Does your computer at home run Windows XP still? Did you know that Microsoft are ceasing support for Windows XP on the 8th April 2014. So what does this mean?
From the 8th April 2014, Microsoft will no longer provide technical assistance and will also no longer supply security updates for it. This means that over time your computer will become vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Its for this reason Microsoft recommend that everyone upgrades away from Windows XP before this deadline. Supposedly there are talks of hackers having some exploits for Windows XP ready to release once the date goes past. You can find out more information from Microsoft about this here.
If you are not sure if you have Windows XP, you can quickly identify it by the start button you have down the bottom left.
Windows XP Start Button
Windows 7 Start Button
Alternatively click in Start, Run, then type in msinfo32.
On this screen you will clearly see what Operating System you are running.
Unfortunately there is no direct upgrade path from Windows XP to the latest version, which is Windows 8.1.
You have 2 options.
1) Upgrade to Windows 7
2) Install Windows 8 Fresh and then reinstall your programs and restore your data.
If you want to find out if you can upgrade to Windows 7 then download the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser from here.
Once downloaded click run. Then click I accept and click install.
Leave the launch option ticked and click close
Make sure all your printers and other accessories are plugged into your computer and turned on. Then click Start Check.
It will now start scanning your system and identifying what programs will not work if you were to upgrade.
On my test machine the results came back telling me I couldn’t upgrade and would need a clean install. Also it told me I would need to buy more RAM (Memory) for my machine.
If anyone needs any help with any aspect of this then feel free to give me a shout.