====== Windows XP Security Updates after 8 April 2014 ======

The hack, as reported by ZDNet, fools Microsoft into thinking the system is running Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, a variant of XP that's used by ATMs and cash registers. Those systems will keep getting security updates until 2019.

Start "regedit" and add the following DWord to key **HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\PosReady**: //"Installed"=dword:00000001//

On the downside, the hack only works on 32-bit systems. There's a workaround for 64-bit machines, but it involves manually downloading update files from Microsoft's website and tweaking them so that Microsoft doesn't block the installation. (Windows XP 64-bit is based on Windows Server 2003, which Microsoft is supporting until next year, and Microsoft checks to make sure XP users aren't installing those Windows Server updates.)

See [[http://www.pcworld.com/article/2310301/windows-xp-registry-hack-keeps-the-security-updates-rolling.html|Windows XP registry hack keeps security updates rolling for the dead operating system]]