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Windows XP SP2's Trail of Broken Apps

Official and anecdotal reports of commercial applications broken by Windows XP Service Pack 2 are stretching into the triple digits as the staged rollout of the service pack continues.

It's no surprise to anyone that SP2 is breaking applications. Microsoft has been telling anyone who will listen that the Windows Firewall component that is turned on by default after SP2 installs will deny the wanted traffic along with the unwanted until the firewall is properly configured.

In an IT-focused Webcast last week, Barry Goffe, group product manager for Windows client marketing, said, "We've been working really hard over the last nine months to work with ISVs all over the world to ensure that their applications are compatible." Goffe reiterated that because Microsoft has been unwilling to make compromises in terms of computer security, applications will inevitably break.


Microsoft is documenting application problems in two main Knowledge Base articles, which are being updated regularly.

KB article 842242, "Some programs seem to stop working after you install Windows XP Service Pack 2," has been updated three times as of Tuesday. (It is available at support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=842242)

KB article 884130, "Programs that may behave differently in Windows XP Service Pack 2," was updated six times as of Thursday. (It is available at support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=884130)

Some users say they appreciate the documentation effort. "Microsoft has been good about getting information out there concerning what apps do or might have problems with SP2, and they've been working with vendors to identify and address issues,” says Andrew Baker, director of network services with a prominent media conglomerate.

Microsoft listed several of its own applications in the KB article of 47 applications that stop working when SP2 is installed. They include Visual Studio .NET, SQL Server, Systems Management Server 2003, Microsoft Operations Manager with Service Pack 1 and SNA Server 4.0 with Service Pack 3.

Broken third-party applications on the list so far include such heavyweights as Veritas Backup Exec, Symantec Ghost Server Corporate Edition and AntiVirus Corporate Edition, Hummingbird Exceed and Host Explorer, WRQ Reflection, Computer Associates' ArcServe and eTrust, EMC's EDM File System Agent, Aelita ERdisk for Active Directory, BindView's BV-Admin Mobile, BMC Patrol for Windows and McAfee Security NetShield 4.5

As of Thursday, the other KB article listed 38 applications that "behave differently" after SP2 is installed. That list included Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, the AOL Toolbar, Yahoo! Instant Messenger, WordPerfect Office 11 and IBM Rational ClearCase 2003. Several prominent personal firewalls and antivirus packages fell into the category of behaving differently.

Apparently many applications that are having problems with SP2 aren't showing up yet in either of the KB articles. Microsoft alone has acknowledged problems with several of its own applications that don't appear in either KB list. Those applications include Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer and BizTalk Server.

With additional reporting by contributing editor Stephen Swoyer.


About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

Reader Comments

Wed, Jul 13, 2005 Anonymous Anonymous

ITunes stops playing mid song after a few songs reliably after the upgrade. It's about Microsoft securing themselves from apple.

Thu, Apr 21, 2005 Species Idaho

Yes Visual studio .net crashes Windows SP2. It has nothing to do with the firewall. It works fine with SP1 and windows firewall, Ive tried it.

Thu, Mar 31, 2005 ali iraq

pleas can you aproval version about windows xp sp2's server trail

Tue, Nov 9, 2004 Curt Fort Worth, TX

I have been using my 4G iPod on my HP PC running Windows XP since the 4G came out. I have always used my firewire port instead of either of my USB ports. I have NEVER encountered problems syncing to iTunes... until the very next sync AFTER I installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Now I sync through firewire and iTunes starts to update my iPod, and I can see the iPod in My Computer as a external drive....BUT before iTunes finishes transferring all the songs/playlists, the iPod freezes, then disappears as a drive from My Computer, and iTunes says its updated.... Then I have to undock, manually reset the iPod, then restart the computer, then try it again to only find that the same thing happens all over again. The only difference on my computer between when my pod worked and now is the fact that I installed SP2. PLEASE respond to this message if you have had this problem and resolved it somehow (let me know if you restored your computer to a point before you installed SP2 and let me know if that worked).

Thu, Sep 9, 2004 Something nothing

Linux is a great system, but only for people who can think in a much more complex terms than the mainline. People, in general, like ease of use. Those who have only known Microsoft are loathe to move to Mac, even though they may be able to use it better. And there are still others in the world who would prefer a terminal, such as the old WebTV. Many of you reading this will go, 'WebTV? I wouldn't be caught dead using that powerless, fixed-app POS.' That is because you desire more control and more customizability.

Yes, I have been in the back and I know that there is far more to Windows OS' than the GUI. But some of us look at some of the APIs and other components and get a woody because that's the kind of thing that we like to build and customize. We like to build something from nothing. If you say that that's some kind of God complex that we have, then fine, call us Gods, but we don't think we are, even though we tend to act like it.

Linux is a personal matter for me.

Work is nothing but Microsoft systems, but I may make something of that yet!

Wed, Sep 8, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

i havnt had a problem with a single application including virtual pc, vmware, ghost etc.

you just add an exception to the firewall for that application

Tue, Sep 7, 2004 mr matt new zealand

My god never thought id see the day id be on Bills side. Penguin thank god all computer users are not idiot's. Im not saying that i included you in that group.
have you ever used your pc for any thing more than surfing porn? its a wonder you did not surgest an abacus as an upgrade.
how does linux help can i design in flash or use photoshop simpil answer no i can't not with out emulating windows.
so what your really saying is throw away years of study and ease of work so i can break my back in linux trying to do tasks windows makes easy to find out that all the companys i work with use windows and thats no upgrade

Sun, Aug 29, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

I think you mean downgrade to Linux

Fri, Aug 27, 2004 Anonymous Statesboro, GA

Someone wrote: "CONFIGURE!" I'm here to tell you that SP2 problems can't always be solved by configuring. I've noticed a lot of inconsistencies on how the Novell client responds to the install of XP SP2. Sometimes (most of the time) you can turn off the firewall and it still will not work. I guess this is Microsoft's way of telling everyone that they should move to MS products and not use Novell servers. It will be interesting to see what Novell does with SUSE Linux and maybe we will have a stable desktop for the enterprise environments soon.

Fri, Aug 27, 2004 kemp Anonymous

After logging into my Win2000 Domain, my login script seems to run, but... I cannot access any network drives which were mapped. It works fine if I disable the Firewall. Also noted - It was a BEAST to get my Verizon wireless aircard to work at all.

Thu, Aug 26, 2004 Chris Brentwood

Hey Peter, My laptop doesn't even have a gas tank, but it does work fine after SP2. Gotta go chant to my Bill G idol now...

Thu, Aug 26, 2004 Peter Newcastle

Its a configuration issue. People wanted MS to do something about security so its been tightned. As with all security valid customers suffer delays. Once the valid apps are idenified its fine. As for The Penguin from Manchester, Upgrade to Linux, now theres a contradicition in terms!!

Wed, Aug 25, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

the upraded Desktop disappeared from my home network. No way to get it back. Had to restore a pre SP2 image.

Tue, Aug 24, 2004 Bob Ohio

Patch your apps, no problem. I run a handful of the supposed broken apps (VPC 2004, CA Anti-Virus, Office XP) on my main workstation, no problems. I've rolled it out at two moderately large customers, no problems, BECAUSE WE PATCHED APPS FIRST.

And let's give up the car analogies, they don't apply and never really have.

And let's also give up on Linux on the desktop, it's just wishful thinking. Microsoft is firing on all cylinders these days and have a great pipeline of products. Who hangs out here, people who live in their moms basement or network admins?

Tue, Aug 24, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

Yes, My Dell 8300 gave me a stop erro 000135 could not find winser.dll, it's there I tried all the work arounds and now trying to just recover so I can boot. Looks like a re-install to me now it seems to be stuck at Installing Devices... 35 minutes to go... for the last hour. ERRRRRG!

Mon, Aug 23, 2004 Scott Upstate, NY

MS has listened to the call for increased security out of the box. With that comes extra configuration to make sure your applications work. If it is too stressful, consider one of those computers with the one button mouse.

Mon, Aug 23, 2004 unix guru Australia

It is amusing to see with what you people are willing to put up.
Soon there will be a new OS version, maybe a new patch... that will solve all of your problems. Of course you will need to pay for that....

Mon, Aug 23, 2004 Your dad Hell

Wait a month or 2 when MS RE-releases the SP at the service level it should be at. Right now you people are really just extended beta testers... F linux!

Mon, Aug 23, 2004 Stephen Richard PEI, Canada

I had a few issues on my work machine when installed it. First Novell Groupwise does not refresh properly at every minute to new incomming messages. A few web based apps needed the popup blocker disabled for that site. I have no network connections anymore listed even though the nic and network is working fine.

Mon, Aug 23, 2004 Billy N.H.

From some of the comments I have seen and of what I know it seems to me that most are of Applications that are breaking or not running should be run on a server platform OS and not on a work station platform OS. If you can spend Thousands of dollars buying these programs you should cough up the rest and get them onto an OS that they are suppose to be on. From an IT point of view lets get with the program and do it the right way.

Sun, Aug 22, 2004 realhitstraffic.com realhitstraffic.com

I have installed SP2 on three computers and no problems what so ever, but on the forth computer the only laptop it unpacks the files and then has an error. So it will have to wait until the automatic update comes out, the other I downloaded the whole file and installed it.

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 El Shawno NM

I've been using sp2 since beta1, with no trouble. Sure you have to open holes for terminal services, pc anywhere & such, It's a freakin software firewall idiots! If you don't know what a firewall is then don't put sp2 on!

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 Linux compatible Mexico

Microsoft do it again : The only company that make software that is incompatible with his own software.

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 www.microsuck.com India

well,i hv been using sp2 from about a week now .I dont understand what was about all those delays in releasing this bug loaded thingy .earlier i used sp2 rc1 and it worked fine but there are so many compatibility issues with sp2 2180 :( and yea my Nero 6 gives a message that it has a "known" compatibility issue with sp2 .now micr0soft thinks we must all upgrade all our softwares every another day just to make it work with their OS made by the script kiddies ?and ya i dont use xp built in firewall(i'm using ZoneAlarm).haha i feel pity on those relying on xp firewall .just try this thing .install an Antivirus .then go update it .ur xp firewall will ask for ur permission to make that connection .dont do anything .after 10 mins or so,check the status of ur AV update .u will see that ur anti-virus is already being updated even when the window asking for ur permission to let it access the internet is still there on the screen (remember..u havent given ur anti-virus permission to access the internet?) this means it first makes the connection and then asks for the permission ,lol. what if i am not at my desk .that firewall is of no use .there are still so many other bugs as well..any ideas if theres gonna be any other sp2 release after 2180 or shall i migrate to Mandrake?

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 Ryker Abel New Orleans, LA

LOL, GPO all the way. None of our 15,000+ workstations have any problems, but then everything is already configured by the GPO I made. If your video card is having problems, it is more likely that it has physical problems than XP problems. As for Linux... we tried that 1337 H4X0R joke. Now those 24 servers that were running Linux are back on a real dependable platform called Win2k3. Flame me if you want, but I've managed every major OS from DEC VAX and SGI IRIX to Linux and MacOSX and I still prefer MS Windows. Oh, and btw, we also have prohibited anyone from our organization from purchasing any more Macs too :P

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

LINUX??? That's a good one! I took a Linux class a year ago because management had one of their bright ideas about bringing it into our company. The 4 of us in the class averaged 3 system lockups and\or crashes a day. It was a joke! XP is much more stable than anything I've ever seen with Linux!

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 Microsoft Employee Anonymous

It's been working fine for me. All you have to do (according to my "anonymous" colleagues at the beginning of this chat) is CONFIGURE! How about Microsfot GET IT RIGHT!!

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 steve ohio

the longer u wait to install this the better off u will be. thanks to those you love to jump in first to identify these issues. i'll wait until the smoke clears... peace.

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 Dave Darmstadt Germany

I loaded SP2 on different hardware platforms with no major problems yet. I immediately turned off the firewall since my network is behind two firewalls, but have not had enough time to test thoroughly to give a fair evaluation. The first difference I noticed was shutting down takes 30-40 seconds longer than with SP1. As for the laptop scenario above, yes turn on the firewall, but for those desktops that never leave the office, and are behind a corporate firewall, disable the firewall in sp2.

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 Randy Bridges Fremont, CA

Upgrade to Linux ... yup, just reinstall another OS that requires users to read and patch their own systems. Sure! I think NOT!! There are far too many users who can't figure out how to setup XP right. What makes you think they are going to setup Linux right?

You want simplicity and performance for these users? Try a Mac. You want headaches, try anything running an x86 architecture. BTW, I'm running Win2k Pro and Win2003 Server and I have no problems - I work on XP machines all day that are so torn up, I'm surprised that they boot at all!!

Before anyone bashes users for not knowing their machine, remember that nobody can know everything. I don't work on my car - I put gas in it and have it serviced by a pro who knows what to do.

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 Kome Peter Ebong Lagos Nigeria

Hay that kool and MS will make it again in the Market but just CONFIGURE

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 The Penguin Manchester

Now I think we all know the solution to this...

UPGRADE TO LINUX!!

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Lwesson Baltimore, MD

My NvidiaGforce 5200 Video card and TV card went nuts. I went back to SP1 ( reinstall). Life is good again. And that was not firewall related. I saw this coming, "definately not ready for the masses"

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

My machine refuses to boot up after installing SP2. Tried many times using different version, but always hangs on boot-up.

Never had problem with SP1.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Danny Casey Fort Worth, Texas

Works great for me on three machines with every apps I have including non-Microsoft apps as well... Yahoo included.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Peter Anonymous

Bunch of chuckleheads declare "nothing broke", but guess again. SP2 breaks a number of AV products among other apps which are listed BY MICROSOFT KB884130. If a car company had a recall for explosive gas tanks, these are the same people who would declare "mine works fine". Do you people not understand that your luck in failuring to encounter or identify a problem does not negate the fact that there ARE serious issues with SP2? Are all you "anonymous" posters part of some kind of MS cult?

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

Nothing broke that couldn't be configured in the firewall to work. Now what till it hits home users. That's going to be a mess consider most home user have no idea what a port is. It's a window on a ship isn't.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

WORD UP!

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

Why a firewall on your workstation when there is one on your network? The reason why is because someone can bring home a laptop, connect it to the Internet, pick up some worm viruses, and bring it back to work, and then the worm spreads all over. So that's why it's a good idea to keep up with the current patches.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 RV Seattle

Why do I need a firewall on a workstation when I have a firewall on my network

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Torm Vancouver

I haven't found anything to be broken yet. If the firewall is going to be an issue at least in a business setting, then it can easily be disabled via Group Policy or a registry hack. Seems simple enough to me.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Suggs Oz-tralia

Agree with the comments above, amazing that users could consider that after installaing a firewall and not bothering to configure it, everything should just work as before. How come Ive never seen anybody posting these reports with "Some programs see to stop workoing after you install Zone Alarm" or the same for ANY other personal firewall? NONE of them allow traffic through until they are configured...

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Brian Anonymous

I have noticed no issues, as I use Norton not the windows firewall. Its not that applications are broke, the firewall just needs configuring. Same MS dosent have auto config rules for applcations like in Norton.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

I agree with the previous statements on configuration the other problem is that people expect MS to solve the problems for them and don't even bother to read the messages that come to them during installation or initial configuration, as well as prepare themselves ahead of time to roll them out, even if it is just one machine!

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

CONFIGURE!

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

Same for me. Everthing works great. Configure your firewalls people.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

Nothing I have has "broke". I get a popup from the firewall the first time an app runs asking if I want to allow the app or not. Click allow and it all works fine. This is nothing more than a configuration problem. I don't call that broke.

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

Interesting that SP2 breaks Microsoft Virtual PC. They broke one of their own apps!

Thu, Aug 19, 2004 Anonymous Anonymous

MS says, its simple to fix all those broken apps, just buy our new versions or our license 6 support and you'll be fine. Sorry about all those other vendors products.

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