If you are one of the many Windows XP users who have been rather underwhelmed by Vista, you may now be thinking of what you should do next. Microsoft appears to be rapidly preparing Vista’s successor, , for a January 2010 release. Can you keep your XP healthy and going strong till then? Yes you can, with just a little effort and planning.

XP has evolved into a good, stable operating system, perhaps the best yet for the home user. Microsoft will continue technical and security support for until April, 2014, when Windows XP will be an incredible 13 years old. So you are OK on that front. To keep your computer in tiptop shape, follow these steps on a regular schedule:

1. As always, update your antivirus program every day before you start surfing the Net. Update and run your antispyware programs at least once a week. Go to the Windows or Microsoft Update site once or twice a month and check for updates. Keep all your other software and applications up to date as well. Avoid Beta (or test) versions of everything.

2. Think twice, or more, before installing new hardware or software. Make very sure it is compatible with XP. What about your drivers? If your hardware and computer are playing nicely together, you probably do not need a driver update. If you do update a driver, note the button “Roll Back Driver” (or similar). If something goes wrong, click this button to go back to your old driver. Make a Restore Point before you begin.

3. You may eventually need to install more RAM. XP needs 500MB to run well; 1GB is better. You may need even more if you do a lot of photo or video editing. If you do the upgrade yourself, make sure you are using the correct components and that they are XP-compatible.

4. Do not let your hard disk become more than about 80% full, or you may have problems defragmenting it. Get rid of old, useless files, or get one of those new, humongous drives. They are not expensive these days. Or get an external hard drive or thumb drive for files you do not use very often. You can also use an online storage service, of which many are fr e e.

As part of your regular schedule, run Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools. Before defragging, click “Analyze” and Windows will tell you if you really need to defrag.

5. Many programs that you install will autostart with Windows, without even bothering to ask your permission. As evidence of this misbehavior, you will gradually see more and more icons on the bottom right corner of your screen. Each icon represents a program that fires up when Windows starts, slowing down your computer and hogging resources. To control this situation, read my recent article here:
http://mypcsecurityblog.com/featured/when-starting-up-slows-you-down

Make yourself a maintenance schedule from the above information, and stick it up on the wall beside your computer. It will only take a few minutes a day to keep XP happy and healthy for years to come!

Syd Tash is a longtime computer security consultant and author, and founder of The SaferSurfing Project. Keep yourself safe online. Become a SaferSurfer now, and do your part for a better, more secure Internet. Find out how you do it right here: http://SaferSurfingProject.com

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