Device Manager may not show any devices and Network Connections may not show any network connections after you install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

After you install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), Device Manager may not show any devices and the Network Connectionsitem in Control Panel may not show any network connections.

This problem may occur when an antivirus application is running during the installation of Windows XP SP3.

This problem occurs when the Fixccs.exe process is called during the Windows XP SP3 installation. This process creates some intermediate registry subkeys, and it later deletes these subkeys. In some cases, some antivirus applications may not let the Fixccs.exe process delete these intermediate registry subkeys.

When this problem occurs, certain applications, such as Device Manager and the Network Connections item in Control Panel, may be unable to enumerate the device or the connection instances. These applications will report a blank status even though devices and connections still function as expected.

Update information

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the Update for Windows XP (KB953979) package now.

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Prerequisites

To use this hotfix, you must have Windows XP Service Pack 3 installed on the computer. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

To apply this hotfix, you must restart the computer in Safe Mode. See the "How to apply the hotfix" section for information about how to restart and apply the hotfix.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

How to apply the hotfix

1. Download the hotfix package.
   
   Important The remaining steps must be completed in Safe Mode.
2. Restart the computer in Safe Mode. To restart the computer in Safe Mode, follow these steps.
   
   Note Print these instructions before you continue.
   1. Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
   2. In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, select Restart in the What do you want the computer to do list, and then click OK.
   3. After the computer restarts but before Windows XP starts, press F8.
   4. Use the arrow keys to select the Safe Mode option, and then press ENTER.
3. Extract the hotfix that you downloaded. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Double-click the hotfix package. This step extracts the Fixccs.exe file.
   2. Select a location to which you want to save the file.
   3. Click OK when the file is extracted.
4. Locate and double-click the Fixccs.exe file. A Command Prompt window opens, and the necessary tasks are performed. The Command Prompt window closes automatically after all tasks are completed.
5. When the necessary tasks are completed, restart the computer in normal mode.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: