Norton ongoing protection for Windows XP after Microsoft ends support
Microsoft® has formally announced the end of support for Windows XP on April 8th, 2014. Norton protection will stop supporting Windows XP and Vista in early 2021. An exact end-of-support date will be communicated soon and your Norton protection will continue to function normally until then. For more information, read End-of-Support announcement for Norton protection on Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Your Norton client security software will no longer receive the new product updates that the customers on supported versions of Windows (Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7) will receive. However, your Norton client security software will continue to receive the latest malware definitions by LiveUpdate, vulnerability updates and compatibility fixes. Identity Safe browser extension is no longer supported on Windows XP. For more information, see Norton Maintenance Mode for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
However, be aware that in addition to running the most up-to-date security products, another important aspect of protecting your computer is to keep it current with the latest service pack and patches for the operating system.
As Microsoft announced, they will no longer publish patches for Windows XP. Computers using this operating system may become targets for cybercriminals, particularly if new vulnerabilities are discovered. Depending on the nature of the threats involved, Windows XP may be susceptible to viruses and risks to which more recent iterations of Windows are immune. Due to this, if you currently use Windows XP, we strongly recommend that you upgrade your computer to a supported operating system as soon as possible.
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Did Windows XP become less secure after Microsoft ended support on April 8th, 2014?
Microsoft itself has stated, "If you continue to use Windows XP after support ends, your computer will still work but it might become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses."1 The reason is that, Microsoft is no longer providing technical assistance for users of Windows XP. Microsoft stopped producing any operating system updates required to close any vulnerabilities that are found in Windows XP. Here is the Microsoft announcement about the end of support for Windows XP.
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Does NortonLifelock recommend updating to another operating system?
Yes. If you have a Windows XP computer, we strongly recommend that you upgrade to a more modern and supported operating system as soon as possible.
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Does NortonLifelock have recommendations if I continue to use Windows XP?
If you choose to continue using Windows XP, we recommend a combination of best practices:
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Ensure that your Windows XP system is patched with the latest updates from Microsoft.
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Migrate to applications that are supported with security updates and patches on Windows XP.
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Ensure that your security software is up-to-date and actively supported by your security vendor on Windows XP.
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If I am running the latest version of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, Norton 360TM, or Norton Security Suite, will I still receive product updates and virus definitions on Windows XP?
At the time of this F.A.Q, the latest major version of these products is version 22.x. At this time, we support these products with the product updates and the virus definitions for all supported versions of Microsoft Windows (including Windows XP SP3).
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If I am running an older version of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, Norton 360, Norton Security Suite, or Norton Security, will I still receive product updates and virus definitions on Windows XP?
Versions of Norton products older than 22.x will be supported based on the following guidelines:
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We will provide virus definition updates for 3 years after the release of each major product version.
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If you currently receive virus definition updates for an earlier version, you will continue to receive the definition sets that are compatible across all Windows platforms which your Norton product supports.
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If you require support for an earlier version, you may be required to update to the latest version of the product during the support process.
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Will NortonLifelock support Windows XP in its next major release of NortonLifelock-branded security products?
Our goal is to provide the best protection possible on the broadest set of operating systems that are used by our customers. Depending on security demands and development, future versions of NortonLifelock-branded security products may drop support for retired operating systems. As always, we will provide explicit system requirements in the documentation for every product update that we release.
Your Norton client security software will no longer receive the new product updates that the customers on supported versions of Windows (Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7) will receive. However, your Norton client security software will continue to receive the latest malware definitions by LiveUpdate, vulnerability updates and compatibility fixes.
1 Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14223/windows-xp-end-of-support