News
Version 2 Posted of Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4
- By Scott Bekker
- 09/14/2005
Microsoft on Tuesday posted version 2 of the Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 less than three months after originally releasing the security-focused update. The new version addresses four serious problems with the original Update Rollup but does not fix several issues with prominent third-party software.
Update Rollup 1 replaced Service Pack 5 in Microsoft's Windows 2000 maintenance schedule. The original version was released June 28, and it contained all security-related updates for Windows 2000 between Service Pack 4 and April 30, 2005. The rollup included fixes for about 50 security issues and some changes intended to increase system security, improve reliability, reduce support costs and support the current generation of PC hardware. The release came days before Windows 2000 shifted from the mainstream support phase to the extended support phase.
Users of the original version of the Update Rollup ran into several problems that are now fixed in version 2. Microsoft characterized those problems in a Knowledge Base article as "isolated" and affecting "few customers." The problems addressed in version 2 are:
Some users received error messages when visiting the Windows Update site
A stop error greeted some users with non-Plug-and-Play ISA, EISA, or Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) SCSI controllers
Customers with systems using dynamic disks sometimes saw two system drives after installing the update
Other users were unable to save Microsoft Office files directly to floppy disk
Known problems the update rollup causes with major third-party software from Citrix, Sophos and ISS, as well as with Microsoft's own Exchange 5.5, are not fixed in version 2 of the rollup.
"These issues will be resolved by individual hotfixes. These issues affect very few customers and may have third-party solutions. Where it is possible, an individual hotfix is available from Microsoft Product Support," Microsoft's KB article states. "These individual hotfixes were not included in Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 – v2 to minimize the exposure to most customers who are not otherwise affected by these issues."
Some Citrix users experienced blue screens and other problems when trying to connect to Citrix MetaFrame XP 1.0 for Windows 2000 and Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server 3.0 for Windows 2000 Server after installing Update Rollup 1. Citrix posted a hotfix for the problem within three weeks of Microsoft's release of the rollup.
Some users of Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows version 5 experienced delays of up to 15 minutes while their computers logged on to the network after installing Update Rollup 1. Sophos provides guidance on the issue here.
Other users found that their Internet Security Systems BlackICE and related software would stop running after installing Update Rollup 1. The issue is not addressed in version 2 of the rollup, but Microsoft has a separate Knowledge Base article about the problem here.
Microsoft says it is working on a hotfix for the problem on Exchange 5.5 that arises after the Update Rollup is installed. In that case, an Exchange 5.5 message transfer agent that uses an X.400 connector may stop transferring mail.
Click here to read the Microsoft Knowledge Base article on Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.