Busted ATM shows Windows 7 login page on screen — asks for username and password instead of PIN to dispense cash
If this operating system is old enough to drive, it's certainly old enough to dispense your money.
An ATM in England has replaced its Welcome screen with the Windows 7 Professional login screen, asking for a username and password instead of your PIN. According to The Register, this particular machine is located in Manchester, which is known for its bars and music scene, and often required cash transactions back in the day. However, anyone who tries to get their Pounds from this particular machine will be in for a surprise, as the display seemingly wants you to log into your Windows account before you can enter the four- or six-digit code you need to get money from your debit card.
Windows 7 is arguably one of the best versions of the ubiquitous operating system, cleaning up the mess left by Windows Vista, and second only to Windows XP. However, this OS is 17 years old right now, meaning it should be old enough to drive. It was launched in 2009 to the general public but was succeeded by Windows 8 in 2012. Still, it soldiered on for a few more years, losing mainstream support in 2015, before Microsoft finally dropped extended support in 2020.
But even though it’s been six years since Windows 7 was out of circulation, that does not mean that it’s already completely erased from commercial and industrial applications. Some businesses follow the ethos of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” which apparently stands true for these cash dispensing machines. Using an old operating system that no longer receives updates might feel dangerous, especially for an ATM. However, the bank likely didn’t bother replacing the system because it’s probably not connected to the public internet.
The Windows login screen isn’t supposed to reveal itself on an operating ATM, but this likely happened because of an update (likely not from Microsoft, but from a third-party provider) or a software crash that forced the machine to reboot without the bank’s IT services noticing it. The bank’s administrator needs to log in to Windows first, either remotely or through the terminal at the bank's ATM, before customers can start withdrawing money from it. Unfortunately, that means you won’t be getting cash from that particular machine, even if you’re desperate and have tried logging in with your username and password.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
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froggx How is this news?Reply
it's common knowledge in industry that old operating systems often end up running on these kinds of devices well past EOL. this kind of embedded hardware often cannot run a newer OS due to relatively low processing power, and even when the hardware can manage it the newer OS breaks the software needed for the device to do its job. this kind of legacy equipment is seriously EVERYWHERE. i seriously can't help but think the purpose of this article is to straight up troll on the readers that still show up to tom's and expect to find out about new tech developments rather than be presented with this kind of well-known information like it's something hot. -
EzzyB Reply
It's not unusual at all. The last time I saw an article like this it was ATMs running Windows XP. Not sure why, if using MS in the first place, it's not something like Windows CE. My only thought is that perhaps CE doesn't have the networking bits required for something like this.froggx said:How is this news?
it's common knowledge in industry that old operating systems often end up running on these kinds of devices well past EOL. this kind of embedded hardware often cannot run a newer OS due to relatively low processing power, and even when the hardware can manage it the newer OS breaks the software needed for the device to do its job. this kind of legacy equipment is seriously EVERYWHERE. i seriously can't help but think the purpose of this article is to straight up troll on the readers that still show up to tom's and expect to find out about new tech developments rather than be presented with this kind of well-known information like it's something hot. -
froggx ReplyEzzyB said:It's not unusual at all. The last time I saw an article like this it was ATMs running Windows XP. Not sure why, if using MS in the first place, it's not something like Windows CE. My only thought is that perhaps CE doesn't have the networking bits required for something like this.
i used to do kind of hardware repair/tech support stuff while i was still in school... in 2010 i got hired to revive a POS/credit processing machine at a relatively large restaurant franchise and was caught off guard when i got it booting again and the "Windows 95" splash screen popped up. they ran it another 3 years before being forced to upgrade to new machines... which arrived running Vista... -
EzzyB Reply
I worked for the Corps of Engineers right around the turn of the century. Went down to shipping on a trouble ticket. They had a Pitney Bowes machine there that printed shipping labels that was causing problems.froggx said:i used to do kind of hardware repair/tech support stuff while i was still in school... in 2010 i got hired to revive a POS/credit processing machine at a relatively large restaurant franchise and was caught off guard when i got it booting again and the "Windows 95" splash screen popped up. they ran it another 3 years before being forced to upgrade to new machines... which arrived running Vista...
It had no software. Really, none. The entire thing ran on an elaborate autoexec.bat. I'm like, well, of course it won't work, IT HAS NO SOFTWARE! Until, of course, someone pointed the above out to me.... -
mrdoc22 Here in Denmark our ATM's has allways and may stil running OS/2 (IBM still support it)Reply
(There haven't been a single breakdown with the ATM's, that can't you say about "DSB train infodisplays",
which have shown a Windows bluescreen manytimes i meantime) -
SethNW Reply
Better than MS-DOS or Windows 3.1 some use. :-DGenericUsername109 said:Just wait until you see a crashed cashier machine with Windows XP. 😄
Though to be fair, maybe they finally decided to upgrade last couple of years, I didn't check lately. Also haven't had any self checkouts crashing. -
M R Reply
I don't think anybody would seriously claim this was news, or that it was ever portrayed as such. Just an amusing-enough offbeat story.froggx said:How is this news?
it's common knowledge in industry that old operating systems often end up running on these kinds of devices well past EOL. this kind of embedded hardware often cannot run a newer OS due to relatively low processing power, and even when the hardware can manage it the newer OS breaks the software needed for the device to do its job. this kind of legacy equipment is seriously EVERYWHERE. i seriously can't help but think the purpose of this article is to straight up troll on the readers that still show up to tom's and expect to find out about new tech developments rather than be presented with this kind of well-known information like it's something hot.
alternative reply: The fact that you posted this question *is the answer*: they got your click, they got your engagement.