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No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

Talk about "WhatEVER !"..
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basilh
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#31 Post by basilh » Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:20 pm

I've managed to get Windows Update working in 2017 for XP, Vista and 2000. Lot's of dead ends when trying to get WU working for 2000. This is the only lead I've found that worked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uDXtJqdcKM. The key is a modified root certificate.

Perservering with 95. There's nothing definitive that says WU won't work. in fact, Ive seen 2009 footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSR3oHtETfQ that seems to suggest that it still works.

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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#32 Post by sdfox7 » Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:51 pm

For the future visitors of this thread, I just wanted to post here an alternative method that I discovered works for both Windows 2000 and Windows XP, and I posted it a few months ago on MSFN.

You need to use the legacy non-SSL v6 site, and must be running at least Internet Explorer 6:

http://www.update.microsoft.com/windows ... x?ln=en-us

The method I cited is a sub-post in a thread, the direct link is: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/176710- ... nt=1139078
ThinkPad 600E (Win98); T23 (WinNT 4.0); T41 (Win2000); T61p (WinXP)
My name is Stephen Fox. I am a '18 BBA and '20 MBA student at WCSU.
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#33 Post by ThinkPad560X » Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:43 am

It's been a long time since I been on here. I recently been getting some of my ThinkPads and desktops back out, and been booting them up to start using them again. As far as I know now, It looks like Windows XP servers are shut down as of Nov 25-2020. I Ran my ThinkPad R40, ThinkPad T30, T43, G40, ThinkCentre M51 desktop and M51 tower. And the windows update links get a error. I can click Express or Custom and just get a fast click and then error on web page. Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials both fail to connect to server.

I recently did a reinstall of windows XP on my M51 desktop and I installed what XP software I have saved on my external HDD such as IE8 and IE8 updates, Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials, Service Pack 3 update and WMP11 and update, Last releases for XP Adobe Reader XI and Adobe Flash Player and Firefox. Firefox still works on XP and was able to test the internet searching with no problems really. I also have Microsoft Windows Product key updater, and I have a XP Pro COA on the side of the machine, I do this when I have to do a reinstall of windows and use one of my XP install discs and then I change the key once installed on the desktop to the one on the machine with the keyupdater. But this time it didn't work. So I am stuck with the OEM key I installed. Thankfully it is my OEM version and not my retail version where you must activate within 30 days.

Another desktop I have "ThinkCentre M50" a problem with the CPU and I swapped it back to it original CPU and everything worked fine. But when I rebooted windows up, It showed "This copy of windows is not genuine" And it said to active within 30 days. So I type in the key on the side of the machine where it says to enter key. After I click Activate, I get an error with server cannot connect with server. After trying this 4 times I call the number to activate over the phone. I ran off the numbers to it and typed them in as it told me to and it WORKED STILL! And so my ThinkCentre M50 is fine now.

But the question is now. Do we even have those fill in numbers "for the Windows randomly generated numbers" if you do automated calling if Microsoft ever closes this down??
If we do then We can activate Windows XP anytime we need to do a fresh install and since it don't require internet to be verified this was the old way to activate XP if had no internet connection.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

dr_st
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#34 Post by dr_st » Mon Nov 30, 2020 4:54 am

XP has Volume Licensing Keys that can be used and never require activation/reactivation. Plenty of them leaked and although Microsoft has blacklisted some early ones, many still work, and at this point I don't see why Microsoft will ever make them stop working. So getting an activated nag-free XP install should not become a problem in the future.
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#35 Post by BillP » Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:19 am

In August 2020 Microsoft discontinued Windows Update support for XP and Vista.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... scontinued

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 84f?page=1

For new installations of XP it is still possible to get updates to SP3 from the Microsoft Update Catalog and manually install them. This is tedious to the point of impracticality. Other options are installing an unofficial SP4 type update compiled by individuals not employed by Microsoft.
ThinkPad T60 1951-43U (with many upgrades)

789
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#36 Post by 789 » Mon Nov 30, 2020 11:12 am

With T60 and T61, Lenovo finally provided an IBM XP installation package that can be opened using 7zip or winRar.
CM2ZCUS.IMZ password is iejfhvu. (Dell, HP, Fujitsu did it from day one)

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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#37 Post by dr_st » Mon Nov 30, 2020 11:48 am

BillP wrote:
Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:19 am
For new installations of XP it is still possible to get updates to SP3 from the Microsoft Update Catalog and manually install them. This is tedious to the point of impracticality.
WSUS should work, no?
https://dellwindowsreinstallationguide. ... ne-update/
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#38 Post by BillP » Mon Nov 30, 2020 3:07 pm

WSUS looked promising so I gave it a try. The computer was a Thinkpad A31 with a wiped hard drive. Windows XP SP3 was clean installed and three drivers updated to produce a clean Device Manager display. Then WSUS 9.2.1 was started and I requested it to produce an ISO upon completion. Throughout the process it kept throwing an error regarding kernel32.dll; clicking OK allowed it to continue. This happened about a dozen times. At the end a window popped up saying ISO creation failed. It didn't seem to update anything though it is difficult to tell. Nothing new shows up in the control Panel even though I asked that dotnet framework be installed. Windows Explorer and Media Player are still at old versions.

In the link you provided Philip Yip recommended just using the unofficial service pack 4 instead of WSUS. This is in the comments after the article. So far SP4 is the only update solution that worked for me. There is an update to SP4 as well but for me it produced a machine that wouldn't boot.
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imsoenthused
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#39 Post by imsoenthused » Mon Nov 30, 2020 4:46 pm

There are some very resource-light, user-friendly Linux distros out there these days. Zorin OS Lite is both designed to be very familiar for people used to windows and run on pretty minimal hardware, and there are even lighter options than that, Bohdi is a great choice for people not afraid of getting a little further away from the Windows form factor, and Slitaz or q4os are both very nice ultra-light distros, and Tiny Core is practically a miracle with how much it does with such a light memory footprint. I do understand that this may not be an option for everyone or even interest the majority of people, but a modern lightweight Linux distro is an actual modern OS and I've had really good experiences wringing useability out of really old hardware with it. I've taken machines that were basically useless on the modern web in Windows, installed a lightweight distro and the Palemoon web browser, and had a machine that could actually play Youtube and Netflix, albeit at 480p or 360p if you wanted smooth playback, but I found it pretty amazing just how modern and usable it was able to make some of these old Pentium 4 and Athlon machines.

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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#40 Post by BillP » Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:45 am

I have done a bit more with WSUS and found that my troubles were a combination of unfamiliarity with WSUS and a bug in the routine. MKISOFS.EXE is used by WSUS to create an ISO. It is not part of the program and must be downloaded. The download fails even though the link in WSUS appears to be correct. The absence of mkisofs causes WSUS to halt at iso creation. Manually placing mkisofs in the bin folder allows the program to complete.

If SP4 is installed before running WSUS, there are no additional updates found by WSUS and it exits with nothing to do. WSUS also fails to update Windows Media Player, due to being unable to download WMP11. Overall for ease of application and completeness, SP4 is the better program for updating XP SP3. I will continue to work on getting the SP4 rollup to install and work. More to come if I succeed.
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dr_st
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#41 Post by dr_st » Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:49 am

BillP wrote:
Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:45 am
Overall for ease of application and completeness, SP4 is the better program for updating XP SP3.
As long as this "unofficial SP4" is just a collection of official service packs and post-SP3 patches, I tend to agree. If it includes custom "hacks" and unofficial "backporting" of features from later Windows versions, I would pass. Had enough trouble from the "unofficial Windows 98 service packs".

P.S. Thank you for doing the research!

P.P.S. Do you know something about how the unofficial SP4 coexists with XP installs "hacked" to receive POSReady updates?
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#42 Post by BillP » Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:15 am

The documentation I have lists contents as shown below.

Windows XP SP4 Final includes all Windows XP updates and many updated components
with all their latest updates up to including January 2016 (some POSReady updates have
been included).
Included components are:
.NET Frameworks 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, MSXML40 SP3, Adobe Flash Player 20, IE8,
WMP11, Bitlocker to go reader, XPS Viewer EP, Windows Search 4.0, IMAPIv2, Remote
Desktop Connection Client 7.0, exFat update, Windows Installer 4.5, QFECheck tool, WGA
(notifications disabled by default), Windows Feature Pack for Storage 1.0, January 2016
Revoked roots and Root certificates, Windows Rights Management Client, DirectX 9.0c
June 2010 Update, DirectX for Managed code (included in .NET Framework 3.5), WebDAV
update for Office 12 (Rosebud), Windows Powershell 2.0.

The rollup includes more POS updates through 2019. Getting the rollup to work has been a challenge so far.
ThinkPad T60 1951-43U (with many upgrades)

BillP
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#43 Post by BillP » Sun Dec 13, 2020 1:50 pm

To follow up on the SP4 rollup containing POS updates, I never could get it to install without corrupting the XP installation.

Some of the POS updates require the SSE2 instruction set which leaves the T23 out since it is Pentium 3. Still, working with the A31 Pentium 4, the rollup just didn't work for me.

There are other update packages like the one at https://ryanvm.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7184#p92203. I was able to slipstream the update package and the POS ready update package into a Windows XP Pro SP3 disc and install it on the A31 with no issues. This set of updates contains almost exclusively Microsoft updates so installing WMP11, Explorer 8, .NET Framework, etc. would need to be done separately.
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Re: No Windows Update for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000

#44 Post by ThinkPad560X » Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:22 am

I just put a new HDD in a desktop and a clean install of windows XP Pro Service Pack 3. The machine is a M52 and has a Windows XP Pro COA on side. When I tried to use the key during windows install, it wouldn't accept it. So I am guessing this is a 2006 key as it says lenovo singapore. I just recently activated a Sony desktop with it's COA sticker on it and it is a 2003 machine. So I don't know if their is a certain version of XP that supports a wide range of keys that are newer then Service Pack 3 during install.

I used the OEM key on the XP book I have and installed the OS. I have Windows Product Key Updater and used it only to get this error now. I think this is a server error as it maybe shutdown now. Now if you try to activate windows XP over the internet, you will get cannot connect to server or internet. I know for a fact that you can still call in and use the phone computer to activate as I just did it with the Sony PC the other day, U.S. for me anyway. But this is the error image I get when try to update the key.
https://patcomps.weebly.com/windows.html
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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