MS to Fix, Reissue Windows 2000 Rollup

Microsoft is planning to reissue its Windows 2000 Update Rollup, which took the place of Service Pack 5 on the aging, but still widely used, operating system.

Following reports of customers experiencing a number of problems post-install, Microsoft says it will release a new version of the Rollup that integrates hotfixes for such issues. The package includes over 50 patches, both security and non-security related.

"After the release of Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4, we identified several issues that may occur when you install this update rollup," the company wrote on its support Web site.

"If you are affected by these issues, we suggest that you do not install Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 until the corresponding hotfix is available. We plan to reissue Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 soon. Several hotfixes will be integrated into the new version of Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4."

According to the Microsoft Watch newsletter, users have been reporting application compatibility problems with products from Sophos, BlackICE and Panda. In addition, the Rollup disables the ability for Microsoft Office users to save to a floppy disk and may cause network printing problems.

Despite minor kinks, Microsoft says over 1 million Windows 2000 users have downloaded the post-SP4 Rollup and claims the "issues are isolated, and affect few customers."