Windows XP Registry Mod enables security updates

[Homer J Simpson]

This might be old news for but I had not seen this before.

I have one XP machine that I like to keep running, (software and hardware compatibility).

This mod makes XP think it is Windows Embedded and will use Microsoft Update. Microsoft says it will do security updates until 2019 for Embedded.

I tried it and so far so good, many new security updates downloaded and installed.

Microsoft says use at your own risk of course.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

[Mechanical Menace]

TBH I'd rather know my system was insecure than be lulled into a false sense of security, POS systems have very different requirements to desktop machines.

[Homer J Simpson]

No way did I intend to imply this makes XP safe and secure.

Just one more thing that helps in addition to antivirus and better browser like Firefox.

Every month the updates keep coming for Win 7.

Security is a moving target.

[Mechanical Menace]

No way did I intend to imply this makes XP safe and secure.

I wasn't saying you were, but some will. And tbh I'd expect some of these update to screw something up at some point, maybe even introduce new vulnerabilities they won't in the intended target due to them being aimed at a different (if closely related) product with different goals.

Every month the updates keep coming for Win 7.

Security is a moving target.

Sometimes every day on my preferred OS...

[Zero999]

No, I didn't know that. I have an old XP machine and will give it ago. I'm aware of the security implications but it's nice to have an old machine for old software.

[edavid]

This might be old news for but I had not seen this before.

It would have been nice if you had searched before posting:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/get-5-more-years-of-xp-patches/msg453198/#msg453198

TBH I'd rather know my system was insecure than be lulled into a false sense of security, POS systems have very different requirements to desktop machines.

If POS systems have such different requirements, why did Microsoft sell exactly the same OS as Windows XP and POSready?

No way did I intend to imply this makes XP safe and secure.

Every month the updates keep coming for Win 7.

Microsoft issues all the same patches for POSready/Win XP as for Win 7, so why would you think patched Win XP is any less safe and secure than patched Win 7?

P.S. Since the KB3013455 fiasco, I've been less excited about applying these patches.

[Homer J Simpson]

My bad on the search.

I did a quickie for xp hack or something I did not see anything.

Thanks for linking the other post.

[Zero999]

Any updates on this? It's about 18 months since this came out.

I've tried it on my old laptop and it still works fine. No viruses and no bugs.

[Halcyon]

I would recommend you don't apply this registry "hack". While Windows XP POSready edition did have a longer support cycle compared to Windows XP, there are some updates that were released specifically for POSready and aren't designed for machines running regular Windows XP. Installing those updates can cause things to break.

[edavid]

I would recommend you don't apply this registry "hack". While Windows XP POSready edition did have a longer support cycle compared to Windows XP, there are some updates that were released specifically for POSready and aren't designed for machines running regular Windows XP. Installing those updates can cause things to break.

Can you name one POSready update that broke Windows XP?  (Other than KB3013455, which was just a mistake, and was later fixed.)

[Ampera]

I would recommend you don't apply this registry "hack". While Windows XP POSready edition did have a longer support cycle compared to Windows XP, there are some updates that were released specifically for POSready and aren't designed for machines running regular Windows XP. Installing those updates can cause things to break.

Can you name one POSready update that broke Windows XP?  (Other than KB3013455, which was just a mistake, and was later fixed.)

Agreed, cite sources.

[Halcyon]

I would recommend you don't apply this registry "hack". While Windows XP POSready edition did have a longer support cycle compared to Windows XP, there are some updates that were released specifically for POSready and aren't designed for machines running regular Windows XP. Installing those updates can cause things to break.

Can you name one POSready update that broke Windows XP?  (Other than KB3013455, which was just a mistake, and was later fixed.)

I don't recall now. I do remember that I did have issues. It could have been the KB3013455 update which broke things and the specific combination of software which was installed at the time.

[David Hess]

I wasn't saying you were, but some will. And tbh I'd expect some of these update to screw something up at some point, maybe even introduce new vulnerabilities they won't in the intended target due to them being aimed at a different (if closely related) product with different goals.

Would they be worse than updating to Win 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 which can also break things?

I think the best way to handle it is to maintain a completely separate XP system for legacy application.

[Ampera]

I wasn't saying you were, but some will. And tbh I'd expect some of these update to screw something up at some point, maybe even introduce new vulnerabilities they won't in the intended target due to them being aimed at a different (if closely related) product with different goals.

Would they be worse than updating to Win 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 which can also break things?

I think the best way to handle it is to maintain a completely separate XP system for legacy application.

I'm just upset this didn't happen to Win2K

[digsys]

I've been apply those patches to XP for YEARS. Seem to work just fine ! :-) on 20-40 machines

[David Hess]

Would they be worse than updating to Win 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 which can also break things?

I think the best way to handle it is to maintain a completely separate XP system for legacy application.

I'm just upset this didn't happen to Win2K

I wish they had kept the Windows 2000 interface.  Even XP was a step backwards and things have only gotten worse since then.

Let me know when they restore full functionality to Windows Explorer.  I want to see the directory sizes again.

[3roomlab]

This might be old news for but I had not seen this before.

I have one XP machine that I like to keep running, (software and hardware compatibility).

This mod makes XP think it is Windows Embedded and will use Microsoft Update. Microsoft says it will do security updates until 2019 for Embedded.

I tried it and so far so good, many new security updates downloaded and installed.

Microsoft says use at your own risk of course.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

im interested to know what does the new updates do?

[rs20]

im interested to know what does the new updates do?

JFGI: go to this link, and do a search on that page for "Windows XP Embedded".

Highlights:

This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The more severe of the vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to an affected system and runs a specially crafted application that could exploit the vulnerabilities and take control of an affected system.

To learn more about the vulnerability, see Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-120 and Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-123.
---
This security update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if the Microsoft video control fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. However, an attacker must first convince a user to open a specially crafted file or a program from either a webpage or an email message.
---
This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker can access sensitive registry information.

To learn more about the vulnerability, see Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-124.

[Zero999]

I would recommend you don't apply this registry "hack". While Windows XP POSready edition did have a longer support cycle compared to Windows XP, there are some updates that were released specifically for POSready and aren't designed for machines running regular Windows XP. Installing those updates can cause things to break.

Can you name one POSready update that broke Windows XP?  (Other than KB3013455, which was just a mistake, and was later fixed.)

Agreed, cite sources.

I agree. This is the standard FUD spouted by Microsoft to put people off doing things that would enable them to put off upgrading.

In reality, all versions of Windows XP (for the same CPU architecture of course) use exactly the same kernel. The only difference will be the user interface. And if something does go wrong when applying an update (this happened, even with those updates designed for desktop XP) then it's normally fairly easy to sort out.

In any case, I now use Linux as my main operating system. I only use XP on my old laptop.