Windows
Windows XP Service Pack 2 Headaches
It really couldn't be expected to be trouble free ... including a "switched on by default" firewall (in the update in order to tighten up the security of the operating system) and then expecting the end user to figure out why things don't work and what all the new terms they are faced with mean is a recipe for trouble. But we are now starting to find out the true scale of the actual problem as Microsoft releases two new documents relating to the latest service pack for Windows XP.
The first document contains advice about what end users should do if a program that worked prior to the installation of SP2 stops working after installation. Basically, this involves opening the apropriate ports for the afflicted software. The second document lists programs that may not work as expected after the installation of SP2.
As I said, it's really not surprising that there are problems. Why? Because the job of a firewall is to control access to the Internet but programs and services on the computer. So, programs that prior to the installation that had unfettered access to the net don't have this afterwards. This can cause all manner of problem - from not working completely, locking up or hanging to not updating properly. Take something away that was available before and trouble will follow.
Problems aren't helped by the fact that, for the average user that may not have a firewall already installed, the instructions to solve the problems aren't easy to follow. There are many new terms and concepts that may be totally alien to many.
The second document lists software that, to take the wording straight out of the document, "that may behave differently in Windows XP Service Pack 2". What is meant by "behave differently" is not made clear, but we can assume that it means in some cases that the software won't work. Before you install SP2 I recommend that you see how many of the following you run.
| Program | Version | Vendor |
| App | Version | ISV |
| Star Trek StarFleet Command III | v1.0 | Activision |
| Medieval Total War | 1 | Activision |
| Pagemaker | 7 | Adobe |
| PageMaker (German) | 6.5 | Adobe |
| Photoshop Elements | 2 | Adobe |
| Ad-Shield | 3 | Ad-shield |
| ERDisk for AD | 6.7.128.0 | Aelita |
| Nero 6 Ultra | 6 | Ahead |
| Nero Burning ROM | 5.5.6 | Ahead |
| Al Mawrad (Arabic) | 2003 | Al Ariss |
| PhotoClick | --- | Al Maalin |
| AOL | 9 | AOL |
| AOL Toolkit | 1.13.2 | AOL |
| Uno | 1 | Aris Buenaventura |
| Dead Man's Hand | 1 | Atari |
| MotoRacer | 3 | Atari |
| Scrabble | v3.0 | Atari |
| Unreal II | 1 | Atari |
| Unreal Tournament 2003 | 1 | Atari |
| Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition | 1 | Atari |
| Extra Enterprise 2000
|
--- | Attachmate |
| Extra Personal Client 6.5 | --- | Attachmate |
| Extra! Bundle for TCP/IP 6.6 | --- | Attachmate |
| KEA! 340 v5.1 | --- | Attachmate |
| Command Antivirus | 4.9 | authentium |
| AutoCAD 2004
|
--- | Autodesk |
| bv-Admin Mobile 7 | --- | Bind View |
| StarCraft | 1.05 | Blizzard |
| BitDefender | 7.2 | Blizzard |
| Starcraft | v1.11 | Blizzard |
| Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Collector's Edition | v 1.0 | Blizzard |
| Patrol for Windows 2000 3.4.0.11 | --- | BMC |
| Word Perfect Family Pack 5 - Encyclopedia Britannica Ready Reference | 2003 | Britannica |
| WISO Sparbuch | 2004 | Buhl |
| InnoculateIT | --- | CA |
| MpegCraft DVD | x | Caropus |
| Citrix ICA client | 7.1 | Citrix |
| FileMaker Pro (German) | 5 | Claris |
| ArcServe | 6.61 | Computer Associates |
| ArcServe 7.0 | --- | Computer Associates |
| BrightStor ArcServe Backup 9.0 | --- | Computer Associates |
| eTrust | 7 | Computer Associates |
| eTrust 6.0.100 | --- | Computer Associates |
| eTrust EZArmor | AE Test | Computer Associates |
| Corel Draw 9 - PhotoPaint (German) | 9 | Corel |
| WordPerfect Office | 11 | Corel |
| 1st Grade Excelerator Curious George Studio 1 | --- | Countertop Software |
| Serious Sam: The Second Encounter | 1 | Croteam |
| Retrospect Client | x | Dantz |
| Dave's Quick Search Toolbar | 3.16 | Dave Bau http://notesbydave.com/toolbar/doc.htm |
| Diet KaZaa | 2.52 | Diet KaZaa |
| The Lion King Animated Storybook | 1 | Disney |
| DivxPlayer | 2.5.3 | Divx |
| Command & Conquer Generals | --- | EA Games |
| Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour | --- | EA Games |
| Earth & Beyond | v.1 | EA Games |
| Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 | 1 | EA Games |
| SimCity 4 | v1.0 | EA Games |
| Freedom Force | 1 | Electronic Arts |
| NBA Live 2000 | 1 | Electronic Arts |
| CheckSoft Home and Business | 2004 | Eliibrium |
| EDM File System Agent 3.1 | --- | EMC |
| Chess Advantage III: Lego Chess | --- | Encore |
| High School Advantage 2003 | --- | Encore Software |
| Encyclopedia Britannica 2000 Deluxe | 1 | Encyclopedia Britannica |
| Smarterm Office 10 | --- | Esker.com |
| Smarterm Office 11 | --- | Esker.com |
| Diskeeper | 8 | Executive Software |
| Der Brockhaus Multimedia (German) | 2004 | F.A. Brockhaus |
| JAWS 5.0 | 5 | Freedom Scientific |
| F-Secure | 5.52 | F-Secure |
| Drivers & Utilities CD | --- | Fujitsu-Siemmens |
| Cute FTP 5.0 | --- | GlobalScape |
| Conflict: Desert Storm | --- | Gothamgames |
| Window-Eyes Professional | 4.2 | GW Micro |
| HP Quick Launch Buttons | --- | HP |
| HP SJ 6350 | --- | HP |
| HPSetup 42NAheBLU1 SW build | --- | HP |
| Exceed 8 | --- | Hummingbird |
| Host Explorer 8 | --- | Hummingbird |
| Rational's Clearcase | 2003 | IBM |
| ViaVoice for Windows Personal Edition 10 | 10 | IBM |
| SmartSuite Millennium Edition ScreenCam (German) | 9.5 | IBM Lotus |
| ICQ Pro | 3916 | ICQ |
| iMesh | 3.1 | iMesh |
| TurboCAD Professional | 9 | IMSI |
| Installshield | 8 | Installshield |
| Quicken 2003 Premier Home and Business | 2003 | Intuit |
| Quicken Deluxe 2001 | 2001 | Intuit |
| Kazaa | 2.52 | Kazaa |
| Kerio Personal Firewall | 4 | Kerio |
| WinRoute | 4.25 | Kerio |
| Playzone Preschool - Kindergarten - Jump Start Spelling | 1 | Knowledge Adventure |
| Live Journal Semagic | 1.3.9.6 | Live Journal |
| SmartSuite Millennium Edition - Fast Site | --- | Lotus |
| Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic | --- | Lucas Arts |
| Merriam Webster's Reference Library 2003 - Journey to the Planets | 2003 | M-2K |
| ColdFusion MX for J2EE 6 | --- | Macromedia |
| Freehand 8 (German) | 8 | Macromedia |
| MapSend Direct Route | --- | Magellan |
| McAfee Internet Security Suite 2004 | 6 | McAfee |
| McAfee Parental Controls | 1 | McAfee |
| McAfee VirusScan | 4.51 | McAfee |
| Netshield 4.5 | --- | McAfee |
| VirusScan | 7 | McAfee |
| Encarta Encyclopedia | 2002 | Microsoft |
| Age of Empires II: Age of Kings | --- | Microsoft |
| Application Center 2000 SP2 | --- | Microsoft |
| BizTalk 2004 | --- | Microsoft |
| CMS | 2001 | Microsoft |
| Combat Flight Simulator 3 | 1 | Microsoft |
| Excel | 2003 | Microsoft |
| Halo Combat Evolved (Arabic and Hebrew) | Trial | Microsoft |
| MapPoint Europe | 2004 | Microsoft |
| Microsoft Operations Manager | 2000 SP1 | Microsoft |
| MS License | 3.7 | Microsoft |
| MSDN | --- | Microsoft |
| MSN | 7.02 | Microsoft |
| MSN 9 QFE1 and 9.1 beta | 9 | Microsoft |
| Office | 11 | Microsoft |
| Office - Power Point 2002 (German) | 2002 | Microsoft |
| Office Access 2002 | 2002 | Microsoft |
| Office System - Power Point | 2003 | Microsoft |
| Office XP Access | 10 | Microsoft |
| Office XP Professional Excel 10.0 SP2 | --- | Microsoft |
| Office XP SP2 - PowerPoint | 11 | Microsoft |
| Office XP Standard | 10 | Microsoft |
| Outlook 2000 | 9 | Microsoft |
| Outlook 2002 | 10 | Microsoft |
| Outlook 2003 | 11 | Microsoft |
| Outlook Web Access | x | Microsoft |
| Revenge of Arcade | v1.0 | Microsoft |
| Server Administrator Tools | --- | Microsoft |
| SMS | 2.0 SP5 | Microsoft |
| SMS | 2.0 SP5 | Microsoft |
| SMS | 2003 RC2 | Microsoft |
| SMS | 2003 RTM | Microsoft |
| SMS | --- | Microsoft |
| SNA Server 4.0 SP4 | --- | Microsoft |
| SQL | --- | Microsoft |
| SQL | 7 | Microsoft |
| SQL 2000a 2000a SP3 | --- | Microsoft |
| TaxSaver | 1999 | Microsoft |
| Virtual PC | 2004 | Microsoft |
| Visual Basic | 6 | Microsoft |
| Visual C++ (16-bit) | 2 | Microsoft |
| Visual Studio | 7 | Microsoft |
| Visual Studio | 97 | Microsoft |
| Visual Studio .NET Enterprise 2003 | --- | Microsoft |
| Visual Studio 98 | 6 | Microsoft |
| Windows Sharepoint Services | 2 | Microsoft |
| Windows Sharepoint Services | --- | Microsoft |
| Word | XP | Microsoft |
| Works Suite 2004 | 2004 | Microsoft |
| WSS | 2 | Microsoft |
| Musicmatch Jukebox | 8.20.0107 | Musicmatch |
| StyleSelector | x | NEC |
| Veritas | --- | NEC |
| AppManager | 5.01 | NetIQ |
| End2End 4.1 | --- | NetIQ |
| File and Storage Administrator 2.1 (191067) | --- | NetIQ |
| ViewNow 1.05 | 1.05 | NetManage.com |
| View Now 1.0 | 1 | NetManage.com |
| ViewNow 1.05 | 1.05 | NetManage.com |
| McAfee Remote Desktop 32 | --- | Network Associates |
| ESET NOD32 for windows | --- | Nod32 |
| Norman Personal Firewall 1.40 | AETEST | Norman |
| Norman Personal Firewall | 4 | Norman |
| Becky | 12.09.01 | |
| KaZaa Media Desktop | 2.6.3 | |
| PhotoImpact 7 (Traditional Chinese) | 7 | |
| Sony: PCV-W510G | 510G | |
| Super Collapse (Demo Only) | 2 | |
| UX Theme MultiPatcher | 1.5.1 | |
| PhotoExplosion Deluxe | 1 | Nova Development |
| NovaNet Web | 3.6 | NovaStor |
| Pinnacle Studio | Beta | NX - Pinnacle Studio 9 cause data execution prevention errors |
| Instant CD/DVD | 7 | Pinnacle |
| Real Player (free version) | 10 | Real Networks |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield | 1 | Red Storm |
| Action Request System | x | Redmedy |
| Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne | 1 | RockStar Games |
| NASCAR Racing 2003 Season v2003 | --- | Sierra |
| Tribes 2 | 1 | Sierra |
| Harvard Graphics | 3 | Software Publishing Corp |
| SonicWALL Virus Scan | --- | SonicWall |
| Sony: PCV-V200G: | --- | Sony |
| VirusSecurity 2004 | 2004 | Sourcenext |
| BootSkin | x | Stardock |
| Ghost Corporate Edition 7.5 | --- | Symantec |
| Norton Antivirus 2003 | 2003 | Symantec |
| Norton Systemworks 2003 - GoBack Personal Edition | Other MS | Symantec |
| Norton Systemworks 2003 Professional Edition | 2003 | Symantec |
| Norton Systemworks 2004 - GoBack32 | Beta | Symantec |
| PCAnywhere 11 | --- | Symantec |
| Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition | 8 | Symantec |
| Talkworks Pro | x | Symantec |
| Winfax Pro | 10 | Symantec |
| Roboword Pro (JAPANESE) | 6 | Technocraft |
| Style XP | 2 | tgtsoft |
| Eclipse | 3 | Unknown |
| Midnight Outlaw: Illegal Street Drag | 1 | Valuesoft |
| Roller Coaster Factory | v3.0 | Valuesoft |
| Elite Forces Vietnam: Special Assignment 2 ver 1 | ver 1 | Valusoft |
| Midnight Outlaw Illegal Street Drug | v1.0 | ValuSoft |
| Backup Exec | 9 | Veritas |
| Backup Exec | 9.1.4691 | Veritas |
| Backup Exec 8.6.1 | --- | Veritas |
| Backup Exec 9.1 | --- | Veritas |
| BackupExec | 9.1 | Veritas |
| BackupExec | 8.6.1 | Veritas |
| Backcup Exec 9.1 | --- | Veritas |
| Volume Manager 3.1 | 3.1 | Veritas |
| Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 | v1.0 | Westwood |
| Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 | 1 | Westwood |
| Windgate | 5.2.3 | WinGate |
| Reflection | 9 | WRQ |
| Reflection | 9.03 | WRQ |
| Reflection | 10 | WRQ |
| Reflection X | 10 | WRQ |
| Reflection X | 11 | WRQ |
| Reflection X 10 | --- | WRQ |
| Xoreax Incredibuild | --- | Xoreax |
| Yahoo | x | Yahoo |
| Yahoo Instant Messenger | x | Yahoo |
| Yahoo Messenger | 6.0.0.167 | Yahoo |
| PC Magazine Business Winstone Benchmark | 2004 | Ziff Davis |
| ZoneAlarm | 5.0.590 | ZoneLabs |
If you have any problems, the first thing you should do is look for an updated version of the software causing you problems. Usually, this will solve the problem but there are no guarantees and updates may not be available yet (irf at all).
What also might have been nice is a bypass in the installation that detected a firewall and given the user an opportunity to disable the XP SP2 firewall as there is no need to have both.
My advice is to play things slowly and carefully. There is no doubt that Windows XP SP2 closes a lot of holes in Windows but if you currently have firewall and antivirus installed, there is no real rush. Try to find out what software you have installed that might cause problems. If you have affected software, look for updates. Pay close attention to any software that you have that is critical to you or your business (in particular financial software and other security products).
Microsoft advice on programs that seem to stop working once SP2 is installed
Microsoft advice on programs that behave differently once SP2 is installed
Windows XP SP2 Support Center
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Last updated: August 24th 2004
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