The one requirement for installing this service pack is that your Windows XP system has to have a minimum of SP1 already in place. I cannot move or reinstall these applications into my Windows 7 configuration, which is where I do most of my work on the Windows platform ( I am keenly aware that Microsoft is ending support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020). The main reason I keep Windows XP in the form of a Parallels virtual machine is so I can run several third-party programs whose software licenses are locked to this particular OS installation.
In other words, download at your own risk, and gird yourself with extra protection measures if you’re going to be an XP holdout.Microsoft discontinued support for Windows XP in 2014, and it is not advisable to rely upon this vintage operating system unless you have a compelling reason that offsets its inherent security risks. Still, we are talking about an unofficial update from an obscure source, with limited time and resources for testing across a broad range of machines. The first part of that statement still rings true, but the whole point of the unofficial service pack is to test the fixes against Windows XP and ensure they work properly.
“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 security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers,” the company said in May.
Of course, Microsoft advises against Windows XP users installing these fixes, and suggests updating to Windows 7 or Windows 8 instead. As discovered in May, it’s possible to keep getting these security updates through a registry hack, but Unofficial SP4 enables this hack by default and bakes in all of its previous fixes. More importantly, Service Pack 4 includes additional security fixes that aren’t technically part of Windows XP proper, but are instead intended for ATMs and point of sale machines still running a variant of the aging OS. Further reading: Windows XP survival guide: How to upgrade (or not)
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