Microsoft ANI Patch Causes Problems with Third-Party Apps

Microsoft has issued a hotfix for users of Windows XP SP2 experiencing problems with third-party programs.

Last Tuesday's out-of-cycle MS07-017 update was Microsoft's answer to a number of vulnerabilities, including the Windows ANI bug. But with those fixes apparently caused problems for users of ElsterFormular, a German tax calculator; the Realtek HD Audio Control Panel; TUGZip, a freeware archiving tool; and CD-Tag.

When the update was first released the week of April 2, Microsoft noted the problem with Realtek HD Audio Control Panel and published a hotfix simultaneously with MS07-017 to help users, according to a blog post by Christopher Budd, program manager at Microsoft Security Response Center.

On April 6, Microsoft posted information about the other three third-party applications, explaining users may see the following message: "The system DLL user32.dll was relocated in memory. The application will not run properly."

The hotfix is currently available for manual download for customers not signed up to receive automatic updates.

"To help customers who have these applications installed, we will be releasing the hotfix to affected customers through Windows Update, Microsoft Update and Automatic Updates as part of the Tuesday April 10 release as a high-priority, nonsecurity update," Budd wrote.

He added that users of the enterprise Windows Server Update Services and Software Update Services will be able to approve the hotfix update and install it automatically on any applicable systems. SUS customers, however, will not get the update until April 12, Budd wrote.

Copyright 2007 by Ziff Davis Media, Distributed by United Press International