A Brief Guide to Black Edition XP

by Oddacon T Ripper

If you don't remember, 9x was a term referring to the early versions of the Windows operating systems... 3.1, 95, 98... they were all 9x.

It was called 9x because all of Microsoft's operating systems prior to it were 8-bit operating systems.  In the 1980s, most all computers ran 8-bit OSes.

MS-DOS, Apple DOS, GEOS, CP/M, etc. were all popular back then.  But when Microsoft released Windows 95, they designed it to support 32-bit!

They would leave the processor at 16-bit for the sake of backwards compatibility, but Microsoft didn't change all of their code to 32-bit.  This began to impact the operating system's efficiency and stability.  Hence, the famous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

Microsoft has come a long way since 9x, though.

With NT, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, they have overcome a lot of compatibility/networking issues.  Can you sense the sarcasm?

I remember when XP was first released on the market back at the turn of the millennium.  It might as well have been called Swiss Cheese OS because there were so many security issues.  One of the main exploits worked by booting XP using an older version of Windows and going into recovery mode.

In older versions of Windows when you tried this, you were prompted to type in a password.  But in Windows XP, this technique granted the "hacker" unrestricted access to the computer.  The "hacker" then could access any of the files and folders on the system and copy them to any removable media.

It didn't matter even if the system was password protected.  Mostly, the issue was with holes in Microsoft programs.  Remember the Melissa or the ILOVEYOU virus?  They were both malicious worms geared for programs like Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.

Obviously, Microsoft answered by slowly pushing out updates - service packs, rather.  SP1, SP2, and the almighty SP3, which featured some network security like Network Access Protection (NAP).  Still, it was not enough.  Remember in 26:3, "Microsoft, Please Salt My Hash!'?  We found out that Microsoft wasn't even encrypting their passwords.

Salting is when a password got stored, there would be no way to encrypt or "hash" it.  Salting is just a way of encrypting the passwords, which is a security feature UNIX systems have been using since the late-1970s.

Black Edition

Windows XP accounts for over half of the consumer based operating systems out there today.

So, if you're still running a 9x box, run Black Edition XP (Product Key: M6TF9-8XQ2M-YQK9F-7TBB2-XGG88).

First off, it's a copyrighted version of Microsoft's Windows XP, and that means it's illegal!

So why bother running a pirated version of XP in the first place?

Well consider that the original version of Windows XP had numerous security holes, as well as system and compatibility issues.  I know what you're going to say: "I don't feel safe installing an OS that is not legitimate."  Neither would I.  If you're skeptical of viruses, Trojans, becoming a botnet, and other malware, I suggest running Black Edition on a virtual machine.

VirtualBox is a free program available at www.virtualbox.org.  If you have installed Black Edition XP on a different virtual machine, it will sometimes overwrite a config file called WINNT.SIF, resulting in the loss of the extra programs and custom settings.

Worst of all, you will be asked to enter a key.

If you have this problem, just use a key from the TXT file in the \KEY CHANGER directory on the disc/ISO.  Then run Auto Setup.bat in the \OEM\ RunOnce\ directory from the disc/ISO.

After that, the custom setup will appear.

However, you can also burn the ISO to a disc and format it like any other version of Windows XP.  If, during the setup, you get a message that your hard drive is not detected or a blue screen pop-up, this usually means that the SATA driver for your hard drive is missing.

Try to disable the SATA/AHCI option or set the SATA mode to IDE in your BIOS.  If the setup starts, then install your SATA/AHCI driver, restart your computer, and change the BIOS hard drive setting back to SATA.

The setup process is similar to any other version of 9x, except that after it's finished, a custom message box prompt pops up with a 60 second warning that the preconfigured settings and extra programs will be installed, and, if nothing has been selected after 60 seconds, the option "Yes" will automatically be chosen.  Then, a series of shell windows will pop up in dark green lettering, installing the various driver packs, runtimes, applications, patches, and updates.

After the shell-like DOS windows finish, the "System Properties" window will pop up and the ChaNinja theme will be defaulted along with a cool looking pirate skull background image.

The language bar icon will also appear on the taskbar, defaulted to Luxembourg military time.  Then suddenly, a dialog box will appear with a 30 second warning, saying that installation has finished and the computer will restart at the end of that duration.

After the system reboots, everything should be working properly.  You can remove the language bar by simply right-clicking on the "Taskbar -> Language Bar -> Select Settings", clicking the "Language Bar" button, de-selecting "Show the language bar on the desktop" checkbox, and hitting the "OK" button.

To change the time from Luxembourg military to another, click "Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options", then change the drop-down menu from "Luxembourgish (Luxembourg)" to your desired country.

While the identity of the group who disassembled the original Windows XP and assembled Black Edition XP remains unknown, rumors say that the group ORiON had something to do with compiling it.

Anyway, Black Edition is a x86 32-bit version of XP that has been stripped of useless Microsoft components and pre-installed with a boatload of useful software.

One important note about Black Edition is that it's an illegitimate version of Windows XP, so don't try to use your existing XP key.  For one thing, it probably won't work.

In addition, Black Edition XP comes with an key changer (Key Finder) that registers Windows Genuine Advantage and removes the activation prompt.  If you get a warning from your anti-virus about this file, do not fret.  All key generator programs are flagged as a virus.

Another noticeable feature of Black Edition XP is the boot time.

This is due to certain files and programs that have been removed and certain updates that are slip-streamed in.  Rest assured that anything that could create system problems or cause any software applications to crash has been removed.

In fact, here is a list of the programs and components that have been removed:

Along with removing files, Black Edition has also integrated Service Pack 3 (SP3) along with all of the useful software.

Remember that security issue I mentioned earlier about "salting the hash" and how Microsoft failed to address this flaw?

Black Edition answered by integrating HashCheck Shell Extension which salts files and allows you to compare the checksums, letting you see if any data is corrupted.

K-Lite Mega Codec has also been installed, along with Flash Player, QuickTime Alternative, Windows Media Player 11, DirectX, and Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) to decode and encode almost all audio and video formats.

Some other tools included are: 7-Zip, which has a high compression ratio compared to WinZip and supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, ISO, RAR, TAR, and a bunch more extensions.  DriverPack features hundreds of chipset, CPU, GPU, audio, runtime DLLs for ATI, mass storage, LAN, WLAN drivers.  Chances are that DriverPack will not find every device driver in your system, and you will have to manually find some of the drivers on the web, so be aware of any devices that might not be well known or recognized.

Windows Internet Explorer 8 also comes defaulted with a bunch of cool links to online TV portals, various streaming music, underground searching databases, and open-source programs like Notepad++ which has syntax highlighting for all you code junkies.  Sandboxie isolates and secures web browsing.  DAEMON Tools is a virtual disk image emulator.  OpenOffice is pretty much the number one open-source alternative office program.

Since Black Edition XP is an underground project, there is no official source to download it or to seek further assistance from.  It's sort of an open-source, ongoing project with new updates and patches constantly being added, but you can easily find a copy of Black Edition XP by simply searching the web or by checking torrent sites.
Return to $2600 Index