Windows XP SP3 follows Vista SP1, causes endless reboots
With early betas and RC versions of Vista SP1 some users saw their systems go into endless reboot cycles and now the same thing is happening with certain systems that are upgraded to Windows XP SP3.
An issue has cropped up that seems to affect systems using AMD processors and OEM XP images as well as systems using certain AMD motherboards. Microsoft says it is looking into the situation and will report back when it has an exact cause and solution; don’t hold your breath.
According to BetaNews the issue could also affect Intel systems since manufacturers often use the same image and it just comes down to which power management driver is in use since they are different on AMD and Intel systems.
Intel processors use the intelppm.sys file and AMD processors use the amdk8.sys file but both are usually installed regardless of which processor is installed. Similar issues cropped up way back when SP2 was released so this may be the issue.
Microsoft said that having both files installed on a system is an "unsupported configuration" so its not really its fault but rather that of the manufacturer which did it as an effort to save time.
The motherboard error reports as "STOP: 0×000000A5" and it is not known how to fix this problem other than by installing a USB storage device or using a PS/2 mouse instead of a USB one.
A third problem, 0×00000024 stop error occurs due to a corrupt NTFS file system or a bad video driver.
If you have a PC that you absolutely positively depend on then it may not be the best idea to install SP3 on it until Microsoft reports back with some solutions or fixes and/or patches.
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May 13th, 2008
Took me 3 tries to get SP3 to install on my Dell D820 laptop. Tried from both downloaded eze and from cd burned from downloaded iso, both times endless hang at some prompt that said something like “performing post install activities”. 3rd time (from the cd) went flawlessly with only diff being I have a network connection. Not sure why SP3 needed a network connection in order to successfully install from the administrator cd they offer, but seems to be the case.