are security updates necessary?

[morsio]

Hello eveyone,,
I own an ancient laptop that's been collecting dust on my shelf for the longest time now. Yesterday, I thought I'd throw a fresh copy of Windows XP on it and see if it's usable, and it was. It's a tad sluggish, though. Especially after tens of security updates have been installed. I know that Microsoft has ended it's support for Windows XP, and therefore maybe some of the security updates are rendered useless only taking up space and slowing things down. So the question is, can I remove the security updates, and depend on Malewarebyte and a robust antivirus?
Thank,,

 

[AppleGwava]

No,there are some very application/software specific virus that actively scanned for exploits not patched .the updates are a must if you are going online.Try linux maybe?

 

[Wolfshadw]

Agreed. Security updates are a must. Depending on your laptop, even though official support may not exist for newer operating systems, it may be possible to still install them. For instance, I've' been looking at recovering my Dell Inspiron 6400/E1505 (Windows XP/2GB MAX RAM). The motherboard died on it a couple years ago, but I've found some replacements. Other research seems to indicate success at:

1) Installing 2x2GB RAM modules even though specs state 2x1GB is the max.
2) Installing either Windows 7 or Windows 10 even though official support for that laptop ended with Vista.

Even if the above isn't possible, then at least I can still install Linux. I'd recommend you look into other possible upgrades as well.

-Wolf sends