MS Critical update KB885626.....?

[Bluefront]

New update appeared today.....concerns boot problems when using a Celeron D or a P4 on some motherboards, after installing SP2. Are you supposed to install this before the SP2 install? Could you find the update on the MS site with only SP1 installed....or maybe just a plain XP install?

 

[Ryoga]

http://support.microsoft.com/d...cid=kb;%5BLN%5D;885626

RTFA, man.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Oh wow, finally! MS documents the problem, and releases a patch, good to see.
Maybe those that claim I was spouting FUD about this particular issue will realize that I was not, and that SP2 does still truely have a few "rough edges", and that there is a small population of users who should not install it just yet. This patch, of course, reduces that population. Hopefully MS will release a patch for the "Inspiron laptop + XP SP2 issue" too soon.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Oh wow, finally! MS documents the problem, and releases a patch, good to see.
Maybe those that claim I was spouting FUD about this particular issue will realize that I was not, and that SP2 does still truely have a few "rough edges", and that there is a small population of users who should not install it just yet. This patch, of course, reduces that population. Hopefully MS will release a patch for the "Inspiron laptop + XP SP2 issue" too soon.

You're aware that the issue is more to do with out-of-date BIOS than a Microsoft issue, right? It seems kind of silly to blame Microsoft when the BIOS doesn't provide direct support for the CPU.

The argument of "But it always worked before!" may be valid for some people, but not for me. The system you buy should have a BIOS that directly supports your CPU, with Intel or AMD's full blessing, in a fully supported manner, with a normal configuration, without going through hoops.

Overclockers, CPU hackers, etc. need not apply for support with problem issues. There's a reason overclocking is a bad idea, and so is hacking a CPU into a motherboard/BIOS/chipset that doesn't directly support it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: dclive
You're aware that the issue is more to do with out-of-date BIOS than a Microsoft issue, right? It seems kind of silly to blame Microsoft when the BIOS doesn't provide direct support for the CPU.

You're right, upon re-reading, my post does make it sound like it's an MS issue, which isn't entirely true. I was more commenting on the fact that they are finally documenting the issue, nearly two months after others had already done so. Basically, it appears that MS was a bit slow here.

Originally posted by: dclive
The argument of "But it always worked before!" may be valid for some people, but not for me. The system you buy should have a BIOS that directly supports your CPU, with Intel or AMD's full blessing, in a fully supported manner, with a normal configuration, without going through hoops.

Well, it's certainly not true that this is due to an "unsupported" CPU, but rather (apparently?) Intel discovered some CPU issues after the products had shipped, that could be worked around with a microcode update. It just so happens that whatever is in SP2, triggers that defect in the CPU.

Having MS issue a software fix/workaround for a defect in a CPU, isn't that unusual, they did the same thing with the "F00F" bug in the Pentiums.

 

[Bluefront]

What I don't understand is why this "critical" update appeared on my computer......BIOS one month old, board supported Prescott when new, and already running a Prescott 2.8. Is this update one that appears for everyone with an SP2 install.

And what about somebody running SP1.....will he see the critical update file being available before he does an SP2 install? At least MS is trying......

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: dclive
The argument of "But it always worked before!" may be valid for some people, but not for me. The system you buy should have a BIOS that directly supports your CPU, with Intel or AMD's full blessing, in a fully supported manner, with a normal configuration, without going through hoops.

Well, it's certainly not true that this is due to an "unsupported" CPU, but rather (apparently?) Intel discovered some CPU issues after the products had shipped, that could be worked around with a microcode update. It just so happens that whatever is in SP2, triggers that defect in the CPU.

Having MS issue a software fix/workaround for a defect in a CPU, isn't that unusual, they did the same thing with the "F00F" bug in the Pentiums.

But that isn't Microsoft's fault. The problem is due to the microcode revision - just like certain stop codes with hyperthreaded CPUs and old BIOS updates aren't Microsoft's fault either. Just because they make the OS doesn't mean they're responsible for every bluescreen or flaw when running said OS.

I too am surprised this wasn't caught in testing - but that's what happens, and now an update is available to fix the Intel microcode issue.