There are a few reports floating around the net, that indicate some sort of conflict with the Windows Service Pack 2 update and DivX software. Although we have not seen this ourselves, there is no doubt about it as the DivX support page is offering a "workaround".
Unfortunately, the temporary fix involves disabling a new security feature called: Data Execution Prevention or DEP. Here is the complete support page for your perusal from the good folks at DivX.
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How do I use DivX software on Windows XP SP2? Answer: How to use DivX software on Windows XP SP2 Some of our products may not work with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 when a feature called Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is enabled. DEP is enabled by default in Service Pack 2. Typical symptoms include the following: DivX
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A short-term solution to DEP incompatibility is to disable DEP. Disabling DEP is a security risk, and will increase the vulnerability of your computer to certain types of attacks, but no more so than was possible under Windows XP Service Pack 1, which did not include the DEP feature. If you choose to disable DEP, we recommend that you try to update all your software and drivers to Windows XP SP2-compatible versions as soon as they are released, and then re-enable the DEP feature. DivXNetworks will be releasing SP2-compatible versions of all affected products shortly. We also recommend the use of up-to-date anti-virus and firewall software at all times. How to disable DEP To disable DEP, perform the following actions:
IMPORTANT: Save a copy of your original Boot.ini file as a backup before you make changes! |
You can decide for yourselves what you would like to do of course. The DivX web page is worth a visit, as at the bottom of the support page they provide a notify by email button, to automaticaly make you aware if this page is updated.
My immediate reaction is suspicious as usual, figuring this is some dark scheme of Microsoft to rule the video compression world. But, due to past bugs in software from other updates i.e. when we all went to XP, I have come to believe that these things just happen. As you can read here on Microsofts support page, certain software behaviors can cause new problems now. Apparently, this is not what DivX is doing, as we can read above that there are other issues to contend with, plus I am sure they must have tried this. But, if you run across this error in another program, maybe this could help.
There are also some rumblings about P2P being hampered in certain situations. For instance, the service pack is apparently limiting simultaneous connections to ten, whereas in the previous service pack, this was unlimited.
The real culprits here, are these "individuals" that write, run or spread scripts and worms that cause us to have to strengthen our systems against these annoying attacks. For those that are curious about this latest massive update from Microsoft, you can read all about it at this address.
Source: DivX Support
