Slashdot Mirror
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."
Get it while it's good. There's quite a few critical security updates.
Easy BitCoins
There's something called "Windows Embedded Piece Of Shit Ready 2009"?
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Windows POSReady 2009 is actually Windows XP though, just stripped down and a lot of stuff removed. The same system files exist in the same versions and thus they have the same exploits and can be patched with the same code.
POSReady 2009 is basically a different "distro" of Windows XP that Microsoft is supporting until 2009. By changing that one registry entry, you get Windows Update to realize you're running that special distro, and you get patches.
What's illegal about it? Is it illegal to use Microsoft's provided tools to edit my registry, browing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA, then creating a new key called PosReady, then creating a new dword in PosReady called "Installed" with a value of 00000001?
Digital:Convergence had much more claim to the cuecat scanner's security than this could ever command.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
In the loosest possible interpretation I can think of (and not one I agree with), you are committing fraud by misrepresenting something in order to get a good or a service.
But, if it's something as trivial as a registry key, which is available for users to update (and which sometimes MS themselves suggest) ... then I've got nothing.
I'm having a hard time believing it's perfectly legal to update one set of registry keys, while being illegal to update another. If they're so special and secret, they shouldn't be something you can update.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Point of Sale systems usually operate under more controlled conditions than end user machines. Would these updates keep your XP machine plausibly secure or highly vulnerable to threats not considered serious to point of sale systems? What about vulnerabilities in components not present in POSReady 2009 but used in XP?
Windows POSReady 2009 is actually Windows XP though, just stripped down and a lot of bug-ridden exploitable and memory hogging code removed. Almost the same system files exist in the same versions and thus they have many exploits in common and frequently can be patched with the same code.
There, fixed it for you.
I'm honestly a bit surprised that MS didn't bother to tie point-of-sale status to XP's license authentication mechanism, even in some relatively trivial way.
They were certainly willing to do that with some updates (anything where good old 'Windows Genuine Advantage' popped up) and, while the suitably motivated generally bypassed that without too much trouble, I imagine that that sort of wicked, wicked, circumvention made their legal position markedly less pleasant if MS wished to push the issue.
If it's just a registry key, no ties to the activation system at all, the situation starts to look a lot more like spoofing a browser UA to encourage the server to send you the version of the page it sends to some different browser.
I develop on Linux, and for when I need Windows I use XP in a virtual machine. Plenty good enough for only runnign an IDE. Today I had to touch Win7 for the first time because one of my apps wouldn't install. It felt like being raped by Fisher Price.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
What's illegal about it? Is it illegal to use Microsoft's provided tools to edit my registry
... to get a service you don't have a license for. How is that not illegal?
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.
EMail: 0110001101100010010000000110001101110010 0110000101111010011011100110000101110010 0010111001100011011011110110
Yes.
Because driver support for things like musical equipment and old SCSI devices often didn't get updated or supported after XP.
I have a fairly expensive SCSI scanner that can handle poster sized sheets but the only software I can find for it runs in XP. I have 3 Windows 7 boxes and one XP, and I'll keep running XP until I can get all my devices off it (MIDI controllers, instrument packages, old scanner, etc)
It's not my fault these old components have no driver upgrade path, so I'm stuck with one XP box probably until I upgrade about $5k worth of stuff that just works
It'll void your warranty and then you won't be able to get anymore security updates!!
Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
"This patch removes an exploit that caused some machines running Windows XP to apply updates for other operating systems. To learn more about the update, read this knowledge base article..."
I'm having a hard time believing it's perfectly legal to update one set of registry keys, while being illegal to update another. If they're so special and secret, they shouldn't be something you can update.
Since Microsoft offers paid updates for WinXP (at least for corporate customers),
it's not very hard to argue that the registry hack (at least for corporate customers) would qualify as theft of service.
For non-corporate users, Microsoft could argue "unauthorized access," but I can't see them taking the trouble to sue random home users.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
I'm actually surprised that there isn't something else checking versioning in the compiled stuff that can't be readily changed. That it's a registry entry blows my mind. That's so lazy on their part that I have zero sympathy for them if people extend support for their OSes this way.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
It felt like being raped by Fisher Price.
Comparisons to Fisher Price was one of the main initial complaints about XP.
And there-in lies the problem, "just stripped down and a lot of stuff removed" means that you almost certainly won't be getting patches for the stuff that has been removed, which is just as likely (if not more so) to be the parts that really need patching when the next 0-day comes along. Also, unless all the system files present truly are identical, then replacing random system files on a desktop XP system for a "stripped down" version might, and probably will, cause some functions to stop working. I can see two not necessarily mutually exclusive outcomes from this; people who deploy this are going to end up with a very false sense of security and a lot of systems are going to get hosed because of an update that isn't compatible with desktop XP.
In fact, I wouldn't put it past Microsoft to "accidentally" push out bad patches to deter this behaviour. I'm pretty sure they'd rather XP just cease to exist at this point given all the bad security press it's got them, and any opportunity to ram another nail into the coffin isn't exactly going to be unwelcome.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
You know, some of us have felt this way about the registry as long as it's been around.
It has always seemed like a cheap hack done by lazy people.
It's not secure or safe, it has always been subject to corruption and hacks, and looks like something which was grafted on by someone under time constraints that once it was in the wild they couldn't get away from.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
What is so illegal about changing 0 to 1 and 1 to 0?
My first program:
Hell Segmentation fault
But whose anus?
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
Windows Update wouldn't work until I downloaded SP2 and installed it. Then I was able to "enjoy" several hours of downloading and installing updates via Windows Update
What I wonder about is, when I accepted an update and rebooted there were several patches to the updates. Why doesn't MS build the patches into the update?
It's not about you. You fail to understand your place as a consumer. You spend money and they fuck you. I can't make it any simpler for you.
I installed Windows Server 2003 to VMWare Player just yesterday. The activation server won't work anymore, so I had to make the dreaded call. The Pakistani sounding guy named "Phillip" was helpful but it would have been easier with Internet activation. He was very curious as to WHY I wanted to install Windows Server 2003.
Windows Update wouldn't work until I downloaded SP2 and installed it. Then I was able to "enjoy" several hours of downloading and installing updates via Windows Update
What I wonder about is, when I accepted an update and rebooted there were several patches to the updates. Why doesn't MS build the patches into the update?
That is because the certificates were replaced. Remember back in 2011 about one of the root CA servers being compromised. It was only one of the keys used to sign and not the full master but still MS updated its certificates to be safe.
You can download an update (forgot which KB) for both XP & Server 2003. Even XP out of the box wont run updates either without the fix. There is a fixit too that will change them for you.
http://saveie6.com/
I wouldn't be surprised if it is illegal, considering how broken our 'justice' system is.
If editing some data on your own equipment is all it takes to get Microsoft to give you service, and that's illegal, then something is indeed wrong.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Yeah, unless you've got thousands of dollars of software that are locked to that PC configuration (hardware and software). Then you're looking at a major expense and hassle of upgrading everything just to do exactly what you were before.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
Or install Linux, since it's free and you can continue using your existing hardware. Then you can just virtualize and continue using your XP license in a nice, safe cocoon.
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
Smaller footprint means fewer files. What ever is cut out of POSReady won't have any issues fixed.
OK, let's figure out which parts those are, so we can not use them, and replace them with OSS alternatives. Some of us need XP for various applications for which there are no replacements.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why do slashdotters find these issues so hard to understand. The law is all about intent. If you intend to access services to which you are not entitled, the ease with which you do so is entirely irrelevant to the discussion of whether or not your actions are legal.
You can type in eighteen "plain text" keystrokes (whatever that means - aren't all keystrokes plain text? Anyway) and log into the Attorney General's gmail account. Well, if you knew the password you could. But the action is trivially simple. And that doesn't matter. And why would it? Would you want the law to be based on how difficult an action is to undertake? It's pretty easy to pull a trigger you know...