[Leaning Right]

I also know my relative has a security issue with her XP machine. But she has Avast and Malwarebytes on it, and so far so good with that.

[rarestia]

If you’re running on XP, you might have a problem finding a modern browser. Have you tried to upgrade IE to 10 or 11?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Headed into 6 years with iMac desktop.
Updated to Yosemite a few weeks ago (free.)

No problems.

[Yo-Yo]

With apologies to all of the Firefox fans, I’d recommend Google Chrome.

I hate Google, but Chrome works with most sites, and it is updatable. I had the same issue with Vista at home, and many sites required IE10 or higher to function properly.

They all worked on Chrome.

[Citizen Zed]

I like the Opera browser on XP. It does not come with the bloat that Chrome has. And Opera keeps itself updated easily.

http://www.opera.com/download

[BBB333]

XP machines can have their Internet Explorer updated to IE 10...

You will need to know if you have a 32 bit OS or a 64 bit OS (32 bit likely...)

Good luck!

[yuleeyahoo]

Slimbrowser functions like IE and works perfectly fine on XP.

http://www.slimbrowser.net/en/

[trebb]

The browser probably ain't the problem so much as what malware, etc., might be on it.

I use Chrome (moved from Firefox as it became more flaky and kept slowing down as a "normal" event). I have added AD BLOCK Plus TO Chrome and also have Avira Browser Safety installed. I use Windows Defender and occasionally use a free version of malwarebytes and their rootkit version and haven't had any issues in over a year since I went that route.

[Montana_Sam]

1. PaleMoon. A derivative of Firefox.
2. Chrome can be OK.
3. Opera, possibly.

Or switch from XP to Kubuntu (Linux). That probably wouldn't work because it requires some re-learning as to how to do the same old thing on a new system. But Kubuntu is simple to maintain, works reasonably well on older hardware, and has few security issues. I highly recommend Kubuntu to all who would prefer not to deal with the idiocies of Windows 8/8.1 and the upcoming Windows 10. The scale/scope/quality of software available for free is astonishing.

[minnesota_bound]

Get Firefox and then install some add on’s like Flashblock and Adblock to get rid of all the blinking ads and the Classic Theme Restorer so it looks like the older browser with buttons with names on then them instead of the sleek hide everything Chrome and IE look. Also get Image zoom and NoSquint (for text).

[Phillyred]

Chrome is pretty intuitive. I wouldn’t recommend installing any Flash blockers (as some have suggested) if she plays any online games, e.g., on Facebook.

[chopperman]

PaleMoon and Windows7. No troubles.

[jdsteel]

My 80+ year old father in law had an old PC running XP with similar problems. I upgraded to Win 8 and...voila, no more problems. It took him a little while to get used to it, but I set it up to make the sites he goes to frequently easy to get to. IMHO that is the way to go. The PC has new life & speed, too.

[qam1]

Avoid Opera.

I installed it for an older relative and myself awhile ago but removed it

For some reason a few versions back they took away the drop down menu bar, which means every time you want to go to a commonly / recently visited website you have to type in it

For instance if you visit FreeRepublic several times a day, there is no history and every single time you have to type in “www.freerepublic.com” which gets annoying real fast

There was supposedly a way to put it back, but it involved a complicated 10 steps of instructions involving the configuration file and even then it didn’t come back to me

Why Opera stupidly removed this common browser feature is beyond me

[RayChuang88]

You have to find out what is the latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox you can use. I believe XP can run Chrome 41.0.2272.118, the latest stable release; it may be able to run Firefox 37.0, too.

[smoky415]

Possibly some useful info here.........altho I have no personal opinion.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/browser-secure-old-windows-xp-system/

[The Great RJ]

I agree with the comments about the hardware needing an upgrade. I would first try a good clean out removing unwanted programs, running malware bytes and a thorough virus scan followed by Ccleaner to clean the registry and remove junk files. Then I would defrag the hard drive.

I have been a fan of Firefox, but Opera might be a good option. Another big help would be adding some more RAM... with a machine of this vintage you might have to look for used RAM online or at used computer stores. I would avoid upgrading to Windows 8 .. too confusing. However you might still be able to get Windows 7. I did an upgrade of my old XP desktop with a new motherboard, processor and more RAM moving to Windows 7 and have been very happy.

[capt. norm]

"But she has Avast and Malwarebytes on it, and so far so good with that."

I have that same combo on my pc's and have not had a problem in a long time. You can run one right behind the other and the second one will often detect stuff that the other misses.