HP issues XP SP3 warning

 

Gallery

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 16 May 2008 at 14:46

Hewlett-Packard has admitted that some users of its AMD-based desktops have experienced problems after installing the latest Service Pack for XP, and has asked users to hold off installing it until the problem is resolved.

The confirmation follows a week of recriminations, after it was discovered that Microsoft's latest Service Pack for XP was sending some machines into an endless reboot cycle.

Both AMD and HP swiftly found themselves in the spotlight, before Microsoft pointed the finger at OEMs for "placing a Windows XP image created for an Intel-based computer onto machines with non-Intel chipsets."

However, in its response HP denied this: "The affected HP systems do not have an Intel driver loaded onto them, but there is a services registry entry that SP3 appears to be recognising as an instruction to load the Intel driver, subsequently causing the failure," says HP in a statement.

"HP is working diligently with Microsoft on a software update and will be proactively distributing a patch this week through HP Update that will prevent this error from occurring," the statement continues.

"HP recommends consumers with AMD-based desktops wait until after HP's or Microsoft's updates have been deployed on their systems to install Service Pack 3."

HP says the patch will be available within the next week, with Microsoft also confirming that it's working on a hotfix for affected customers.