Microsoft Says Don't Use Windows XP Registry Hack

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Microsoft warns against using a workaround to receive Windows XP updates.

On Tuesday, Microsoft warned Windows XP customers not to use a registry fix discovered on Monday, reporting that the best defense is to upgrade to Windows 7 or newer, not enable security fixes on an outdated operating system.

"We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers," Microsoft tells Tom's Hardware. "The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers."

"Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP," the company adds. "The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1."

On Monday, BetaNews posted instructions on how to receive security updates for Windows XP Service Pack 3 for the next five years. According to the site, the workaround makes the aging platform look like Windows Embedded Industry, which will receive updates until April 2019. These updates would have also been applied to Windows XP as well had Microsoft not cut the lifeline. Applying these updates without the hack would cause a version mismatch error.

The registry hack is actually rather simple. Create a text document and name it as "XP.reg," copy and paste three lines of code inside the file, save it, and then double-click on it to modify the registry. After that, Windows XP should automatically retrieve updates that are designed for Windows Embedded Industry. How long this will last is unknown at this point.

Microsoft ended support for Windows XP back in April. Since then, the company has released one additional patch beyond that date. Now Microsoft only provides Windows XP updates to companies that made arrangements with Microsoft prior to the platform's official retirement.

BetaNews reports that this workaround only works on the 32-bit version of Windows XP Service Pack 3. A version for the 64-bit version can be accessed here.

Kevin Parrish
22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • StarBound
    Seriously why does MS still care? They said its over or did they 180 more than just the xbone?
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    13383186 said:
    Seriously why does MS still care? They said its over or did they 180 more than just the xbone?

    They are trying to stop people from doing something that could cause major issues to their system. I like that they are willing to warn people even though XPs support is now dead.
    Reply
  • danwat1234
    Wow this is awesome! Time to spread the word.

    I'd guess windows update would search and allow you to easily install updates (instead of having to download manually) and I'm curious if all the updates ever done for embedded XP will try to install, which may be largely duplicates of regular XP updates.


    My advice is to try it on a crap machine to see if the updates have any harmful affects before installing on your beloved computer.
    Reply
  • Shin-san
    Seriously why does MS still care? They said its over or did they 180 more than just the xbone?
    It's old software, and the Windows codebase is huge. They probably want to work on their newer products
    Reply
  • cryptz
    ... and development on a XP bricking update begins. If you can justify keeping xp at this point not needing updates should be part of your justification process and this shouldnt really concern you.
    Reply
  • knowom
    Microsoft says don't try these updates go buy "our" newer OS. Microsoft says 7 is outdated go buy our newer OS Windows 8. Windows 9 is released Microsoft says Windows 8 is outdated and less secure go buy Windows 9.

    Windows XP users say if and when we move away from XP we'll be moving on to Linux because it's clear where you drew the line in the sand and clear how you left unfixed known security risk back doors.
    Reply
  • ahnilated
    13383186 said:
    Seriously why does MS still care? They said its over or did they 180 more than just the xbone?

    They are trying to stop people from doing something that could cause major issues to their system. I like that they are willing to warn people even though XPs support is now dead.
    You mean they are trying to keep their money train rolling down the tracks to their bank.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    Microsoft says don't try these updates go buy "our" newer OS. Microsoft says 7 is outdated go buy our newer OS Windows 8. Windows 9 is released Microsoft says Windows 8 is outdated and less secure go buy Windows 9.

    Windows XP users say if and when we move away from XP we'll be moving on to Linux because it's clear where you drew the line in the sand and clear how you left unfixed known security risk back doors.
    People have been threatening to go Linux after the next version of Windows for nearly 20 years. If it was going happen they would have done it by now, not still be floundering at less than 1% on the desktop.
    Reply
  • NightLight
    good, and i hope all internet explorer versions below 7-8 get dropped too. Nightmare to code for all of those.
    Reply
  • JD88
    "The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Linux or Chrome."

    Fixed.
    Reply