Malware often targets the Windows operating system, because it is one of the most popular operating systems in the world. The malware reverse engineering is typically performed in a virtual environment, and Windows XP could be an easy target. However, since Microsoft has stopped the security updates for Windows XP since 2014, the newest version of many software stops working on Windows XP as well.

The post collected useful software and tools for malware analysis that still work on Windows XP system. All software and tools can be downloaded by clicking the link in the post or through the GitHub repository, but not all webpages are directed to an authorized official release, please download them at your own risk!

Browser

One big headache to use Windows XP in 2020+ would be internet browsing. Fortunately, we found several internet broswers that still work on Windows XP in 2022.

  • Firefox. Firefox Extended Support Release 52.9.0 is the last release that still runs on Windows XP.
  • Google Chrome. Google Chrome stopped support for Windows XP since Chrome 50. If you want to use it, please download Chrome 49 or previous version. If you experience “Your clock is ahead” error with Chrome on Windows XP, you can check out the discussion on Reddit for possible solution.
  • Maxthon. Maxthon Cloud Browser released back in 2012 can still be installed on a Windows XP machine.

Version control

If you still want to use Git version control on Windows XP, check out these programs.

  • Git for Windows. The last version for Git for Windows to support Windows XP is v2.10.0.
  • TortoiseGit. TortoiseGit 1.8.16.0 is the last version which is compatible with Windows XP.

Analysis Tools

The list will be updated from time to time.

  • Dependency Walker. Dependency Walker is a free utility that scans any 32-bit or 64-bit Windows module (exe, dll, ocx, sys, etc.) and builds a hierarchical tree diagram of all dependent modules.
  • PEiD. PEiD can detect most common packers, cryptors and compilers for PE files.
  • PEview. PEview provides a quick and easy way to view the structure and content of 32-bit Portable Executable (PE) and Component Object File Format (COFF) files.
  • Resource hacker. Resource Hacker is a resource editor for 32bit and 64bit Windows applications. It is both a resource compiler (for .rc files), and a decompiler - enabling viewing and editing of resources in executables (.exe, .dll, .scr, etc.) and compiled resource libraries (.res, .mui).