Quantcast

XP Laptop for Haley

stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
22,001
7,882
Colorado
I have an old laptop that I want to setup for Haley to access her school programs. My only catch is that it is an XP laptop, so the security is effectively wide open.

Specifics to the network setup:
- Google Wi-Fi
- I have a guest network available, but would prefer to not have to log into it all the time.

Do I have any options when it comes to protecting our network when I have this computer on it?
Do I need to do anything in general when I have the Google Wi-Fi guest?

Onto the laptop, what is the easiest way to make sure that everything is deleted off a computer?

I want to make sure that everything except Chrome and the Office suite is off that computer.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
22,001
7,882
Colorado
johnbryanpeters said:
Considering the amount of money you dump on things, the base premise of this post is absurd. Suck it up and buy a new laptop.
Click to expand...
Why? I have two Think Pads that were given to me and work perfectly well. It is environmentally unsound to go buy a new computer when I can just make my existing computer work. It needs only to be able to access the school website to get to her school reading programs.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,966
22,011
Sleazattle
I miss my old 32 bit XP laptop. I swear it is faster and less glitchy than every machine I have had since.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,966
22,011
Sleazattle
SkaredShtles said:
That's a quality curmudgeonly attitude!

Fuck XP.

:D
Click to expand...

I think it worked well primarily because it was a Westy install and not some BS corporate core load or full of OEM bloat. My current HP works well but has weird issues that pop up then disappear, also runs into thermal issues.
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
67,774
14,138
In a van.... down by the river
Westy said:
I think it worked well primarily because it was a Westy install and not some BS corporate core load or full of OEM bloat. My current HP works well but has weird issues that pop up then disappear, also runs into thermal issues.
Click to expand...
Hey... I have an HP that is JUST like that. Mostly bullshit with the track/pointer occasionally going off the reservation and doing its own thing... and occasional thermal issues.

FUCK HP.
 
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,711
8,730
I would have no faith in an off the shelf Linux distribution to properly handle sleep and other laptop-essential tasks.

I do like my BSD-based OS X, though. Shit just works, unless it's on my Hackintosh, in which case it's my own damn fault.
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
I have either Ubuntu, Fedora, or Debian running on around 6 machines and they do everything we need around the house. I have a couple Raspberry Pis doing all sorts of home automation and my wife and kids use Fedora on an old laptop for school tasks. Works fine. I guess if I wanted to be spoon fed computing I'd get another Windows machine. But Open Office/Office Libre serves all our needs and I really like not having to pay a monthly subscription which is where MS is going. F that noise. Yeah, sure upgrading has its random few oddities, but like upgrading OSX or Windows always goes smoothly. The nice thing about Linux is that I can always get it going again without calling some tech support in India. But I'm different in that I don't mind digging and learning. To be honest, my favorite flavor is Debian Jessie Lite. :D
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
67,774
14,138
In a van.... down by the river
profro said:
I have either Ubuntu, Fedora, or Debian running on around 6 machines and they do everything we need around the house. I have a couple Raspberry Pis doing all sorts of home automation and my wife and kids use Fedora on an old laptop for school tasks. Works fine. I guess if I wanted to be spoon fed computing I'd get another Windows machine. But Open Office/Office Libre serves all our needs and I really like not having to pay a monthly subscription which is where MS is going. F that noise. Yeah, sure upgrading has its random few oddities, but like upgrading OSX or Windows always goes smoothly. The nice thing about Linux is that I can always get it going again without calling some tech support in India. But I'm different in that I don't mind digging and learning. To be honest, my favorite flavor is Debian Jessie Lite. :D
Click to expand...
Yeah. No fucking way, thank you. :D

And there's nothing wrong, inherently, with digging and learning, but for a desktop to work? NFW.

For the record - you can run any of a number of free office suites on Winders (even Open Office!) - but you knew that...
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
SkaredShtles said:
Yeah. No fucking way, thank you. :D

And there's nothing wrong, inherently, with digging and learning, but for a desktop to work? NFW.

For the record - you can run any of a number of free office suites on Winders (even Open Office!) - but you knew that...
Click to expand...
Yeah, but for an XP laptop why run a free office suite? The question was regarding what to do with an XP machine. In that case, I prefer the method I suggested.

And you might be assuming too much with the "not work" statement, its not unreasonable to have to download a couple drivers to ensure all hardware works. That is even a thing for Windows, but you already knew that... The difference would be hunting the internet for said drivers versus going to a manufacturer's website. The biggest issues come when trying to get DRM stuff to work (i.e. HBO GO, etc.) in Linux. But for daily computing that requires office tools, mail, and web browsing Linux has yet to disappoint me. But I am not an IT person by trade, so fiddling around in my free time doesn't bother me. I actually like the concept of open source versus the total world domination and enslavement thing MS has going on.
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
67,774
14,138
In a van.... down by the river
profro said:
<snip>

And you might be assuming too much with the "not work" statement, its not unreasonable to have to download a couple drivers to ensure all hardware works. That is even a thing for Windows, but you already knew that... The difference would be hunting the internet for said drivers versus going to a manufacturer's website. The biggest issues come when trying to get DRM stuff to work (i.e. HBO GO, etc.) in Linux. But for daily computing that requires office tools, mail, and web browsing Linux has yet to disappoint me. But I am not an IT person by trade, so fiddling around in my free time doesn't bother me.
Click to expand...
There ya have it. I wouldn't suggest OTHER people get into it, though, unless they like to fuck around with their computer. Works for you, though. :thumb:
I actually like the concept of open source versus the total world domination and enslavement thing MS has going on.
Click to expand...
Dude - that's a tired old schtick nowadays... Microsoft works diligently to NOT become irrelevant in today's IT landscape. They're just as much under fire as anybody else to remain relevant.
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
SkaredShtles said:
There ya have it. I wouldn't suggest OTHER people get into it, though, unless they like to fuck around with their computer. Works for you, though. :thumb:

Dude - that's a tired old schtick nowadays... Microsoft works diligently to NOT become irrelevant in today's IT landscape. They're just as much under fire as anybody else to remain relevant.
Click to expand...
I am a controls engineer and I certainly like to solve problems myself. But I have had it with MS since I was forced at gunpoint to remove Corel Wordperfect and replace with MS Word. Not being able to see the formatting and codes still gets me all hot and bothered. Hitting a backspace and seeing a huge portion of MS Word text revert some some other format is unacceptable and don't get me started on Multlevel lists and know this subscription crap. :butcher:

I don't know anything about Chromebook and perhaps that is a great solution too, but taking an old XP and loading a Linux distro is a great experience that is easily accomplished. Up until about a year ago, I only knew how to spell Linux. I have really enjoyed the journey. I just upgarded my PiZero and noticed it wasn't retaining its IP address. Dug into the syslog and easily observed a wifi power save. Updated rc.local and solved. :banana: What do they say? "Where the is a will, there is a way"
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
67,774
14,138
In a van.... down by the river
profro said:
I am a controls engineer and I certainly like to solve problems myself. But I have had it with MS since I was forced at gunpoint to remove Corel Wordperfect and replace with MS Word.
Click to expand...
:rofl: :rofl: I hear ya. People and their wordperfect.

I don't know anything about Chromebook and perhaps that is a great solution too, but taking an old XP and loading a Linux distro is a great experience that is easily accomplished. Up until about a year ago, I only knew how to spell Linux. I have really enjoyed the journey.
Click to expand...
I mean this in the best way possible: you're fuckin' weird, man. :D
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,966
22,011
Sleazattle
profro said:
I am a controls engineer and I certainly like to solve problems myself. But I have had it with MS since I was forced at gunpoint to remove Corel Wordperfect and replace with MS Word. Not being able to see the formatting and codes still gets me all hot and bothered. Hitting a backspace and seeing a huge portion of MS Word text revert some some other format is unacceptable and don't get me started on Multlevel lists and know this subscription crap. :butcher:

I don't know anything about Chromebook and perhaps that is a great solution too, but taking an old XP and loading a Linux distro is a great experience that is easily accomplished. Up until about a year ago, I only knew how to spell Linux. I have really enjoyed the journey. I just upgarded my PiZero and noticed it wasn't retaining its IP address. Dug into the syslog and easily observed a wifi power save. Updated rc.local and solved. :banana: What do they say? "Where the is a will, there is a way"
Click to expand...
Formatting in MS office is infuriating, but you do know that you can display the formatting codes in Word?
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
Westy said:
Formatting in MS office is infuriating, but you do know that you can display the formatting codes in Word?
Click to expand...

Sure, but only what MS wants you to see. Nothing like what Corel used to show. Hell, I look at text in slash code when coding, so I fully admit I am different.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,966
22,011
Sleazattle
profro said:
Sure, but only what MS wants you to see. Nothing like what Corel used to show. Hell, I look at text in slash code when coding, so I fully admit I am different.
Click to expand...
I have avoided this by never formatting more than paragraphs and inserting tables. Everything else is BS.
 
johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

Hero
Sep 27, 2001
36,799
18,344
Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
profro said:
Sure, but only what MS wants you to see. Nothing like what Corel used to show. Hell, I look at text in slash code when coding, so I fully admit I am different.
Click to expand...
With apologies, not different, just another geek fascinated by their own wizardry. In electrical design and manufacturing, code, and systems and network management, I have found this self-centeredness not to be helpful in accomplishing useful things.
 
Toshi

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,711
8,730
profro said:
Sure, but only what MS wants you to see. Nothing like what Corel used to show. Hell, I look at text in slash code when coding, so I fully admit I am different.
Click to expand...
Unless you write everything in LaTeX I’m not impressed.
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
Westy said:
I have avoided this by never formatting more than paragraphs and inserting tables. Everything else is BS.
Click to expand...
Ever had to collaborate on a document with a coworker? My brain hurts sometimes trying to edit a doc that has no less than 4 fonts, 2 or more multi level lists, and a hand made TOC. Ha. :crazy:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom