 Sterling’s Retro PC Portal |
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| Homepage | Presario 4112 |
Win98 | WinXP | Sterlnet ISP |
Main Site not HTML 3.2! |
Windows XP Resources
This isn’t comprehensive per se, but it should suit most people’s tastes.
If you prefer to navigate this via FTP, check out my FTP site.
Last updated 2025-10-08.
Software & drivers
Selected period-accurate (specifically ≈2006) programs and the like for Windows XP, as well as some modern niceties. Some larger pieces of software (namely office suites) are contained on somewhat large ISO files and necessitate something like Daemon Tools to be mounted/read.
Compatibility & bugfixes
The vast majority of compatibility issues can be fixed using Legacy Update, a service which enables Windows XP to browse and receive still-available Windows Update updates. I highly recommend using this over downloading individual update files from all over the Web.
| File | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| POSReady Registry Hack | Tricks Legacy Update into thinking you're running POSReady 2009, enabling updates as recent as 2019 (e.g. TLS 1.2 support). | {1} |
See also: Root Certficiate Updates for Legacy Windows, which keeps annoying “invalid certificate authority” and similar messages from popping up.
Drivers
Following are some rather generic drivers applicable to a wide range of and/or particularly common hardware. Keeping a respectable nonexhaustive list of WinXP-era/-compatible drivers would fill up my server, though I do have some rather specific 9x drivers over on my Compaq Presario 4112 page that might apply to you.
| File | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Blaster Live! Driver Pack | Drivers for the titular sound card. | [1] {2} |
| SPICE Guest Tools | Enables resizing of display when using QXL within an emulator such as QEMU. | {1} {2} |
Internet access
| File | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| K-Meleon 76 RC | Modern Gecko fork with TLS 1.2 support, enabling connection to modern HTTPS sites. | [1] {2} |
| America Online 9.0 Optimized | Shockingly still signs on via TCP/IP if you have an AOL account (I’ve kept mine for fifteen years and counting). | {1} |
| MSN Messenger 7.5 (Escargot) | Patched version designed to operate with Escargot.chat, a contemporary implementation of MSNP services. | [1] {2} |
For the latest Internet Explorer, see Legacy Update.
Document readers, word processors & office suites
| File | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Edition | What it says on the tin. | [1] |
| Microsoft Office XP | The version I grew up using, thus its inclusion on this list. | [1] {2} |
| Microsoft Works 7.0 | 2002 edition of Microsoft Works, a scaled-down office suite offered as a cheaper alternative to Office. | [1] {2} |
| Acrobat Reader 7.0.8 | Period-accurate version of Adobe Acrobat for reading PDF files. | {1} |
Utilities
| File | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Daemon Tools | Enable mounting of ISO images. | {1} |
Multimedia
| File | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| QuickTime Player 7.02 | Plays QuickTime files as well as certain Flash games. Required for a lot of interactive Web content from the Y2K era. | {1} |
| Macromedia Flash Player 9 | Good ol’ Flash Player. | {1} |
| K-Lite Codec Pack 13.8.5 Mega | System-wide codecs for playing a large variety of multimedia files, including in Windows Media Player. | [1] {2} |
Appearance
| File | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| HD wallpapers | High-res, widescreen wallpapers scaled up from the original images. | {1} |
| Royale | Glossy theme included in Windows Media Center Edition builds of XP. | {1} [2] |
