Posted on 03/25/2008 8:43:40 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Symantec, Windows users beset by Vista SP1 flaws
By Tom Espiner, ZDNet UK
Monday, March 24, 2008 10:56 AM
Security vendor Symantec has said that updated drivers to replace those adversely affected by Windows Vista Service Pack 1 are not yet available.
The company said users will have to wait for the updated drivers, which will be available "in the coming weeks". The drivers in question are for Endpoint Protection and Network Access Control, two of Symantec's flagship enterprise security products.
Microsoft released Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to Windows Update on Tuesday. However, in the Vista team blog, Vista product manager Nick White wrote that some vendors' drivers "may be problematic after an update from Windows Vista to Windows Vista SP1". Symantec Endpoint Protection and Network Access Control clients were among the list of drivers affected by SP1.
On Thursday, Symantec said that, while it was aware of the problems SP1 had caused for its drivers and customers, updated drivers for Endpoint Protection were not yet available. Symantec made no explicit mention of Network Access Control drivers in an e-mail response to ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK.
"Symantec [is] aware of this issue and has updated the affected driver to resolve the issue," Symantec said in its e-mail statement. "The currently available version of Symantec Endpoint Protection (Maintenance Release 1) is not certified for use with Vista SP1 and could potentially be impacted by this issue. The next upcoming maintenance release of Symantec Endpoint Protection, which is currently with beta customers and due to be available for general release in the coming weeks, will be fully certified for Vista SP1 and will include an updated driver which is not impacted by this issue."
As well as vendors, some Microsoft customers were also affected by downloading SP1. In comments on Nick White's blog post, a user called "iggy23" said downloading Vista SP1 had caused a "blue screen", which can be displayed by Windows in the event of a critical system error.
"I downloaded [SP1] via Windows Update and got a blue screen on the third part of the update," wrote iggy23. "[It] took five hours to 'revert to previous'. So I downloaded the package version and tried that. Same blue screen. Same hours."
Another user experienced problems with their graphics drivers after downloading Vista SP1.
"Well, I installed Vista SP1 after seeing it on Windows Update last night," wrote the user. "In retrospect, not my finest decision. What a disaster! It exiled all of my Nvidia drivers to the Bermuda Triangle... they're simply all gone. Okay, no big deal, go to the Nvidia site, download the latest drivers, install and nada. Zip, zilch, nothing changes. The install fails... every time, without fail."
One irate Windows user claiming to be Howard Terry, a researcher at Berkeley and Stanford universities, said that university professors and students were considering a class action lawsuit if Microsoft did not resolve this problem.
"This is a very serious matter--tell someone in charge that Stanford and... Berkeley professors and students will begin a class action lawsuit very soon if this SP1 update problem is not fixed for Vista [business] users asap," wrote "drqc terry". "What have you people done to this new OS...?"
The majority of comments responding to White's blog post were positive, however.
Microsoft had not explained why it had released SP1 in the knowledge that it could break third-party drivers at the time of writing. However, a spokesperson for the company said that Microsoft would ultimately automatically push out updated drivers ahead of SP1 downloads.
"We've spent the last couple of months or so investigating the driver issues we shared back in February," said Microsoft in an e-mail. "Since then, we [have] identified a small set of device drivers that, if installed on a Windows Vista PC that is subsequently updated to SP1, may be problematic. We were pleased to find that many of the reports that caused our original concern were on pre-release builds of the service pack and were addressed by improvements made between the release candidate and final builds. Although many driver issues were addressed, there are a small number of issues around specific device drivers remaining."
"We want our customers to have the best possible experience with Windows Vista SP1, so we have configured Windows Update to initially delay offering the service pack to PCs with these identified drivers until the issues are resolved," said Microsoft.
"In order to deliver SP1 to these PCs, we worked with our partners to produce driver updates for the drivers that were reported to be problematic when updating to SP1. Updated drivers for the many of the issues found are available on Windows Update as 'optional' updates today. Ultimately, we will be using Windows Update to automatically deliver these updated drivers to PCs in advance of offering them SP1," added the software giant.
"We continue to work with partners to produce resolutions for several other issues," Microsoft said.
Yes. It is ridiculous that Microsoft can give it's source code to the Communist Chinese while at the same time deny it to the American businesses that use it.
the free software movement you support allows the Chinese government to not only view the source code of Linux, but to copy it, modify it, even rename and resale it, just as they do with "Red Hat" Linux which is built in North Carolina but renamed and resold as "Red Flag" in China with all proceeds going to the Chinese government.
Yep. And so can IBM, Wal-Mart, Sun, and any other American company. Too bad the same can't be said about Microsoft.
But rather than speak out against that absurdity, you rail against successful US corporations instead.
Of course I speak out against successful US companies when they lie, cheat and steal. Why don't you?
Wow. You weren't kidding. Just read through his, uh, "thoughts" on the issue. He obviously has a lot of emotional investment in open source Linux being a Bad Thing (tm).
"Cheap foreign knock off" (Chuckle) Talk about trying too hard.
You're a troll.
I say again. Wow.
CA is so feature packed that a person's computer literacy quotient needs to be high enough to understand how to add URL's to exception lists, read threats and errors and know how to respond, or poke holes in the firewall when needed.
I use the best American products that support capitalist and conservative ideals. Therefore free foreign clones given away for free and standardized and mandated in communist countries is not something I’m particularly interested in. Just another rational conservative opinion.
It has to do with the fact that some embrace corporate structure and entrepreneurial enterprise and others distrust big business and abhor the profit motive. It is really sad that this is even a discussion on a Conservative website.
It's the All your code are belong to us mentality. They think Microsoft set them up the bomb.
Exactly, they'll attack successful businessmen and trumpet free software put out by green party radicals instead. They're entitled to that opinion, but shouldn't be suprised and resort to name calling when others don't agree.
You needed an EE PhD to even install it.
There was once a dual boot OS/2 platform at work that surely now resides in Purgatory.
“Vista continues to prove that crap designed by committee and coded by the lowest bidder is still crap”
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Thinking of your description, I’m unable to picture exactly how, this process differs from the lowest-bidder (as in free) construction of a Linux “tarball”?
If I may?
HOW DARE YOU USE THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE!
I gotta give you credit. No matter what problem normal MS users have, you ALWAYS manage to avoid it.
That is missing the part about paying based on number of lines of code.
Don’t be afraid. I removed it from my XP, when I still had 21 months left on my contract. Then I installed Avast, free for home use.
I got a new HP with Vista and it came with 90 days of Symantac. A month before my resign date I uninstalled it and went to Avast on it. I AM SO HAPPY!!!
Symantac so loaded my new computer that it seemed sluggish. I unloaded it and now it runs smooth as silk. And fast too!
http://www.avast.com/eng/home-registration.php
It runs in real time and I’m pleased as punch!
It’s so sad when even you are reduced to attacking people when you can’t attack their products because the products work.
I see. No Apples in your world?
Did you miss the memo that Rush uses Macs?
I’ve always supported Apple, see post 67 of this very thread. Great machines, I used to sell them back in the 80’s. Let’s hope they don’t go out of business due to cheap foreign clones.
I wish! What on earth were they thinking when they pulled the groupings for the menus out of their nether regions?????
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