I experienced this issue with the first “official” release of XP SP3 from Microsoft. No problems with the released version so far. Here’s the fix for the reboot issue just in case, it worked perfectly on various machines for me:
“1. boot from a Windows CD and go for the repair option.
2. Copy gdi32.dll from c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\gdi32.dll to c:\windows\system32\gdi32.dll. (Do keep a backup copy of the old gdi32.dll in c:\windows\system32 directory)
3. Reboot normally
In Repair Mode
*just hit: “copy c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\gdi32.dll c:\windows\system32\gdi32.dll”
It should ask you to overwright, go ahead and hit “y”
Then just “exit”” (?)
Just an FYI - the original poster serves no purpose on FR other than to shill for Apple products and whine about Microsoft. You’re wasting your time.
Would that be too much Jeremiah?
Thanks for the information.
Reading the comments on Computerworld shows that this may not just be a problem with AMD based machines. About a quarter of those reporting the endless looping have Intel based processors. Also, quite a few with AMDs have had not problem. It may be an incompatibility with something entirely different than the CPU.
The main thing that's important here is to have a GOOD, verified backup of your irreplaceable data before attempting installing SP3.