... until that final whack!
Four nifty tools to tide you over till you decide the upgrade to path to take and give Windows® XP that final whack!
When using an anti virus it might complain and prevent installation. If so turn it off, install the software, and then turn it back on when done.
Sandboxie
Sandboxie works on the Sandbox theory: a child playing in a sandbox with a high(ish) wall has difficulty escaping. Sandboxie places the browser in a protective wrapper to prevent any malicious script installing to your hard drive. Closing the browser purges any shenanigans that might have been ongoing while browsing. The free version, which works just fine, has a pop-up to up-sell to the Pro version costing only 15 Euros.
"Almost all user attacks are through web browsers, Java, and PDF documents;
Use Sandboxie Pro to help protect your Windows XP computer -- run your Internet applications in separate sandboxes to prevent security attacks (http://www.sandboxie.com/)".
SuRun
Using XP with elevated rights is what makes installing malicious scripts an easy task for attackers. While there is a tool 'Limit User Administration' (LUA) few users configure it because of the hassles it can cause running certain applications with reduced rights - they don't run! SuRun brings to Windows something similar to SUDO (Super User Do) in Linux, which Linux users use to easily switch between 'user' and 'admin' without the bothersome log out -- login regime to run an application that won't play ball with reduced rights. The creator's website (http://kay-bruns.de/wp/software/surun/) is in German but a tutorial in English is available at Dedoimedo (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/surun.html).
"SuRun eases using Windows 2000 to Windows Vista with limited user rights. With SuRun you can start applications with elevated rights without needing administrator credentials (http://sourceforge.net/projects/surun/)".
EMET
The last of the three comes courtesy of Microsoft and is the most overlooked freely available tool for XP. An XP certified Windows OS engineers security toolbox makes good use the Enhanced Migration Experience Toolbox (EMET) and there is no reason why ordinary users shouldn't too. EMET compliments Windows firewall and resource-light anti-virus programs e.g. Avira or MSE (http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus or http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/microsoft-security-essentials.aspx).
"The Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) is a utility that helps prevent vulnerabilities in software from being successfully exploited. EMET achieves this goal by using security mitigation technologies. These technologies function as special protections and obstacles that an exploit author must defeat to exploit software vulnerabilities. These security mitigation technologies do not guarantee that vulnerabilities cannot be exploited. However, they work to make exploitation as difficult as possible to perform ((http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2458544)".
LIBRE OFFICE
Replace Office 2003 with Libre Office.
LibreOffice is a powerful office suite; Its clean interface and its powerful tools let you unleash your creativity and grow your productivity. LibreOffice embeds several applications that make it the most powerful Free & Open Source Office suite on the market (https://www.libreoffice.org/)".
OR
The need to learn how to 'drive' a computer again will be required, which ever OS you choose to upgrade to. With that said, my suggestion is to test drive PCLinuxOS live CD. Downloaded the ISO file,burned to CD/DVD as a bootable file (check with your burner software documentation), then place it in the CD/DVD tray and reboot the computer. Check the manual to force "boot from CD"(often F2, F10, F12). Visit the PCLinuxOS vibrant and friendly user community at (http://www.pclinuxos.com/), or search for others at Distrowatch (http://distrowatch.com/).