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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 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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Computerworld Live Podcast #97: The Future of Enterprise Networking 25/07/2008 09:45:36
This week CW Live chats with Mark Thompson, global sales and marketing manager for HP ProCurve, on the future of the enterprise networking. Mark discusses the trends we can expect to see in the near future and how the right infrastructure can ensure your enterprise network is secure. - +
Computerworld Live Podcast #96: Security at the Edge 11/06/2008 09:22:22
CW Live speaks with Amol Mitra, HP ProCurve Director of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan. Today's topic: how enterprises are starting to shift away from simply controlling security via server logins, firewalls and moving to more adaptive security frameworks. - +
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This week CW Live presents a case study on how to poison the notorious Storm botnet . Plus we take a look at Cisco's plans for Ironport. - +
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Vendors bow to end user pressure to improve product security, and we take a look at the latest concepts shaping the cyber-battlefield of the future.
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The revolution is underway. Market dynamics are fanning the flame of change and innovation. Business is ultimately only as good as its IT organization. And an IT organization is only as good as its CIO. Read on to discover the revolution changing the role of the CIO. Are you on board?
