What if every security measure fails...

[nihil]

Those are the same people, of course, who, if they were to do a fresh installation of it, would be infected like a cheap hooker LONG before they finished installing Patches to stop that **** from happening in the first place.

Well, that's funny because over the years I must have done literally hundreds of XP installations and that has NEVER, NEVER, EVER, EVER happened to me........... nor to any other IT professional that I know.

Windows XP has a firewall that is perfectly adequate, or install a free alternative................ just make sure that it is activated before you go onto the internet , although it should be automatically activated from SP2 onwards.

You do not need a "stand alone" firewall to install Windows. Obviously there is no such thing as a "hardware firewall" as they all use software

Windows does prompt you to set up a password when you install it, as well as any other account you set up. It is up to you to understand what passwords are, and make up your own mind. If you really think about it, forcing a password is useless as the owner will just pick something easy (and useless) and a default password would be common skiddie knowledge within minutes.

IMO passwords are really only intended for physical access control at best and are not much good at that if someone gets unrestricted access.

EDIT:

As for prices of Windows, you just need to shop around. I bought Windows 7 Ultimate boxed retail 32 & 64 bit DVDs for £75................ no service pack. When Windows 8 comes out in the last quarter of 2012 the prices will really tumble.

Security comes through policies and their enforcement, which does not really apply in a private ownership situation.

The problem with XP is that it is 10 years old and does not have the security features of more modern versions.

As for updates and CDs. XP SP3 fits easily onto a CD, and for anything else you just do an unattended install from another CD or PC.

The point is that installation and updating are time consuming in comparison to imaging.