KBNew: New articles in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base

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Trying a dry run, using @MrBrian’s amazing KB article listing tool. I’m concerned about distributing anything that can be hacked (hey, we’ve seen atta
[See the full post at: KBNew: New articles in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base]

10 users thanked author for this post.

Fred, JDeC, SueW, WildBill, Elly, Jan K., AJNorth, abbodi86, HiFlyer, MrBrian

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Thank you Woody for mentioning this on your blog :).

I posted a link to a .csv (i.e. comma-separated values) text file at this post that contains all 70,000+ Microsoft Knowledge Base articles as of January 25, 2018. It can be opened with a spreadsheet or a text editor. Generic warning: .CSV files are more dangerous than you may realize, so don’t open this .csv file in a spreadsheet unless you trust me.

9 users thanked author for this post.

Fred, EstherD, Cascadian, SueW, walker, AJNorth, abbodi86, HiFlyer, woody

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A user’s request to Woody: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2000008-microsoft-knowledge-base-article-lister-microsoft-excel-macros/#post-162802.

2 users thanked author for this post.

woody, walker

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I didn’t realize there was a difference between Google Drive and Google Docs! Not sure how to move it….

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@ Woody — Thanks for considering my request.

Assuming your shared Google Drive folder contains 1 or more files, I think you can export the file(s) to Google Docs by: Right-click file > Open With > Google Sheets — as shown in this screenshot.

Alternatively, if you click to preview the file whilst in Google Drive, there should be an ‘Open with’ dropdown menu at the top. Select ‘Open with Google Sheets’, such as shown in this screenshot.

Google Sheets is one of the components of Google Docs. For the file owner (& project collaborators with editing permissions), Google Docs provides a feature-rich set of editing functions not available at the file preview screen in Google Drive.

You can update & auto-save the worksheet any time either online, or even offline (possible if using Google Chrome). If you wish, you can also create a new document (HTML, text document, spreadsheet, presentation) from scratch in Google Docs (direct login: https://docs.google.com )

The public-view URL for the document will look like the following:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<XXXXXXX>/htmlview

Sample: Microsoft’s Meltdown Kernel Patch vs Antivirus Compliance (chart by Google ProjectZero)

If the worksheet is set with download permissions, there will be a ‘File > Download as’ menu option somewhere near the top for users to download the worksheet in a preferred format (eg. CSV, XLSX, ODS, TSV, PDF, HTML). The direct download URL looks like the below (using PDF as an example):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<XXXXXXX>/export?format=pdf

Direct download URL for the aforementioned chart (as PDF).

Step-by-step details:
https://business.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-import-and-export-documents-in-google-drive–cms-20930

2 users thanked author for this post.

SueW, MrBrian

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Just 1,397 KB’s for January.

😐

I like the links to the KB articles.

🙂

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I downloaded it to an Excel spreadsheet. With Office 2013 on Windows 8.1, it opens in Protected View. If you click on a link, it brings up a ‘Microsoft Excel Security Notice’ dialog box with the following:

Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern.

Hyperlinks can be harmful to your computer and data. It is important that this file is from a trustworthy source.

(The link follows; these are all from Microsoft, so you may not consider them a ‘trustworthy source’. Since the sheet was built by Woody, I trust him more than Redmond.)

Clicking yes will enable all the hyperlinks in this file, for this session.

Do you wish to continue?

(Yes & No buttons are self-explanatory.)

I will probably download this monthly as a reference, & to minimize Google snooping. Good job, guys! A great reference, no matter what platform you access it with.

Bought a refurbished Windows 10 64-bit, currently updated to 22H2. Have broke the AC adapter cord going to the 8.1 machine, but before that, coaxed it into charging. Need to buy new adapter if wish to continue using it.
Wild Bill Rides Again...

1 user thanked author for this post.

MrBrian

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Windows 8.1, 64 bit.  I cannot open the articles listed in the google sheet. I see articles listed with dates, but they will not open.  Am I doing something wrong?

 

Also, another question.  When I click on AskWoody. com the most recent info will not come up.  At the top of Chrome there is a shield that has an X at the bottom.  When I click on the shield a dialog comes up stating “load unsafe scripts”.  When I click on the “load unsafe scripts”  then the newest info comes up, but it changes the https to http and states the site is not secure. Any ideas or suggestions?  Thank you  Bellelyn

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I can open the Google Docs page, but it keeps trying to reload, and then says it can’t, so I can’t see past the first screen… Not sure what’s causing that, sorry.

Re the homepage loading, please see this new topic 🙂

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OUCH. What browser are you using?

I’m not having any problems with Chrome, Firefox or Edge….

When you hover or click on the KB number, a popup should appear. Click on the link in the popup, and that should take you to the KB article.

Apparently some folks are getting warning about links in the GSheet. They all point to Microsoft.com, but that may be part of the reason why Google doesn’t like them. 🙂

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FF ESR (with Ghostery, which doesn’t seem to be the problem)…
I’ll try it on the work computer tomorrow 🙂

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Kristy, I highly suggest installing Google Chrome.  Mozilla Firefox ESR is good but as far as current technology standards suggest Google Chrome is the best.  Personally, I make sure I stay logged out of my gmail account as much as possible.  I clear tracks with bleachbit and ccleaner.  I used to be a great fan of Mozilla Firefox ESR and still consider it my 2nd favorite to Google Chrome but sadly it is becoming limited.  I also had concerns about China Information certs that if you go into your Internet Explorer options then you will see these as being loaded at least on all the computer(s) and network(s) I have serviced but again there is no haste to get rid of Mozilla Firefox ESR and a lot of the extensions like Ghostery are good and lots of fun.  I hope you have a great and fun filled week.  You as well, Woody because you are helping keep my sanity in check in a world of panic by everyone involved here.  I work best at slow speed and in taking my time and methodically.  BTW, here is the Microsoft website and see how many issues are involved in the January updates.  I feel so blessed, honored and thankful to be allowed to post my thoughts by my champion Woody!  Thank you MrBrian for all your hard work as well as PK…. you all rock and are the best!!!

https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/releasenotedetail/858123b8-25ca-e711-a957-000d3a33cf99

15 Known Patches that have issues — wow just wow

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If you sign in, you don’t have to wait for moderation 🙂  🙂

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Thks, but I can’t run Silverlight on Chrome, so I have to stick with FF ESR (such dependence is one of the things I hate about cloud computing – but it’s required for my job). 🙂

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The first page should say “Google Drive” and the only document in there at the moment is the one called “Changes in Microsoft KB articles.” Click on that link, and the spreadsheet should open.

Are you running some sort of popup blocker or ad blocker?

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I had to temporarily disable my hosts file to access the file.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Fred, woody

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Two different results, on the 2 different set-ups. In both cases, I was attempting to open online, not downloading the file.

On the machine that didn’t have Excel, I came up with the problem after the linked page opened (could see initial list of KBs, just before it said it couldn’t load). On the machine with Excel installed, it worked fine, but did come up with a page warning about Adobe Flash wanting permission. It, too, tried reloading, but with the end result being successful.

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I downloaded the file from the original post.
It opened in Libre Office Calc on my Mac and the links worked.
It opened in Excel 2010 in my Win7 VM and the links worked.

3 users thanked author for this post.

MrBrian, AJNorth, woody

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After reading Woody’s excellent explanation on Computerworld, I checked the sheet again. Found it’s been updated with today’s KB’s (01/29/18). Re-downloaded & replaced my Excel file from yesterday. Woody, does it look like you will be updating this daily with whatever KB’s Microsoft thinks it’s slipping by us? BTW, I trust your Google Sheet on Google Drive, but I feel comfortable having a backup on my laptop to reference offline. At some point will probably backup to OneDrive and/or File History as well.

Bought a refurbished Windows 10 64-bit, currently updated to 22H2. Have broke the AC adapter cord going to the 8.1 machine, but before that, coaxed it into charging. Need to buy new adapter if wish to continue using it.
Wild Bill Rides Again...

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I’m still getting my bearings. At this point I’ll re-run it every morning – and may run it in the middle of the day. Let’s see how it goes.

2 users thanked author for this post.

WildBill, SueW

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I suggest posting the link to it right next to your “MS-DEFCON System” which is just under the top banner at Ask Woody.

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Woody’s initial post has been updated with a link to KBNew: Look behind the scenes at Microsoft’s changing KB articles.

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woody

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Those interested in this topic may also be interested in Microsoft Technical Security Notifications. An alternative to getting Security Update Email Alerts is to browse http://seclists.org/microsoft/.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Fred, woody

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Yet another source of information from Microsoft is the Microsoft Office support articles at https://support.office.com/. I didn’t write a program to list those, but if anybody is interested please let me know and I would consider doing so.

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woody

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That would be a big task for you!

I don’t find Office updates to be such a problem, with resources such as these easier to navigate than I find the MS Windows updates:
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/office_sustained_engineering/2018/
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/office_sustained_engineering/2017/
Office Updates
and e.g. specifically on Office2013: List of the most current .msp files for Office 2013 products
(with thanks to @ch100 for the links)

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MrBrian

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I found the sitemap for the English-language Office support articles: https://support.office.com/en-us/sitemap. Unfortunately there is no last modified date included in this sitemap.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Kirsty

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Sometimes I ask myself if a given KB article listed is a new article or an updated version of an existing article, and if it’s an updated version of an existing article, what changes were made. Sometimes I use the Firefox extension Resurrect Pages to try to answer such questions. This extension lets the user consult various web archives that might contain older versions of a given page.

1 user thanked author for this post.

AJNorth

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Resurrect Pages works GREAT!

It looks like the latest KBNew entry (Windows Update: FAQ) is just reformatting of an old page.

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MrBrian wrote:

Thank you Woody for mentioning this on your blog :). I posted a link to a .csv (i.e. comma-separated values) text file at this post that contains all 70,000+ Microsoft Knowledge Base articles as of January 25, 2018. It can be opened with a spreadsheet or a text editor. Generic warning: .CSV files are more dangerous than you may realize, so don’t open this .csv file in a spreadsheet unless you trust me.

ROFL  ….. Hahaha, it’s not about trust  🙂  thanks for the work and sharing

* _ ... _ *

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‘We’ve always had the ability to look at new patches, in the Windows Update Catalog. One of my favorite tricks is to just scan the Update Catalog for the string “2018,”  clicking on the Last Updated column, and looking at which patches have been changed recently.’

That is a good trick indeed :). Note though that this won’t necessarily return all 2018 updates for two reasons:

1. The date field is not included in the search index. I determined this by testing.

2. A maximum of 1000 search results are returned, and there’s no reason to expect that you’ll be getting the newest 1000.

Example of a 2018 update that search for 2018 misses because of reason 1: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/ScopedViewInline.aspx?updateid=12f08135-4076-4a54-aaf2-2ec1dea5988e.

2 users thanked author for this post.

woody, SueW

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Regarding Woody’s FAQ “Q: What files do you scan?”: Every time the list of KB articles is retrieved, first the desired sitemaps from https://support.microsoft.com/sitemap_index are consulted. This list of sitemaps can change over time, and may not exactly match the list of sitemaps that Woody lists in the FAQ.

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

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If I wanted to ignore Dynamics CRM, which index should I drop?

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I believe there isn’t a close correspondence between sitemaps and products. Also, some “FAST PUBLISH” articles are not related to Microsoft Dynamics.

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Regarding Woody’s FAQ: ‘Q: Why isn’t the “lastmod” date in the database the same as the “Last Updated” slug at the bottom of the Knowledge Base article?’: From the first time that I ran my code (around September 2017) until around a week ago, the oldest “lastmod” date was January 1, 2017. Then, around a week ago, Microsoft made public a change to its internal system that is uses to assign “lastmod” dates. Now, “lastmod” dates go back to 1999. Unfortunately, the oldest “Last Updated” date in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base articles seem to still be January 2017. Hopefully someday soon Microsoft will make the dates be in sync.

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

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My hunch is that the “lastmod” date is the more accurate date for when a given KB article was updated because it excludes whatever systematic updates that Microsoft apparently made to all articles in early 2017.

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

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There is a link near the bottom right of the site that is outdated: KBNew: List of newest changes to KB articles.

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[abbodi86]

Not surprisingly, Microsoft killed support.microsoft.com/sitemap

new url with different structure
https://support.microsoft.com/sitemap/collection.xml

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by abbodi86.

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