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A former Microsoft security manager has published a tool designed to detect and fix PCs that may be susceptible to "endless reboots" if updated to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).
Jesper Johansson, once a program manager for security policy at Microsoft and currently an MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional) who works at Amazon.com, posted a link to the tool on his blog Wednesday, beating his former employer and Hewlett-Packard Co. to the draw. Neither company has yet come up with a fix or patch for the week-long snafu.
Johansson's small, 16K VBScript (Visual Basic Scripting Edition) file checks whether the PC is running a processor from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and if so, examines the Windows registry to see if a device driver meant for Intel-based machines is set to load.
"If it is, it will offer you an option to disable it," said Johansson in an update to a blog post where he has been summarizing reports of Windows XP SP3 problems and offering solutions.
Users can run the script from the command line to check multiple machines on a network, Johansson added. The command is:
removeIntelPPMonAMD.vbs ...
"The only caveat is that the tool will prompt you several times for each computer," Johansson added.
The free-of-charge VBScript file is available for download.
The tool is the latest in the week-long problem some users have encountered after upgrading Windows XP to the new service pack. Last week, just a day after Microsoft added XP SP3 to Windows Update, reports accumulated of "endless reboots" crippling machines running AMD CPUs. Many of the users said that the out-of-control PCs were from HP.
According to users, Johansson and most recently, Microsoft itself, the problem can be 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.
Microsoft was not immediately available for comment on Johansson's detection tool, but traditionally the company has taken a dim view of unsanctioned, unofficial fixes to its software.
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Comments (18)
mines completly crashedBy Anonymous on September 11, 2008, 6:05 pmA couple of days ago I recieved the new Sp3 update. I installed it but soo had to unistall in due to system instability. While uninstalling my laptop lost power....
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XP3By Anonymous on September 6, 2008, 1:40 amIt happens on Toshiba's also, it is currently happening on my boss' Laptop.
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Microsoft is at fault since they should have tested it on AMD maBy Anonymous on June 28, 2008, 12:40 amIs anyone so foolish to think that MS gives an ounce of care? Thier history is a long string of blunders that repeatedly cost the end-users precious time and money....
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Intel Pentium III also reboots endlessly after SP3 updateBy Anonymous on June 11, 2008, 7:19 pmI have an Intel Pentium III and after teh SP3 Windows update my computer went into emdless reboots. Microsoft never told me that other customers had similar problems....
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your're an idiotBy Anonymous on May 21, 2008, 12:05 amIf m$ stes, use AND image for AMD PC's and HP goes and use an Intel image, thus causing the glitch. How is M$ responcible exactly? I hate M$ but HP is at fault...
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