Windows XP SP2's DEP feature and issues with some CPUs

Question

Hello all !
I wanted to start this thread to help out people who are having problems with PC restarts when some applications are launched on a PC with Windows XP SP2. First though, a little technical explanation.
Windows XP Service Pack 2 added a new security feature called Data Execution Prevention (DEP hereafter) that allowed Windows and a compliant CPU to perform additional checks on memory to help protect against malicious code exploits. New 64-bit CPUs from Intel and AMD support Hardware-enforced DEP and will halt execution of applications requiring access to special memory locations.
For a very detailed explanation, please look at the following article:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2mempr.mspx
Though most applications will run fine with the DEP feature enabled, a few can have compatability problems. In most such cases, the PC will either proceed to a blue screen error and restart or just restart directly (depending how error reporting is setup on the machine).
Here's how DEP can be disabled:
Method 1: Configure DEP to ignore your application
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- Open the control panel folder and double click the “System” icon
- Click the “Advanced” tab
- Click the “Settings” button in the “Performance” area
- Click the “Data Execution Prevention” tab
- Click the radio button that indicates you wish to specify programs for DEP NOT to operate on
- Navigate to the folder where your application is located
- Click the “Apply” button in all presented dialogs
- Reboot your PC
Method 2: Disable DEP completely
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This method is used to disable DEP at the boot.ini file level. Please note that this requires very careful editing of the boot.ini file, a single space in the wrong location can prevent your system from starting. Please refer to the same article as above to disable DEP completely through the boot.ini file.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2mempr.mspx
I would have liked to post this under "Good Articles Forum" section but it seems that there is no way to post a topic there!
Good luck.

Answer 1

Quote from: NovJoe on 21-April-06, 14:02:34
You can PM Bas on this. The Good Article Forum is for Mods and Admins to slot good threads in only.
Good Thread for sharing.
I might sound ignorant but who's Bas ?
Thanks !