Mission Impossible?

[#1]

Well even XP has only ever had 3 service packs and it's been around since 2001. 
(and they've improved the process a lot since then)
I actually had to do a full factory reinstall of an XP system the other day from original media, it was about 2006 vintage I think, and did install SP3 in full from a CD for convenience.
It really didn't take that long overall and it's now totally up to date. 
When Service Packs do come along they vary in size (assuming you do it online via Windows/Microsoft Update) according to what updates you already have.

[#2]

Must admit I don't understand all this stuff about Windows vs Linux.
For me the solution was simple, use a dual booting system so then you have the best of both worlds !
All work done on the internet is via Linux, no faffing about with anti virus stuff updating etc and if there are any programs I need to download for windows no problem and very rarely have I needed to leave the GUI.
When booting into windows 7 I make sure I am not connected to the internet, so ok I don't get up dates but do I need them ? I don't need a firewall or anti virus stuff as I am not connected to the internet, anything (very rarely) downloaded is always from a legitimate source and I have not had a single problem to date.
I Had far more problems when connected to the internet with windows 7 with a firewall and anti virus software in place so use them both and forget which is "best" as they both have their strengths and weaknesses   

[#3]

Quote from: Hairy

Well what would you rather have, a 150Mb "service pack" ever year or a few kb every week or so?

A single, 150MB service pack every year. I'd prefer to get it all done in one, fell swoop.

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As to Ubuntu well there are others out there. No longer #1  Guess who is

I haven't got a clue. Debian? Ha, it's the only other one I can think of right now.

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As to having to use a cmd prompt for some commands, well when I started on PC's (home computers) there wasn't any GUI's

Same for me with computers. It was that which enabled me to get out of some serious messes when I screwed up my first GUI computer  ... but I still know very little about computing and want the easier option of button clicking or box ticking.

[#4]

It's more like:
Microsoft - a 150MB service pack every year or so.
Linux - a new operating system twice a year. Less often if you stick with longer supported releases, more often if you wipe it off and re-install at the first problem, or to switch to a different distribution.

[#5]

Don't forget the new kernels which you'll then have to install via bash, compile a wrapper, bash something else, chmod another file etc.
Linux = Great system for stability and price, pita for the learning curve and complexity.
Windows = great learning curve and simplicity, pita for price and stability varies depending on which version you use.

[#6]

Quote from: Razer

A single, 150MB service pack every year. I'd prefer to get it all done in one, fell swoop.

well it doesn't work that way now I have been told, they issue lots of smaller (50Mb) files instead.

Quote from: ejs

It's more like: Microsoft - a 150MB service pack every year or so. Linux - a new operating system twice a year. Less often if you stick with longer supported releases, more often if you wipe it off and re-install at the first problem, or to switch to a different distribution.

I seem to remember having to re-install xp at least yearly to keep it running nicely - what's the difference, other than the fact with Linux you have the latest versions of everything when you install the latest version. And you have the choice of a different distro, rather than install the same one again - unlike M$. That and the problems with viruses/malware etc - don't miss having to scan my pc every week for malware and having it run like a sloth with the av enabled.

Quote from: Sprite

Don't forget the new kernels which you'll then have to install via bash, compile a wrapper, bash something else, chmod another file etc.

NEVER had to do that, new kernels get installed along with the rest of the updates, new video drivers get compiled and installed automatically, Mind you I have only been using Linux for 7 years. 

[#7]

Last time I used SuSE, it had YaST as a package / rpm installer. Absolutely useless that thing along with SuSE itself. Sure, it was quicker to boot up, it had some great options and features but didn't support basic things like wireless networking. There was a driver for ralink 2500 chipsets but as I mentioned above, you had to compile it (no instructions there), bash this, bash that, do a few other comlex things.. all of which assumed you knew how and where to find the software to do it.
Then going back to YaST.. two days spent downloading openoffice for SuSE 9 (i686) and do you think it would install? Do you think ANYTHING would install? No, not on your nelly would it. Absolutely nothing would work on it other than the preinstalled software and games. That was both desktop and server editions.
I'll admit I gave ubuntu a whirl a year or two back and was reasonably impressed, very good for visiting websites you weren't sure of as driveby attacks tend to be aimed at windows users so ubuntu was good for that but it still didn't appeal to me as much as windows.
I have a mate up north who has a BSC in computer science. He swore blind by linux for seven years... before eventually admitting that with MS's Windows, everything is a lot easier despite the pitfalls with security and reliability. He's now switched back to MS and is a hardcore fan once more - this guy was a hard core linux man through and through. That says something.

[#8]

Well I am the opposite, I supported M$ s/w on desktops and servers for 9 years (3rd line support), fixing issues, cleaning viruses and malware, now I hardly touch it.

[#9]

I found the recovery disk for a laptop running XP.
It's dated 2006.
The laptop has never been repaired, never been wiped and is still running on its original battery.
Start-up time is around 20 minutes.  
It's virtually unused.

[#10]

Quote from: vilefoxdemonofdoom

Start-up time is around 20 minutes.   It's virtually unused.

And yet the hard disk is failing, presumably. 

[#11]

I built a desktop PC for my dad in 2004, and it's still running the original XP installation. It still receives Windows Updates, it's still fast enough (no worse than Atom netbooks) and the only reliability issues have come from a failed power supply.
Meanwhile, my home server running Ubuntu 10.04, set up in early 2011, will stop receiving updates in 2 months. Upgrading to Ubuntu 12.04 is not an option, due to things such as ZoneMinder which have issues (and that seems to be abandoned). I cloned the 10.04 install into a VM and attempted an upgrade and even ignoring the ZoneMinder problems the system screwed itself up in the process of upgrading. The software repository approach seems great until you realise that even your web browser ends up being out of date, when they decide to pull the plug (after 3 years!).
Unfortunately for Linux, the alternative in lieu of a working repo, is screwing around in the terminal.

[#12]

Quote from: ReedRichards

Quote from: vilefoxdemonofdoom Start-up time is around 20 minutes.   It's virtually unused. And yet the hard disk is failing, presumably.

Could be lack of (or failing/part-failed) RAM?
Most older XP systems had inadequate RAM and if Windows Updates are applied this becomes a major issue.

[#13]

Quote from: CX

when they decide to pull the plug (after 3 years!).

You can still use an older distro, but the only updates will be security ones until they stop supporting it totally, usually about 6-8 years after first release for LTS ones.
Since you use one particular piece of s/w on it and it has stopped being supported (before the OS) perhaps you should look for a replacement for that s/w?

[#14]

Quote from: HPsauce

Quote from: ReedRichards Quote from: vilefoxdemonofdoom Start-up time is around 20 minutes.   It's virtually unused. And yet the hard disk is failing, presumably.  Could be lack of (or failing/part-failed) RAM? Most older XP systems had inadequate RAM and if Windows Updates are applied this becomes a major issue.

AFAIK The disk / RAM isn't failing.
Nothing is backed up - if it dies, then it dies. 
I've stopped bothering with Windows updates and virus updates.
I don't update any bloatware such as Adobe, Java, Flash as the old versions seem to work.
It's "only" got 512MB memory - which was reasonable when I bought it.
I didn't expect that bloatware was going to become a feature.

[#15]

Quote from: Hairy

Since you use one particular piece of s/w on it and it has stopped being supported (before the OS) perhaps you should look for a replacement for that s/w?

That's where it becomes a problem for me. ZoneMinder is excellent, and there is nothing else which comes close, bar the commercial offerings on Windows (e.g. iCatcher). Running a separate OS plus ZoneMinder as a virtual machine isn't an option either, since I need hardware access to the BT878 based capture card.
In all honesty, there probably isn't much which will need updates; mainly Firefox, but I could get away with handling that myself. My 10.04 installation now has a 3.2 kernel (for working Sandy Bridge support), and a few PPAs included, e.g. Samba 3.6 for SMB2 support, and one to get the disk utilities are up to date (e.g. for 4TB and 4k sector alignment fixes) but it's stuck with MySQL 5.1 and old versions of PHP and Apache since the PPAs which update those often include a lot more than is wanted, and multiple PPAs step on each others toes and you quickly end up with unresolvable dependencies. The last time I tried it I almost pulled my hair out putting it right.
I do want to update to 12.04, but there are so many little tweaks that have been done over the years that I'm putting it off until the last minute (although some of them may not be relevant since they're to fix quirks of the older packages).