Microsoft's Fingerprint Reader for Windows XP

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Back in 2004, Microsoft released a fingerprint reader for Windows XP machines. It sucked as a security product, but could actually be kinda useful if you wanted to easily switch between user accounts on a shared system. So let's see what it could do!
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#MichaelMJD #Microsoft #WindowsXP

[@HrutkayMods]

I still have mine. I bought brand new right when it came out… used to annoy my mother because she couldn’t use my computer 🤣

[@thewubmachine840]

9 years before Apple Touch iD, several years before haveing it on laptops

[@_lisan_al_gaib]

lmao sounds pretty mean to do to the woman that birthed you

[@thewubmachine840]

the Microsoft Fingerprint Reader looks like a normal USB Mouse

[@xproot0]

​@@_lisan_al_gaib lmao sounds very nonprivacy of you. Even the mom who birthed you doesn't deserve to know everything. You aren't in her anymore after all

[@FireFoxDestroyer]

@@thewubmachine840laptops with windows vista had it

[@oceanswag]

i remember these for elementary school growing up because you had to use your own ID number for your lunch swipe, but administrators couldnt expect a thousand 5-8 year olds to remember their code so we used those

[@_PinkiePie.]

my god, I was tryna remember why I used this as a kid and you hit the nail on the head lol

[@jackieAZ]

Yup!! Same here haha

[@user-ce7ic1ze2u]

lol I was the only one that actually remembered my 7 digit code out of the whole class 😂

[@oceanswag]

@@user-ce7ic1ze2u i caught onto mine early on, and its not like anyone would steal mine because i didn't get free lunches until they standardized it in like middle school haha

[@Stettafire]

No lunch swipe here cus I'm too old. They had just introduced these for the school library.

[@YondanDrill]

Microsoft: What an inconvenience using a password! Microsoft: Is suggested using a password to protect your information because this tool won't do it

[@aa3b40editz]

Also microsoft: mmm yess use password but dont because windows hello

[@sonicSnap]

@@aa3b40editz this product came out in 2004, windows hello was introduced in 2015

[@cunny1]

I think that this thing is as safe as a password btw, since you can also put a sniffer between the keyboard and the PC and get all the passwords literally in plain text

[@GeomancerHT]

It is not just the tool, it's extremely easy to "copy" a fingerprint, Mythbusters did it back then, I did it with a friend during university, two different proofs of concept, molded fingers with silicone, the one from the plastic heat guns, really easy to do.

[@mkuilen]

It doesn't matter for like a desktop at home tho. Back when Windows 7 was still around, I didn't even have a password at all since I was the only one using the computer

[@meolsei]

The Dr. Breen "f**k you" was a perfect nod.

[@jameskirk172]

That was hysterical 😆

[@TheGameBoyss]

If you see doctor breen, tell him I said FUCK YOU!

[@BrooksterMax]

I’m surprised at how functional and useful it was. Fast switching between accounts was very cool.

[@TheYoungestCollector]

“I’ve associated my middle finder with the Dr Breen account so we’ll give Dr Breen the middle finger there...”-Micheal MJD 2024.

[@mrnemo204]

What he deserves

[@DarkStarProductions524]

"And if you ever see Dr. Breen, tell him I said "FUCK YOU!" Hahahahaha!"

[@truestbluu]

If I ever get my hands on Doctor Breen...

[@Eurotool]

Who's Dr Breen?

[@DarkStarProductions524]

@@Eurotool One of the guys from Half Life 2, a PC video game

[@TweeterMan287]

Microsoft actually had a rebate program for 64 bit users of later versions of Windows. You would call a certain number and give them your hardware info for your scanner, and they would mail you a $35 dollar check. Source: did that myself

[@daudabdulhakimnaufal9832]

back when Microsoft still cares about customers...

[@I.____.....__...__]

@@daudabdulhakimnaufal9832 That was when Bill Gates was still running the thing and was only evil towards the competition, not the users. Since Nadella took over, its evil towards the competition AND its own users. 😒

[@-throat-]

oh hoi tweeterm'n!

[@terrancesean6191]

"I'll give Dr.Breen the middle finger" Barney vibes "IF YOU SEE DR.BREEN TELL HIM I SAID FUCK YOU

[@BluewindsLegacy]

Watching these vintage XP videos makes me miss XP more and more. (don't miss the security vulnerabilities..)

[@coreybabcock2023]

I have a dell d640 with XP on it I'm looking to sell it

[@coreybabcock2023]

You can update the security via legacy update

[@DannyB587]

For me it represents when computing was futuristic and colorful. Now it's all boring, flat, and minimalistic.

[@AIFT_Staff]

Why people concerned about security when most of them are NaT'ed?

[@pineappleroad]

@@coreybabcock2023 That won't provide you with recent security updates

[@ArchonZach]

I can just see someone's sibling running into the family office and putting their finger on the reader while you're playing runescape lmao

[@user-nq6wn4hm7s]

why RuneScape in particular?

[@kye6357]

That is my only concern

[@RooMan93]

We had this at my school library to take out books back in 2007 or so.

[@nullpoint-0]

Was the librarian also a massive Tom Clancy fanboy, too?

[@MultiYippee]

I just looked these up and we had DigitalPersona fingerprint scanners at my school for topping up school food accounts

[@JemaKnight]

This is exactly the use case I remember.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Me too! A de-branded one of these. (Or, more likely, Microsoft just stuck their logo on an existing OEM fingerprint reader...) Whenever students had had art class, or had a pen leak on their fingers during an essay, the fingerprint reader REALLY didn't like that. Hahah

[@BillDevon]

Installed those in the office back in 2005 - Not for security - For convenience - All staff had their own accounts available on all the terminals. They could just hit the fingerprint reader and go straight to their own account - Very convenient like you say a 6:30 👍👍👍

[@esotericusername823]

I have an XP era Microsoft keyboard with one of these built in! I use it as my main keyboard

[@Seawolf.Gaming]

I have that keyboard aswell

[@t0biascze644]

does the scanner work on newer windows?

[@windowsnt63official]

Why does it look like a flip phone?

[@ClassicGamerN64]

Idk

[@XSonicRBLX]

Ngl it kinda looks like a motorola razer to me lol

[@Drez01]

Get folded

[@gixxy-chan2540]

It's from the 2000s! That's how stuff looked like back than!

[@RadeonVega64]

@@gixxy-chan2540 yep

[@powerstrokehd1003]

I think we need to see if it works on Windows 10/11!

[@nilanjankumarsakhari]

Yeessss

[@thewubmachine840]

And to see if it works on Mac OS iOS Chrome OS Android

[@WhiiteLion328]

It wont. I had that thing not long ago. The drivers dont work in Windows 10 :(

[@nezu_cc]

Short answer: no, long answer: hell no this has nothing in common with the modern sensors that windows hello expects.

[@MalgeunSAM]

@@thewubmachine840 Sadly, Apple simply does not recognize any external devices as touch id, except for the Magic Keyboard for Apple Silicon

[@Ivegotsomewater81]

11:13 Bro became Barney Calhoun

[@abdelali9279]

3:29 install software first before plugging a USB device? Truly a Plug & Pray Microsoft moment

[@wolstech]

The funny part is that many thing today still says to do that even though it usually doesn't matter anymore, except maybe to a poorly written installer that will get stuck if it doesn't see the device connection event. Printers seem to be especially bad about this...

[@tajriyan3834]

If there's one thing I must say, it's that the algorithm has been shoving this one video everytime and everywhere I open KZbin. (Literally. Any device.) Congrats, you caught my attention.

[@UahUahUah]

Videos like these solidify my desire for a time machine. Let me go back to 2008. Just once.

[@cal2127]

i just miss scene girls

[@kurtwinter4422]

Don't invest with Bear Stearns

[@rabbi4skin666]

Why so you can re-live the 2008 financial crisis? It was worse than 2024.

[@CoryRwtfyt]

I'd tell myself to buy/mine bitcoin before it explodes.

[@tim3172]

You realize you can get all of that and more on modern laptops with fingerprint readers, no? Windows Hello is far more versatile. It seems really odd to yearn for… worse tech.

[@mirkomilova]

Oh my god I wanted one of these so badly as a kid ever since I saw the box in a random electronics store back in 2008 or something lol

[@coreybabcock2023]

In 08 I was 24

[@ibrahimdevx]

@@coreybabcock2023 wow

[@EightOneGulf]

Back somewhere in the 2000's i won that exact fingerprint scanner on some random website. Being somewhat naive i put in my adres information, but i actually got it in the mail a couple of weeks later. The novelty quickly wore off tough, because it was more a hassle to use the fingerprint sensor than to enter your password.

[@TheDZHEX]

"Firefox [..] with a third party addon called 'Fingerfox' " ... _inhales_ ... _thinks_ ... ok, no.

[@LorikQuinn]

🦊☝️ (wouldnt suprise me if this gets me banned from the channel lmfao)

[@atomictransfusion]

🥺

[@MuhammadIlhamuodd254512]

outta this house

[@guaiqueritech]

What were they thinking ¡?

[@Porygonal64]

the furries are coming...

[@jonathanthegoober]

I love when theres a new MJD upload

[@GeomancerHT]

Besides the fingerprint not being encrypted, you cannot do anything against just printing a photocopy of a captured fingerprint, or making a silicone finger if you happen to get a print on a plasticine mold. We presented proof of concept attacks to my university back in 2005-2006, it was extremely easy to share fingerprints/login credentials.

[@smalltime0]

While that's true, having physical access to the machine basically breaks most security. Sending/expecting unencrypted data for a security application is just bad design, essentially its a keyfob without any sort of key expiry/deletion. Whereas you're saying that a crowbar works too.

[@GeomancerHT]

@@smalltime0 Remember you could just press ESC on the login prompt on one of the 9X Windows, and get right to the desktop, that's how secure they were!

[@andrewmarshall1142]

Waking up to new MJD content is a great way to start Sunday

[@au5tie]

The one thing I remember about having this as a kid was the jelly cover layer on the reader glass. It was like a firm slime that hugged the ridges of your finger print. For some reason I peeled it off at one point, but the fingerprint reading still worked!

[@FoxWolfWorld]

“Late night eBay purchase” aka a drunk purchase

[@nonamespecified]

Wow, this actually seems like a very well designed product with many QoL features, especially on the software side, apart from the lack of encryption of course

[@mchenrynick]

Dr. Breen gets the middle finger LMAO!

[@gengar-1997]

Various ThinkPad laptops (particularily the T61) had a fingerprint reader built in, where you just slide your finger over it and it'll read your fingerprint, and display it on a program bundled with the OS (in the case of the T61, Windows 7)

[@Seawolf.Gaming]

They still do have them. Most buisness class laptops did/do.

[@dyter424]

Nowadays fingerprint readers are pretty much everywhere. My HP Pavilion eh1000sl, which is definitely not a business laptop, has one.

[@gengar-1997]

@@Seawolf.Gaming The T61 (i.e. my previous laptop, manufactured by Lenovo, previously IBM) is a business laptop, so you're not wrong.

[@Glopezane]

Oh man...I purchased this for my computer back in 2004! Every time I logged on, it felt like I was loggin into an MI4 Mainframe. 🤣 Same year Half Life 2 came out!

[@williamharris8367]

We got this at work in about 2005 or '06, though the hardware lacked Microsoft branding. It was still being used when I left in early-2009.

[@xargos]

Thanks for making this video. When I saw the thumbnail for this video I immediately thought that looked like a DigitalPersona fingerprint scanner. I vaguely remember hearing about Microsoft selling a fingerprint scanner, but I never looked at one and had no idea it was basically a rebranded product.

[@AnxietyQueenThe1st]

11:26 You stuck your middle finger at Dr. Breen 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

[@pppppp-uf5qd]

HE DID?

[@philtkaswahl2124]

That Dr. Breen-middle finger joke was understatedly well done.

[@Pogboi_entertainments]

11:15 dr breen? *half life intro plays

[@nonamespecified]

pfp checks out

[@bens0726]

I use this thing! It has excellent Linux support, for some reason, so I bought it specifically for that reason and it works great

[@ibrahimdevx]

🤨

[@Vednier]

Is it? Fprint worked mostly as proof of concept last time i tried and so far only Gnome added direct support for auth with fingerpints, isnt it?

[@warren6815]

Wow I forgot these existed! We got about 200 of them at work in the mid-2000s to 'streamline' our users workflow. It was pointed out at the time that they weren't secure but management went ahead with them anyway. After a couple of months it was discovered they weren't secure, there was a major security breach and the same management team insisted they were all removed 'before there's a security breach' 🙄 I'm sure they'll still be in a long forgotten box in a store room somewhere.

[@administrator8203]

Make it working on windows 10 or windows 11

[@Stealth86651]

Probably wouldn't happen. It's very different from modern ones and considering how niche they were it'd probably require a dedicated driver. Somehow I doubt the manufacturer is still updating drivers lol.

[@mcbchannel7173]

@@Stealth86651 they don’t even bother to encrypt the data, let alone updating the compatibility

[@-throat-]

I heard it doesn't because drivers

[@a.mgaming3418]

my school used to use a similar system for purchasing items on vending machines and in the cafeteria, there was machines around we could use to put money in on your fingerprint and then when purchasing items scanned fingerprint to buy, system was also by digital persona. Interesting stuff!

[@TheRailroad99]

That's actually pretty cool. Did they have problems with false positives or did it work reliably? Actually might be a cool (yet somehow creepy) universal login method. government provides API - everyone can authenticate using a certified fingerprint reader. For example VISA could use the login to get the person and check if he owns a credit card / get the card number. That way you could pay with just your fingers. would be handy, (and would TOTALLY not get exploited in some way ;))

[@fuzzspanden]

wtf, why couldnt you just have normal vending machines lol

[@a.mgaming3418]

@@fuzzspanden To be honest not 100% sure, I guess it reduces the risk of lost / stolen cards? Only reason I can think of.

[@bhasitl]

I love the showcase of ancient Microsoft products! I was always fascinated by them

[@Xenon777_]

My school had Windows XP POS machines for paying for food and they used digital persona fingerprint scanners which scanned students' fingerprints that were linked to an account.

[@senorsawcon]

Man, MJD is just popping banger after banger videos.

[@ChrisDreher]

I worked in MS Hardware and near the folks that worked on the Fingerprint Reader. Nice coverage of what makes it interesting as well as its cons.

[@kbhasi]

Whoa. Your video caused an old memory of mine to resurface in my mind after many years. In that, I went to some store (in Singapore) in around 2007-2009, and each of their POS terminals had those same Microsoft fingerprint sensors! After some time, I forgot about those until this video. (4:27) Microsoft included DigitalPersona, which if I recall correctly, was the same software included on HP and ASUS laptops that had built-in fingerprint sensors and shipped with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (probably also 8.x), and I specifically remember using it on my HP TouchSmart tx2, but the XP version was installed on some HP Compaq desktop PCs in one of the rooms at a college I attended in 2014 (they had a mix of mostly Windows 7 PCs in the rooms my classes were held in, but they kept some Windows XP systems around) (5:48) I recognise that icon! I do remember the HP and ASUS versions adding their respective logos to the right of the top bar on the Windows XP Welcome screen. (7:25) I think that makes sense, because I know the HP laptop I had used an AuthenTec fingerprint sensor, and AuthenTec was the company Apple later acquired to create Touch ID. (8:16) Interesting to see that it recognised the Windows XP desktop as ‘Program Manager’, except that's Windows XP, not Windows 3.1…

[@Mc_Fly]

Oh man I remember that we had this on our family computer and it was so awesome! I absolutely loved it! Would love to have features like this built into windows hello these days

[@darkironsworn]

I may be young, I should be playing the new call of duty... but I always love to see old tech like this from before my time! keep doing what your doing!

[@Mr.TheOld]

I didn't know Microsoft made fingerprint scanners. Great as always, Michael!

[@UsuallyLime]

Love the 2000s design of this device. The switching between users feature is actually pretty cool!

[@nicholasmccalister8109]

I always loved the UI of Windows XP. Everything animation, transition, and color scheme is not such a flat contrast, but instead a texture you can almost touch

[@d34thby1337]

I had the keyboard with this reader built in when I was a kid. Thought it was the coolest thing ever.

[@unorthodoxbox]

My school had one of these for the libary. Quite useful for that, wanna log a book out? Use the fingerprint, receptionist gets the details, click a couple buttons and done. Before that we had to remember a five digit code unique to the student, I think mine was something 10085.

[@Zircuitz]

I had that freakin' thing! I loved it! It actually was practical to use and it worked really well back in the days. I used it until it died. I miss it 😶 This takes me back!

[@EyeSooGuy]

2 of my laptops have a fingerprint scanner built in. Love that!

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

When I heard the 35 dollar pricetag, I was expecting it to be as secure as the office desk drawer key.

[@NigiriCat]

Rectangular USB port was some incredible foresight into knowing people would eventually have USB-C ports.

[@estusflask982]

I had one of these built into my Microsoft keyboard back in the day. Connected to my Dell Dimension desktop.

[@X1ZR]

Love your videos man, keep up the great work👌🏾

[@steveolewski782]

I had one of these. Never clicked onto a video faster 😊

[@husseinnear6983]

Man I love your videos

[@stephenkamenar]

wow that's pretty cool! also the web page login for any site looks like it would've worked well

[@ReTrace1]

It would be nice to see a video of the other DP scanner that encrypts fingerprints if you can get one! Thank you for this video!

[@tobylifers3390]

Cheers mate. Love your vids.

[@jjohnson71958]

looks cool id try that product

[@cssplayer91]

5:11 haven't laughed this much in a while 😂😂😂

[@Valrax]

didnt know i needed this

[@ElBee92]

I still have mine somewhere! Big blast from the past!

[@Braxel_]

A friend of mine had one of those, for the time it was pretty cool.

[@sonicpika4ushka]

Cool, now make it work on windows 11 lol

[@thelol5194]

Yea

[@FlyboyHelosim]

Windows 11 sucks.

[@Thor6398-jt4mb]

​@@FlyboyHelosimdoes it have its flaws? Yes. Would I want to use any other version of Windows today? No.

[@sonicpika4ushka]

​@@FlyboyHelosimit works fine for me

[@sonic2000gr]

Microsoft Fingerprint video and NOTHING goes wrong? This is not an MJD video! :D

[@socialvideoplaza]

I had that exact fingerprint reader. It was more reliable than any iphone or android phone i had since then,

[@Peterisgb]

5:47 my friend had the keyboard one back in the day. Kinda cool back then

[@noahcalland8316]

My primary (elementary) school had one of these in the library for everyone to have their own profiles for the computers and library accounts

[@minecrafttrollface5128]

I definitely need one

[@LiamFrancisOlarte]

Today is a good day.

[@williambrisa]

The fast user switching is great and I could totally see that on a family computer. Wasn't that expensive for a cool convenience product btw.

[@Llamarama100]

Oh damn, there used to be one of these at my school to check books out of the library

[@block_place1232]

Now this is cool

[@NeoKat75]

I love this actually wow

[@snsdjerry]

the switching account is cool ngl

[@ComputersExplained880]

i was gonna setup my laptops fingerprint reader when this vid poped out 😅

[@cassiuscartland]

I wish Microsoft would release a modern version of this for Desktop PCs. Looks seriously convinient.

[@Vednier]

Actually, you can do that already. You need to purchase FIDO2 security token with biometric scanned inside (like Yubikey BIO, but this isnt only option), enroll is in Hello as device for login, enroll your fingerprints in token and then use it to login. Touching fingerprint area will be enough. Works on Linux too. Its not cheap, however.

[@EvyFlies-vt9on]

I love this channel

[@prettyboyjesse]

Loved this when it came out. Think it was around $69.99 at first. It was so nice to login and remember passwords. Everyone had to get one.

[@SwitchingPower]

I have this exact reader and still use it every day to log into windows 10 x64

[@samanthagriffinv2.08]

That would be cool to have a more modern one that works and actually does encrypt your fingerprint and the password stuff

[@OGGamerGuys1]

YO I LOVE THE VIDEOS please keep posting we love u

[@misteranderbro2328]

I remember wanting one of these for some reason

[@mariolover2222]

I think my Grandpa may have had one of these... Memory unlocked

[@hamzamalik7305]

This is very useful for home PC

[@WolfmanDude]

Did you know that the pattern on a dogs nose has the same uniqueness as a human fingerprint? If we were dogs instead of humans we probably unlock our PC by pressing our nose onto a device like this!

[@Stettafire]

We used these for my school library. Vista had just come out and our school had exactly 1 computer

[@Tsaukpaetra]

I (still) have a Digital Persona reader! Used it to create a proof of concept medication distribution system as a senior project in college

[@calzonemaniacsvideocorner0804]

That's the kind of technology you used to see only in James Bond movies. I thought fingerprint readers were more recent, had no idea there was one that early.

[@bhasitl]

Omgg. I saw this on eBay and wanted to buy this!!

[@ciach0_]

I just woke up and seen MJD video - the day couldn't be better!

[@drygnfyre]

The thing about Microsoft is in many ways they've always been ahead of their time. They had tablet computers back in the early 90s that ran a modified version of Windows 3. Then they were "reinvented" in the early 00s with WinXP Tablet PC Edition. Then here is a fingerprint reader from the 00s well before they would become commonplace, if not outright built into modern hardware. They brought out the first scroll wheel mouse in 1996. Oftentimes they put out fairly innovative hardware and it either doesn't catch on, or they just don't integrate it well into their own software ecosystem.

[@mcbchannel7173]

what holding them back is because microsoft didn’t design its own laptop like apple did (although nowadays they have surface). it’s kinda same like android before google have google pixel or even nexus where they don’t have a chance to create their own phone. that’s what microsoft and google lacking about software and hardware integration compared to apple.

[@drygnfyre]

@@mcbchannel7173 Yup. Whenever I got new computers back in the day, I always did a clean install of Windows. It was so much better. And also demonstrated that most of the "bloat" people associated with Windows was due to the OEMs, not Microsoft. That's why the Surface hardware is quite nice.

[@Leons-Online]

11:15 glad to see you making Barney proud.

[@bm1066]

pretty cool

[@xredhead7135x]

I had one of these back in 2006 ish in college for my dorm room XP desktop machine that me and my roommate set up fingerprints for our account logins. I don't think I ever used the password manager, but I seem to recall setting up different fingers to auto launch different programs or certain actions.