Service Pack 3 for Windows XP apparently copies an Intel power management driver to the computer that was not there before which is the cause for the restart bug. Things like these can happen but I’m wondering why non of the public beta testers have encountered this error before.

You can only use the following information if you use a non-Intel processor and encounter the previously mentioned restart bug after installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. I’m going to list two possible solutions, one from Microsoft and the other from HP.

HP solution for XP SP3 Restart Bug:

• Boot Computer in Safe Mode
• Use Windows Explorer to browse to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers
• Right-click intelppm.sys and rename it to XXXintelppm.syx
• Restart Windows

If the computer is unable to boot into safe mode do the following:

• Press F8 during startup and load the Microsoft Windows Recovery Console
• Type the number that corresponds to your Windows installation
• Log in as an administrator
• Type cd c:\windows\system32\drivers at the command prompt
• Type rename intelppm.sys XXXintelppm.syx
• Restart Windows

The Microsoft fix for the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Restart Bug:

• Boot the Computer into Safe Mode
• Press Windows R, type regedit, hit enter
• Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Intelppm
• right-click the Start entry in the right pane and select modify
• Enter 4 in the Value Data box
• Close regedit, restart the computer