Service Pack 3, available for less than two months to the general public, introduced some network connectivity issues for the successor of Windows Vista. Microsoft informed that Windows XP SP3 copies can fail to access the network when certain Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol settings are in place. Specifically, in a network environment containing XP plus SP3, DHCP servers configured with option 43 (for Microsoft vendor-specific options).

"In this scenario, some information that the DHCP server is expected to provide is unavailable. For example, Domain Name System (DNS) and Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) information is unavailable. Therefore, the Windows XP SP3-based client computers cannot access the network as expected," Microsoft informed.

A hotfix is available from the Redmond company, but users affected by this specific issue will have to contact support directly. Under normal conditions, resolves provided to various issues that end up as hotfixes and are not released through Windows Updates are traditionally included in the next service pack for the operating system. This is no longer the case with XP, as SP3 is the last service pack Microsoft will ever release for the 32-bit version of the platform, while at the same time being the only one impacted by the problem. Users can access additional information related to DHCP Option Code 43 (Microsoft Vendor-Specific Options) via this link.

"This problem occurs when option 43 does not appear at the end of the option list in the DHCP packet. Because a Windows XP SP3-based client computer assumes that option 43 will always appear at the end of the option list, the client does not parse any DHCP options that appear after option 43. This behavior causes the system to drop any DHCP options that appear after option 43 in the option list," Microsoft added.

Windows XP SP3 is available for download here.