Newsletter Archives

• Targeted zero-day vulnerabilities; will more attacks be seen soon?

  Posted on June 14th, 2021 at 02:42 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Solutions for six exploited vulnerabilities are included in this month’s patch releases.

  Months like these always leave me in a quandary. Sometimes fixes appear before anyone in the wild has been affected, but sometimes there are users who have been impacted. Should I urge everyone to immediately patch without testing? Or should I keep with my tried-and-true recommendations — don’t panic, and wait to ensure there are no side effects with these updates.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.22.0 (2021-06-14).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch, Windows

• BSODs point to driver issues with feature releases

  Posted on June 7th, 2021 at 02:40 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Sometimes a BSOD is trying to tell you something

  AskWoody subscriber BD reported that every time he upgraded to 20H2 on two of his three computers, the process did not end well. Instead, he was rewarded with a blue screen of death (BSOD). No matter what he tried, the process always ended in failure and rollback.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.21.0 (2021-06-07).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Blue screens of death, Patch Lady Posts

• MS-DEFCON 2: Defer Windows & Office updates to June 24

  Posted on June 4th, 2021 at 03:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.20.1 • 2021-06-04 By Susan Bradley Consumer and home users Hopefully, you’ve taken the time to get the May updates installed. Before next Tuesday, be sure you are comfortable with your methodology for deferring updates. For Windows updates, I’m still a fan of the method I call “pick the date.” Go to Settings, then to Update and Security; click on Advanced options, and select Pause updates. Then use the Select date drop-down to choose the date when you’d like updates to resume. I’m suggesting June 24. Note that the News and Interests notification will be fully enabled in your task bar this month. For Office updates, open up any Office application, click on File, Office Account, Office Updates; choose Disable Updates. You can resume updates later in the month. While you have Office updates disabled, avoid opening macro-enabled files as a defense against potential ransomware threats. Business users Ransomware has been a big topic in the news this month. While doing your patch testing, continue to educate your end users about the dangers posed by simple tasks done carelessly — opening emails, transferring files, clicking on links, etc. Greater danger requires greater vigilance. References AskWoody Master Patch List Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Alert 18.20.1 (2021-06-04).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Alerts, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch

• A quiet month of May

  Posted on May 31st, 2021 at 01:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  21H1 is released. Quietly. With no fuss.

  The big release of this month is not the security patches released earlier but rather the May appearance of Windows 10 version 21H1. Microsoft currently has released 21H1 to “seekers” — that is, those people who click on Check for Updates in the Windows update interface. The 21H1 release is a bit anticlimactic; it doesn’t contain many changes. 21H1 even shares the same “base” as 2004 and 20H2. On my test laptop, the install of 21H1 was very fast and caused no side effects.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.20.0 (2021-05-31).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch

• MS-DEFCON 4: It’s quiet out there

  Posted on May 27th, 2021 at 01:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.19.1 • 2021-05-27

  

  By Susan Bradley

  This month has been relatively quiet with respect to patching side effects. It’s now time to install the May updates.

  Consumer and home users

  Most of the issues and complaints have not been about the May update. Instead, there has been dissatisfaction with a new feature called News and Interests. As this feature rolls out, more and more people are asking how to remove it. I have provided a registry update file that will automatically disable News and Interests. The only known side effect is audio issues in some machines; these can be bypassed by using stereo settings.

  More details will be provided in my upcoming Patch Watch article.

  Business users

  For small businesses that still have an on-premises Exchange email server, make sure you install this month’s Exchange patches, as described in KB 5003435.

  Note that some users reported issues if they had manually removed the new version of Edge, proving once again that Microsoft doesn’t test the edge cases (pun intended).

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Alert 18.19.1 (2021-05-27).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Alerts, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4

• Welcome to beta testing of Outlook

  Posted on May 17th, 2021 at 01:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  By the time you read this article, the desktop version of Microsoft’s Outlook application will have returned to its normal behavior — being only slightly annoying.

  But on Tuesday, May 11, its behavior was downright obnoxious. Our own AskWoody forums started lighting up with users complaining about their inability to read messages in Outlook. Later in the day, Microsoft’s 365 Twitter account lit up with the same complaints. The only remedy was a roll back to a prior version, which, if you’ve never done it before, is hardly obvious.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.18.0 (2021-05-17).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft Outlook, Patch Lady Posts

• MS-DEFCON 2: Pause on patching

  Posted on May 10th, 2021 at 12:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.17.1 • 2021-05-10 By Susan Bradley It’s time for both business users and consumer or home users to pause Windows updates. Accordingly, I’m changing the AskWoody MS-DEFCON level to 2. Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don’t do it. Consumer and home users If you are a home/consumer user, I recommend two actions to ensure you do not get inadvertent updates. First, select Start, Settings, Network & Internet, and then Wi-Fi or Ethernet (whichever connection you are using). Next, click Manage known networks; click on the network that you use, click Properties, and turn on Set as metered connection. This “tricks” the computer into thinking that your Internet connection is not unlimited (i.e., you might incur charges) and thus will download patches only after you approve the process. The second action is picking a deferral date after May 11, when Microsoft will push out the next Patch Tuesday security releases. Click on Start, Settings, Update & Security; then click on Advanced Options. Pick a date far enough in the future to give you comfort. I always wait at least a week, usually more. I’ll be re-evaluating the update situation closer to the end of the month, but for now choosing May 28 should be safe enough. For those of you with an Office click-to-run (CTR) edition, I strongly recommend that you change to the semiannual channel rather than the monthly one because it will keep you from the Autocomplete bug. Business users Coming this month in the May Security releases, Microsoft will be including a new “News and Interests” taskbar item featuring items of interest to your users. Remember, if you want to proactively block it, there are registry keys and group policy to control it. References AskWoody Master Patch List Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Alert 18.17.1 (2021-05-10).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Alerts, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts, Windows Update

• Last call for 1909

  Posted on May 3rd, 2021 at 01:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  All’s clear for updating. Plus, I bid farewell to the man who saved the Internet.

  As noted in my Alert last week, I’ve given the all-clear to install updates this month. The printing bugs have been squashed, and no other issues are apparent.

  If you have still not installed updates, review your deferral settings. If you’ve chosen to defer updates to a specific date, click on Start, Settings, Windows update. If updates are deferred, you will see a bold notice that updates are paused plus a Resume updates button. Clicking that button will clear any deferrals you have set.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.16.0 (2021-05-03).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch, Win10 1909, Windows Update

• Computing should adapt

  Posted on April 26th, 2021 at 01:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Even though the 21H1 version of Windows is not yet officially released, Microsoft is already planning on changes for the next feature release.

   We’re getting hints of what Microsoft has in store for 21H2. BleepingComputer reports that many of the changes will be in the Start Menu, Taskbar, Action Center (notification center), and File Explorer, among others. One of the most visible changes will be to icons, as Microsoft itself has hinted. In fact, if you want to obtain the icons without going through the insider program process, there are websites where you can download the bundle of icons and install them on your computer running 20H2 and perhaps earlier versions.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.15.0 (2021-04-26).

  AskWoody Plus membership, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts

• End of the road for old Edge

  Posted on April 19th, 2021 at 01:08 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

   

  ISSUE 18.14 • 2021-04-19

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The April 13 updates bring a close to “old”  or “legacy” Edge and force us to say hello to “new” Edge. The Windows 10 updates released in April will remove legacy Edge and replace it with new Edge.

  I’ve noted before that when I’ve set a default PDF viewer and then installed new Edge, it has been necessary to reset the preference. Resetting default applications always has been problematic in Windows 10; it has often taken several feature releases before things settled down and defaults were respected.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.14.0 (2021-04-19).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.14.F (2021-04-19).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts

• Known Issue Rollback

  Posted on April 12th, 2021 at 01:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Patches that fix themselves

  Every month we receive updates to keep us secure, but sometimes they cause other side effects. If only Microsoft had a mechanism to roll back the side effects of any update. But wait — at least for some updates, it does.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.13.0 (2021-04-12).

  AskWoody Plus membership, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch, Windows Update

• It’s time for 20H2

  Posted on April 5th, 2021 at 01:00 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Are you ready for 20H2? I am!

  If your computer hasn’t yet been offered 20H2, you aren’t alone. I’ve seen several laptops, including high end Dell gamer-style models, that haven’t been offered 20H2. A notification is shown in the bottom corner indicating that the system is coming to the end of support but when you click on the notice, nothing happens.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.12.0 (2021-04-05).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Conexant, Dymo, Patch Lady Posts, Windows Update
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