Percy, if you want to keep XP I would complete all of the XP updates then do a complete backup of your computer. I suggest using Acronis for that however there are other backup programs available.

Although MS is stopping support for XP they will be still offering their XP anti-virus program MS Essentials for another year. You should check if Avast will support XP after April.

I have read in CNET that over 30% of the computers in use still use XP with a large percentage of those being in industry. They reported that not only does industry not want to pay for a new OS but all of their current programs run on XP thus they may have to purchase all new programs, something they do not want to do. Thus I think XP will be around for a little while longer after April.

Having said that I believe your best option is to upgrade. If you have XP programs that you still want to run I suggest that you get Win 7 Pro as your OS. It has a XP emulation mode and in fact I have an old but still useful Win 95 Corel PhotoPaint program that I am using on Win 7. Every XP program that I have tried including MS Office 97 is running on Win 7, however I have not tried any games on it.

I feel your pain as although I have one Win 7 computer it is my offline music and photography computer. My wife, son and my Internet computers are all XP. I am planning on upgrading my wife and my systems if money is available after our April Florida vacation.

Good luck.

Whenever I get something stuck in the back of my throat, I dislodge it by drinking a beer.
It's called the Heineken Maneuver.

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware