Limitations and Compatibility Issues

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

There are limitations to hotpatching technology, and because of these limitations, not all updates can be hotpatched. Hotpatching does not support components or applications that contain:

  • Additions or changes to exports

  • Data structure changes

  • Dependency changes

  • Global state changes

  • Infinite loops and persistent stack frames

  • Inline assembly code

Supported platforms

Hotpatching is supported on 32-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 operating system with SP1. Support will also be available in future Microsoft operating system releases and platforms.

Compatibility issues

Hotpatch installation has been found to cause issues with some non-Microsoft applications. For a current list of application compatibility issues, see article 922612 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=78020).