Anybody running Windows XP Black Edition?

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Joel_MD

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Hi y'all, my best girl was using a Gateway NV55C laptop for the last 2-3 years. It was running Windows 7. I always hated what Gateway and other manufacturers bundle with the OS; it seems there is always a bunch of junk running in the background slowing it down. Anyway, she was getting frustrated with the machine so I gave her my nice Dell Latitude E6420 and took the Gateway off her hands. Some trade, huh? It's like giving her a 5-Series BMW and getting a Chevy Cavalier with a leaking head gasket!

In my humble opinion, the only way to put a Gateway out of its misery is to lobotomize it and start with a fresh OS. I removed the old fashioned hard drive and put in a 128GB Crucial M4 solid-state drive. I replaced the factory 3GB RAM with a pair of 2GB Patriot sticks. I wanted to use Win XP because the Saab WIS (Workshop Information System, service manual and parts lookup) does not run on Win 7. I was browsing around on my favorite torrent site and found something called XP Black Edition. It seems some folks sort of "unlocked" XP SP3, taking away all the bad aspects of it and tweaking all the good. It's bundled with a bunch of nice-to-have stuff like codecs and useful utilities. WGA is disabled, and from what I've read this version of XP will get security updates from MS. I downloaded and installed it on the Gateway last night from a USB stick. The initial part where it loads the installation files took about four hours, but otherwise it installed without a hitch. Haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I might have trouble with drivers because this machine came with 7 from the factory, but I'm sure I can go direct to the chipset and other manufacturers to get XP-compatible drivers. Anyway, I was wondering if anybody here has tried the Black Edition?
 
I believe XP lives on for ATM purposes and does receive security updates. Maybe this is some sort of hacked up build.
 
Yes I have seen this before. Unfortunately though, it is still a pirated copy of Windows.

Windows XP does still live on, in a stripped down fashion. Windows POSReady 2009.

Watch out for your SSD's health as I'm not sure if the Marvell controller for that one does onboard TRIM... your OS certainly doesn't. Might want to look into some third party TRIM support.
 
Originally Posted By: redhat
Watch out for your SSD's health as I'm not sure if the Marvell controller for that one does onboard TRIM... your OS certainly doesn't. Might want to look into some third party TRIM support.

Thanks, somehow I forgot that XP doesn't play as well with SSDs. Apparently the SSD firmware will still do garbage collection but no TRIMming, since that is a function of the OS. I found a tool that Crucial makes for use with XP that mimics the TRIM of Win 7. I'll have to give it a try.
 
I 100% agree with the decision to start with a fresh OS install. It's the first thing I do if I buy an OEM machine.

I 100% disagree with the decision to put Windows XP on it. Bad idea. At least go with Windows 7, which I believe can still be purchased online if you look for it.
 
XP POS updates fix some minor core issues but leave a majority of the OS without updates (an attack surface that is not insignificant), so the registry hack to "enable updates" on XP is not all it would seem to be and leaves you with a nice false sense of security.

I have no horse in this race as I don't do Windows, but I have to frequently clean up after people who do. Windows XP is dead. Unless you have it *completely* isolated from the network (ie, no browser, user or network exposure) then let it go.
 
Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
OP clearly stated that he has an app that won't run on win-7.

Joel_MD, I have a free legal copy of XP-SP3 Pro is you want it.

Thank you for the offer. If the Black Edition does not work I may take you up on that.
 
If the user only uses for a manual who cares if its pirated. Reality is it already had Windows 7 which typically allowed for downgrade rights anyway from Win7>Win XP.
 
Yes, I have a box running Win XP Black Edition. It actually has a legit XP key, but it's been lost with time. I also run WinXP BE in a virtual machine on my Win7 system. Both work fine. I can give you remote desktop access to it if you wanna muck around with it.
 
I wouldn't do anything sensitive with those hacked/pirated operating systems, you never know what the creator has hidden in them (keyloggers etc.). Otherwise they can be handy for special purposes though.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: rjundi
If the user only uses for a manual who cares if its pirated. Reality is it already had Windows 7 which typically allowed for downgrade rights anyway from Win7>Win XP.



That is only true is the version of Windows licensed by the OEM was a Professional edition. XP Pro, 7 Pro, etc.

Yes, you can run this XP Black Edition with a legitimate key. Really it is nothing more than an XP version with a lot of bundled software and slipstreamed updates. WGA is disabled so you could run it illegitimately or legally if you'd want to enter in your own product key.
 
Windows 7 supports Virtual OS win XP sessions and it is built in. I also agree that a "Black" pirated copy is asking for pirate guests to pay you a visit. There are clean Win7 Corporate version install disks to be had at a discount price.
 
I have several PCs and mobile devices at home. This Gateway is not destined to hold all my family secrets! I'll use it for the Saab WIS, and maybe keep it in the kitchen to look up recipes and what not.
 
I am using XP Black edition on my old Athlon XP 2500+ box with 1.75GB of ram. It works pretty good.

Some drivers don't come bundled with it, I had to download and transfer manually my USB wifi stick drivers but it is a nice setup for an older system. Windows 7 on that box was pretty slow and seemed to crash often and reboot and hang.
 
Ok everybody, I appreciate all the replies. I gave XP Black Edition a try but couldn't make it work. That Gateway model only came with Win 7 from the factory, and the Gateway drivers would not install on XP. I tried going to the various hardware manufacturers for XP drivers, but at one point I got a "blue screen of death" on startup. Didn't feel like messing with it anymore. Now I have Win 7 Ultimate installed. Maybe I'll try to install some sort of virtual environment to run XP so I can use the WIS software. Are there any freeware virtual setups I should try? I've never used a virtual environment before.
 
Originally Posted By: Joel_MD
Ok everybody, I appreciate all the replies. I gave XP Black Edition a try but couldn't make it work. That Gateway model only came with Win 7 from the factory, and the Gateway drivers would not install on XP. I tried going to the various hardware manufacturers for XP drivers, but at one point I got a "blue screen of death" on startup. Didn't feel like messing with it anymore. Now I have Win 7 Ultimate installed. Maybe I'll try to install some sort of virtual environment to run XP so I can use the WIS software. Are there any freeware virtual setups I should try? I've never used a virtual environment before.


Virtual box is free and plenty capable. However, you're still going to need a valid copy of XP.
 
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