Windows XP SP2 is an important update and have introduced many security improvements. However, after installing Windows XP SP2, some graphical identity systems will be rendered to be useless.

The root cause is that these systems makes use of a special MIME type: x-xbitmap, or so called “XBM”.

XBM is originally developed by the X community. Presently it is uncommon on the web. However, banks like China Merchant Bank utilizies this format for authentication.

Unfortunatelly, Windows XP SP2 have an tend to block XBM’s which seemed to be because security options. This in turn will cause problem when logging into the bank.

Workaround: Import the following item into registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Security]
“BlockXBM”=dword:00000000

Of course, this is a workaround and true solution would be discourage XBM.