Endless Reboots on Some AMD PCs with Windows XP SP3

Ah, yes, as I've said before, let others feel the pain of early adoption before you join in. Some users with AMD CPUs are experiencing endless reboots after installing Windows XP SP3. This was after Microsoft delayed delivery of SP3 because of issues with Microsoft Dynamics RMS.

Obviously this hasn't made Microsoft any friends. As Clint D. says in this TechNet thread:

This is ridiculous. Well done MS. They screw around with RMS and delay the release because of that even though so few use it, yet they ignore the most serious issue of all of not being able to start your freakin' computer!

There are only 200+ replies to that thread, that's all.

Knowledge Base Article KB888372, last updated May 6, describes an error message that stops a PC's boot process. If the system is set to automatically restart on "System Failure" -- the default Windows setting, it may reboot over and over again. The KB article says the fault lies not in your AMD CPU, but in the image the Windows XP image originally installed on the PC by the OEM.

The article says that the problem is that the OEM used an image created for an Intel CPU on an AMD PC.

Most computers include an image that the manufacturer created by using the System Preparation (Sysprep) tool. Sysprep lets the computer manufacturer generate an image that can be used on different computers. The problem that is described in the "Symptoms" section may occur if the original Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) Sysprep image is created on an Intel-processor-based computer and if the Sysprep image is then deployed on a non-Intel-processor-based computer. Under this configuration, after the computer is upgraded to Windows XP SP2 or SP3, the Intel processor driver (Intelppm.sys) may try to load because an orphaned registry key remains from the original Sysprep image.

This issue may also occur if the original Windows XP SP2 or Windows XP SP3 Sysprep image is created on an Intel-processor-based computer and if it is then deployed onto a non-Intel-processor-based computer. Again, the Intel processor driver (Intelppm.sys) may try to load because an orphaned registry key remains from the original Sysprep image.

To fix the issue, you have to edit your registry.

1. Restart your computer in Safe Mode.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Intelppm
4. In the right pane, right-click the Start entry, and then click Modify.
5. In the Value data box, type 4, and then click OK.
6. Quit Registry Editor.
7. Restart your computer.

According to posters, a large number of the systems involved seem to be Hewlett-Packard (HP) computers. Microsoft MVP Jesper Johannson, in fact, said that only HP desktops are involved.

The problem is that HP, and possibly other OEMs, deploy the same image to Intel-based desktops that they do to AMD-based desktops. It also appears that this is unique to their desktop image, and any HP AMD-based laptops are unaffected by the problem.

If you decide you want to uninstall SP3, BTW, Microsoft has provided instructions.