Mark Russinovich recently indicated that perfection is outside the reach of any kernel or operating system for that matter.  And the problems related to copies of Windows XP SP3 in resume from hibernation scenarios on multiprocessor computers are an illustrative example in this context. According to the Redmond company, the operating system will fail to perform the task.

“Consider the following scenario: you have a multiprocessor computer that is running Windows XP; you resume the computer from hibernation (S4). In this scenario, the computer stops responding on a black screen,” Microsoft informed.

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.