Still safe, still no viruses on XP (with no updates) - am I just lucky?

[tom_martin22]

Hi all

I am still currently on XP. I hate change! But I'm having problems with my OS and I think rather than re-install XP, it's finally time for me to jump to 7/10. Apart from joining the modern era, I also want to make use of more than 4GB RAM.... Anyhow, putting all that aside for the moment...

Up until now I have never had any viruses or internet related problems that I'm aware of with my PC. I run Panda AV Free, but I do not have any software firewall installed. Even when XP WAS still supported, I NEVER ran any of the MS updates, so I must be WELL out of date as I built my PC in 2008! I am on SP3. I use Chrome as my browser, and I use the internet a lot.

So - have I just been lucky or is there more to it? From what I've read, the fact that I use XP alone should have me riddled with viruses, etc. Add to this that I've not run updates since 2008... and... well... So I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts.

Many thanks

Max

 

[androbourne]

It's a game of chance.

XP no longer getting patched meaning when people find a loop hole in the OS, they can push viruses to those vulnerabilities like the crypto virus...

It's really no joke. Microsoft even did a one time patch to patch the first Wannacry virus because it was so extreme.

Of course, majority of the time infections are caused by user error, opening email attachments, going to infected websites etc... But its not something I'd chance, especially if my PC is important to me.

 

[deepblue08]

It's mostly luck, but it strongly depends on how you use it. I never had a single virus since my machine with WinXP SP1. No viruses on Win7, no virus on Win8.1, no virus on Win10. It's not because I do anything special, it's because I install what I know, I'm extra careful with my email attachments and I don't get software from torrents.