Windows Update Restored: keep Windows 95, 98, XP, 2000 and NT 4.0 updated

Topic

New Reply

[Alex5723]

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-update-restored-site-provides-updates-for-classic-windows-versions

A community-based project recently went live, providing access to the long-lost Windows Update pages, which work with classic versions of Windows to enable updating the OS. The Windows Update Restored site enables updating some classic versions of Windows, and the team members are busy getting their update locations ready. The team eventually hopes to provide service to those installing and updating systems with Windows 95, NT 4.0, 98, Me, 2000, and XP. The site’s compatibility pages also have Windows Server 2003, plus Windows “Vista and Newer” entries, indicating they could eventually be part of the roadmap.

Right now, the update site that is working and available is limited to a clone of the Windows Update v3.1 website (1997), which covers Windows 95, NT 4.0, and Windows 98 (and SE). ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbWa_tlC-3I

• This topic was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by Alex5723.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth, lmacri

Reply | Quote

Replies

And we can trust this because?

Now while the patches are digitally signed, it still gives me a bit of pause as if they are hosting the patches locally on their server, Microsoft may send them a take down notice.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

…we were able to download these websites from The Wayback Machine. We then modified the downloaded files and found missing files to eventually get the sites working. We were also able to redirect updates from being downloaded from Microsoft’s servers, to our servers to ensure you will get every single available update, and you won’t have to worry about the file being removed from the internet. We were also able to obtain these missing update files via The Wayback Machine which has been extremely useful throughout this project…

Reply | Quote

So either Microsoft won’t care – or they will care and get a takedown order.

Hosting of Microsoft update is prohibited and legal action can occur.

So built into windows is a mechanism that ensures that patches match up, but some of the security hardening over time has moved this digital signature from SHA1 which can be spoofed to a higher encryption.

This one of those – eh – I’ll pass – as I don’t see the value in updating an operating system that can no longer function or serve my daily needs and websites.  From mail applications to browsers, when those old operating systems throw off errors while trying to use them, it’s not worth it.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

Susan Bradley wrote:

And we can trust this because?

The site scores 0/90 (no threats found by 90 malware scanners) on VirusTotal.

Still, given the nature of the service, frequent monitoring of this new project is reasonable.

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

Reply | Quote

I can only see this as a benefit to those who are looking for a particular update or updates that aren’t otherwise available.  Otherwise, they’d have to have something like the AskWoody site to let people know which are the updates not to get and steer clear of.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

Reply | Quote

Charlie wrote:

they’d have to have something like the AskWoody site to let people know which are the updates not to get and steer clear of.

When was the last time you have seen posts regarding updates for Win 95, 98…

Reply | Quote

Not for quite a while, but if someone starts releasing them again they’d need to advise people of the good and the bad updates, etc.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

Reply | Quote

Susan Bradley wrote:

Hosting of Microsoft update is prohibited and legal action can occur.

Do you think MSFT would actually pursue this, or even waste resources after laying off thousands of employees?

Ref: https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/11/microsoft_more_layoffs

I already have most (if not all) patches stored offline for nostalgic visits to the following OoS Windows systems. Windows 2000 Pro is one of the best for this, followed by Windows 98SE and XP. All offline and isolated of course, still good nostalgic fun WITHOUT the use of a VM.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

2 users thanked author for this post.

Charlie, Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

It depends.  They have gone after sites that hosted updates in the past. This site like any other site on the web has to pay for hosting. So their revenue model is what? Next the site is not protected with a SSL (I’m sure because of older OSs). They are not showcasing how they are paying for this – nor for the storage costs.

Ultimately every site has to pay for it’s keep otherwise you are the product they are making money off of.

“Responsibility

Neither the Windows Update Restored team, OverRender.com nor Microsoft Corporation can be held as responsible if the use of one of the Windows Update websites offered here caused damage, bugs or data corruption on your computer(s). We do not believe anything should go wrong, but please backup important data before using the service anyway.”

Because I’m nosey, I went to overrender.com and netgear/bitdefender aka my router blocked it.

I’m just saying that my spidey sense is really tingly right now.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

Reply | Quote

It was reacting to their other link. Besides you can inject fun stuff into the installers.  All I am saying is question how they are funding this site.  Hosting is never free.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

Hello! I’m the creator of the Windows Update Restored project and the owner of OverRender.com. We do not make any money with the project, because the one paying for the server has a daily job, and it’s not expensive at all The updates are signed by Microsoft and downloaded from download.windowsupdate.com, and then moved to our server to prevent Microsoft taking down their servers. Read the FAQ for more information. It’s up to you to use the site, no one is forcing you to use it. If you’re not sure about something, you can ask. And the “modified files” are only the HTML pages and the ActiveX control to allow Windows Update to check for updates from our servers and not from the Microsoft ones (which are obviously down).

As for OverRender.com being recognized as a virus, that’s weird. I’m gonna work on that to remove what it thinks to be a “virus” (or any kind of other malware).

3 users thanked author for this post.

SueW, Alex5723, Paul T

Reply | Quote

Susan Bradley wrote:

Because I’m nosey, I went to overrender.com and netgear/bitdefender aka my router blocked it.

I went to overrender.com and my Fiber router/Kaspersky/Chrome didn’t block the site.

Reply | Quote

OverRender is bad at VirusTotal – ’cause BitDefender thinks it contains malware.
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/cd374488b4c31f3144dda41d56e1a1234b9c3e24d1cedc2c45ed3e80cb024a11?nocache=1

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

This was put together by some enthusiasts at the MSFN forums if I recall, it just seemed to get traction in the tech media lately. I don’t think anyone’s suggesting this be used as a daily driver, it’s largely a hobby project as is a lot of what’s on MSFN.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

Reply | Quote