Keep your old version of Windows updated for free with Windows Update Restored

Not everyone is running Windows 11 on their PC -- there are many who are not even running Windows 10. If you are one of a surprisingly large number of people still rocking an old version of Windows, you will be well aware that Windows Update no longer works.

The Windows Update Restored project can help though. This is an unofficial, community-led operation that makes it possible for Windows 95, NT 4.0, 98, Me, 2000 and XP users "to obtain updates like they used to".

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Windows Update Restore, does not -- sadly -- make the Automatic Update feature of Windows functional again, it is simply a replica of the old Windows Update websites from years back. Microsoft killed off the sites for old versions of Windows more than a decade ago, making it hard to get hold of updates after a clean install.

The project is absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft and there is the firm warning that: "This software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind". Despite being entirely independent of Microsoft, the project shares the company's view that it is not necessarily a good idea to use an old, unsupported versions of Windows. As such, there is the following disclaimer:

This project doesn't mean that you should keep using older versions of Windows. While you may get security updates, these may not protect you in today's online world an against modern viruses. There are plenty of security holes in these operating systems and there's a reason that Microsoft even took down the Update websites for these operating systems. You should use modern operating systems like Windows 10, Windows 11, and even Linux.

You can get an idea of how it all looks and works in the following video:

Announcing the launch of the site, the team behind it says:

We are proud to announce the release of the Windows Update Restored website! Now you can update your good old Windows 95 PC like you used to back in the day! With this website, you can relive the Windows Update experience from the late 90s to the early 2010s. This website restores the Windows Update v3.1 website (1997), and in the future, Windows Update v4 (2001), and Windows Update v5 (2004). This website allows you to update your Windows 95 system, Windows 98 First Edition and Second Edition systems, Windows ME System, and in the future Windows 2000 Systems, and Windows XP systems. Server versions are also supported. To view the compatibility page, please read Compatibility. To make sure your older systems stay securer than they were before, please update them so they will have the latest security updates. To learn more about this website and this project, please read our About page.

 With the launch of this website, we introduce our very first officially restored Windows Update website, Windows Update v3.1! At the moment, it does work but we are still testing and improving v3.1 day by day. From launch, the following operating systems will be supported on Windows Update Restored v3: Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0 SP3+ Windows 98 First and Second Edition, Windows Millenium Edition. Windows 2000 will be added in the future. Our main goal is to add the complete original inventory system to update to the fullest like you could back in the day!

Thanks to Tom's Hardware for the heads up!