AskWoody

Patch Lady – bring it on

I would add one more ask – make it clearer when we will see issues and when we won’t.  I see many people holding off updating because the  known issues section looks insanely scary.  But here’s the thing:  You more than likely won’t hit many/most of these known issues.  But they look scary and risky.

January of 2019 hasn’t honestly been a bad month at all.  January of 2018 when we were getting nailed with inaccessible boot device due to servicing stack update issues was a much much worse time.

Trust will need to be earned back.  But it’s good to see the outreach like this.   So to Microsoft, bring it on.

January Patch Podcast

By Susan Bradley

January is a busy and confusing month for Windows patching. Win10 Version 1809 is being rolled out — again. And we also enter the last year of support for the venerable Windows 7.

Windows 10 users should check out Susan Bradley’s January Patching Podcast. And if you’re one of the many still on Windows 7, you can download Susan’s Master Patch spreadsheet.

Is yesterday’s .NET Preview, KB 4481031, being pushed onto 1809 machines?

Microsoft’s documentation says that yesterday’s “January 22, 2019 — KB4481031 Preview of Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.7.2 for Windows 10, version 1809 and Windows Server 2019” is being pushed out the Automatic Update chute.

That’s weird. .NET Previews aren’t supposed to be pushed onto machines. But this is what the KB article says:

To download and install this update, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and select Check for updates.

This update will be downloaded and installed automatically from Windows Update. To get the standalone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

which is a strange mixture of a Seeker Sting and a Forced Update.

I checked my 1809 honeypot machine (0 day “quality update” deferral) and it hasn’t been installed.

My guess is that the documentation’s wrong. Anybody seeing anything different?

Thanks @b

UPDATE: The documentation was bad. Microsoft has since changed the KB article to say “January 22, 2019 — KB4481031 Cumulative update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.7.2 for Windows 10, version 1809 and Windows Server 2019” — no mention of Preview.

Bingo! Microsoft finally releases this month’s cumulative update for Win10 version 1809, KB 4476976

It’s finally out. The first Win10 patch (to the best of my knowledge) that’s been thoroughly tested in the Windows Insider Preview Ring — and I’d be willing to bet that it’s pretty stable.

Don’t be fooled by the Microsoft Update Catalog date stamp of Jan. 18. The KB article speaks the truth, it was released this afternoon.

It still has the Jet database (Access 97-style) error and the Edge loading a local IP error. But it claims to fix the Japanese era date problem and the hotspot authentication error, which was an acknowledged problem with the last 1809 update.

You can install the patch by clicking “Check for updates” (BOOO! HISSSS!) or by manually downloading and installing it from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Raise a glass of cheer. We may be witnessing a fix to Microsoft’s fumbled fixing method.

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Fred Langa answers: What is the best software to recover deleted Android files, by a PC?

I can relate to that.

If the deleted files are on a removable card, it’s easy.

If they aren’t… not so easy.

More great stuff from Fred Langa, over on Langa.com.

Woody’s Windows Watch: Preparing for the Windows 7 winter

Yes, Ned Stark, Win7 winter is coming about a year from now, but there are steps you can take now to prepare.

Even if you’re the kind of Win7 user who figures they’ll have to pull it from your cold, curled claws.

See Woody’s nostrums, warnings — and sound recommendations — in issue 16.2.0 of the AskWoody Plus Newsletter

Langalist: Five different ways to fix airplane mode malfunctions

Win10’s Airplane mode sometimes becomes entirely unresponsive — effectively blocking all your wireless activity! Among the better fixes: a new one-click, instant reset for all your network adapters!

Plus: A quick look at some of the new energy-use monitors in Win10’s Task Manager.

See Fred Langa’s latest Langalist in issue 16.2.0 of the AskWoody Plus Newsletter