old Windows XP laptop -- safe to connect?

i would not connect to the internet w/o a strong firewall. it opens a door for attacks. someone could attack the XP laptop and gain access to your other computers or devices.

you can connect it to download updates or files but dont leave it connected for any extended period of time.

 

I don't know of any specific threats actively operating in the wild right now, but that's mostly because I don't make a business of monitoring them.

However, it is quite possible on a theoretical level for malware to A) get into that laptop and B) once it is in there, use that vantage point to interact with everything else on your local network. Plenty of other gadgets common in the home are listening for the activity of other gadgets. They might not be able to read the data payload, but if your smart TV notices activity from a smartphone it could reasonably conclude that somebody is home and make that data point available to data brokers.

Following that out, once you've got actual malware inside your network (and not just the license-permitted example above) it can become a command-and-control relay point to monitor other traffic and stage specific attacks on your other stuff.

It's just too easy for malware to get onto a machine that old in the first place. Use it for offline stuff only, or if you really want to use that hardware for a spare browser go get a lightweight free linux distribution- then you can run the latest browsers and milk further utility from the machine without the security headache.

 

tech stream

 

Save it for techstream. You can get a new/refurb chromebook for as little as $80-90 that would run circles around that old thing. I got one and it was good but I discovered touchscreen versions (better screen quality and folds 180 to become a tablet) so returned it for the upper model that was about $139 on sale. Crazy. I'm typing this reply in a hotel lobby while on a work assignment. I don't even take the charger with me on short trips since battery life is so good.

FWIW

 

I blocked my old Win 10 machine from the network and then used it as a word processor, cd burner, old game player machine. I loaded every old cd-based program I had on it that didn't require an online presence. Any files transferred to or from it were done by thumb drive.That worked great for a few years until the motherboard overheated and the computer went to the local hazmat recycling facility. I still have the hard drives from it packed away in the garage; I removed them prior to recycling.

I'm doing the same thing with an old Win 7 laptop now.

 

I do this:
Linux Lite Easy to Use Free Linux Operating System

Linux Lite is good for just about everything that you used to use the old 'puter for.
I still have a 15 year old laptop that I took on my first overseas military deployment (we call it the GTMO special) that I have dual booting Zorin and XP - BUT - I use it off-line only at work to talk to muxes and routers.

I use another, newer, XP box at home for things like Arduino IDE, flashing smart plugs and switches etc, but it's a Linux-only box.
Most people can walk up to a box running Linux Lite or Zorin and feel comfortable using it for almost everything that they used their old XP boxes for, and even the two things that turn most people away from Linux (OS install and loading new software) are fairly intuitive now.

...AND they're more secure than any winders, apple, or droid box will ever be.

 

+1

Also, if you don't want to "install" a Linux variation without trying it first, you can always download an ISO image, burn it to a CD and run the distribution direct from the CD. Don't like it, just power off and eject the CD. No harm no foul.

I ran Knoppix that way for a while to try it out when I first started war driving.

Lots of info and download links at Distrowatch.

 

+1!

 

I had to look it up to see how old the XP OS was. It was released in 2001. That means the computer has to be close to that old, give or take a few years. We have 7 or 8 currently operating computers in my household including a couple my son is using, but the oldest one is Windows 7, and the hardware is probably only about 5 years old? This Windows 7 netbook, I intended to use for dedicated Techstream machine, but all the other machines are on current Windows 10, Ubuntu 14LTS, or current Chrome OS. In addition, I have many laptops most of them still in working conditions with older OS. I think I even have a vintage Toshiba laptop circa 1992 with Windows 3.1 somewhere in the closet. However, I have absolutely no use for any of those old computers. I just never had chance to got rid of them. What are you thinking of using XP machine for???

 

I wish I still had an operating Windows XP machine. I still have my old disks of things like Microsoft Office Pro 2003, Roller Coaster Tycoon, an old Links golf game, old versions of MS Flight Simulator with the Concorde jet and the World Trade Center on them, Nascar Racing 3 and some others. I've been able to get MS Flight Sim 2004 to work on Windows 10 but not any older than that. I can't get my Office Pro 2003 to work either.

 

Playing ancient PC games, I can't help. But I would think with many enthusiasts in that field, there has to be some emulation platforms that can be used on modern computers. That said, my son still have all of his very old game consoles just in case he decides to revisit and play old games again, but I have never seen him do that. lol

Now, this. What component of Office 2003 do you want to run in 2019??? Most of office components are now available for free in online version isn't it? I still run 2010 Office Pro at work PC running Windows 7, but all of my home computers have switched to Office Pro 2013, 2016, or 2019. I never liked subscription based software, so no Windows Office 365 on my machine. With Microsoft offer of Home Office Program through my work, I got each version of stand alone Office PRO for less than $15. But for most part, I now use Google Doc, and OFFICE PRO is more and more becoming a shelf ware.

 

Well, If the point is to keep the XP machine off the internet for security reasons then yeah you would want an age-appropriate offline office productivity suite specifically to avoid any dependency on an internet connection.

 

I was just really familiar and comfortable with Office Pro 2003 because I used it so much for work. With a couple of different national companies I used Publisher to put out company newsletters, Access to keep databases tracking vendor returns, Word for regular correspondence, etc. Now that I'm retired I'd still feel comfortable using it to track budgets, make greeting and Christmas cards, volunteering to help the local schools with things, etc. etc. Nothing earth-shattering but just because it's really inside my comfort zone. I want it self-contained on the computer without any online presence.

I still enjoy pulling out the old games. I've got a Saitek joystick and configuration setup for Combat Flight Simulator but I can't get it to work on Win 10. I have the CH yoke and pedals for the regular flight sims and the Nascar game, too. I enjoy killing time that way.

 

Yes, I can see that if you need a stand alone XP machine disconnected from the rest of the world to run 2003 office totally off line. But @srellim234 was saying he wanted to run 2003 office on Windows 10 machine, I think. I still wonder why he would want to do that?

 

Aha! I understand it now. Yes, comfort zone is important. I remember changing from DOS based word processor Xy Write to Windows based WP was a huge jump. Though I don't think much has changed in Office line of products from 2003 on. Yeah, much more internet dependence, but core of the functionality has not changed that much I think. Or at least I have never utilized any of those new and improved functionalities.

 

Interesting anectdote. Through her sheriff's department my wife got really familiar with Word Perfect and that Corel suite of programs. Here it is, 20+ years later and she still hasn't ever used a Microsoft suite. Of course, now it's Google Docs because she doesn't use a PC anymore but when she did her comfort level was with Corel. She always insisted that our PCs and laptops have both companies' programs on them.

 

Don't know about game joystick, but hardware incompatibility is probably difficult to overcome without company support providing new drivers for newer PCs. And no company is going to provide such drivers for out of date discontinued products. That's why I still have many, many SCSI peripheral devices which I have no way to connect to my current laptop anymore.

 

They were never super common, but there are USB SCSI host bus adapters out there. You plug it into a drive or scanner or whatever, then into a USB port. The computer thinks it has a SCSI card with whatever devices attached. Nice and transparent. It's no screamer for performance, but it lets you maintain access to your old stuff, fix old machines etc. There were also piggyback adapters, little cards you'd hang on the back of an internal SCSI disk drive and it would adapt into a SATA bus, easy enough to also make USB-accessible.