Newsletter Archives

• Botched WSUS patch KB 3148812 still throws errors 80244019, 80244008, 8024401f

  Posted on April 22, 2016 at 11:34 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  And Microsoft just pulled the only documentation they had.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security 80244008, 80244019, 8024401f, KB 3148812, WSUS

• Microsoft provides workaround for issues with KB3148812 WSUS update

  Posted on April 22, 2016 at 07:26 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  If you’re a WSUS admin, this may come as a relief. Or not.

  From Richard Hay at WindowsITPro

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3148812, WSUS

• Microsoft releases 24 optional Windows patches

  Posted on April 21, 2016 at 07:39 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Here’s the overview Microsoft forgot to give us.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security 24 Optional patches

• Surface Book, Surface Pro 4 firmware updates throw 800f0203 error, blue screens

  Posted on April 20, 2016 at 11:01 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  The workaround doesn’t always work.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security 800f0203, Blue Screen, Dock, Firmware, Surface Book, Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4

• Anybody out there with a Surface Pro 3 and no Dock?

  Posted on April 20, 2016 at 10:27 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  If so, do you see the new firmware updates?

  I have an SP3, no dock, and I’m not seeing any firmware updates. It may be a timing issue – the updates are rolling out on a staggered basis – but it may be that only SP3 + Dock machines get the firmware patch.

  Full report coming shortly in InfoWorld. There are problems – and I hit a couple of them.

  Windows Patches/Security Surface firmware update

• Microsoft just released KB 3138378 and 3140245 for Windows 7

  Posted on April 19, 2016 at 16:51 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I have no idea what they do, they aren’t on the official Windows Update list, and there don’t appear to be KB articles for either.

  They’re optional, unchecked, and I suggest you leave them that way.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3138378, KB 3140245

• Does the Malicious Software Removal Tool install itself automatically?

  Posted on April 19, 2016 at 15:46 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  It looks like I’m wrong – and I’d appreciate your comments and observations. This from CH:

  I see that you post a lot of replies saying that MSRT installs automatically regardless of the settings and the same about the Defender/MSE definitions.

  While this may be the case about the definitions in most instances, although I am not so convinced that they still install with the service disabled and we agree that this is not the best practice, in the case of MSRT I think that this one comes as a regular update, even if it is just a scanner.

  I still have to test if it installs automatically which I think it doesn’t (on Windows 7), but certainly comes as a separate patch which needs to be checked in the client before installing.

  This discussion is in the context of any setting other than Automatically install updates obviously.

  Although what I mentioned is primarily about Windows 7, I think the same applies to Windows 10 if the Group Policy is set to something else than the default Automatic.

  Setting the Wireless connection to metered may behave differently though and maybe this is what makes you think that MSRT installs automatically.

  Windows Patches/Security Malicious Software Removal Tool, Windows Defender

• Yet another reason for showing filename extensions

  Posted on April 19, 2016 at 13:05 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I take flak, from time to time, from well-intentioned folks who say my insistence on having Windows show filename extensions is archaic.

  Take a look at this report from Microsoft that describes several Trojans and how they’re dropped in spam emails.

  If the person who created the screenshots had filename extensions turned off, the telltale “.js” wouldn’t appear in the listings of zipped files.

  Windows Patches/Security filename extensions

• Win7 updates take hours – or days? Try this combination to fix it

  Posted on April 19, 2016 at 08:06 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  As reported here by EP, with ch100 and Noel Carboni.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3138612, KB 3145739, Win7 updates

• Possible fix for the abysmally slow Windows 7 update scans?

  Posted on April 14, 2016 at 10:58 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’m getting reports from several readers that there may be a solution to the slow Windows 7 update scan problem I chided Microsoft about yesterday.

  Geoff King posted the approach that seems to be working:

  Microsoft also has the very powerful Fix It Tool 50202 that completely reinstalls Windows Update components. This one is especially helpful in cases where Windows Update is not able to check for updates (for example, error 800700C1) or installs the same updates all over again (several cases with infinite loops of .NET Framework updates).

  Because Microsoft just loves to move the tool randomly around (and its site search is not helpful either), I now provide direct download link to Fix It Tool 50202. Please save the file, do not run it automatically!

  https://www.winhelp.us/files/MicrosoftFixit50202.msi

  It speeded things up for me and download and install only took around 10 minutes.

  I hope the tool works for you, too.

  If you’re uncomfortable running a Fixit from a non-Microsoft site, I see that the same Fixit is currently available from KB 971058.

  Could ya’ll give it a try and see if it works? Let me know here how things go, please.

  Windows Patches/Security Fixit 50202, Windows 7 update

• It’s time for Microsoft to fix glacial Windows 7 updates

  Posted on April 13, 2016 at 14:37 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  MS did it three years ago with Windows XP. Time to do it again.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security Windows 7 update

• Microsoft hauls out the big guns to help with Win10 update problems

  Posted on April 13, 2016 at 09:09 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  If you have a problem with the latest Win10 update, KB 3147458, head over to the Microsoft Answers forum.

  Seriously.

  I complain about Microsoft a lot — been doing it for a couple of decades now — so it’s really nice to see a genuine effort to help Windows customers.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security John Wink, KB 3147458
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