Zorba the Geek

The link to alexfree's website where you can obtain the source code is broken, so I have uploaded it to my 4Shared account from where you can download it at the following links File: winxp_python3.6.15-src.zip (4Shared) File: winxp_python3.6.15-src.zip (Google Drive) MD5: 4CAE917675AE7F91F03808F026EA619C SHA-1: 2668E14644007B6A15EF1201E8741353C36CDDFF SHA-256: 0F564388025A843DEFF31AC8AA4CE808369D160D4C417BF0ED53249D04EA38B6 Release date: 26/12/2021 Size: 27.6 MB I have succeeded in compiling it according to the instructions given in readme.txt, and I would be interested in reading about other people's experience of doing the compile. I am mainly concerned about identifying where are the components of this Python 3.6 are located because as far as I can tell they are scattered around both Cygwin and the source folder. Once I identify them I ought to be able to assemble them into a package that can be archived or shared. As far as I can tell this python can be run outside of Cygwin as it is linked to a few Cygwin dlls such as Cygwin1.dll, Cygintl-8dll and Cyggcc_5-1.dll which can be included in the distribution. Note: 4Shared is blocked in the UK. Use VPN servers located in the United States or the Netherlands.

I have compiled Windows XP compatible builds of psutil-5.5.1-cp38-cp38-win32.whl and psutil-5.5.1-cp27-cp27m-win32.whl which you can obtain as direct downloads. I have tested _psutil_windows.cp38-win32.pyd and _psutil_windows.pyd with Dependency Walker and there are no missing imports under XP. I have further tested them by installing them into the Python 3.8.13 supplied by cmalex and then rebuilding Loki, and everything works fine when Loki is run. To create these Windows XP compatible builds of psutil-5.5.1 I first had to delete these lines in setup.py: 111 if sys.getwindowsversion()[0] < 6: 112 msg = "this Windows version is too old (< Windows Vista); " 113 msg += "psutil 3.4.2 is the latest version which supports Windows " 114 msg += "2000, XP and 2003 server" 115 raise RuntimeError(msg) Then I added these lines after line 10 in _psutil_windows.c #define WINVER 0x0501 #define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0501 These #define statements instruct the compiler to select the Windows XP options in the code suitable for the target OS. These XP compatible builds have reduced functionality due to the functions ConvertLengthToIpv4Mask and GetIfEntry2 not being available in iphlpapi.dll version 5.1.2600.5512. GetTickCount64 has been replaced with GetTickCount. The Return NICs addresses section has reduced functionality due to the absence of ConvertLengthToIpv4Mask. The Return path's disk total and free as a Python tuple section has reduced functionality due to the absence of GetIfEntry2. The Return the number of physical CPU cores section was removed for Windows XP and VISTA after version 3.4.2 because they decided to use GetLogicalProcessorInformationEx rather than GetLogicalProcessorInformation. I tried to copy this section of code from version 3.4.2 to version 5.5.1, but naturally compilation failed with lots of undefined variables messages. It could be possible to make Windows XP compatible versions of psutil up to version 5.6.7 if you are prepared to rewrite the code in _psutil_windows.c and possibly elsewhere which I am not qualified to do.

I have successfully compiled an XP compatible version of the latest release from Github which is 0.45 and now it runs perfectly with no error messages. You can try it out by downloading loki-0.45.0-xp.7z from my 4Shared account. You will also require this limited implementation of bcrypt.dll intended for running ffmpeg under Windows XP. It supplies the BCryptGenRandom function required by yara.cp35-win32.pyd. It should be placed somewhere in your path like the System32 folder. Also the Microsoft TCP/IP version 6 network protocol is required by netaddr (I need to work on this). If you want to compile it yourself you need to install the following Python packages: colorama-0.4.6, future-0.18.3, netaddr-0.8.0, psutil-3.4.2, rfc5424-logging-handler-1.43, pywin32-300, wmi-1.5.0, yara-python-4.3.0, and pyinstaller-4.10. There is no distribution of psutil-3.4.2 for Python 3.8. so I have compiled a wheel for psutil-3.4.2 which you can download here. You will require the build of pe-sieve32.exe that does not require the function GetTickCount64 made available by cmalex here. Loki seems to work OK with psutil-3.4.2, but the yara-python developers recommend version =>5.6.7. It is possible to compile psutil-5.5.1 for Windows XP with reduced functionality, because _psutil_windows.c includes options for VISTA+ and XP depending on your operating system. These are typically shown as #if (_WIN32_WINNT >= 0x0600) // Windows Vista and above Lines of code #else // Windows XP Lines of code #endif With a Python 3.8 installation this can only be done with VC14 under VISTA+ which means that the XP only options cannot be implemented. Therefore it ought to be possible to edit _psutil_windows.c to remove the winnt>=6.0 specific code and compile an XP compatible build using VC14. Also it is necessary to delete these lines in setup.py 111 if sys.getwindowsversion()[0] < 6: 112 msg = "this Windows version is too old (< Windows Vista); " 113 msg += "psutil 3.4.2 is the latest version which supports Windows " 114 msg += "2000, XP and 2003 server" 115 raise RuntimeError(msg)

The Stackoverflow post did not provide information for fully modifying PHP 7.3 code to be compatible with Windows XP and POSReady 2009. It merely detailed a change to a single line of code needed to run it with One Core API.

See my next post

cmalex thanks for taking the time to comment on the issues we have raised. I need help compiling LOKi the IOC scanner which requires Python 3.8, but is not supposed to support XP. I know that this should be raised as an issue at the LOKI Github site, but I am afraid they may laugh at me when I tell them I am trying to compile it for XP. After version 0.45 was compiled on a Windows 8.1 machine LOKI ran fine with the following Python modules chosen for compatibility with XP: pyinstaller-4.10. psutils-3.4.2, and pywin32-304 To run it on an XP machine I have to install Microsoft TCP/IP version 6 required by Brotli, and an XP compatible bcrypt.dll required by yara-python. When first run under XP I receive this error message: Linux System - deactivating process memory check ... Traceback (most recent call last): File "loki.py", line 1515, in <module> File "loki.py", line 1490, in main File "lib\helpers.py", line 284, in getHostname AttributeError: module 'os' has no attribute 'uname' After some Googling I remedied this by editing this block of code in Loki-0.45.0\Lib\helpers.py 297 # Computername 298 if os_platform == "linux" or os_platform == "macos": 299 return os.uname()[1] 300 else: 301 return os.environ['COMPUTERNAME'] by changing os.uname() [1] to platform.uname() [1] This resulted in a new error message thus: Traceback (most recent call last): File "loki.py", line 1535, in <module> File "loki.py", line 142, in __init__ File "loki.py", line 1413, in updateLoki File "subprocess.py", line 858, in __init__ File "subprocess.py", line 1311, in _execute_child FileNotFoundError: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified After some Googling I remedied this by altering the following block of code in Python38\Lib\subprocess.py 736 def __init__(self, args, bufsize=-1, executable=None, 737 stdin=None, stdout=None, stderr=None, 738 preexec_fn=None, close_fds=True, 739 shell=False, cwd=None, env=None, universal_newlines=None, 740 startupinfo=None, creationflags=0, 741 restore_signals=True, start_new_session=False, 742 pass_fds=(), *, encoding=None, errors=None, text=None): and changed shell-False to shell=True. This then resulted in another error message thus: Python path configuration: PYTHONHOME = 'D:\DOCUME~1\\LOCALS~1\Temp\_MEI32882' PYTHONPATH = (not set) program name = 'D:\Loki-0.45.0\dist\loki.exe' isolated = 0 environment = 0 user site = 0 import site = 0 sys._base_executable = 'D:\\Loki-0.45.0\\dist\\loki.exe' sys.base_prefix = '' sys.base_exec_prefix = '' sys.executable = 'D:\\Loki-0.45.0\\dist\\loki.exe' sys.prefix = '' sys.exec_prefix = '' sys.path = [ 'D:\\DOCUME~1\\USERPR~1\\LOCALS~1\\Temp\\_MEI32882\\base_library.zip', 'D:\\DOCUME~1\\USERPR~1\\LOCALS~1\\Temp\\_MEI32882\\lib-dynload', 'D:\\DOCUME~1\\USERPR~1\\LOCALS~1\\Temp\\_MEI32882', ] Fatal Python error: init_fs_encoding: failed to get the Python codec of the filesystem encoding Python runtime state: core initialized LookupError: unknown encoding: utf-8 At this point I am at my wits end because utf_8.py is present in the Python encodings folder. I am trying to compare the code between version 0.45 and version 0.33 the last XP compatible version looking for clues. This is complicated by the fact that version 0.33 was written for Python 2.7.

I think what you mean is that _imaging.cp38-win32.pyd should be opened with CFFExplorer and the import directory edited so that the module named KERNEL32.DLL is renamed to kernelXP.dll. I assume that kernelXP.dll supplied in the External folder of your distribution should be placed in the same folder as _imaging.cp38-win32.pyd. The missing imports InitializeConditionVariable, InitializeCriticalSectionEx, SleepConditionVariableCS and WakeConditionVariable from kernel32.dll are actually supplied by kerneXP.dll so this might work. I wonder if we can rely modules from the Xompie project like kernelXP.dll to allow the use of up to date Python modules with C extensions incompatible with XP as long as they supply the required functions to be imported.

I want to thank cmalex for all the effort he must have made in producing this backported build of Python 3.8.13. I have succeeded in compiling an XP compatible yt-dlp which is very fortunate because I doubt if there are any other video downloaders currently being developed that support XP. My problem with installing psutils was caused by my use of an unsuitable copy of pyconfig.h which lacked the line #define NT_THREADS. I used the pyconfig.h from version 3.4 which seemed to work. I am including it as an attachment. I have revised my package of this backported Python 3.8.13 in a number of ways and you can download it from my 4Shared account here. The SHA1 hash is bfe13847982d0d75f48b750f8bd700decd72ac87.Here is a list of changes to the package: I have included the pyconfig.h file from the MSI installer of Python 3.8.13, and changed the following lines /* set the version macros for the windows headers */ /* Python 3.5+ requires Windows Vista or greater */ #define Py_WINVER 0x0600 /* _WIN32_WINNT_VISTA */ #define Py_NTDDI NTDDI_VISTA to this /* set the version macros for the windows headers */ /* Python 3.4+ requires Windows XP or greater */ #define Py_WINVER 0x0501 /* _WIN32_WINNT_WINXP */ #define Py_NTDDI NTDDI_WINXP There is still the line #define PYTHONPATH L".\\DLLs;.\\lib" which may need revising because there is no DLLs folder in this distribution. I have copied the contents of Python.zip to the .\Lib folder because pyinstaller seems to have a problem reading the contents of archives. Now it works like a charm. I have updated batch files that install and uninstall Python to the a folder named Python38 in the root of the system drive. i am not clever enough to make an interactive batch file allowing you to choose the name and location of the Python folder. Maybe later. My batch file installs shortcuts for the Python console, the IDLE interactive envirironment, the Python help file, and the pydoc server. The Python path variables are set in the Environment registry key, and a PYTHONPATH value is created under the same key. It might be possible to install pip and setuptools with the bundled wheels using python -m ensurepip --default-pip but I have included get-pip.py to enable the download and install of the latest pip, setuptools and wheel/ pyconfig.h

Hi folks! I recently compiled yt-dlp version 2023.02.17 using the version of Python 3.8.13 backported for Windows XP by cmalex available here on a Windows 8.1 PC so that I could use the latest bug free Pyinstaller. It seems to be a roaring success with impressively fast downloads. I have made it available as a direct download from my 4Shared account here. Please try it and provide feedback here. We are lucky in that yt-dlp and it's Python dependencies do not include C extensions incompatible with XP. I hope I have the same luck when I attempt to make an XP build of Streamlink.

Fifteen years later and I may need to patch setupapi.dll version 5.1.2600.5603, but the hex sequence 8BFF558BEC occurs in multiple locations. Possibly my successful patch for syssetup.dll may enable me to modify layout.inf.

The outlook for VPN anonymity using Windows XP is looking grim because XP only supports PPTP and L2TP IPSec protocols. L2TP is being phased out by VPN providers and PPTP is no longer considered secure. I was beginning to despair because PureVPN have reduced L2TP to four locations in the world, and usually it is impossible to connect to the UK servers, while I remember that their OpenVPN service was terrible. However, PureVPN have appeared to revamp their OpenVPN servers, and they now provide an excellent service with this protocol. I can rely on connections to the UK servers, except at weekends when occasionally a connection attempt fails,and I can play streaming 720p video without problems. So far I have not experienced dropped connections using their OpenVPN servers. A big plus for XP users is that the PureVPN servers will accept connections from PCs with the OpenVPN version 2.3.18 client installed. If you do use this version of the OpenVPN client remember to uncheck the TAP Windows driver when installing it, because it installs a version for VISTA. There is a separate XP compatible installer for TAP Windows version 9.9.2. If at sometime PureVPN demands a later version of the OpenVPN client then we have the option of using a custom XP build of version 2.5.4 which you can obtain from here. Another plus for XP diehards provided by PureVPN is that you do not need to use their app if you need port forwarding. Port forwarding is activated in the members area after paying a fee. If I need a kill switch I use the VPNWatcher app. Also I must say I have had no problem with the OpenVPN client hogging CPU time. I am using a Core2Duo 2.59 Ghz CPU and System Explorer showed that while playing streaming 720p video openvpn.exe had an average CPU load of 0.84% declining to 0.17%.

The ending of suitable VPN protocols for XP would kill the operating system stone dead unless I could somehow figure out how to make a SSL tunnel to a shell account or get a SOCKS5 proxy. The performance of OpenVPN provided by PureVPN was terrible which I assumed was inherent in the protocol, but lately their OpenVPN servers have provided an excellent service,and you can still use version 2.3.18 of OpenVPN. Once they drop support for 2.3.18 there is no reason to despair because someone has made a custom XP build of version 2.5.4 which you can obtain here. Isn't it funny how whenever crucial software support for XP is dropped someone comes to the rescue with their custom build? I am really interested in third party VPN clients like SoftEther and Shrew Soft, but having installed the latter years ago I discovered that it is intended for enterprise VPNs and requires lots of settings that are not available for public VPNs. The Microsoft VPN clients only require the host name and pre shared key. We should continue this discussion about VPNs with a new topic.

Syssetup.inf is digitally signed in Windows XP, so syssetup.dll has to be patched so as to check for M$ Digital Signature on the syssetup.inf file, flagging it as "Always Valid" so that it can be modified. Here are the entries I made for a RVM integrator addon: File name File version Offset BeforeHexCode AfterHexCode I386\SYSSETUP.DLL|5.1.2600.2530|210500| 73 | 72 ;SP2 I386\SYSSETUP.DLL|5.1.2600.2659|211108| 73 | 72 ;KB894871 - SP2QFE I386\SYSSETUP.DLL|5.1.2600.5512|211753| 73 | 72 ;KB936929 - SP3 To remove syssetup.dll from SFC monitoring I patch sfcfiles.dll thus: File name File version Offset BeforeHexCode AfterHexCode I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|218048| 250073 | 5C0000 :syssetup.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|522176| 250073 | 5C0000 :syssetup.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|843936| 250073 | 5C0000 :syssetup.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|1180888| 250073 | 5C0000 :syssetup.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|1494120| 250073 | 5C0000 :syssetup.dll Sfcfiles.dll is also subject to SFC momitoring so it has to be patched thus: File name File version Offset BeforeHexCode AfterHexCode I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|15024 | 250073 | 5C0000 ;sfcfiles.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|307384 | 250073 | 5C0000 ;sfcfiles.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|629144 | 250073 | 5C0000 ;sfcfiles.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|966096 | 250073 | 5C0000 ;sfcfiles.dll I386\sfcfiles.dll|5.1.2600.5512|1291096| 250073 | 5C0000 ;sfcfiles.dll

The end of security updates for XP is not really a big deal. I am using the Atlantis Word Processor, OE Classic, and MyPal which are firmly committed to 32 bit XP compatibility for the time being, so the only thing that could force me to change to Linux is developments in codecs making media unplayable using DirectShow decoders. These do not appear to be in development anymore, so the latest DS decoder I have is the MPC-BE video decoder released in 2016. Also my VPN provider is gradually dropping support for L2TP, and I have not figured out how to make IKEV2 work under XP, which is a worrying development.

I have cracked it! Regular updates for NOD32 Antivirus version 8.0.319 provided by an unofficial update server. Unfortunately the forum rules about circumventing license restrictions prevents me from providing details about how it can be done. However, I hope I can give you some idea of how I did it without being specific and getting myself banned. I found a Youtube video that provided a link in the description for a patch that enables a dialogue box in the update settings in which you can specify a server. The person who uploaded the video had his account terminated after a few days thanks to the vigilance of ESET. I logged the changes made by the patch, and noted that no files are over-written or patched, and only the registry was changed. From this log I made a registry file. After NOD32 AV is installed in the usual way, a well known activation patch is applied in safe mode along with the registry file. Then you enter the address of the server in in the update settings, and update in the usual way. I have yet to see if automatic updates still work. You should note that obtaining virus definitions from an unofficial update server is a risky thing to do, as AstroSkipper has made clear. There could be a legitimate reason for the existence of these unofficial update servers, or they could be run by Russian crooks. Who knows? Later I will demonstrate using the ESET Endpoint antivirus for offline updates if there is nothing involved that could get me banned.

I have decided to remove the information I posted here about unofficial update servers for two reasons. Firstly, these sites could be run by crooks who want to include malware with the virus definitions. Secondly, ESET are hyper vigilant about stamping out methods for obtaining their products without paying for them, so these sites could be shut down. If you have discovered other such sites, or Facebook users who offer regular virus definition packages I advice you not to post links to them here.

You would understand what I want to discuss here if you had bothered to read my list of possible workarounds. Obviously ESET no longer supply virus definitions for versions of NOD32 below 10, but as my original post states there are unofficial update servers which are supplying daily updates that look as if they could be compatible with with these unsupported versions of NOD32. There is also a Facebook user who is continuing to supply virus definitions for ESET Endpoint Antivirus Version 6.5 every three days. As for the other thread where the subject has been extensively treated titled "Which Antiviruses are Known for a Fact to be Working on XP SP3 as of 2019?" this only has your unhelpful comment about uninstalling NOD32, and Leifman's comment about being safe enough continuing to use NOD32 without further virus definition updates.

Eset have ceased to supply updates for versions of NOD32 Antivirus below 10 on 19th September 2022. What to do? I love using version 8.0.319 because it retains the classic GUI, it is light on system resources, and it has some advanced features like anti stealth technology and advanced heuristics, so I would prefer to manually update it rather than upgrade to version 10. Here are some options I would like to discuss: Manually Update Version 8.0319. There are several sites that provide regularly updated NOD32 updates which can be found using a Google search for upd.ver. It is possible that servers for version 4 also include updates for versions 5,6,7, and 8. Here is the most recently updated one I could find. It contains hundreds of files with file names with the nodxxxx.nup format including those with the same file names as those in my installation except more recent. If I wanted to copy over files from this online archive to the AllUsersProfile\Application Data\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\updfiles folder should I always choose files with file names the same as those I currently use? The file names of the contents of the updfiles folder were different when I first installed NOD32 with trial updates. Change over to the ESET Endpoint Antivirus and utilize offline updating and the updates provided for version 6.5 every three days by a certain Facebook user which I have decided not to link to. It may be necessary to use version 5 under XP. Upgrade to version 10 and either pay for a subscription or else try to copy files from an online archive to the updfiles folder. If using version 10 under Windows XP it means that some features will not work. It may be possible to edit the registry settings of version 8.0.319 to change the server to a location on your hard drive.

I ran into a problem compiling psutils under this custom build of 3.8.1350 for XP. I received the error message Does this mean that this Python interpreter was built using the --without-threads option in order to disable threads? Is there some way under Windows to see a list of the options used to build Python so as to see if the --without-threads option was included? Could cmalex provide a list of the options they used when compiling his custom Python 3.8.1350? The archive of Python binaries provided by cmalex is a mess, so I selected and reassembled the relevant files to make a standard Python distribution which you can obtain here. Pip is not included but it can be installed using the ensurepip module and this command: python -m ensurepip --upgrade I am attaching batch files to write the registry entries that might be required with Python 3.8. They are intended to work in conjunction with the mingw compiler. If you are using MSVC the %PYTHONHOME% variable cannot be used. Python 3.8 Add.bat Python 3.8 Delete.bat

I have made a batch file that will adjust visual effects for best performance which can be inserted into the $OEM$\$1\install folder with an appropriate entry under the GuiRunOnce section of winnt.sif. If that does not work place it in $OEM$\$$\Temp and make a batch file in $OEM$\$1\install to place an entry in the RunOnce key to run visual_effects.bat from the %SystemRoot%\Temp folder. When Windows runs for the first time not all the settings are applied until you log off, and then they are written to HKCU. The settings for "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" are not applied until you click the Apply button and the Themes service is activated, which obviously you cannot do in a batch file. Therefore I logged all the relevant settings that are made when "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" is turned off, and included them in my batch file. The only problem is that the reg.exe of XP/2003 does not support the QWORD data type used in some of the settings. Is there an upgrade for reg.exe we can use for XP/2003? Visual_Effects.bat

I have made a batch file that will adjust visual effects for best performance which can be inserted into the $OEM$\$1\install folder with an appropriate entry under the GuiRunOnce section of winnt.sif. If that does not work place it in $OEM$\$$\Temp and make a batch file in $OEM$\$1\install to place an entry in the RunOnce key to run visual_effects.bat from the %SystemRoot%\Temp folder. When Windows runs for the first time not all the settings are applied until you log off. The settings for "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" are not applied until you click the Apply button and the Themes service is activated, which obviously you cannot do in a batch file. Therefore I logged all the relevant settings that are made when "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" is turned off, and included them in my batch file. The only problem is that the reg.exe of XP/2003 does not support the QWORD data type used in some of the settings. Is there an upgrade for reg.exe we can use for XP/2003? Visual_Effects.bat

Can someone explain in a nutshell how ImportPatcher works so that a newbie can get started with it. I dabbled with it by targeting Python37.dll version 3.7.9150.1013 under Windows XP. First I analyzed with Importpatcher and this is the result I received in Python3#.ini [Patches needed] python37.dll=Functions [KERNEL32.dll] GetFinalPathNameByHandleW= InitializeProcThreadAttributeList= UpdateProcThreadAttribute= DeleteProcThreadAttributeList= GetTickCount64= This is what I received in Python3#.log. I have edited out the imports from everything except those from the problematic KERNEL32.dll and WS2_32.dll to make this post easier to read. ImportPatcher.41 Portable Executable: "F:\Internet Downloads\Python\Python 3.7.9\python37.dll" TimeDateStamp: 2020 Aug 17 19:02:10 OS Subsystem Version: 6.0 Importing from WS2_32.dll TimeDateStamp: 2016 May 10 19:21:18 OS Subsystem Version: 4.10 ? 19 ? 7 ? 111 Importing from KERNEL32.dll TimeDateStamp: 2019 Mar 19 18:39:07 OS Subsystem Version: 4.0 * GetFinalPathNameByHandleW * not found * InitializeProcThreadAttributeList * not found * UpdateProcThreadAttribute * not found * DeleteProcThreadAttributeList * not found * GetTickCount64 * not found The log file seems to be importing all the exports of the modules that Python37.dll is linked to. Does that mean that it is listing all the imports in Python37.dll's import table, while noting those that are missing from the OS, and nothing is changed in Python3#.dll? The ini file lists patches required for the missing imports from kernel32.dll. This is the difficult bit. Where do you obtain the patches from, or how do you create them? Are you supposed to extract sections from an NT6 version of kernel32.dll using the hex editor in IDA Pro, or is there some way of automatically creating these patches?

Hi Dibya Can you reply to a message I sent to you at the RyanVM forum because it is not possible to send messages to you here. Incidentally, I am glad to see that you have not given up on XP and 2000.

Websites that only support Chrome are a real dilemma for XP users because those versions of Chrome that will work under windows do not have built in support cipher suites that include Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithms (ECDS), and so have to fall back on system encryption libraries that XP does not have. However, there is no need to use ProxHTTPSProxyMII because 360 Extreme Explorer is a Chromium based browser with support for TLS 1.3 and cipher suites that include Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithms. Here are the supported cipher suites for the website that always give the ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH message in Chrome under XP (https://www.aidanwoods.com/blog/faulty-login-pages/) TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 OLD_TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA Here are the cipher suites supported by Advanced Chrome 54.20.6530.0 which as you can see only include the RSA Digital Signature Algorithms, so nothing matches. TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256_OLD TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256_OLD TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA Here are the cipher suites supported by 360 Extreme Explorer with those that match the supported cipher suites of the aidanwoods.com site highlighted in bold. TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256 TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA From this I have concluded that I only have to replace Advanced Chrome with 360 Extreme Explorer on my XP machine and the problem is solved. Although browsing with 360 Extreme Explorer is not trouble free due to pages sometimes being displayed in Chinese and Russian it is only the fallback option when MyPal fails to load a website.