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Registry Hack Enables Continued Updates For Windows XP

DroidJason1 (3589319) writes "A registry workaround, which tricks Windows Update into thinking you are running Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, allows you to get free security updates until 2019. All you need is a simple 32bit or 64bit registry entry in order to make this work. POSReady 2009 is slated to receive security updates for another five years. Microsoft ended support for Windows XP on April 8th of 2014."

4 of 322 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah not quite... by craznar · · Score: 5, Informative

    As someone who works with POS Ready 2009 a lot (I write Point of Sale Software), the catch with this idea is that many (a great many) of the components in normal XP just don't exist in POSReady.

    SO you may, or may not get updates for some parts of your OS - because Microsoft will not be writing updates for the rest.

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    EMail: 0110001101100010010000000110001101110010 0110000101111010011011100110000101110010 0010111001100011011011110110
  2. Re:Excellent by Zocalo · · Score: 5, Informative

    Even the older Slashdotters have a blinkered view of culture it seems. The original reference is from George Orwell's "1984", only it was fingers and not lights.

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    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  3. Re:Are you kidding me? by future+assassin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes they are pretty expensive my current one ACE Retail was around $1400 for one computer. I looked at oithers and the prices were insane if you wanted anything not DOS looking like. I did go with ACE as this is what I was use to for the previous 4 years but its amazing how the same bugs have been in the system for the last 6 years and old bugs just pop up out of the blue even though they were suppose to be fixed.

    I now have found a Linux based POS http://linuxcanada.com/ that seems quite good and will be testing it out shortly

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    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  4. Re:Are you kidding me? by mysidia · · Score: 4, Informative

    That still counts as "on-the-internet" (unless you somehow have a dedicate line going from the POS to the server), so you're plenty vulnerable to spoofing and man-in-the-middle attacks.

    There's this thing called a VLAN.

    You can use a dedicated Layer 3 switch for your POS network. Setup a Private VLAN (PVLAN) to carry your POS network.
    Setup a private promiscuous VLAN for your switch to perform L3 routing on.
    Setup a private Isolated VLAN (PVLAN Isolated) for your POS terminals, and enable local Proxy-Arp on your isolated PVLANs.
    Place your server on a Server VLAN.

    Enable 802.1x wired port security for your POS ports.

    Configure routing between your POS Subnet and your POS server's dedicated Subnet. Set it up with Route-maps or ACLs such that; every POS can talk to the server, and the server can talk to any POS terminal, but no two POS can speak to each other, and no other IP address can speak to a POS or the server.

    No default route in the routing table of this Layer 3 switch.

    No internet connectivity necessary.