October 20th, 2006
Remove a Windows Security Update to Play BF2142? Yep, But It’s Not EA’s Fault
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Electronic Arts has had a bad week. Not only has EA been under the gun for the alleged spyware in BF2142, which I previously wrote about, the in-box (or in this case, in-patch) surprises keep coming. According to the readme for the 1.01 patch, you should remove the security update KB917422 in order to play the game.
But before we pile on EA, there’s this:
Blame, however, does not rest EA but with Microsoft, as a quick Google search of KB917422 brings up many gamers, developers and publishers bitching about the Windows update breaking various games and applications. What have users found is the easiest way to solve the problem? Remove KB917422 or install hotfix KB924867, apparently available by contacting Microsoft directly by calling 800-936-3100. Source: 1Up
We Say: As the article says, Googling about KB917422 reveals a lot of issues with it. And apparently this security fix isn’t as necessary as you might be led to believe. But since EA’s been in the news lately, it’s easy to blame them again.
Finally, rather than calling Microsoft about KB924867, you can now find it on their website (it was posted on 10/17). The 64-bit version is here.
Snopesman says:
This is precisely why I gave up on PC games so long ago and switched to console … you just plug the thing in and go …. no patches, no nonsense, no beta quality games for 6 months that were pushed out the door to make Christmas.
If I were interested in this game, I wouldn’t even try installing it for 6 months, by which time patch 11f will be out and the game will hopefully play …..
October 20th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Remove a Windows Security Update To Play BF2142? Yep, But It’s Not EA’s Fault ~ IT Professionals says:
[…] Michael Santo of RealTechNews writes: […]
October 20th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
Peter says:
Actually, according to KB924867, the main reason for programs breaking were that they had copy protection software that didn’t fit the “typical” program profiles that MS was expecting. Granted, it’s tehnically Microsoft’s fault, but the programmers writing copy protection software doing “sneaky, low-level programs” is also to blame, IMO.
October 23rd, 2006 at 6:29 am
Eric says:
How silly to break games that do not impliment YOUR brand of protection. Shame on microsoft! Is that so they can use the backdoor and play for free?
October 25th, 2006 at 9:03 am