If there are updates available at that time they will be downloaded automatically and installed, after which a little box will pop-up, telling you the update was successfully applied. You can click OK to dismiss this notice, or wait 30 seconds for it to go away on its own.

If you are one of those people who are in the soon to be abandoned group, of Windows 98, ME, or NT users, you may want to start searching for an alternative anti-virus product. Avast Home Edition is a free anti virus product that still supports Windows 98, although some new features will not work on that OS. Future versions will have even less functionality under Windows 98 and ME. If you are still running a Windows 98 or ME computer on the Internet, you really should think hard about updating to a newer operating system.

Posted by Wiz at 12:07 PM | Permalink

What will happen to sales of Windows XP, on June 30, 2008?

On June 30, 2008, all retail outlets, computer manufacturers and custom OEM computer builders will be unable to obtain any more boxed or shrink-wrapped OEM copies of Windows XP CDs. However, they may sell their remaining stock, as long as the disks already have valid product keys on a fresh hologram sticker. All other OEM XP disks will be unlicensable after the cutoff date, because Microsoft will not issue any more product keys. Those disks can only be used to reinstall already licensed XP operating systems.

If you are thinking about building or buying a new computer with Windows XP, you should do it soon. Microsoft will end OEM and shrink-wrapped sales of Windows XP on June 30, 2008, forcing users to shift to Vista. This will not only affect individuals and small local computer shops, but big companies like Dell, who currently offer business computers with XP Professional, instead of Vista Business. Come June 30 they will no longer have this option.

If you want to avoid being forced to move up to Vista, order your XP Pro licensed computers now. Set up terms if you have to, but don't wait for the licenses to expire and hope to find a copy after June 30, 2008.

Also until the end of business on June 30, 2008 (at 23:59 PST), individuals can buy XP licenses online, directly from Microsoft. Those sales pertain to people who already have a valid XP installation CD and need extra licenses for it, to load the software onto a second or third home or office PC. Once purchased from Microsoft, these additional computers can have XP loaded onto them and be legally validated.

Note, that some Microsoft Licensed System Builders may still be able to obtain Windows XP Professional licenses, for orders of 25 or more PCs, but only if those PCs come with a Windows Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate license as well. Essentially, the customer will be allowed to "downgrade" by using the Vista license for the XP installation. As for enterprise volume licenses, those will also include "downgrade rights," so while Microsoft will stop selling XP licenses, a Vista Business or Ultimate volume license can still be used to activate XP installs, provided you supply your own XP installation CDs.

Hardware and driver considerations

As more manufacturers join the Vista only bandwagon, support and drivers for XP will dry up, just like has already happened for Windows 98 devices. In fact, Vista motherboards are now shipping that do not support most of the plug-in cards that worked perfectly under Windows XP. New audio and video cards, or chipsets, that ship with Vista computers may not even have XP drivers available from the manufacturers. However, as of March 2008, Tiger Direct still has a good inventory of XP compatible motherboards, plug-in cards and peripherals, as well as plenty of XP Home, Media Center and Professional OEM CDs, with legitimate hologram product keys. Use the search box below to find computer cases, power supplies, components, motherboards, CPUs, RAM and most available Windows Operating Systems, at Tiger Direct.

If you are using XP Professional, in a business environment and are willing to allow Vista computers into your network, purchase Vista Business Edition, not a consumer version (or you're asking for trouble). However, if you need DVD multi-media support, you will have to add that on with a third party (commercial or freeware) application, as DVD multi-media support doesn't come with Vista Business or Enterprise (M-M does come with Vista Ultimate). These applications are also available through Tiger Direct.

Search at TigerDirect.com:

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Posted by Wiz at 10:55 PM | Permalink