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Unauthorized fix for endless XP SP3 rebooting problem available

The good news is that a Microsoft MVP has created a fix for the bug in XP SP3 that causes endless rebooting for some AMD-based PCs. The bad news is that it is designed for individual users, not for enterprise use. The fix is a VBScript and it requires answers to prompts several times for each computer that runs it.

Jesper Johansson, a former Microsoft employee and currently an MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional) who works at Amazon.com, created the script and posted a link to the tool on his blog Wednesday, reports a story from Computerworld. The fix is a tiny 16K VBScript that verifies if the PC is running an AMD processor. If it is, it then looks to the Windows registry to see if a device driver meant for Intel-based machines is set to load. And if that too is the case, the script offers the user the option to disable the loading of that driver.

The Computerworld story reports:

The problem has been "traced to the disk image that HP used to factory-install Windows XP on AMD-based machines. HP, said everyone concerned, used an image created on an Intel-powered PC to install XP on AMD systems; Microsoft had advised computer makers against doing that as long ago as 2004."

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The Microsoft Subnet blog is the official blog of the Network World's Microsoft Subnet community, managed by editor Julie Bort. Microsoft Subnet is the independent voice of Microsoft customers and is your gateway to daily Microsoft news, blogs, opinion, books, prize giveaways and more. Visit the Microsoft Subnet index page daily, and while you are there, subscribe to the Microsoft newsletter. The newsletter includes news generated by the Microsoft Subnet community as well as other Microsoft news stories published by Network World.

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