MS-DEFCON 1: the .NET patches are causing havoc

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Every time we have a .NET patch, it seems, there’s something that goes wrong. This time, not only do we have installation terminations (see next blog)
[See the full post at: MS-DEFCON 1: the .NET patches are causing havoc]

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The update notice has not even come down to me yet on any of 3 machines!

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Woody, earlier you decried the use of Java by programmers, given its propensity to allow attacks. Should you not also advocate against the use of .NET by programmers, based on all these problems? I must say that I’d rather use programs based on Java than those based on this buggy, complex and frankly hateful .NET. Why to programmers continue to use it?

Chris

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Hi Woody,
Running Vista SP2. Don’t see a Windows Mail Junk E-mail Filter offered in the May update cluster. What gives?

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Ye gods, I think this is the first time I’ve seen MS-DEFCON 1 in, like, forever.

Never did trust those .NET patches.

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@Hopeful –

It probably already installed itself. Not to worry.

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@Chris –

HA! A man after my own thoughts.

That’s EXACTLY what I think. I’m going to put together something for InfoWorld soon. Developers need to move away from anything that requires Java Runtime, Flash, .NET, and several other technologies that are simply too old and too riddled with security holes.

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@Midnight –

You’re lucky. [grin]

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@Woody & @Chris,

Thank you.
Agree with BOTH of you!

I UNinstalled Java and .NET,
nearly 3 years ago.
And (gasp!) survived without them…
= easier Win Updates…no .NET, no Java!
Yay!

Only pain I still use:
Flash.
(no other widely-used alternative yet…).
Of course, that will change too.

SFdude
XP-pro, 32bit.
FF11.

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@SFDude: good for you that you removed Java and .NET off your computer. You didn’t say whether you have XP SP2 or XP SP3 on your machine.

.NET is integrated into Vista/Win7/Win8 and can’t be removed though .NET could possibly be disabled on those OSes.

@Woody: MS-DEFCON 1, huh? and you see at times in the past why I think Microsoft should just offer new service packs for .NET (like .NET 4 SP1, .NET 3.5 SP2, etc.) instead of a bunch of .NET patches, which I have a hard time keeping up with those.

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I’ve said it before, and I repeat it here: .NET works for some of us. I use Paint.NET on Windows XP and Windows 7, and have it installed in Windows 8. Never any update problems, nor any problems with the program.

Java is used by OpenOffice/LibreOffice, and there, it works just fine. Jave Apps through most browsers work for me on both laptops. Updates have never caused any problems, except that I have to retain older JRE versions for up to a few months at a time while the programs which depend on the older versions await newer program versions (and the same for certain Web Apps).

Flash Player is still the number one way of distributing streaming Web videos, and this isn’t going away anytime soon. All the major TV network players use Flash, and so does YouTube. VLC Player uses Flash Player to display Flash based content, as far as I know. Again, I have never had a Flash Player Update go South on me, although as with JRE, I often have to retain older Flash versions for a period of time while Web Players await their own upgrades.

What it comes down to is this: For those applications which require these runtimes and special shared libraries, there is and will be for some time a need to have JAva and Flash and .NET installed and up to date. It is unfortunate that some hardware or software environments have had issues with the runtimes and the updates, but this does not mean that everyone is better off without them.

I would like to be able to run bare-bones Windows without any add-ins at all, not even for security, but this is not Linux. In the real world, Windows needs added features and security updates. What end users need to do is learn how to make the real world work as best we can, and not try to tell Microsoft or third party vendors to rewrite or abandon all the added runtimes and features every time a few computers fail to properly handle the updates.

As for dumping .NET — remember the old Windows programmers’ constant use of the term “DLL Hell”?

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Woody of All of the patches i have Listed witch ones are safe to Patch an witch ones should i just leave alone or should i leave all of them alone. Taking the Risk of patching all or some of Patches is like going into the Ocean without a Live Preserver Lol

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 on XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008 x86 (KB2604121)

Security Update for Windows XP (KB2676562)

Security Update for Windows XP (KB2659262)

Security Update for Windows XP (KB2686509)

Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool – May 2012 (KB890830)
Download size: 3.8 MB , less than 1 minute
After the download, this tool runs one time to check your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 SP2 on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x86 (KB2656407)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 SP2 on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x86 (KB2604110)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 on Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 x86 (KB2604111)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 on XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008 x86 (KB2656405)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x86 (KB2604092)

Update Rollup for ActiveX Killbits for Windows XP (KB2695962)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 on XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008 x86 (KB2656368)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x86 (KB2656369)

Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 SP1 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 x86 (KB2656370)

Security Update for Microsoft Silverlight (KB2690729)

Thanks for all of your Time Looking over this: Woody.. Ron

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@Ron –

That’s quite a list! One of the reasons why I give a simple “red light, green light” approach to patching is because it’s really, really difficult to keep up with all of them.

Your best solution right now is to wait until I give the All-Clear, then install all of them.

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Woody —

FWIW, my list of updates for both Windows 7 and Windows XP is similarly complex as with Ron.

Two patches for each version of .NET, and numerous security updates for each OS, plus Office Updates even for the Power Point Viewer without any full Office installation. And Silverlight.

Most of the Office and Silverlight patches seem to be adjusting these applications to the .NET updates, as far as I can tell. But there are other security issues, according to Susan Bradley’s recent Windows Secrets columns.

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