Universal Driver Updater [25 June 2017] serial key or number

In this section:

Earlier releases

• 1.0.2618 (2 Mar 2020)

• 1.0.2610 (25 Feb 2020)

• 1.0.2594 (22 Jan 2020)

• 1.0.2551 (22 Nov 2019)

• 1.0.2548 (20 Nov 2019)

• 1.0.2463 (4 Oct 2019)

• 1.0.2430 (20 Aug 2019)

• 1.0.2425 (07 Aug 2019)

• 1.0.2420 (31 July 2019)

• 1.0.2406 (30 May 2019)

• 1.0.2312 (09 April 2019)

• 1.0.2304 (04 April 2019)

• 1.0.2269 (21 Mar 2019)

• 1.0.2137 (12 Feb 2019)

• 1.0.2112 (17 Jan 2019)

• 1.0.2081 (10 Dec 2018)

• 1.0.2079 (03 Dec 2018)

• 1.0.2052 (30 Nov 2018)

• 1.0.1978 (16 Oct 2018)

• 1.0.1950 (10 Oct 2018)

• 1.0.1909 (04 Sep 2018)

• 1.0.1849 (23 Jul 2018)

• 1.0.1841 (13 Jul 2018)

• 1.0.1833 (10 Jul 2018)

• 1.0.1793 (28 May 2018)

• 1.0.1783 (17 May 2018)

• 1.0.1781 (14 May 2018)

• 1.0.1762 (08 May 2018)

• 1.0.1757 (27 Apr 2018)

• 1.0.1756 (17 Apr 2018)

• 1.0.1750 (10 Apr 2018)

• 1.0.1735 (28 Mar 2018)

• 1.0.1662 (13 Feb 2018)

• 1.0.1627 (17 Jan 2018)

• 1.0.1615 (09 Jan 2018)

• 1.0.1614 (03 Jan 2018)

• 1.0.1611 (22 Dec 2017)

• 1.0.1604 (14 Dec 2017)

• 1.0.1594 (12 Dec 2017)

• 1.0.1575 (06 Dec 2017)

• 1.0.1560 (30 Nov 2017)

• 1.0.1550 (22 Nov 2017)

• 1.0.1535 (15 Nov 2017)

• 1.0.1526 (14 Nov 2017)

• 1.0.1514 (14 Nov 2017)

• 1.0.1116 (11 Oct 2017)

• 1.0.1095 (06 Oct 2017)

• 1.0.1086 (05 Oct 2017)

• 1.0.1031 (26 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.1024 (26 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.1003 (21 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.947 (14 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.943 (14 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.936 (13 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.899 (11 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.840 (04 Sep 2017)

• 1.0.818 (31 Aug 2017)

• 1.0.777 (23 Aug 2017)

• 1.0.760 (16 Aug 2017)

• 1.0.750 (10 Aug 2017)

• 1.0.738 (08 Aug 2017)

• 1.0.715 (01 Aug 2017)

• 1.0.653 (17 Jul 2017)

• 1.0.611 (07 Jul 2017)

• 1.0.594 (30 Jun 2017)

• 1.0.583 (23 Jun 2017)

• 1.0.566 (21 Jun 2017)

• 1.0.548 (19 Jun 2017)

• 1.0.543 (16 Jun 2017)

• 1.0.515 (07 June, 2017)

• 1.0.508 (07 June, 2017)

• 1.0.502 (02 June, 2017)

• 1.0.497 (01 June, 2017)

• 1.0.481 (25 May, 2017)

• 1.0.416 (16 May, 2017)

• 1.0.410 (11 May, 2017)

• 1.0.398 (09 May, 2017)

• 1.0.387 (04 May, 2017)

• 1.0.299 (13 April, 2017)

• 1.0.287 (05 April, 2017)

• 1.0.257 (22 March, 2017)

• 1.0.249 (22 March, 2017)

1.0.2947 (20 Aug 2020)

• Fixed an issue that causes Cloud Print printers to disappear if Mobility server disconnects and reconnects to the internet [MOB-2262]

1.0.2926 (03 Jul 2020)

• Fixed an issue that caused Mobility Print Server to drop Cloud Print connection intermittently [MOB-2239]

1.0.2911 (21 Jul 2020)

• Fixed an issue that caused the authentication pop-up to not display for each print job on iOS 13.4+ devices when “Authenticate-per-job” was turned on for Mobility Print queues. [MOB-2022]

1.0.2906 (20 Jul 2020)

• Added the ability to customize TLS settings for the Mobility Print server. [MOB-1192]

• Added the option to cancel connecting Cloud Print when it cannot connect, and improved the feedback on potential causes of connection issues, such as a firewall rules problem. [MOB-2199]

1.0.2888 (9 Jul 2020)

• Cloud Print feature now available for Public Beta. Chromebook users can now submit print jobs securely over the internet. MacOS and Windows support coming soon.

• Updated the End User License Agreement (EULA). [MOB-1784]

1.0.2860 (1 Jul 2020)

• Fixed an issue that caused the Mobility Print server to not always resume connecting to the Cloud Print service after a network outage. [MOB-2196]

1.0.2855 (30 Jun 2020)

• Added automatic retry in case server Cloud Print registration fails. [MOB-2107]

1.0.2841 (23 Jun 2020)

• Updated Cloud Print invite links to deactivate when expired. [MOB-2115]

• Fixed a rare issue that sometimes caused the Mobility Print server to stop accepting macOS print jobs until a server restart.

• MacOS server only: Added support for printing landscape documents from iOS devices. [MOB-1131]

• Updated 'Sign in with Google' API.

1.0.2828 (16 Jun 2020)

• Windows Client only: Updated PaperCut Global PS Driver, adding configurable Stapling Support for Windows devices if server queue is using matching driver. [MOB-2025]

• Internet Explorer 11 and Safari browsers: Fixed an issue in Cloud Print that stopped the date pickers working for the 'Invite link expiry date' and 'Printing expiry date'. [MOB-2192]

1.0.2817 (10 Jun 2020)

Added a new Cloud Print feature that allows Chromebook users who are not connected to the local network to submit print jobs securely over the internet. Initially this feature is behind a feature toggle for limited early access but the public beta is coming soon.

1.0.2657 (8 Apr 2020)

MacOS Server only: Fix issue where job orientation from Chromebooks was ignored. [MOB-1873]

1.0.2623 (10 Mar 2020)

Windows Server only: Upgraded third party library to resolve intermittent memory issues. [MOB-1896]

1.0.2618 (2 Mar 2020)

Linux and MacOS Server only: Update to MacOS server libraries to meet new MacOS Catalina signing and notarization requirements. Installing MacOS server no longer has unidentified developer warnings. [MOB-2003] [MOB-2008]

1.0.2610 (25 Feb 2020)

Linux and MacOS Server only:

• A warning is now displayed if Mobility Print Server is installed on a machine without printers. [MOB-1947]

• Minor text changes on registration page when Mobility Print server is used without PaperCut NG/MF. [MOB-1946]

• Upgraded third party library to resolve intermittent memory issues. [MOB-1896]

• Improved log collection for Mobility Print Server when used without PaperCut NG/MF. [MOB-1974]

1.0.2594 (22 Jan 2020)

Improved server error handling and reporting to enable quicker feedback and support for critical customer issues. [MOB-1975]

1.0.2551 (22 Nov 2019)

Fixed broken links on some setting up device pages.

1.0.2548 (20 Nov 2019)

• Translations: Known Host Client setup pages and Admin pages translated for Simplified Chinese. [MOB-1904]

• Fixed an issue with large Japanese language print jobs in high-volume environments that occasionally caused some pages from a concurrent job to print in the wrong job. [MOB-1902]

1.0.2463 (4 Oct 2019)

• Translations: Known Host Client setup pages translated for Catalan, French, German, Hungarian, Hong Kong Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Portuguese Brazilian, and Spanish. [MOB-1761]
• macOS Client & Server: Notarized macOS installers in preparation for macOS Catalina coming out of beta. [MOB-1767] [MOB-1800]
• Documentation updates.

1.0.2438 (10 Sep 2019)

• Documentation: Update iOS minimum version requirements

• Windows Server: Rolled back a library update that was causing the Mobility Print server to crash occasionally.

1.0.2430 (20 Aug 2019)

• Windows Server: Chromebook, Android, macOS and iOS Mobility Print clients will be able to see more non standard paper sizes supported by printer drivers [MOB-1747]

• Windows Server: Fixed an issue with RISO ORPHIS FW5230 and RISO ORPHIS FW5230 PS drivers where the user's color selection was ignored and the driver's default setting was applied instead. [MOB-1553]

1.0.2425 (07 Aug 2019)

• Minor documentation updates.

1.0.2420 (31 July 2019)

• Fixed an issue that caused checkboxes to be rendered incorrectly when printing in grayscale on macOS and Chromebooks. [MOB-1612]

• Windows client: Fixed an issue that caused the installer to crash when the user's password had one or more spaces in it. [MOB-1470]

1.0.2406 (30 May 2019)

• Added a new option that enables Mobility Print clients to discover printers from a specified Mobility Print server. The server's known host name or IP address is entered in the Mobility Print Admin interface. This option is ideal for multi subnet networks where a DNS server cannot be configured. Click here for more information. [MOB-1385]

• Updated a third-party library that includes security updates. [MOB-1557]

• Windows server: Fixed an issue that caused poor print quality for some print queues. The rendering library now uses a queue-specific DPI value optimised for speed and quality. [MOB-1113]

1.0.2312 (09 April 2019)

• Updated the Mobility Print Help Center content for the PaperCut MF 19.0 feature that allows users to assign accounts to print jobs sent from any device (including via Mobility Print), directly at the MFD.

1.0.2304 (04 April 2019)

• Fixed Mobility Print Help Center content.

• Updated the End User License Agreement (EULA).

1.0.2286 (29 Mar 2019)

• Fixed an issue in v1.0.2269 with the Windows Mobility Print Server executable that was failing to run in 32-bit environments.

1.0.2269 (21 Mar 2019)

• Fixed an issue that caused the Mobility Print Admin interface to display incorrectly.

• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused some printer drivers to print incorrect print outs.

• Fixed an issue that caused some printer drivers to print on the default paper size when Tabloid (11x17) paper size was selected.

• Windows client: Fixed an issue with special characters in printer names that was causing the client set up to fail.

  Windows client: Fixed an issue that caused passwords containing backslashes to not be accepted when setting up printers running the installer.

  Chromebook: Guest printing has been added to Chromebook (v1.0.204 or higher). This is configured on Mobility Print Server via the GuestPrinting and GuestPrintingAsUser config keys. On demand user creation needs to be enabled, or the user needs to exist in PaperCut NG/MF. More information can be found in the help center under: Setting up Mobility Print > Step 2 > Advanced configuration.

1.0.2137 (12 Feb 2019)

• Updated the Mobility Print server code base to use the new Google Sign-In API. Mobility Print Server and the Mobility Print app for Chromebook need to be at this current version before March 2019 to avoid broken functionality with the 'Sign in with Google' button.

• Fixed an issue in a multi-Mobility Print Server setup that caused the validation of B and LB DNS pointer records to fail.

• Minor fix to ensure case insensitivity when appending DNS suffixes.

• Migrated selected KB content into the Mobility Print Help Center and improved help structure.

1.0.2112 (17 Jan 2019)

• Windows server: For PaperCut Global Driver destination queues, the client rendered spool file is now used without any additional rendering on the server. This improves server performance and also solves rare rendering issues.

  Windows client: When running the installation wizard, you can now select to install multiple Mobility Print queues.

  Chromebook: Security has been enhanced to apply 256-bit level AES encryption to printed documents.

1.0.2081 (10 Dec 2018)

• Windows server:Fixed an issue that caused protected PDF documents to print as a blank page followed by an error page.

1.0.2079 (03 Dec 2018)

• Windows server: Fixed a memory leak on Windows 64 bit servers that caused slow print performance after a few hours of printing in high print volume environments.

1.0.2052 (30 Nov 2018)

• Chromebook: Users can now print from any Android app that allows printing, using the PaperCut Android app.

• macOS and Linux: Fixed an issue where the Mobility Print server didn't detect CUPS default printers.

• Windows: Fixed an issue where user color selection was overridden by queue defaults in the following drivers:

  • RISO FW5230 GDI 3.0.0.0

  • RISO FW5230 PS 3.0.0.0

  • Kyocera TASKalfa 5052ci KX 7.4.830.0

  • FX ApeosPort-VI C5571 PCL 6 6.10.4.1

• Windows: Fixed an issue where some PDF documents resulted in printing "ERROR: rangecheck OFFENDING COMMAND: xyshow".

1.0.1978 (16 Oct 2018)

• macOS: Fixed an issue where the Mobility Print server doesn't broadcast any printers when Ghostscript was not installed.

1.0.1950 (10 Oct 2018)

• Fixed an issue where Mobility Print ignored the selected DPI for print jobs.

• Updated the End User License Agreement (EULA).

1.0.1909 (04 Sep 2018)

• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the PaperCut MF Application Server to crash when used with a Site Server and a Mobility Print server.

• Updated the Mobility Print Help Center design.

• Windows clients:

  • Increased the network request timeout from 5 seconds to 30 seconds.

  • Fixed an issue where multiple print jobs merged into one print job.

• iOS clients:

  • Fixed an issue causing PerJob authentication to occasionally stop working.

1.0.1849 (23 Jul 2018)

• ChromeOS client: Fixed an issue where printers were not found when Mobility Print was behind some firewalls and proxies.
• Updated the End User License Agreement (EULA).

1.0.1841 (13 Jul 2018)

• Linux & macOS servers:

  • Fixed an issue where the Duplex printing option is not detected properly for some printers.
  • Fixed an issue where printing from a client using IPv6 does not work.

1.0.1833 (10 Jul 2018)

• macOS client: Fixed an issue where print jobs were held for authentication when per job authentication is turned on for that printer.
• Android client: Changed the “Remember me” duration from 7 days to 30 days.
• ChromeOS client: Changed the “Remember me” duration from 7 days to 30 days.
• Windows server: The Layout (Landscape/Portrait) print setting can now be selected on Chromebook clients.

1.0.1793 (28 May 2018)

• Linux & macOS servers: Fixed an issue on macOS clients where non-default paper sizes would not print.

  Windows server: Fixed an issue on macOS clients where non-default paper sizes would not print.

  Fixed an issue in the Admin interface where the Japanese translation of a message was not displayed correctly.

1.0.1783 (17 May 2018)

• Windows server: Fixed issues where color selection was ignored by the following drivers:
  • Konica Minolta C658 PCL6 Version 7.1.1.0
  • Konica Minolta C287 Series PCL 5.1.3
  • Konica Minolta C368 PCL Version 10.1.1.0

1.0.1781 (14 May 2018)

• Fixed a rare issue that caused grayscale color selection to be ignored.
• Windows client: Updated the discovery.log file to improve the support of printer discovery.
• Windows server: Fixed issues where color selection was ignored by the following drivers:
  • Fuji Xerox ApeosPort-VI C4471 PCL 6 Version: 6.10.1.5

1.0.1762 (08 May 2018)

• Linux & macOS servers: Fixed an issue preventing the account selection popup from being displayed when enabled. This fix requires PaperCut NG/MF 18.1.3.

1.0.1757 (27 Apr 2018)

1.0.1756 (17 Apr 2018)

• Windows client: Fixed issue where advanced printer features are enabled by default, which cause ordering issues whilst printing
• Fixed an issue where the list of printer subnet filtering rules were not displayed in a consistent order.
• Fixed an issue where a printer config file was deleted when formatted incorrectly
• Windows server: Fixed an issue where printing from Android and ChromeOS does not work with particular driver.
• Windows server: Fixed issues where color selection was ignored by the following drivers:

1.0.1750 (10 Apr 2018)

• Updated the End User License Agreement (EULA).
• Security enhancements to prevent clickjacking and Cross Site Scripting (XSS).
• macOS: Fixed an issue where the Mobility Print server did not print A3.

1.0.1735 (28 Mar 2018)

• Windows server: Updated translation for French, Italian, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Russian.
• Windows server: Fixed an issue where printing in color would generate grayscale output for Ricoh PS Universal Driver 4.16.

1.0.1662 (13 Feb 2018)

• Windows: Fixed an issue where the print output is distorted for some specific PDF files from ChromeOS.

1.0.1627 (17 Jan 2018)

• Linux: Fixed an issue where the Mobility Print server crashed when the search domain in /etc/resolv.conf contained extra spaces.
• Linux: Fixed an issue where the installer did not add port forwarding rules to the Mobility Print DNS configuration.

1.0.1615 (09 Jan 2018)

• Linux: Fixed an issue where incorrect printer names were displayed on the Select printers dialog in the Admin interface.

1.0.1614 (03 Jan 2018)

• BIND DNS: Fixed a broken link to the BIND DNS information in the Help Center in Step 2 Add DNS records on the Configure DNS screen.

1.0.1611 (22 Dec 2017)

• Languages other than English: Fixed an issue where “Setting up device” help page link resulted in an error for Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese translations.

1.0.1604 (14 Dec 2017)

• .local search domains: Fixed an issue that incorrectly reported an error result in Step 3, Verify DNS records, of the DNS configuration page.
• macOS: Fixed an issue preventing client devices from connecting to Mobility Print.

1.0.1594 (12 Dec 2017)

• Languages other than English: Fixed the link to client setup instructions at the bottom of the Admin interface.

1.0.1575 (06 Dec 2017)

• Fixed an issue where old jobs were not cleaned up in spool folder.

1.0.1560 (30 Nov 2017)

• macOS clients: Fixed an issue causing all print jobs to print on A4 paper.

1.0.1550 (22 Nov 2017)

• macOS: Fixed an issue preventing client devices from connecting to Mobility Print when the macOS firewall is turned on.

1.0.1535 (15 Nov 2017)

• Added information about automatically disabling new printers to the Help Center.

1.0.1526 (14 Nov 2017)

• Linux and macOS: Fixed an issue where the username was wrapped in quotes in the PaperCut NG/MF Job Log.
• Added the ability to automatically disable printers when they are added printer on the Mobility Print server.

1.0.1514 (14 Nov 2017)

• Support for Mobility Print servers on Linux (CentOS 6+, RedHat 6+, Ubuntu, Debian 6.0+, Novell SuSE 11.0+) and Apple Mac OS X.
• Support for Mobility Print servers on Apple macOS (Mac OS X) 10.10+.

1.0.1116 (11 Oct 2017)

• Fixed an issue where DNS commands generated for Windows DNS created an invalid NS record.
• Updated translations for Admin UI.
• Collection of additional anonymous Mobility Print setup information to help improve the initial configuration experience.

1.0.1095 (06 Oct 2017)

• Fixed an issue causing Step 1 on the Configure DNS screen to become inaccessible when the Mobility Print server cannot detect a search domain.
• Fixed a broken link to the Help Center in the Subnets area in Step 1 on the Configure DNS screen.

1.0.1086 (05 Oct 2017)

• Added Portuguese-Portugal and Portuguese-Brazil translation of the client setup guide and Admin UI.
• Updated Japanese translations.
• Collection of additional anonymous Mobility Print setup information to help improve the initial configuration experience.

1.0.1031 (26 Sep 2017)

• Added translation for Catalan, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish for the client setup guide and Admin UI.

1.0.1024 (26 Sep 2017)

• Fixed an issue where DNS configuration dialog would not open due to the Mobility Print server not having a search domain.

1.0.1003 (21 Sep 2017)

• Updated the documentation structure.
• Added a new DNS command to add root zone pc-printer-discovery. when using subnets.

1.0.947 (14 Sep 2017)

• Fixed an issue where the Select printers button was not displayed on the Admin UI.

1.0.943 (14 Sep 2017)

• Updated link to the Configure DNS Service Discovery documentation.
• Remembered the user DNS server selection.
• Fixed the layout for when many subnets have been entered.

1.0.936 (13 Sep 2017)

• Redesign the DNS discovery configuration user experience.
• Updated the documentation for the new DNS discovery configuration.

1.0.899 (11 Sep 2017)

• Updated platform icons.
• Fixed an issue where mDNS discovery was displayed when turning on DNS discovery.

1.0.840 (04 Sep 2017)

• iOS clients: Fixed an occasional issue causing print jobs to not print.
• Prevented Google analytics from capturing anonymous data when data collection was disabled.

1.0.818 (31 Aug 2017)

• Updated information sent to PaperCut NG/MF from Mobility Print to include the accessible IP from DNS config file for when IPv6 is enabled.

1.0.777 (23 Aug 2017)

• Fixed an issue where the paper size options displayed on the iOS clients may not be the full set available on the printer.

1.0.760 (16 Aug 2017)

• Fixed an issue where Android devices could not discover any printers if one of printers has invalid print properties.

1.0.750 (10 Aug 2017)

• Added the ability to select paper size on iOS clients.
• Fixed an issue where black and white jobs from macOS were being printed in color.

1.0.738 (08 Aug 2017)

• Updated the Android documentation to show how to remove disabled printers.

1.0.715 (01 Aug 2017)

• Fixed an issue where iOS and Mac clients could not discover printers with BIND DNS server.

1.0.653 (17 Jul 2017)

• Windows clients: Fixed an issue preventing graphics-heavy documents from printing.

1.0.611 (07 Jul 2017)

• Fixed an issue where subnet filtering did not work on Android, Chromebook, and Windows clients if the Mobility Print server was behind NAT.

1.0.594 (30 Jun 2017)

• Fixed an issue where users with spaces in their username could not print from Windows clients.

1.0.583 (23 Jun 2017)

• Fixed the issue where black and white jobs on some printers resulted in large spool files and slow printing. To apply this fix PaperCut Print Provider should be updated to version 17.1.3 or higher.
• Fixed an issue with multiple Mobility Print servers using subnet filtering that prevented printer discovery on iOS and macOS

1.0.566 (21 Jun 2017)

• Changed the Mobility Print admin page link in PaperCut application server to point to the secure (HTTPS) port.

1.0.548 (19 Jun 2017)

• Fixed a typo in the Subnet Filtering rule setup example.

1.0.543 (16 Jun 2017)

• Additional collection of anonymous Mobility Print setup information to help improve initial configuration experience.

1.0.515 (07 June, 2017)

• Changed the behavior of Windows printing when per-job authentication is enabled on a printer. Windows devices can now print to all printer regardless of the authentication mode. (Requires Windows Printer Installer version 67 or higher)

1.0.508 (07 June, 2017)

• Fixed a rare issue where the Mobility Print server may become unresponsive where a large number of subnet filters are in use with many printers.

1.0.502 (02 June, 2017)

• Fixed a minor issue in anonymous Mobility Print setup information collection.

1.0.497 (01 June, 2017)

• Added anonymous Mobility Print setup information collection so that we can prioritise feature development based on functionality you are using.

1.0.481 (25 May, 2017)

• Fixed an issue in mDNS where the inaccessible IP addresses were returned to client. This resulted in printer discovery not working.

1.0.416 (16 May, 2017)

• Updated DNS setup guide for .local search domain to be compatible with subnet filtering.

1.0.410 (11 May, 2017)

• Fix an issue where an IPv6 DNS request caused the printer discovery to fail.

1.0.398 (09 May, 2017)

• Windows clients: Fixed an issue where printers became offline after restart in Windows 7 (Windows printer installer v58).
• Fixed an issue where Mobility Print Server could not connect to PaperCut application server due trailing spaces in print-provider.conf.
• Added support for detection of printer default resolution to resolve print quality issues.

1.0.387 (04 May, 2017)

• Added support for subnet based printer access. This allows you to provide access to a subset of printers depending on a client's subnet.
• Support for Mobility Print servers connected to a Site Server.
• Added support for configuring the Mobility Print IP address when it is not reachable by client, for example, if the Mobility Print server is behind a firewall.
• Windows clients: Fixed an issue where '@' in the username prevented printing.
• Windows clients: Fixed an issue where ',' and '\' in the Printer Location prevented the printer from being added.
• Added the display of subnet addresses on the Printer Preferences dialog.
• Added context-sensitive links to the Mobility Print documentation from the Printer Preferences dialog.

1.0.299 (13 April, 2017)

• Added support for Per job authentication. Per Job authentication mode enforces authentication for every print job.

1.0.287 (05 April, 2017)

• Mobility Print Help Center: Added instructions to set up DNS discovery for zones ending in .local
• The Mobility Print server now detects zones ending in .local.
• Added a link from the Discovery Setting dialog to the DNS Troubleshooting section in the Help Center.
• Installation: Added the ability to change the destination folder when installing the Mobility Print server.

1.0.257 (22 March, 2017)

• Mobility Print Help Center: Added instructions for installing Mobility Print on Site Server

1.0.249 (22 March, 2017)

• Fixed an issue where authentication failures from test users were being periodically logged in the Windows security log

Update: I’ve moved EasyCAP driver file hosting to Google Drive as Google Cloud billing hit $100 AUD per month, EasyCAP driver downloads were 638 Gigibytes for the month of November! All links have been updated. 🙂

The EasyCAP converts an RCA or S-video source into a USB video and audio capture device – known as a Sound, video and game controller device in Windows – the possibilities for connecting analog sources to a Windows machine are endless and it’s priced insanely cheap.

All of this positive feedback stops when you connect it to a Windows machine – XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and now 10 – and realise there are hundreds of variations of this device produced with drivers designed specific to each variant with no original manufacturer to provide drivers or compatibility… at this point most users bin it and go on with their lives… I almost gave up too…

[codex_nas_adsense]

After a fortnight of driver hunting, driver conflicts, BSOD’s from resource conflicts and even ‘Windows driver paywalls’ – where you have to pay to download drivers for the EasyCAP – I got ‘my’ EasyCAP working as a video and sound capture device in Windows 8.1 (and Windows 10)!

Here’s the gotcha, ‘my’ EasyCAP – shown in packaging above but with labels on each cable – is sold on eBay, Amazon, etc. as the EasyCAP Capture USB 2.0 Video Adapter with Audio which isshared by every other variant out there but internally it is called the eMPIA Technology USB 2861 Device.

Unfortunately there is no way to tell what variant you have until you open the package and check the Device Properties for that Unknown Device showing within the Windows Device Manager and at that point you then can start looking for drivers that may be ‘compatible’ with – definitely not designed for – Windows 8, 8.1 or 10.

The eMPIA Technology USB 2861 Device has the following hardware details shown within the Windows Device Manager.

Screenshot from Windows 8.1 and Windows 10

Manufacturer and Provider:

Hardware IDs:

• USB/VID_EB1A&PID_2861&REV_0100&MI=00
• USB/VID_EB1A&PID_2861&MI=00

Below is a link to the Windows 7 drivers that were compatible with my EasyCAP device and further down a list of other EasyCAP drivers you can try. All of them require you to disable Windows Driver Signature from Advanced Startup; you can read about this from Sparkfun’s tutorial for Disabling Signed Driver Enforcement in Windows 8.

The driver package that worked in Windows 8.1 and now Windows 10:

I suspect this USB 2861 Device 5.8.306.0 – 3/6/2008 driver package hosted on the Microsoft Update Catalog is a newer driver release than the one I have working but I have not installed it so cannot confirm compatibility; in my mind, don’t fix something that ain’t broke…

Other driver packages and installers that might help other frustrated EasyCAP users (some are duplicates but different driver versions), good luck!

Note: Google Drive cannot scan ZIP archives over 85MB and EasyCAP_USBVID_1B71&PID_3002_FullCD.zip just happens to be 85MB, while EasyCAP CAPTURE USB 2.0 Video Adapter with Audio.zip is 151MB. It’s clean just wanted to give you heads up. All other download files are ~4MB up to 34MB.

Yup we hit the $100 AUD per month billing limit for file hosting, the downloads links are now direct links to Google Drive. If you have a question ask here in the comments as other readers may help you.

Published by

A version of the Windows NT operating system
Developer	Microsoft
Source model
Released to manufacturing	August 24, 2001; 19 years ago (2001-08-24)[2]
General availability	October 25, 2001; 18 years ago (2001-10-25)[2]
Final release	Service Pack 3 (5.1.2600) / April 21, 2008; 12 years ago (2008-04-21)[3]
Update method
Platforms	IA-32, x86-64, and Itanium
Kernel type	Hybrid (NT)
License	Proprietarycommercial software
Preceded by	Windows 2000 (2000) Windows Me (2000)
Succeeded by	Windows Vista (2006)
Support status

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was the successor to both Windows 2000 for professional users and Windows Me for home users. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and broadly released for retail sale on October 25, 2001.

Development of Windows XP began in the late 1990s as "Neptune", an operating system (OS) built on the Windows NT kernel which was intended specifically for mainstream consumer use. An updated version of Windows 2000 was also originally planned for the business market; however, in January 2000, both projects were scrapped in favor of a single OS codenamed "Whistler", which would serve as a single OS platform for both consumer and business markets. As such, Windows XP was the first consumer edition of Windows not to be based on MS-DOS.^[5]

Upon its release, Windows XP received critical acclaim, with critics noting increased performance and stability (especially in comparison to Windows Me), a more intuitive user interface, improved hardware support, and expanded multimedia capabilities. However, some industry reviewers were concerned by the new licensing model and product activation system.^[6]

Extended support for Windows XP ended on April 8, 2014, after which the operating system ceased receiving further support or security updates (with exceptional security updates being made e.g. in 2019, to address potential ransomware threats, like BlueKeep) to most users. By August 2019, Microsoft (and others) had ended support for games on Windows XP. As of August 2020^[update], 0.8% of Windows PCs run Windows XP,^[7] and 0.3% of all devices across all platforms run Windows XP. At least a few countries have double-digit use, e.g. Armenia, where it's being replaced by Windows 10, with both operating systems having over 40% use.^[8]

Development[edit]

In the late 1990s, initial development of what would become Windows XP was focused on two individual products: "Odyssey", which was reportedly intended to succeed the future Windows 2000; and "Neptune", which was reportedly a consumer-oriented operating system using the Windows NT architecture, succeeding the MS-DOS-based Windows 98.^[9]

However, the projects proved to be too ambitious. In January 2000, shortly prior to the official release of Windows 2000, technology writer Paul Thurrott reported that Microsoft had shelved both Neptune and Odyssey in favor of a new product codenamed "Whistler", after Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort.^[10] The goal of Whistler was to unify both the consumer and business-oriented Windows lines under a single, Windows NT platform: Thurrott stated that Neptune had become "a black hole when all the features that were cut from Windows Me were simply re-tagged as Neptune features. And since Neptune and Odyssey would be based on the same code-base anyway, it made sense to combine them into a single project".^[11]

At PDC on July 13, 2000, Microsoft announced that Whistler would be released during the second half of 2001, and also unveiled the first preview build, 2250. The build notably introduced an early version of Windows XP's visual styles system.^[12]

Microsoft released the first beta build of Whistler, build 2296, on October 31, 2000. Subsequent builds gradually introduced features that users of the release version of Windows XP would recognize, such as Internet Explorer 6.0, the Microsoft Product Activation system and the Bliss desktop background.^[13]

Whistler was officially unveiled during a media event on February 5, 2001, under the name Windows XP, where XP stands for "eXPerience".^[14]

Release[edit]

In June 2001, Microsoft indicated that it was planning to, in conjunction with Intel and other PC makers, spend at least 1 billion US dollars on marketing and promoting Windows XP.^[15] The theme of the campaign, "Yes You Can", was designed to emphasize the platform's overall capabilities. Microsoft had originally planned to use the slogan "Prepare to Fly", but it was replaced because of sensitivity issues in the wake of the September 11 attacks.^[16]

On August 24, 2001, Windows XP build 2600 was released to manufacturing (RTM). During a ceremonial media event at Microsoft Redmond Campus, copies of the RTM build were given to representatives of several major PC manufacturers in briefcases, who then flew off on decorated helicopters. While PC manufacturers would be able to release devices running XP beginning on September 24, 2001, XP was expected to reach general, retail availability on October 25, 2001. On the same day, Microsoft also announced the final retail pricing of XP's two main editions, "Home" and "Professional".^[17]

New and updated features[edit]

User interface[edit]

Updated start menu in the Royale theme, now featuring two columns

While retaining some similarities to previous versions, Windows XP's interface was overhauled with a new visual appearance, with an increased use of alpha compositing effects, drop shadows, and "visual styles", which completely changed the appearance of the operating system. The number of effects enabled are determined by the operating system based on the computer's processing power, and can be enabled or disabled on a case-by-case basis. XP also added ClearType, a new subpixel rendering system designed to improve the appearance of fonts on liquid-crystal displays.^[18] A new set of system icons was also introduced.^[19] The default wallpaper, Bliss, is a photo of a landscape in the Napa Valley outside Napa, California, with rolling green hills and a blue sky with stratocumulus and cirrus clouds.^[20]

The Start menu received its first major overhaul in XP, switching to a two-column layout with the ability to list, pin, and display frequently used applications, recently opened documents, and the traditional cascading "All Programs" menu. The taskbar can now group windows opened by a single application into one taskbar button, with a popup menu listing the individual windows. The notification area also hides "inactive" icons by default. A "common tasks" list was added, and Windows Explorer's sidebar was updated to use a new task-based design with lists of common actions; the tasks displayed are contextually relevant to the type of content in a folder (e.g. a folder with music displays offers to play all the files in the folder, or burn them to a CD).^[21]

The "task grouping" feature introduced in Windows XP showing both grouped and individual items

Fast user switching allows additional users to log into a Windows XP machine without existing users having to close their programs and logging out. Although only one user at the time can use the console (i.e. monitor, keyboard and mouse), previous users can resume their session once they regain control of the console.^[22]

Infrastructure[edit]

Windows XP uses prefetching to improve startup and application launch times.^[23] It also became possible to revert the installation of an updated device driver, should the updated driver produce undesirable results.^[24]

A copy protection system known as Windows Product Activation was introduced with Windows XP and its server counterpart, Windows Server 2003. All Windows licenses must be tied to a unique ID generated using information from the computer hardware, transmitted either via the internet or a telephone hotline. If Windows is not activated within 30 days of installation, the OS will cease to function until it is activated. Windows also periodically verifies the hardware to check for changes. If significant hardware changes are detected, the activation is voided, and Windows must be re-activated.^[25]

Networking and internet functionality[edit]

Windows XP was originally bundled with Internet Explorer 6, Outlook Express 6, Windows Messenger, and MSN Explorer. New networking features were also added, including Internet Connection Firewall, Internet Connection Sharing integration with UPnP, NAT traversal APIs, Quality of Service features, IPv6 and Teredo tunneling, Background Intelligent Transfer Service, extended fax features, network bridging, peer to peer networking, support for most DSL modems, IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) connections with auto configuration and roaming, TAPI 3.1, and networking over FireWire.^[26]Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop were also added, which allow users to connect to a computer running Windows XP from across a network or the Internet and access their applications, files, printers, and devices or request help.^[27] Improvements were also made to IntelliMirror features such as Offline Files, Roaming user profiles and Folder redirection.^[28]

Other features[edit]

• Improved application compatibility and shims compared to Windows 2000.^[29]
• DirectX 8.1, upgradeable to DirectX 9.0c.^[30]
• A number of new features in Windows Explorer including task panes, thumbnails, and the option to view photos as a slideshow.^[31]
• Improved imaging features such as Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.^[32]
• Faster start-up, (because of improved Prefetch functions) logon, logoff, hibernation, and application launch sequences.^[23]
• Numerous improvements to increase the system reliability such as improved System Restore,^[33]Automated System Recovery,^[34] and driver reliability improvements through Device Driver Rollback.^[35]
• Hardware support improvements such as FireWire 800,^[36] and improvements to multi-monitor support under the name "DualView".^[37]
• Fast user switching.^[38]
• The ClearType font rendering mechanism, which is designed to improve text readability on liquid-crystal display (LCD) and similar monitors, especially laptops.^[18]
• Side-by-side assemblies^[39] and registration-free COM.^[40]
• General improvements to international support such as more locales, languages and scripts, MUI support in Terminal Services, improved Input Method Editors, and National Language Support.^[41]

Removed features[edit]

Some of the programs and features that were part of the previous versions of Windows did not make it to Windows XP. Various MS-DOS commands available in its Windows 9x predecessor were removed,^[42] as were the POSIX & OS/2 subsystems.^[43]

In networking, NetBEUI, NWLink and NetDDE were deprecated and not installed by default.^[44]Plug-and-play–incompatible communication devices (like modems and network interface cards) were no longer supported.^[45]

Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 3 also removed features from Windows XP, but to a less noticeable extent. For instance, support for TCP half-open connections was removed in Service Pack 2,^[46] and the address bar on the taskbar was removed in Service Pack 3.^[47]

Editions[edit]

Diagram representing the main editions of Windows XP. It is based on the category of the edition (grey) and codebase (black arrow).

Windows XP was released in two major editions on launch: Home Edition and Professional Edition. Both editions were made available at retail as pre-loaded software on new computers and as boxed copies. Boxed copies were sold as "Upgrade" or "Full" licenses; the "Upgrade" versions were slightly cheaper, but require an existing version of Windows to install. The "Full" version can be installed on systems without an operating system or existing version of Windows.^[15] The two editions of XP were aimed at different markets: Home Edition is explicitly intended for consumer use and disables or removes certain advanced and enterprise-oriented features present on Professional, such as the ability to join a Windows domain, Internet Information Services, and Multilingual User Interface. Windows 98 or Me can be upgraded to either edition, but Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 can only be upgraded to Professional.^[48] Windows' software license agreement for pre-loaded licenses allows the software to be "returned" to the OEM for a refund if the user does not wish to use it.^[49] Despite the refusal of some manufacturers to honor the entitlement, it has been enforced by courts in some countries.^[50]

Two specialized variants of XP were introduced in 2002 for certain types of hardware, exclusively through OEM channels as pre-loaded software. Windows XP Media Center Edition was initially designed for high-end home theater PCs with TV tuners (marketed under the term "Media Center PC"), offering expanded multimedia functionality, an electronic program guide, and digital video recorder (DVR) support through the Windows Media Center application.^[51] Microsoft also unveiled Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, which contains additional pen input features, and is optimized for mobile devices meeting its Tablet PC specifications.^[52] Two different 64-bit editions of XP were made available; the first, Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, was intended for IA-64 (Itanium) systems; as IA-64 usage declined on workstations in favor of AMD's x86-64 architecture (which was supported by the later Windows XP Professional x64 Edition), the Itanium edition was discontinued in 2005.^[53]

Microsoft also targeted emerging markets with the 2004 introduction of Windows XP Starter Edition, a special variant of Home Edition intended for low-cost PCs. The OS is primarily aimed at first-time computer owners, containing heavy localization (including wallpapers and screen savers incorporating images of local landmarks), and a "My Support" area which contains video tutorials on basic computing tasks. It also removes certain "complex" features, and does not allow users to run more than three applications at a time. After a pilot program in India and Thailand, Starter was released in other emerging markets throughout 2005.^[54] In 2006, Microsoft also unveiled the FlexGo initiative, which would also target emerging markets with subsidized PCs on a pre-paid, subscription basis.^[55]

As the result of unfair competition lawsuits in Europe and South Korea, which both alleged that Microsoft had improperly leveraged its status in the PC market to favor its own bundled software, Microsoft was ordered to release special editions of XP in these markets that excluded certain applications. In March 2004, after the European Commissionfined Microsoft €497 million (US$603 million), Microsoft was ordered to release "N" editions of XP that excluded Windows Media Player, encouraging users to pick and download their own media player software.^[56] As it was sold at the same price as the edition with Windows Media Player included, certain OEMs (such as Dell, who offered it for a short period, along with Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Fujitsu Siemens) chose not to offer it. Consumer interest was minuscule, with roughly 1,500 units shipped to OEMs, and no reported sales to consumers.^[57] In December 2005, the Korean Fair Trade Commission ordered Microsoft to make available editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 that do not contain Windows Media Player or Windows Messenger.^[58] The "K" and "KN" editions of Windows XP were released in August 2006, and are only available in English and Korean, and also contain links to third-party instant messenger and media player software.^[59]

Service packs[edit]

A service pack is a cumulative update package that is a superset of all updates, and even service packs, that have been released before it.^[60] Three service packs have been released for Windows XP. Service Pack 3 is slightly different, in that it needs at least Service Pack 1 to have been installed, in order to update a live OS.^[61] However, Service Pack 3 can still be embedded into a Windows installation disc; SP1 is not reported as a prerequisite for doing so.^[62]

Service Pack 1[edit]

Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows XP was released on September 9, 2002. It contained over 300 minor, post-RTM bug fixes, along with all security patches released since the original release of XP. SP1 also added USB 2.0 support, the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine, .NET Framework support, and support for technologies used by the then-upcoming Media Center and Tablet PC editions of XP.^[63] The most significant change on SP1 was the addition of Set Program Access and Defaults, a settings page which allows programs to be set as default for certain types of activities (such as media players or web browsers) and for access to bundled, Microsoft programs (such as Internet Explorer or Windows Media Player) to be disabled. This feature was added to comply with the settlement of United States v. Microsoft Corp., which required Microsoft to offer the ability for OEMs to bundle third-party competitors to software it bundles with Windows (such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player), and give them the same level of prominence as those normally bundled with the OS.^[64]

On February 3, 2003, Microsoft released Service Pack 1a (SP1a). It was the same as SP1, except, the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine was excluded.^[65]

Service Pack 2[edit]

Service Pack 2 (SP2) was released on August 25, 2004.^[66] Headline features included WPA encryption compatibility for Wi-Fi & usability improvements to the Wi-Fi networking user interface,^[67] partial Bluetooth support,^[68] and various improvements to security systems.

The security improvements (codenamed "Springboard",^[69] as these features were intended to underpin additional changes in Longhorn), included a major revision to the included firewall (renamed Windows Firewall, and now enabled by default), and an update to Data Execution Prevention, which gained hardware support in the NX bit that can stop some forms of buffer overflow attacks. Raw socket support is removed (which supposedly limits the damage done by zombie machines) and the Windows Messenger service (which had been abused to cause pop-up advertisements to be displayed as system messages without a web browser or any additional software) became disabled by default. Additionally, security-related improvements were made to e-mail and web browsing. Service Pack 2 also added Security Center, an interface which provides a general overview of the system's security status, including the state of the firewall and automatic updates. Third-party firewall and antivirus software can also be monitored from Security Center.^[70]

The unique boot screens that identified the edition of Windows XP currently running, including a green progress bar for Home Edition and a blue progress bar for other editions, were removed and replaced with a generic "Windows XP" boot screen with a blue progress bar with this service pack.

In August 2006, Microsoft released updated installation media for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 SP2 (SP2b), in order to incorporate a patch requiring ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer to be manually activated before a user may interact with them. This was done so that the browser would not violate a patent owned by Eolas.^[71] Microsoft has since licensed the patent, and released a patch reverting the change in April 2008.^[72] In September 2007, another minor revision known as SP2c was released for XP Professional, extending the number of available product keys for the operating system to "support the continued availability of Windows XP Professional through the scheduled system builder channel end-of-life (EOL) date of January 31, 2009."^[73]

Service Pack 3[edit]

The third and final Service Pack, SP3, was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008, and to the public via both the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update on May 6, 2008.^[3] Service Pack 3 is not available for Windows XP x64 Edition, which is based on the Windows Server 2003 kernel and, as a result, uses its service packs^[74] rather than the ones for the other editions.^[75]

It began being automatically pushed out to Automatic Updates users on July 10, 2008.^[76] A feature set overview which details new features available separately as stand-alone updates to Windows XP, as well as backported features from Windows Vista, has been posted by Microsoft.^[77] A total of 1,174 fixes are included in SP3.^[78] Service Pack 3 can be installed on systems with Internet Explorer versions 6, 7, or 8; Internet Explorer 7 is not included as part of SP3.^[79]

Service Pack 3 included security enhancements over and above those of SP2, including APIs allowing developers to enable Data Execution Prevention for their code, independent of system-wide compatibility enforcement settings,^[80] the Security Support Provider Interface,^[81] improvements to WPA2 security,^[82] and an updated version of the Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic Provider Module that is FIPS 140-2 certified.^[83]

In incorporating all previously released updates not included in SP2, Service Pack 3 included many other key features. Windows Imaging Component allowed camera vendors to integrate their own proprietary image codecs with the operating system's features, such as thumbnails and slideshows.^[84] In enterprise features, Remote Desktop Protocol 6.1 included support for ClearType and 32-bit color depth over RDP,^[85] while improvements made to Windows Management Instrumentation in Windows Vista to reduce the possibility of corruption of the WMI repository were backported to XP SP3.^[86]

In addition, SP3 contains updates to the operating system components of Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and security updates for .NET Framework version 1.0, which is included in these editions. However, it does not include update rollups for the Windows Media Center application in Windows XP MCE 2005.^[87] SP3 also omits security updates for Windows Media Player 10, although the player is included in Windows XP MCE 2005.^[87] The Address Bar DeskBand on the Taskbar is no longer included because of antitrust violation concerns.^[88]

System requirements[edit]

System requirements for Windows XP are as follows:

Notes[edit]

Physical memory limits[edit]

The maximum amount of RAM that Windows XP can support varies depending on the product edition and the processor architecture, as shown in the following table.^[89]

Processor limits[edit]

Windows XP Professional supports up to two physical processors;^[91] Windows XP Home Edition is limited to one.^[92]

However, XP supports a greater number of logical processors: 32-bit editions support up to 32 logical processors,^[93] whereas 64-bit editions support up to 64 logical processors.^[94]

Support lifecycle[edit]

Support for Windows XP without a service pack ended on September 30, 2005.^[4] Windows XP Service Packs 1 and 1a were retired on October 10, 2006,^[4] and Service Pack 2 reached end of support on July 13, 2010, almost six years after its general availability.^[4] The company stopped general licensing of Windows XP to OEMs and terminated retail sales of the operating system on June 30, 2008, 17 months after the release of Windows Vista.^[100] However, an exception was announced on April 3, 2008, for OEMs producing what it defined as "ultra low-cost personal computers", particularly netbooks, until one year after the availability of Windows 7 on October 22, 2010. Analysts felt that the move was primarily intended to compete against Linux-based netbooks, although Microsoft's Kevin Hutz stated that the decision was due to apparent market demand for low-end computers with Windows.^[101]

Variants of Windows XP for embedded systems have different support policies: Windows XP Embedded SP3 and Windows Embedded for Point of Service SP3 were supported until January and April 2016, respectively. Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 were supported until January and April 2019, respectively.^[102] These updates, while intended for the embedded editions, could also be downloaded on standard Windows XP with a registry hack, which enabled unofficial patches until April 2019. However, Microsoft advised against Windows XP users installing these fixes.^[103]

End of support[edit]

On April 14, 2009, Windows XP exited mainstream support and entered the extended support phase; Microsoft continued to provide security updates every month for Windows XP, however, free technical support, warranty claims, and design changes were no longer being offered. Extended support ended on April 8, 2014, over 12 years since the release of XP; normally Microsoft products have a support life cycle of only 10 years.^[104] Beyond the final security updates released on April 8, no more security patches or support information are provided for XP free-of-charge; "critical patches" will still be created, and made available only to customers subscribing to a paid "Custom Support" plan.^[105] As it is a Windows component, all versions of Internet Explorer for Windows XP also became unsupported.^[106]

In January 2014, it was estimated that more than 95% of the 3 million automated teller machines in the world were still running Windows XP (which largely replaced IBM's OS/2 as the predominant operating system on ATMs); ATMs have an average lifecycle of between seven and ten years, but some have had lifecycles as long as 15. Plans were being made by several ATM vendors and their customers to migrate to Windows 7-based systems over the course of 2014, while vendors have also considered the possibility of using Linux-based platforms in the future to give them more flexibility for support lifecycles, and the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) has since endorsed Windows 10 as a further replacement.^[107] However, ATMs typically run the embedded variant of Windows XP, which was supported through January 2016.^[108] As of May 2017, around 60% of the 220,000 ATMs in India still run Windows XP.^[109]

Furthermore, at least 49% of all computers in China still ran XP at the beginning of 2014. These holdouts were influenced by several factors; prices of genuine copies of Windows in the country are high, while Ni Guangnan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences warned that Windows 8 could allegedly expose users to surveillance by the United States government,^[110] and the Chinese government would ban the purchase of Windows 8 products for government use in May 2014 in protest of Microsoft's inability to provide "guaranteed" support.^[111] The government also had concerns that the impending end of support could affect their anti-piracy initiatives with Microsoft, as users would simply pirate newer versions rather than purchasing them legally. As such, government officials formally requested that Microsoft extend the support period for XP for these reasons. While Microsoft did not comply with their requests, a number of major Chinese software developers, such as Lenovo, Kingsoft and Tencent, will provide free support and resources for Chinese users migrating from XP.^[112] Several governments, in particular those of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, elected to negotiate "Custom Support" plans with Microsoft for their continued, internal use of Windows XP; the British government's deal lasted for a year, and also covered support for Office 2003 (which reached end-of-life the same day) and cost £5.5 million.^[113]

On March 8, 2014, Microsoft deployed an update for XP that, on the 8th of each month, displays a pop-up notification to remind users about the end of support; however, these notifications may be disabled by the user.^[114] Microsoft also partnered with Laplink to provide a special "express" version of its PCmover software to help users migrate files and settings from XP to a computer with a newer version of Windows.^[115]