We've determined that the majority of the issues people are having with
MS06-015 / KB908531 are due to a bad interaction between the security update
and a software component included with various HP hardware devices,
including but not limited to printers, scanners, and cameras.

Here are two fixes which should fix problems caused by the interaction with
the HP software:

Option 1 - Modify the registry

------------------------------

- (If you have multiple user accounts set up) Log onto the computer using an
account with Administrator privileges

- Click the Start button, then click Run and type "regedit" at the prompt,
without the quotes; this will start Registry Editor

- Locate the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell
Extensions\Cached key in Registry Editor

- Right click on the key and select New / DWORD Value

- Rename the resulting value "{A4DF5659-0801-4A60-9607-1C48695EFDA9}
{000214E6-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} 0x401", without the quotes

- Right click the value, select Modify, and type "1" into the Value Data
field

- Close Registry Editor

Option 2 - Kill the HP process

------------------------------

- Wait until Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, or whichever component is
encountering problems is in an unresponsive state

- Click the Start button, then select Run and type "taskmgr" at the prompt,
without the quotes; this will start Task Manager

- Locate any instances of hpgs2wnd.exe or hpgs2wnf.exe in Task Manager, then
right click on them and select End Process

(Note: Option 2 this may disable some HP device-specific functionality until
you restart your computer.)

If your computer is not currently unresponsive, you should only have to do
Option 1 or Option 2, not both.  If your computer is currently unresponsive,
you should be fixed by doing Option 2.

I'm very sorry about the inconvenience this has caused you all; hopefully
this will get things back on track.  Please note that MS06-015 fixes a
critical security vulnerability, so it's very important that you reinstall
it as soon as possible if you've uninstalled it.  Please also keep in mind
that disabling Auto Update will leave your computer unprotected even after
we release security updates.  I understand that this experience has been
very frustrating for many of you, but I really must still strongly recommend
that you leave Auto Update enabled for your own safety.

Last but not least -- if anyone encounters similar problems after attempting
both options above, please post about it here so that we can continue to
investigate.

Thanks,

Steve

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.