Hack may enable Windows XP updates

If you're among the legion of users running Windows XP on one or more PCs (Netmarketshare reports that 30 percent of computers still run XP), you are surely aware that Microsoft no longer supports your operating system. As of April 8, official support for Windows XP ended, and that means there are no longer any software patches to close vulnerabilities.

But late last week, a hack unexpectedly emerged that allows Windows XP computers to continue getting updates. It's a simple tweak to the operating system, easy for any user to perform, that tricks the Microsoft Windows Update service into thinking that Windows XP is actually something called "Windows Embedded POSReady." That's a version of Windows XP that is installed in retail point-of-sale devices, and Microsoft plans to continue supporting it until 2019.

Therein lies the problem: While most updates should apply equally well to the embedded and desktop versions of Windows XP, there's no assurance of that, and in fact Microsoft doesn't test updates in this way. Indeed, the company is officially advising users not to use the hack and urging them to update their computers to one of its newer operating systems.

"We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers," Microsoft said in a news release. "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 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."

The bottom line is that Microsoft wants its customers to upgrade to a new platform rather than take their chances with Windows XP. That's understandable, but applying the hack is easy, if you want to give it a try. Interested? Just open Notepad and paste the following three lines of text into a blank document:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\PosReady]

"Installed"=dword:00000001

Next, save the file (the filename is unimportant) and change the file extension from TXT to REG. Finally, run the file by double clicking on it. Afterwards, you should find new updates available in Windows Update.

Another caveat: This hack only works on 32-bit versions on Windows XP. But if you have 32-bit Windows XP and you are willing to deal with the risks outlined by Microsoft's statement, this is a way to eke out a little more protection from online threats while running an unsupported operating system.