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Windows XP Updates?

tempest

tempest

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
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SE Michigan
Does anyone know if online Windows XP updated still work? My system downloaded a few automatically when I put XP SP3 on it, but if I go to check if there are any more I get error 0x80244019. Is there a fix for that or has Microsoft disabled XP updates?
 
There have been several threads about updates and activation on Winworld. In general, the consensus seems to be that SP3 plus IE 8 should let it grab any post SP3 updates and activate, but given that these all reside on Microsoft's servers, things can change day to day. I haven't tried that myself, so I don't know if there are any additional steps or if anything has changed recently.

There are some home made rollups, but it is a matter who do you trust? Some home made thing or decaying Microsoft servers?
 
Have you looked at WSUS offline? It's meant for server admins that look after Windows Server Update Services - downloading windows updates en mass, to a central server and deploying them across your network according to policies you set up. WSUS Offline does something similar but lives on a USB stick or can be copied to a network share. You let it download your required updates wherever you have broadband access and allows you to deploy on a device or network where bandwidth is limited etc.

The latest versions have dropped XP but the previous versions are all archived here:

https://download.wsusoffline.net/

If the original MS update servers still exist, then you should be able to download all existing XP updates to a USB stick or hard drive. The WSUS offline files are quite configureable, so if the MS update servers have altered, that could be taken into account. I used to use it as a server admin, or just as a quick way to update one laptop without having to wait for hours for MS update servers to scan/download/install etc.
 
Windows XP updates have the chicken and egg problem. Microsoft has over time changed the security on their update servers, which required more and more updates on Windows XP to be able to communicate with without having some error, usually security related.

By the time you have all of the required updates for WU to work, you're already going to have an almost fully updated Windows XP install.
 
Well it did do 130 updates, so hopefully that's all of them. It's not like it's going onto the web other than possibly to download a game update.
 
I do know that XP SP3 includes all pre-2007 updates already. If Service Pack 3 was already installed when the 130 updates were downloaded, you should be good to go.
 
Take it from a XP gamer - you don't need to worry with updates, especially if you're just gaming and occasionally have a need to go online for this and that. If you have SP3 and the pseudo SP4, you're good to go. BTW, I use an older Mozilla when I do go line, and I don't get bogged down with any virus protection as I do regular backups. Hush! Can you hear the boos out there in cyberland? AAMOF, I actually have MS's Edge as it installed by itself. Rant: MS doesn't want to support your XP up front, but they never miss a chance to slip you a piece of software when it's to their advantage. Actually it works pretty good. The below link isn't geared for your particular mobo but there is a ton of good XP info there:

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?50255-ASUS-A7N8X-E-Deluxe
 
Windows XP is mostly fine on the internet if you have a good hardware firewall in front of it, but if it's directly exposed to the internet in any fashion, it will be owned in literally minutes.

I had a customer with an old Bosch DVR that was Windows XP based. He got angry letters and phone calls from his ISP telling him he had a zombie on his network, which was the DVR. Despite my warnings, he had the thing DMZ'd on his router and didn't actually have a monitor hooked up to it, so he couldn't see that someone was remotely controlling it. They had left the DVR software running so he didn't suspect anything and were just casually using it as a zombie to DDoS random targets.

I cleaned the thing up, and as a test, I put it back on the net DMZ'd and it was literally minutes before you saw someone else exploit the box and take full control of it. I made sure the customer saw the whole thing because he couldn't believe it.
 
GiGaBiTe said:
Windows XP is mostly fine on the internet if you have a good hardware firewall in front of it, but if it's directly exposed to the internet in any fashion, it will be owned in literally minutes.
Click to expand...

Well my router has a Firewall on it so hopefully that will be enough.
 
GiGaBiTe said:
Windows XP is mostly fine on the internet if you have a good hardware firewall in front of it, but if it's directly exposed to the internet in any fashion, it will be owned in literally minutes.

I had a customer with an old Bosch DVR that was Windows XP based. He got angry letters and phone calls from his ISP telling him he had a zombie on his network, which was the DVR. Despite my warnings, he had the thing DMZ'd on his router and didn't actually have a monitor hooked up to it, so he couldn't see that someone was remotely controlling it. They had left the DVR software running so he didn't suspect anything and were just casually using it as a zombie to DDoS random targets.

I cleaned the thing up, and as a test, I put it back on the net DMZ'd and it was literally minutes before you saw someone else exploit the box and take full control of it. I made sure the customer saw the whole thing because he couldn't believe it.
Click to expand...
Out of interest, was this DVR running the RTM or SP1 build of XP? Even 15 years ago I frequently saw these systems more or less automatically compromised unless some decent security software was installed. But since SP2 I've never seen an XP system compromised just by dint of being connected to the internet, the user would have to do something stupid with it.

I still run an XP laptop. It's on SP3 with the unoffical SP4 applied but the only firewall is the built in one. Only antivirus is MS Security Essentials which hasn't seen a definitions update in about 2 years and I'm stuck on Chrome from 2016. I probably wouldn't trust it with my bank details now (although TBH I was until only a couple of years ago) and wouldn't dream of accessing anything other than trusted sites on an old unpatched OS but it's still working fine for me.
 
cwathen said:
Out of interest, was this DVR running the RTM or SP1 build of XP? Even 15 years ago I frequently saw these systems more or less automatically compromised unless some decent security software was installed. But since SP2 I've never seen an XP system compromised just by dint of being connected to the internet, the user would have to do something stupid with it.

I still run an XP laptop. It's on SP3 with the unoffical SP4 applied but the only firewall is the built in one. Only antivirus is MS Security Essentials which hasn't seen a definitions update in about 2 years and I'm stuck on Chrome from 2016. I probably wouldn't trust it with my bank details now (although TBH I was until only a couple of years ago) and wouldn't dream of accessing anything other than trusted sites on an old unpatched OS but it's still working fine for me.
Click to expand...

I do think that Windows XP has a bit of an unfair rap when it comes to security vulnerabilities. The RTM and SP1 builds ARE vulnerable like you said, but as long as you have SP2 or above and don't use Internet Explorer (which has tons of security holes), I wouldn't worry about anything. I have 3 computers still running XP and haven't had any problems for years.
 
I think that is when XP added the software firewall. A hardware firewall is always better, but a software firewall will keep most stuff out. Without a firewall at all, XP leaves all kinds of crap open and available.
 
cwathen said:
Out of interest, was this DVR running the RTM or SP1 build of XP? Even 15 years ago I frequently saw these systems more or less automatically compromised unless some decent security software was installed. But since SP2 I've never seen an XP system compromised just by dint of being connected to the internet, the user would have to do something stupid with it.

I still run an XP laptop. It's on SP3 with the unoffical SP4 applied but the only firewall is the built in one. Only antivirus is MS Security Essentials which hasn't seen a definitions update in about 2 years and I'm stuck on Chrome from 2016. I probably wouldn't trust it with my bank details now (although TBH I was until only a couple of years ago) and wouldn't dream of accessing anything other than trusted sites on an old unpatched OS but it's still working fine for me.
Click to expand...

The DVR was running Windows XP Embedded with SP3 and all of the latest available updates at the time.

There is no build or version of Windows XP with any level of patching that is safe to be out on the open internet.
 
In answer to the OP's original question, I can confirm that there is an error accessing the update site, for W2K, XP and Vista.

I can get the Express and Custom buttons, but after clicking one of them it gets error 0x80244019. Vista of course looks like Win7, but it still produces the same error number.

It was working 2-3 weeks ago, because I had to connect up my W2K laptop for some reason, and although I didn't look for updates, one for Office appeared on the taskbar notifier.
 
Last edited:
Further info (because I can't update my previous post).

It works if you tell XP (in control panel automatic updates) to download the files and notify you. The yellow shield icon will appear in the notification area, and you can install whatever updates you choose.
 
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