Contents
Overview
Download Support Package
Windows XP SP2 Support Package Features
Who should install the XP SP2 Support
Package?
Installation instructions
These technical release notes apply to the support packages
that add Windows XP SP2 support to F-Secure products:
- F-Secure Anti-Virus for Workstations 5.4x Windows
XP SP 2 Support Package: Applies to F-Secure
Anti-Virus for Workstations versions 5.40-5.42, F-Secure
Internet Security 2003, F-Secure Distributed Firewall
versions 5.37 and later, and F-Secure Workstation Suite
versions containing either F-Secure Anti-Virus or
F-Secure Distributed Firewall versions 5.4x..
- F-Secure Anti-Virus Client Security 5.5x Windows
XP SP 2 Support Package: Applies to F-Secure
Anti-Virus Client Security versions 5.50-5.52 and
F-Secure Internet Security 2004.
Both of the above support packages contain two features:
- Support for the hardware-based Data Execution Prevention
feature in Windows XP SP2 with AMD64 family processors.
- Support for the Security Center applet of Windows XP SP2.
Important note: Support for the above mentioned hardware-based Data
Execution Prevention feature only affects the Anti-Virus
component and it is not required to install the XP SP2 Support
Packages on systems without F-Secure Anti-Virus. This note
applies both to standalone F-Secure Distributed Firewall
products, and to F-Secure Internet Security 2003/2004 products.
With F-Secure Anti-Virus Client Security, the Anti-Virus (Virus
Protection) component is always installed, and the Windows XP SP2
Support Packages can be installed.
Details of the two features are provided below.
You may download Windows XP SP2 support package for following F-Secure products (click your product version):
Support for the Data Execution Prevention feature
Windows XP SP2 introduces a new security feature,
hardware-based Data Execution Prevention (DEP). This feature
requires support from the CPU and on 32-bit Windows XP such
support is provided by the AMD64 family of CPUs, the "Athlon
64" and "Opteron" processors.
Without the Support Package installed, the above DEP feature
prevents F-Secure products from operating properly. In the
systems with the above CPUs, F-Secure Anti-Virus will not be able
to detect many viruses. Also, the operating system may start
behaving erratically: execution of programs may become extremely
slow, and in the worst case, the OS can become unusable and may
require restarting of the computer in Safe Mode.
This problem only affects systems with the AMD64 family CPUs.
Windows XP SP2 running on other processors, including for example
AMD's "Athlon XP" are not affected.
Support for the Security Center applet
Windows XP SP2 contains a new Control Panel applet, called
"Security Center". The Security Center provides
information about the computer's security configuration in a
single location in the operating system's user interface.
Without the Support Package installed, the Security Center
will not be able to detect the presence of the F-Secure product
in the computer. It will tell the user that there is not
anti-virus product installed. After installing the Support
Package, the Security Center will be able to detect the presence
and the current state of the installed F-Secure product. See the
screenshots below:
Security Center: no anti-virus product
detected before the Support Package installation:
Note that on the screenshot above, the Security Center
reports that the Firewall is installed and turned on: this
reflects the state of the Windows XP's built-in Windows
Firewall that is enabled by default in Windows XP SP2.
Without the XP SP2 Support Package installed, the state of
the possibly installed F-Secure Internet Shield is not shown.
The Security Center will however be showing the state of
F-Secure Internet Shield there once the XP SP2 Support
Package has been installed.
Security Center: F-Secure Anti-Virus detected
after installing the Support package.
Note for corporate users: the Security Center will not be
visible the way it is in home computers in computers that are
part of a domain. By default, computers in a domain will have the
Security Center disabled. For computers in a domain, the Security
Center can be enabled by administrators using group policies.
Customers running Windows XP SP2 on AMD64 family
processors such as "Athlon 64" and "Opteron"
are required to install the XP SP2 Support Package. F-Secure
Anti-Virus will malfuntion and may cause the operating system to
malfunction without the installation of the XP SP2 Support
Package.
Customers running Windows XP SP2 on other processors are not
required to install the XP SP2 Support Package: F-Secure products
will continue functioning properly in these environments.
However, to make sure that the Security Center in Windows XP
SP2 will recognize the presence and the state of F-Secure
Anti-Virus, it is recommended that all users who upgrade to
Windows XP SP2 will also install the XP SP2 Support Package for
their F-Secure products. Exceptionally, corporate users who have
their Windows XP computers in a domain and who do not plan to
enable the Security Center with a group policy will not benefit
from the XP SP2 Support Package and may leave it uninstalled.
General
The XP SP2 Support Package can be installed either before or
after upgrading to Windows XP SP2.
Customers running Windows XP SP2 on AMD64 family processors
such as "Athlon 64" and "Opteron" are highly
recommended to install the XP SP2 Support Package before
upgrading to SP2. Customers who have already upgraded to SP2 and
have the F-Secure product installed and who therefore experience
the malfunctioning of the product and the OS can use the
workaround provided further below to have the Support Package
installed to their system.
Installation on computers running F-Secure Internet Security
2003/2004 or F-Secure Anti Virus 2003/2004
Automatic installation
For the single user and home user products the installation of
the Support Pack is done automatically. All the hosts that are
connected to Internet will get the Support Pack on August 5th,
2004 or after this date as soon as the computer is connected to
the Internet. The update is installed silently and the you may be
requested to restart the machine to complete the installation.
Manual installation
In case the computer is not connected to the Internet or is
otherwise unable to connect to the F-Secure delivery servers the
Support Package can be downloaded form the product support pages:
Download Support Package
Download the package named "Hotfix - XP SP 2 Support
Package", then doubleckick on the downloaded .fsfix file,
and follow the instructions.
In case the Support Package has been installed manually, the
package will not add an entry under "Automatic
Updates/Downloads", fsbwce.log file or elsewhere under the
Automatic Update Agent or BackWeb Client. To verify that the
package has been installed successfully, you can execute a
program named "fshotfix.exe" under the
"Common" directory and check if a hotfix with ID
"fsavwk541-12" or "fsavwk552-09" is
installed.
Installation on computers running F-Secure Anti-Virus 5.4x,
F-Secure Anti-Virus Client Security 5.5x or F-Secure Distributed
Firewall 5.3x/5.4x
Installation on standalone computers
To install the XP SP2 Support Package in a standalone computer
(i.e. computers not centrally managed by F-Secure Policy Manager,
such as in home and small office environments), just double-click
on the downloaded .fsfix file and follow the instructions.
The support package can be downloaded from the product support
pages:
Download Support Package
Installation on centrally managed computers
In F-Secure Policy Manager, go to Installation Packages,
import the downloaded file, and distribute the installation as
"F-Secure Anti-Virus" version 541.12 (for F-Secure
Anti-Virus 5.40-5.42) or version 552.09 (for F-Secure Anti-Virus
Client Security 5.50-5.52) to the appropriate domains or hosts.
Technically, the Windows XP SP2 Support Packages are
implemented as hotfixes with the following hotfix IDs:
- F-Secure Anti-Virus for Workstations 5.4x Windows XP SP 2
Support Package: hotfix ID equals fsavwk541-12
- F-Secure Anti-Virus Client Security 5.5x Windows XP SP 2
Support Package: hotfix ID equals fsavwk552-09
The support package can be downloaded from the product support
pages:
Download Support Package
Installation on AMD64 computers already upgraded to XP SP2
As noted above, in case the computer has already been upgraded
to Windows XP SP2 with an F-Secure product in it, the OS may be
in a malfunctioning state, making the straightforward
installation of the Support Package impossible. If this is the
case, the computer must be restarted in Safe Mode, and the Data
Execution Prevention feature must be temporarily disabled; please
follow the steps below to install the Support Package in this
situation:
- Restart the computer. At boot time, press F8 to access
the boot-time options menu.
- Use the arrow keys to select the Safe Mode option and
press Enter.
- Once the OS is up and running, go to Settings/Control
Panel and doubleclick on the "System" icon.
- In the window that opens up, go to the
"Advanced" tab, then press the
"Settings" button under the first,
"Performance" header.
- In the window that opens up, go to the "Data
Execution Prevention (DEP)" tab. Select the
"Turn off hardware DEP" and press OK (see the
screenshot below).
- Restart the computer. This time, start the computer in
Normal Mode.
- Once the OS is up and running again, you will be able to
install the XP SP2 Support Package.
- After installing the XP SP2 Support Package, go back to
the "Performance Options" window as instructed
above, and re-enable the "Data Execution
Prevention" feature. After restarting the computer
again the operation is complete.
Disabling the Data Execution
Prevention feature:
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