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Forum Discussion
What happens after Windows XP support ends?
I'm not sure I understand how drop box will function or not after doom day in August. My computer is a Windows XP. I cannot afford a new computer at this time. Does the August date mean that I will not be able to access my files that are not synced to my computer? Will I be able to download files? My desktop icon will no longer function?
You can continue to use the website with a supported browser, but the syncing client will cease to work - anything updated on another computer or anything you are sharing through a shared folder will not update on that computer, and any file you add, edit or delete on that computer will not update on the website.
Your only options are to upgrade or to use the website with a compatible browser. Thats it.
A bit of a long story, but here goes... I currently have an XP machine at home with all my favorite applications for recording music and creating videos. I never use it online, so the only updates on it are those which I needed to install my softwares, most of which were bundled with the install discs. It runs like a well oiled machine. At work I'm also still using XP, and say what you will about security for XP, I've actually had much better performance since Microsoft stopped pushing XP Updates. It was as if my computer was a cat... It spent more time preening than doing anything useful, so I shut off automatic updates. I have a work provided subscription to Norton 360 and also have a free version of Avast on it. And NO they do not conflict, nor have I incurred any viruses, although Norton will occasionally complain about having another antivirus program installed. But, I've found that Avast actually catches more real malware than Norton does, whereas Norton seems to catch things on my work applications like AutoCAD which I had to go and roll back to regain functionality. There's another computer at work which I've been monitoring since it's user was let go, and automatic updates is still active on that. Actually, every so often, it will still do a Microsoft update... I'm not sure what's up with that... Apparently Microsoft still has a few updates for XP???
I also have a Windows 7 machine I inherited from my Son after he upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10. It got corrupted a few days after the upgrade and would not roll back. It just came up with a blue screen saying it could not restore and that the hard drive was bad. So he went out and got a new PC with Windows 10 already on it from the factory and gave me the old one for parts thinking it was toast. It has a souped up power supply and very nice high performance video card. So I tried installing XP on it temporarily, thinking I'd at least see what the actual status of the hard drive was... XP installed fine and worked well, but oddly the primary hard drive was mapped to H:... So when going to install any very old software it doesn't play nice, expecting to install to C:. After a little investigation I figured out that HP has card readers which in the event of a restore are mapped to C:, D:, E:, F: and G:... Which puts your hard drive at H: and makes it impossible to restore! In order to have the hard drive mapped to C: as it should be, you need to open it up and pull the cable to the card reader loose until after you restore your operating system. No one tells you this stuff... You have to just be persistant and figure it out on your own! And of course, HP not only didn't supply a restore disc for the operating system, but does not have it on their website for download. So after looking around elsewhere, I found a ISO file for an HP OEM WIN 7 install for the correct model and burned it to a DVD using his new machine. So I went ahead and re-installed that, put in the code from the machine's label, then went to the HP site for the device drivers (which they at least do have), and now it works perfectly. While I was at it, I tried adding Microsoft Virtual PC and XP Mode. After goofing around for quite a few days, I finally found out that you have to go into the BIOS and select "support virtualization", save and exit. Then Virtualization and XP mode installed just fine. So now in addition to my original XP machine, I have a WIN 7 machine with XP Mode and have installed all my favorite softwares on it. So it one dies, I still have the other one. The only cheesy thing about it is, if you do not have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, you can't add XP Mode. How cheap! If you don't have the extra money to buy a PC with Windows Professional or Ultimate, you sure don't have the money to buy all new software. I was just fortunate that my Son went top of the line on this machine since he games a lot.
Then to make the story even more interesting, a fellow I know at work had his HP Windows 7 machine die a few days after upgrading to Windows 10. It just came up with a blue screen saying the hard drive was bad, etc. I told him about needing to pull the cable or you can't get it to restore, and he said, "I don't know anything about this stuff, would you take a look at it?" So he brought it in, I pulled the cable, and it came up on Windows 10. The DVD in his drive apparently never saved the original Windows 7 and was completely blank. But, OK Windows 10 was coming up. So I let it run a little while and tested to see if it would connect to the internet, etc. And it did, but after about 10 minutes it rebooted. I tried it maybe 5 times and always after a little while it would reboot. So I went and found an ISO of the OEM Windows 7 for his model, installed that, and tested it for a few days, added Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast, Piriform ccCleaner, and Malwarebytes. So after the whole experience he's decided not to even try to upgrade to Windows 10. Meanwhile, my Wife upgraded her PC from Windows 7 to 10 and it has been running just fine ever since the Windows 10 rollout. Go figure!
Anyhow, good thing you can store your important documents on DropBox! If you ever need to do a system restore, they'll all go away from your hard drive permanently.
Actually, every so often, it will still do a Microsoft update... I'm not sure what's up with that... Apparently Microsoft still has a few updates for XP???
The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, which apparently works across all versions of WIndows, will still download an updated version once per month. Once downloaded and installed, it runs exactly once, in the background, and then stays quiet until the next update.
Since it isn't a pest and there might be an infinitesimal chance it will catch something Avast and MalwareBytes don't, I just let it do its thing every month.
- Mark
Super User II
But please tell the gods at Dropbox that you worship about this thread.
They already know. Its been discussed at length today between us. In fact they also knew about the ones in April as well. But, nothing changed. And, as they did with other OS's (and no doubt will in the future) it will happen.
They've done the same on OSx and iOS which stopped loads of iPhone users being able to install it.
As I said on the other thread the issue is financial and security. They will already know how many paying users there are on XP and thus how much they will lose. The issue is that so many people take everything for free (which is their right, given), but then dont like being told that its taken away. If its such a superior product that is desperately needed to be used maybe more should have paid? That way maybe it wouldn't have stopped.
Now, to summarise. Syncing will stop. No if's or buts. So if people can find a suitable alternative app that still connects to Dropbox now maybe a good time to use it. If not and you are a paying user and dont want to continue again, now maybe a good time to cancel so you dont pay for what you dont need.
