Blue Screen error 0x0000007B in Windows XP after installing KB977165 (MS10-015 – February 2010)

There seems to be a consensus developing that KB977165 is the culprit for the BSOD with "STOP: 0x00000050 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA". I learned about this from a colleague when he forwarded a link to the Computer World on-line article someone here also listed earlier.

Thanks to "maxyimus", "LThibx", and "atomicbob" most of you should be able to back-out the offending patch(es) until a fix is published. "PA Bear MS MVP" is right too, if you experience this problem, use the links he provided (also on the KB977165 MS page) to report it. Troubleshooting a problem like this is a lot easier when they know on which platforms and under what conditions the problem occurs.

Can any of the senior Windows admins here confirm KB977165 as the cause? While removing all updates issued on 10 Feb was a sensible precaution when this problem was first discovered, indefinitely forfeiting the benefit of the innocent updates could put systems at risk. The first order of business should be to isolate the faulty update.

I realize that it's only been one day since these updates were issued and this problem emerged but I still can find no public acknowledgement from Microsoft that there is even a potential problem. If the issue can be attributed to KB977165 it should be listed in "Known Issues" section of that update page. The only issues they acknowledge so far are an Automatic Update "re-offering" and a "Add/Remove Programs" title.

I manage several small stand-alone engineering networks (no Internet connections) that are updated using WSUS in a "Disconnected Network" configuration. Because they're disconnected I usually synchronize with the Microsoft update servers only once a week, mostly on Mondays, then transfer updates to the internal WSUS servers. This 1-2 week delay is usually enough to buffer us from problematic updates such as this.

For those of you that are getting a little gun-shy about installing updates, I'd recommend you follow the example of "Straycat19", letting the updates age for at least one week to sort of "improve" their flavor. :-) Keep your eye on Windows forums. Whatever you do, don't stop updating. Microsoft Windows is by far the largest target on the Internet for hackers, crackers, and all manner of low-life scum. The updates do fix security issues and bugs... eventually. As long as you use sensible security precautions, delaying them for a week won't usually make much difference.

Sensible precautions:

1. [Intrusions] Enable Windows Firewall (or personal firewall) and learn how to use it.
2. [Viruses] Install and strictly configure AntiVirus software (I like Symantec). Set it to check for updates every day! Don't forget to renew the signature update subscription either. It's cheap insurance.
3. [Email] Disable the "Preview Pane" in your in-box. It automatically opens every message. Just delete any email from senders you don't know or subjects that don't match the sender.
4. [Web Surfing] Look before you click any link in emails, Google, or unfamiliar web sites. Most browsers will show you the actual URL of a link at the bottom of the window when you hover over it. If it doesn't agree with the link text on the page,don't click it.
5. NEVER use your Administrator account for web surfing or email! EVER! ...and don't add your normal user account the the "Administrators" group.

===========

I was a bit late in downloading updates this week so I was fortunate. Still, I'm reluctant to roll out any of the Tuesday updates without some assurances that those other than KB977165 are "safe". I have no reason to contact Microsoft because I've not yet experience this problem with any systems and I hope to keep it that way. However, this is a mandatory security update so I need to install it as soon as this problem is fixed. If I see that enough people find the other updates okay, I'll just sequester KB977165 until Microsoft acknowledges this issue and publishes a fix.

At my worksite we have a homogenous network of various desktop, server, real-time, and special purpose operating systems; about 40% of which are MS. The rest are comprised mostly of Linux, Irix, Solaris, MPX, PowerMax, and other real-time OS's. Several of the software developers here work exclusively on Linux (including myself) but most have a MS Windows system on their desk. The MS boxes are all updated regularly, albeit on a delayed schedule, and are protected from viruses with the centrally managed Symantec solution and strict security policies. I find myself spending about 75%-85% of my time working issues on the 40% of MS Windows systems.

Personally, however, haven't owned a computer that boots into Microsoft OS's since about 1995. All computers at my residence and home office run Red Hat Fedora or Enterprise Linux. I'm content to relegate Windoze to the virtual world, booting Win32 virtual machines only when needed to resolve issues for work. This has spared me from the majority of security and software issues plagued by the Windows-centric business world. Mac users enjoy some of the same insulation because OS X (since v10.5 "Leopard") is derived from BSD, another open-source Unix-like OS.

===========

References:

This thread:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9155419/Windows\_patch\_cripples\_XP\_with\_blue\_screen\_users\_claim?source=CTWNLE\_nlt\_dailyam\_2010-02-11

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977165

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac\_OS\_X

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley\_Software\_Distribution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora\_%28operating\_system%29

Security related:

Top 5 Home Computer Security Precautions

http://rdewald.com/hmsec.html

Protect your computer from direct attacks in Windows 7

http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid192\_gci1363729,00.html

Cheers!

Cal Webster

I found this fix in another thread on Microsoft Answers http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xprepair/thread/58e6217f-51bc-4984-aabe-cbe027563fe3

When I do step 3 (Type: BATCH spuninst.txt) "The system cannot find the file or directory specified." message comes up 3 times followed by "The system cannot find the file specified." 11 times. I have checked using DIR and the files are there - is there a fix for this?

Thank you in advance.