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EA Suggests Removing Windows Security UpdateBut blame falls on Microsoft, not EA.by Patrick Klepek, 10/19/200624 of 24 users recommend this story.Battlefield 2142 hasn't had a smooth launch; in addition to today's controversy over alleged spyware, a recent patch for the game recommends players to remove Windows XP security update KB917422, meant to solve an issue that "could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it."Glancing through the readme file for Battlefield 2142's patch, here's what Electronic Arts says: "Players who have the Windows security update KB917422 installed may suffer from an application error when running Battlefield 2142. This error can be solved by uninstalling the KB917422 update." 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.Even if you simply remove KB917422, you are not opening yourself up to anonymous hackers. This could only happen in two scenarios: "one user running on the machine can force himself to a higher privilege," which means they must have access to your computer locally, or visiting "a specially designed hostile website can force its way to the users privilege, if the user voluntarily performs a sequence of operations." Do either of those sound likely?For those interested, however, here are the steps to remove KB917422: 1. Go to START | CONTROL PANEL | ADD AND REMOVE PROGRAMS icon. 2. Tick the little box that says SHOW UPDATES. 3. At the bottom of the list of installed programs, look for the update called Security Update for Windows XP (KB917422). 4. Click on it to highlight it and click the REMOVE button. 5. Once the update has been uninstalled, Restart the machine. EA hasn't responded 1UP's request for comment on the matter, but the issue remains overblown, Internet-wide. It's easy to dog pile on EA -- there's certainly no approval here of charging for cheats on the Xbox Live Marketplace or forcing an ultimatum on playing Internet-based Battlefield 2142 games if you don't want part of in-game advertising -- but here, this isn't EA's problem.
Is anyone really suprised about this?
a recent patch for the game recommends players to remove Windows XP security update KB917422, meant to solve an issue that "could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it."
That'd be nice, but I'm sure they're under contract to provide the ads and the information from the spyware ap.