Microsoft Windows XP

Release Notes

How to Use These Notes

File Systems

General

Hardware

Network and Communications

Software Applications

Storage

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Only

Other

Additional Resources

© 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.



How to Use These Notes

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These release notes contain important information that was not available when the product documentation for Windows XP was written.

Unless stated otherwise, all information included here applies to Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.

You should check whether any of these notes apply to your specific set up. Click the topics above to verify whether there is any important information that might apply.

A list of additional resources is included at the end of this document. To link to the Microsoft Web sites referenced in this document, you must connect to the Internet.



File Systems

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Resultant Set of Policy (RsoP) and Internet Protocol security (IPSec) policy settings

The RsoP does not support logging of IPSec policy settings. When you view RsoP, the IPSec policy details do not display.

Web publishing and file encryption

There is no support for encryption of data stored on Web servers in Windows XP if the local file system hosting the Internet cache is not NTFS.

To ensure confidentiality of transmission, files are encrypted locally using the Encrypting File System feature of NTFS.

If you upgraded from Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition without converting the file system to NTFS or selected the FAT file system during installation, you will not be able to encrypt files on Web servers. For more information about converting file systems to NTFS, see Help and Support Center in Windows XP.



General

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Administration Tools Pack

This will not be available in Windows XP until the next version of Windows 2000 server ships. Until then, you can use the Remote Desktop feature to connect to a Windows 2000 server running Terminal Services and the Windows 2000 Administration Tools Pack to remotely manage these servers. The Windows 2000 version of the Administration Tools Pack is not supported on Windows XP.

Windows Media™ Player

Products: Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional only

CD recorder not recognized by Windows Media Player

If your CD recorder (burner) drive is not recognized as a recording drive in My Computer, Windows Media Player cannot be used to create audio CDs. To verify that your CD recorder drive is recognized, open My Computer, and in the Devices with Removable Storage area, right-click the drive, and then click Properties. If your CD recorder is recognized, you will see a Recording tab.

If you are having problems copying to CDs and your CD recorder is recognized in My Computer, verify that the Enable CD recording on this drive check box is selected in the Properties dialog box for that drive.

Silent copies of tracks

If the CD-ROM drive on your computer is set to use digital mode and Windows Media Player is set to use analog mode while copying tracks, the tracks might copy without sound. The CD-ROM drive and Windows Media Player should both be set to use analog mode. If you want to use analog mode in Windows Media Player, change the CD-ROM drive to use analog mode also. When analog mode is used for copying CDs in Windows Media Player, some sound cards and microphones also record background noises.

See the following procedures for information on adjusting these settings.

To set your playback or copying settings to digital mode in Windows Media Player:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Devices tab.
  2. In Devices, click the appropriate CD-ROM drive, and then click Properties.
  3. In the Copy area, select Digital.

Note

When the Digital option is not selected, Windows Media Player is in analog mode.

To set the CD-ROM drive to use analog mode:

  1. Open Device Manager.
  2. Click DVD/CD-ROM drives.
  3. Right-click the appropriate drive, and then click Properties.
  4. Click the Properties tab, and then clear the Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device check box.

Note

When the Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device check box is selected, the CD-ROM drive is in digital mode.

If Windows Media Player is set use to digital mode, tracks should copy correctly whether the CD-ROM drive is set to digital or analog.

For more information about using Device Manager, see Help and Support Center.



Hardware

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Video adapters and monitors

Products: Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional only

Gateway 950 computers

Gateway Select 950 systems using AGP video cards might experience display corruption and random crashes because of a BIOS incompatibility. To work around this issue, upgrade your BIOS to version P05 or later.

IBM Thinkpad A20p

If you install Windows XP on an IBM Thinkpad A20p, the screen might flicker and then go blank. To work around this issue, upgrade the BIOS to version 1.04 or greater and continue with the installation.

Rage3–based display cards

The use of Rage3–based display cards as secondary adapters in a multi monitor environment has been disabled for stability reasons. If you used a Rage3 card previously, you must set it up as the primary adapter.

To do this, change the BIOS to post to the Rage3 as the VGA–enabled device and disable VGA for other adapters present in the system. Some adapters will do this automatically while others will need to have jumper settings adjusted.

Please contact your video adapter vendor for more information on disabling the VGA.

Sony VAIO PCG-F520

Sony VAIO PCG-F520 computers running Windows XP might experience display corruption when resuming from standby mode using a USB Intellimouse® Optical pointing device.

To work around this issue, upgrade your BIOS to the WME01K1 version or higher. For additional information, see the Sony Web site.



Network and Communications

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Application compatibility

Compatibility issues with third-party PPPoE clients

Audience: Home users where third party VPN application is the method for remote access

Many PPPoE clients from 3rd party vendors do not operate correctly or install in Windows XP. If your ISP requires PPPoE to make a connection to the Internet, you can use the Windows XP built in PPPoE client or request a Windows XP compatible release from the vendor or ISP.

If you use one of the following products, contact the vendor for a Windows XP-compatible version of their software:

To make a connection with the built-in PPPoE client:

  1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Network and Internet Connections.
  3. Click Network Connections.
  4. In Network Tasks, click Create a new connection. The New Connection Wizard will start.
  5. Select the following options, clicking Next after each:
  6. Continue to follow the wizard steps. You may leave the ISP Name field blank and Windows XP will attempt to detect the connection.

Legacy networking components

Support for the following legacy protocols is discontinued in Windows XP:

These protocols are replaced by equivalent functionality in the TCP/IP protocol suite.

Telnet Client

VTNT for East Asian languages

Telnet clients on VTNT terminals must be configured to use TrueType fonts to work properly with East Asian languages. Follow the instructions below for changing your settings before running the telnet client.

To configure command prompt font setting:

  1. Open a command prompt window.
  2. Right click the title bar or system menu of the command prompt window and then click Properties.
  3. On the Font tab, select TrueType, and then click OK.
  4. Select Modify shortcut that started this window and then click OK.
  5. Click Start, click Run, and then type telnet.

    Repeat steps 2 through 4 for the Telnet window.

Wireless networking devices

ORiNOCO wireless LAN card

Products: Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional only

Installing the utilities from the ORiNOCO Wireless LAN card CD causes the Windows XP Wireless Configuration Service to run incorrectly.

The utilities interfere with the control of the card. The wireless configuration tab in the network properties does not display and the card does not configure automatically.

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

  1. Remove ORiNOCO Utilities through Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.
  2. Uninstall the ORiNOCO card using Device Manager.

    To open Device Manager, click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System. On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.

  3. Reinstall the drivers to redetect the card through Scan for hardware changes in Device Manager or by restarting Windows XP.

Wireless LAN display messages

This information applies to wireless devices using the following standards:

If you use IEEE 802.11 wireless configuration and the network authentication protocol IEEE 802.1X, user information and requests for action are displayed through balloon notifications in the taskbar notification area.

When you upgrade to Windows XP, check whether the network icon displays in the taskbar notification area. If you do not see this icon, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Network and Internet Connections.
  2. Click Network Connections.
  3. Right-click the wireless connection, and then click Properties.
  4. Click the General tab.
  5. Click to select the Show icon in notification area when connected check box.

This allows the IEEE 802.11 wireless configuration and the IEEE 802.1X service to communicate with you using balloon notifications.



Software Applications

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Antivirus programs

Products: Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional only

On computers running Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional, only antivirus programs written for the specific operating system run correctly. Antivirus drivers not written to run on the specific Windows XP operating system might cause problems. Other issues might include a lack of real-time scanning for viruses or system vulnerability to virus attack. These problems range in severity from recoverable errors to loss of some or all of the data, to the computer becoming unusable. Contact your antivirus software vendor for updates.

Microsoft Agent

Windows XP provides inbox support for SAPI version 5.0 speech engines and programs only. To avoid loss of functionality in Microsoft Agent applications that use speech input and/or output engines, you must install SAPI version 4.0a runtime support and then install the SAPI 4.0 speech engines. Click here to install the SAPI version 4.0a runtime support from the Microsoft Web site. You might also need to reinstall previously existing SAPI 4.0 speech engines, even if they were working with Microsoft Agent prior to upgrading to Windows XP.

SMTP authentication

Products: Windows XP Professional only

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service in Windows XP can be configured to require clients to authenticate before issuing mail commands. When you install or upgrade to Windows XP Professional in a workgroup, the authentication options NTLM (formerly called Windows NT LAN Manager) and GSSAPI (Generic Security Services API) do not work because a registry key is set that forces guest only authentication.

To work around this issue, set the force guest authentication registry key. For more information, see article Q304707, "SMTP Authentication Configuration on Windows XP Professional Edition," in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.



Storage

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Logical volume manager

Local device drive names (a letter of the alphabet) are usually assigned incrementally starting from the letter C, and network drive names are automatically assigned starting from Z in reverse order (Z, Y, etc.).

Drive letter conflicts with existing network shares might result when connecting digital cameras or other consumer devices that use memory sticks to Windows XP while the computer is turned on. The same conflict might occur when adding external drives (such as USB or 1394 disks). In the event of a naming conflict with an existing network share, the local device will not be accessible.

To work around this issue, allow Windows to automatically assign network drive names or choose drive name letters later in the alphabet.

Volume management

Windows XP does not support legacy Windows NT version 4.0 Ftdisk volume sets. If you are running Windows 2000, you must convert all Ftdisk volume sets to dynamic volumes before upgrading to Windows XP. If you are running Windows NT version 4.0, you should break any mirrors and back up all data on stripe, RAID5, or extended volume sets before upgrading to Windows XP. Ftdisk sets might not be accessible after the upgrade.



Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Only

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Software

16-bit applications

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition does not support most 16-bit DOS, Windows, and OS/2 applications. This is also significant to 32-bit applications where the initial setup.exe is a 16-bit stub which checks the machine type, then launches a 32-bit install engine to perform the install.

On computers running Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, certain proprietary 16-bit applications do not run correctly and might affect other applications.

Programs that use 16-bit Microsoft ACME Setup versions 2.6, 3.0, 3.01, and 3.1 and InstallShield versions 5.x should install without error.

32-bit device drivers

Computers running Windows XP 64-Bit Edition do not support 32-bit device drivers.

Some 32-bit applications ship with device drivers that are not supported by the 64-bit kernel. These applications will not function properly and might cause an error during installation or operation. Most 32-bit antivirus programs fall into this category and should not be loaded on computers running Windows  XP 64-Bit Edition.

32-bit plug-ins on 64-bit Internet Explorer

The 64-bit default browser for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition will not load 32-bit plug-ins. However, a 32-bit version of Internet Explorer (IE) is included with Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.

To use the 32-bit version of IE in Windows XP 64-Bit Edition:

  1. Click Start, then click All Programs.
  2. Click Internet Explorer (32-bit).

Microsoft ActiveSync® version 3.1

On computers running Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, after launching ActiveSync and clicking on the Explore icon, the following message appears:

The path does not exist or is not a directory.

ActiveSync relies on 32-bit Explorer shell extensions. On Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, the 64-bit Explorer is the default shell.

Speech recognition

On computers running Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, speech recognition for applications (including Microsoft Office) is not supported. In some applications, speech recognition options might be present on menus but do not function.



Other

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Microsoft virtual machine for Java



Additional Resources

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To review the latest hardware compatibility information, see the Windows Hardware Compatibility Web site.

To review the latest application compatibility information, and find other products made for Windows, see the Windows Catalog Web site.

To search for technical support information and self-help tools for Microsoft products, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base on the Microsoft Product Support Services Web site.

To obtain the latest product updates, go to the Windows Update Web site.



Copyright

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Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice and is provided for informational purposes only. The entire risk of the use or results of the use of this document remains with the user, and Microsoft Corporation makes no warranties, either express or implied. Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place or event is intended or should be inferred. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

© 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, ActiveSync, IntelliMouse, MS-DOS, Windows, Windows Media, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Acknowledgements

Portions of this product are based in part on the work of Mark H. Colburn and sponsored by the USENIX Association. Copyright © 1989 Mark H. Colburn. All rights reserved.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

Portions of this product are based in part on the work of the Regents of the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors. Because Microsoft has included the Regents of the University of California, Berkeley, software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the following text that accompanied such software:

Copyright © 1985, 1988 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are duplicated in all such forms and that any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. The name of the University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Portions of this product are based in part on the work of Greg Roelofs. Because Microsoft has included the Greg Roelofs software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the following text that accompanied such software:

Copyright © 1998-1999 Greg Roelofs. All rights reserved.

This software is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In no event shall the author or contributors be held liable for any damages arising in any way from the use of this software.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely, subject to the following restrictions:

  1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, disclaimer, and this list of conditions.
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, disclaimer, and this list of conditions in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
  3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display the following acknowledgment:

This product includes software developed by Greg Roelofs and contributors for the book, PNG: The Definitive Guide, published by O'Reilly and Associates.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of Hewlett-Packard Company. Because Microsoft has included the Hewlett-Packard Company software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the following text that accompanied such software:

Copyright © 1994 Hewlett-Packard Company

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. Hewlett-Packard Company makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the University of Southern California. Because Microsoft has included the University of Southern California software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the following text that accompanied such software:

Copyright © 1996 by the University of Southern California. All rights reserved.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation in source and binary forms for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that both the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies – and that any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed in part by the University of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute. The name of the University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of Luigi Rizzo. Because Microsoft has included the Luigi Rizzo software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the following text that accompanied such software:

© 1997-98 Luigi Rizzo (luigi@iet.unipi.it)

Portions derived from code by Phil Karn (karn@ka9q.ampr.org), Robert Morelos-Zaragoza (robert@spectra.eng.hawaii.edu) and Hari Thirumoorthy (harit@spectra.eng.hawaii.edu), Aug 1995

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Because Microsoft has included the Massachusetts Institute of Technology software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the following text that accompanied such software:

Copyright © 1989,1990 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All Rights Reserved.

WITHIN THAT CONSTRAINT, permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of M.I.T. not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. M.I.T. makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Under U.S. law, this software may not be exported outside the US without license from the U.S. Commerce department.

Portions of this software are based in part on the work of Regents of The University of Michigan. Because Microsoft has included the Regents of The University of Michigan software in this product, Microsoft is required to include the following text that accompanied such software:

Copyright © 1995,1996 Regents of The University of Michigan. All Rights Reserved.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of The University of Michigan not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. This software is supplied as is without expressed or implied warranties of any kind.