According to industry monitor Net Applications, Windows XP is still being used on 26.29% of all computers globally. As such, it stands to reason that people would look for workarounds now that Microsoft has stopped supporting the aged operating system, and will no longer issue security updates.
It turns out that a simple tweak of Windows XP’s registry allows XP users to continue getting security updates through 2019, as noted in a recent report from Betanews. Microsoft, however, has issued a statement warning users not to perform the “hack.”
“We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers,” Microsoft said in a statement given to ZDNet on Monday. “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 statement continued, “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.”
For those willing to throw caution to the wind and ignore Microsoft’s warning in an effort to keep using Windows XP and still get some protection, Betanews has instructions on how to make the required registry changes, and the site’s article is linked below in our source section.
