MS-DEFCON 3: Time to get July security patches applied

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The initial wave of changes, coinciding more or less with the expiration of the “free” Windows 10 upgrade, have rippled through the system. It’s time
[See the full post at: MS-DEFCON 3: Time to get July security patches applied]

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Dear Woody,

Many people with Windows 10 not only received KB3172985,which you gave us the go ahead for, but also but KB3173428.

Many had installation problems with both of these patches. Has MS done anything to fix these issues? Primarily they appear to get stuck updating or failing the installation and eventually fail, but other things too inherent to each have been reported also.

Should we go ahead with both?

Would it be wise to install them one at a time, and if so, which one first?

Thank you for all your help.

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For many of us that rely on this site for safe updating Woody, when (if) MS fixes the Excel issue will you be notifying us?

I have a wide variety of Office versions among the users I support and from what I surmise this update does NOT effect 2007… correct? I haven’t checked any of those systems yet but I’m guessing that neither of these updates are even available for 2007?

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Woody:

The inability to get the updates remains. The wu.krelay.de did not work for me., and the cumulative update to the IE11 can’t be DL & installed either. The reference says to use the IE, however since it’s not updated to the current version is that “safe”?

There are some updates listed, however unable to get anything installed because of the hours and hours it takes.

I was finally able to install the MS Malware Removal update installed after about 1 1/2 hours on July 30th.

Are there any other options?

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I assume you’re using Windows 7.

Have you installed both KB3168965 and KB3164033?

It’s safe to use IE 11 to go to Microsoft sites, even if it’s unpatched.

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Yep, I’ll definitely let you know when/if Microsoft fixes the Excel bug.

It’s a very specific bug that only affects HTML files disguised as XLS. So far I haven’t seen any problems reported with Office 2007 – and I haven’t seen any problems with Office 2013 in Office 365, although I expect it’s a problem there, too.

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Ah, yes, KB3173428 is the servicing stack update – the patch for Windows Update itself. Yes, you should install it, too. If you’re doing it manually, it’s probably best if you install the servicing stack update first, although I haven’t heard of any problems going the other way around.

Microsoft has long had problems with cumulative updates not installing. If you hit a problem, you should run over to the Answers forum and yell real loud.

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Thank you, Woody, for the advice.

Yes, I have Windows 7 as my OS.

Yes, I already have KB3164033 installed, however not the KB3168965.

I had asked a question about the KB3168965 however did not see a reply. My question now is should I try to use the “windows updates” on the computer to install the KB3168965 or try to use the IE?

My next step will be to install the KB3168965.

Since I NEVER use the IE, I’m not certain where to look for updates.

Thank you so much for your advice. I appreciate it very, very much.

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@Walker

On the machines I have had trouble with I run the following in powershell to see if the updates are installed (open cmd prompt as admin – type powershell and enter then copy and paste the following)
get-hotfix -id KB2533552,KB3020369,KB3138612,KB3168965,KB3164033,KB3145739,KB3109094,KB3078601

If any update is missing I download it and kill the windows update service with net stop wuauserv, install the missing update(s) reboot and check again.

Knock on wood – it has worked on every machine.

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After installing the latest security patches all of my hidden updates are missing.

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@Woody:

Before I read your reply, I had started the “search for updates”.

I had started the regular “search for updates”, with the KB3168965 selected as the one to install. Within 20 minutes it was DL & installed.

Perhaps this is the one that will solve it permanently (I hope).

Thank you so much!

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Win7 user here, on two Bootcamped Macs, one running 32 bit, the other 64 bit.

What is your recommendation regarding the optional KB3172605? Is it not supposed to speed up future (well, August) updates? (That is, in addition to breaking bluetooth…)

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Wait. I think the approach in wu.krelay.de is better – and it doesn’t involved installing six independent patches.

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Got my fingers crossed!

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… and good riddance!

They may be back, but for now I wouldn’t worry one little bit about it.

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You’ll need IE to download the updates directly. Poster cyberSAR has an interesting approach, above. Why not try it and let me know how it turns out?

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Do you use IE to download the missing updates?

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What is this about using IE to get the updates, is it some new trick? i only ever used the normal windows update. dont belive i have any version if IE installed on my win7 machine except the built in

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No, I use Firefox and have never had an issue downloading.

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If you want to download individual updates, using the Microsoft Catalog, you have to use IE. There’s no option because the old Microsoft Catalog relies on an ActiveX control to download the updates. The only modern browser that supports ActiveX is IE.

Microsoft’s non-standard, ancient technology, is coming back to bite them.

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Actually, its coming back to bite us! Not that Microsoft gives a hoot.

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Just installed KB3168965 on one of my Win7 computers (it took 43 minutes to download and install using Windows Update). Rebooted the computer, and a few minutes I later noticed that MSE had updated its virus definitions for the first time in five days. (Although I have MSE set to check for updates before doing a scheduled scan, it had recently been doing the scans without finding any updates.)

I’m now firmly convinced that MSE’s failure to update its virus definitions is tied to the slow WU problem. Until that problem is fixed, M$ is not only inconveniencing users; they are also putting computers at risk if those computers run MSE.

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That’s using Windows Update. I’m talking about downloading one, specific KB article – an MSU file, which you can then run.

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I rarely use the catalog. Usually just visit the download center https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download , enter the KB in the search box and am presented with the update to download. No issues with Firefox.

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@cyberSAR:

I haven’t tried anything like that, and now (at last) I’ve been able to get the “Windows Updates” functioning. Thank you for citing your method. I’m a “computer illiterate” so I don’t get into anything which is for “admin”, etc. Thank you for posting your method of keeping your machines functioning without any problems.

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woody, make some corrections to the Windows 7 section of this blog.

KB3161606 and KB3172614 are for Win8.1 only, not Win7.

KB3161608 was replaced/superseded by KB3172605 for Win7 SP1. Both KB3161608 & KB3172605 update rollups contain version 7.6.7601.23453 of the Windows Update client for Win7 SP1 dated 5/13/2016.

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You’re absolutely right.

What did Roseanne Roseannadanna say? “Nevermind.”

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I have used the web page: http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm at least 50 times in the last few weeks. Worked like a charm in all but one case.

The following is the procedure I used:

1. Change Windows Update settings to NEVER.
2. Type services in the text box that pops up when you click the start globe
3. Select and open the services window
4. Find and right click on Windows Update (service), choose Stop
5. Close the Windows Update window. If it will not close, start Task manager (right-click on task bar) and end the task.
6. Now go to : http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm
7. Download all 5 of the updates listed there to a folder on your desktop. Choose the correct column for your computer.
8. Double-click and start each one, one at a time. Do not be surprised if one or more respond with already installed. This may take a while to process. It is likely one or more of these will install.
9. You do not have to restart after each one finishes, if there are more than one installed.
10. Restart and wait for the Windows Update process to complete and automatically restart your computer.
11. Open Task Manager again and wait till you see the percentage at the bottom reach and stay below about 10%
12. Now start Windows Update

CT

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@Woody:

The DL & install of KB3168965 from the regular MS “Update List” has been done on all of the “security updates”. This is now doing the job in a matter of a few minutes!

I did not need to go to the IE11 for anything, however noticed your reference to the methods to utilize if necessary in your first post. Thank you for that information which I will keep for future reference.

The 1 non-security update pending (in the regular update file) is: KB3162835. Appears to be a Time Zone update. What is your advice on this one, which I do not need?

Question 2: KB3172605, which replaced the withdrawn one (KB3161608). Listed in the Optional List. I don’t think it’s necessary to install since the updating nightmare has been solved.

Everything is so fast now, it’s like lightning! Thank you so much for your advice & guidance.

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I run win 8.1…on the windows update page on my PC a message saying I will be notified when my win 10 upgrade is available! I attempted to upgrade before and on the July 29 deadline date but all my attempts failed. Now I cannot get windows update to download ANY updates. Why I wonder? I would like to have any necessary security updates for win 8.1 but am at a loss to discover where to get them. Any Help is appreciated, and I thank you in advance.

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Unless you have a huge reason to get Windows 10, stick with 8.1. It sounds like your computer may not be compatible. You’ll continue to receive security updates for Win8.1 for many years to come.

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If you deal with people in Morocco, Venezuela, or certain rural areas in Russia, yeah, it’s a worthwhile update. Otherwise, I say don’t bother.

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I believe MSE uses the same Windows Update machinery.

CT

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There seem to be issues with Windows Download Center in the sense that downloads work randomly on IE or Firefox. It seems that Chrome does not have this problem. It may be related to the discontinuation of the download site and users may be better off by using Microsoft Catalog if this is the case.

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Woody,
I went to the http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm, but he only mentions downloads for Win 7 64 bit. I have 32 bit. does it matter?

FYI, it was Emily Litella who always said ‘Nevermind’!

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+1

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There are analogous patches for 32-bit. I’m running late – perhaps somebody could look them up for me?

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Preceding +1 was for Woody’s

https://www.askwoody.com/2016/ms-defcon-3-time-to-get-july-security-patches-applied/comment-page-1/#comment-94449

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X86 is 32 bit
Yes it matters

CT

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Notice the KBs are the same for both
(7×64 & 7×86).
Null Problemo

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I have Office 2010 on Win7-64 Pro SP1 with KB 3115322 installed. All my Excel files open normally including those with HTML in them.

For my clarification, do you mean the whole file is actually HTML, and not that an Excel file contains HTML in the cells?

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They’re right there on the website under the column heading “Win7 x86”.

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Dear Woody,

I just did my windows 10 updates and they seemed to go okay, but within a half hour I got a popup saying “An app caused a problem with the default app setting for .htm files, so it was reset to Launch Windows App.”

What the heck does that mean? Why is Win 10 or MS so mysterious that it can’t tell me what App caused the problem with what specific default app. Why can’t it tell me what the Windows App that it was reset to is? Woody, do you know how to figure this out?

I am a computer novice and this non-specific speak, or mysterious message has me baffled. What program normally opens .htm files in Win 10? I went to my “default apps” in system, and it says .htm is Firefox html document. Firefox is my default browser, so this has left me confused.

It is probably so simple, that I should be embarassed, but “an app caused a problem”? Win 10 comes with a bazillion apps (or for us oldsters — programs)so, if I were to troubleshoot the problem causing app, how does one figure it out? Is Firefox the program that is referred to in the “reset to Launch Windows App”? I would have thought old MS would have made it one of their programs. Or, perhaps, it will launch something else the next time I restart the computer? I just am confused.

I never thought I changed anything in the beginning with this computer in regard to apps, except to have photos open with MS Office (2007) Picture Manager, and to use MS PowerPoint(2007).

I have not heard the Win 10 cumulative updates were changing defaults this time around, unless it is the MS office(2007) updates I did last night causing this. I’ve restarted the computer twice since then, so if a change would have happened due to those updates would it not have taken place before now? Would MS Office (2007) cause a problem that would cause the computer to change the.htm app?

I have not restarted the computer since this message arrived. Will something change after a restart?

Thank you for your help.

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If you search on the RSS, it will link to the download page and doesn’t require Internet Explorer, neither ActiveX, neither a 3-rd party tool.

For example:
http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Rss.aspx?q=7+for+x86 search for 32-bit Windows updates
http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Rss.aspx?q=7+for+x64 search for 64-bit Windows 7 updates

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Cool! I didn’t know that….

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Nothing to be alarmed about. If’n I were you, I’d make sure your default settings are OK. Right-click Start, Control Panel, Programs. Under Default Programs, click Set your default programs. Choose your favorite web browser on the left, and pick Set this Program as Default. That’ll re-assign HTM files to your web browser, which is probably what you wanted to do.

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That’s correct. If you read my write-up, it gives more details, but the idea is that Excel used to open HTML files directly, in some circumstances, and build a spreadsheet on the fly. After the update, that doesn’t work any more – and Excel responds by just starting a blank workbook.

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RE:

https://www.askwoody.com/2016/ms-defcon-3-time-to-get-july-security-patches-applied/comment-page-1/#comment-94412

Powershell search part worked o.k. for me. All KBs listed by cyberSAR were already installed.

Update check took less than 5 min. Optional only none installed. Previous single update downloads from download center all good with FF.

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Thank you very much! What an easy answer for my long-winded question!

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I agree. But that doesn’t help folks who rely on MSE to do automatic updates. If their WUs are not up to date, their MSE virus definitions will be outdated, and thereby compromised.

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Just completed installing July Windows Security updates on Win7. First installed KB3168965 from Windows Update list and it downloaded and installed within 10 minutes. Updates after that downloaded and installed within 1-2 minutes. Progress bar for download/install even worked for the first time in many many months. KB3168965 seemed to fix slow update issue for me, this month anyway. Hope it is permanent fix but not holding my breath.

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Or using Chrome. Either way they shouldn’t be using IE.

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I disagree on shutting down and uninstalling GWX Control Panel! This threat is NOT OVER!!! MS is just playing possum. GWX control panel takes up so little room on my 1 TB, 6 GB PC that I am going to let is run 24/7 for at least until Jan 1,2017.

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Woody, I went to process the July updates yesterday but there weren’t any. Only June ones (I was travelling and didn’t want to use hotel access for it.) Even so, I tried to download and install them. Never got them downloaded, or so my computer said. I had to abort. Then I noticed that my computer hadn’t even searched for updates since Jun 29. So I tried searching for updates – again – no luck. When I turned off the computer later it said to wait for an update to install. Today I see that it was the Jun malicious code update that ran. Still no check for updates. My settings have never changed. I saw today that someone said the download site had been discontinued???? Yet others say they are getting their downloads. Oh yes, I’m still Win 7. Still running GWX, I don’t trust that MS will still push 10 on me. Do I just blow everything off and stay where I am with Win 7? (I do plan to buy a 10 laptop just don’t want this one with it’s issues to try it.)

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Win7 updates are working fine. If you aren’t seeing any updates, relax. Either they’ll come back, or they’ll be superseded next week. Either way, you win. As long as you aren’t using IE, there are no pressing updates.

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Even if it says the last time it checked for updates was Jun 29?

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Reboot. Run a manual check for updates. What do you see?

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Better safe than sorry. Thanks Brian!

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I did a manual check yesterday but it just ran and ran. Since it was turned off overnight, and the malicous tool ran, I will try it again today. I’ll let you know.

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It’s been an hour and still nothing. Going to stop it trying.

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Re: Brian

“I disagree on shutting down and uninstalling GWX Control Panel! This threat is NOT OVER!!! MS is just playing possum.”

+1 AMEN!

JF

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Thanks for the additional info.

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An hour is not long enough in many cases. I’ve seen it run for over two hours, and in one case it took about four hours (let it run over night, if need be, and you should see the updates by morning). If you don’t want to wait, you can go to http://wu.krelay.de/en/ and download the fix(es) to install manually.

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100% agree with you. Removing GWX Control Panel now seems to be over-optimistic and a triumph of hope over experience.

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Woody, I know this may not be caused by security updates, but I just want to get this out there. After installing the usual updates you say to let install every month, the security and Malicious Software Removal Tool, on reboot the ‘starting windows’ seems to act like it’s hanging, the lights on the windows logo still pulse like normal, but it stays on that for about 30-60 seconds before continuing on like normal.

What makes me think the problem was caused by the July updates is, before installing the updates, the problem never happened.

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Got me!

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Huh? Did the problem hit you as well? Any idea how to fix it or what is even causing it?

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I haven’t noticed. Perhaps somebody else has hit it. ????

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It’s not really a big deal in a way, just more of a nuisance. Should also point out in case a tech comments, the hard drive light stays on the whole time without flashing, which makes me think the security patches added more startup files that windows has to go through to fully start up.

Just speculation really.

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I don’t think this is a problem. When you install a bunch of updates and reboot your computer, Windows takes some time to configure those updates before you get back to your desktop. The more updates, the longer it may take. 30 seconds certainly doesn’t sound excessive. If everything else is normal, I wouldn’t worry about it.

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No, it’s not the configuring part, it’s the windows logo part that takes 30 seconds.

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Too add on to it, it never took a ling time to go from the windows logo to the desktop login screen before I added the July patches. It only started after the patches were installed and started doing it on the reboot right before finishing the configuration phase. As in it restarted like normal when you go to restart after installing updates, as soon as it got to the windows logo is when it started to take around 30 seconds. After that it continued on as normal, it finished configuring then went to the login screen.

When I went to start up my laptop this morning, the windows logo stayed up for around 30 sexonds, then went right to the login screen.

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Adding on yet again. I booted up my laptop this morning, and the laptop didn’t get hung up on the windows logo part of the startup. Only difference this time unlike the last two times was, the usb mouse was not plugged in. I’m starting to think one of the updates fiddled with something concerning the usb adapter for the mouse, since the first two times the adapter was plugged into the usb port, but this morning it wasn’t and startup didn’t have the problem.

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@Woody:

This optional update has been around for a while, and I can’t locate any information on what it is:

KB3139923

I have the comment below which I located on another thread (which appears to be “inactive”):

****KB3075249 is no longer offered anymore as it is superseded by KB3139923-v2.*****

Could you advise about this update, since it is now at version 4? Thank you for any guidance you may be able to provide with this one.

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I don’t see anything specific about it recently. It’s a fix for a bug introduced by a Win 8.1 security patch.

Go ahead and install it, using Windows Update. If it’s been yanked, you won’t be able to get it.

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Woody:

I neglected to mention that this is italicized, and NOT checked. Is it still “safe” to try to
install it? My OS is Windows 7 Home Premium.

Thank you for the prompt response.

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Not checked = Don’t check it! Don’t tempt fate.

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Hi Cindy, how did it go?
We’ve been trying to download for ages, couple hours at least and still showing 0KB total, 0% complete).
Last manual check we did was 25/7/16. Tried to redo the check and it just hung for hours.
So I rebooted, and let the original 25-odd updates appear in the Recommended list … clicked to download them, and now the system is just hanging for at least an hour at 0% to download.
Anyone else experience this?
Cheers,
Daniel

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Ifyou’re using Windows 7, you need to go through the fixes described here

https://www.askwoody.com/2016/best-way-to-get-windows-7-updated/

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@Woody:

Thank you!!

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Daniel, Haven’t gotten anything. It just spins and spins. Yep, I tried to download the 8 or 9 ones of the 26 listed (I don’t download all of them) but same thing – just spins and spins. One time it seems to have gotten the Malicious Code update/scanner even though it didn’t say so. It worked it’s magic the next day. But can’t get the others and none of the Jul ones show up.
Cindy

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Ok, I’m confused. I just read about the updates to install for Win 7 ( http://wu.krelay.de/en/2016-07.htm ) The updates to install BEFORE Windows searches for updates means I need to turn off the auto search for updates and reboot my computer? Even though it hasn’t searched since Jun 29?

The updates in that section:
3168965 never showed up in my list of updates but 3161664 that it replaces does show up in the Jun list.
3145739, 3078601 and 3109094 have already been previously installed.
3164033 is on my list of Jun updates but replaces 3087039 which was installed in Oct.
So I presume I go ahead and install the 3168965 and 3164033 updates.

The Windows Update Client 3138612 was installed May 2016 so none of the others in this section need to be installed.

Now I’m supposed to disable Auto Updates and do the steps described. I’m not sure why if I’ve just manually installed the updates from above.

Yet the article says the problem will probably happen again next month. I’m a home user that allows installation of updates ok’d by Woody. When I see the Steps to take after Windows installation I hesitate. This is getting a bit beyond my comfort level.

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Yep, me too. I intend to write a straightforward, step-by-step version of the wu.krelay.de instructions over the weekend. For now, any way you can get to harmony works.

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Hi Cindy,
Hmmm … well for ours, after a couple of hours it kept spinning at 0KB and 0%, but suddenly just informed me that I needed to restart to apply the changes (even though it still showed 0%). So I restarted, and it installed all the updates, and now everything is working fine. Very weird.
Anyway, there are still about 7 or 8 KB’s in the “Recommended” list that I have not installed, because if I’ve understood Woody’s instructions correctly, they neither say “Security” nor “Malicious Removal” beside them, and are just an “Update for Win7” so I’m not installing them. I looked into the details of a few, and they were just random things about updating the clock for certain new timezones and so on. So I don’t see the need for them.
I have one last Win7 system to update (which I’ll do tonight after a good back-up) and will report here how that goes and if it experiences the same “seemingly” perpetual 0% spinning with a sudden alert after a couple hours that the system needs to be restarted in order to apply the changes.
Cindy – you may have to wait a few hours. I wonder if it depends on your connection speed. I was using ADSL2+ at about 17Mbps download speed, and it took about 2 maybe 3 hours to finally decide to install everything (even though it showed 0% right up to the last minute).
I’d be interested to hear how you got on.

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Woody, do you know when your article will be published (hopefully soon so people can follow your instructions this weekend)?

“Windows 7: I’m no longer recommending that you use Microsoft’s approach to fixing their ridiculously slow Windows Update scans. If you find yourself waiting more than half an hour for Windows Update to scan for updates, follow the instructions on wu.krelay.de to speed up the scans. I hope to have an InfoWorld article out before too long that explains how to put together the fix”

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Looks like I’ll be writing it this weekend. Hope to have it published Monday morning.

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Had a strange occurrence on a win 7 laptop. Updates are set to notify and I had the “updates available” notification icon. When I opened it up, only important updates available were various ones for .Net 4.5. So I looked at update history, and saw that a crapload of updates were installed on 8/2. This is a family member’s computer, but I am 99.9% sure the update wasn’t user-initiated. I have GWP-CP run on it, so didn’t get any Win10 drive-by install. I don’t see any ill-effects from the update, but it’s still a head-scratcher.

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Daniel, Unfortunately I don’t think I’m going to have the time to push it for awhile. I really wanted to do that today but time just isn’t letting me do it. I’m interested in what you experienced. I may get a chance in the next couple of days to manually install 3168965 and 3164033. Then see what happens. Hope my experience is as good as yours was.

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I am going to install the updates soon. So I am wondering if there is any of the security patch or IE patch I should not install? Do anyone here have any problem at all? Thank you, the posters for your help.

Thank you also, Woody, for your hard work

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Windows 7-32 on a legacy Thinkpad. W7 Update completes in 4-5 minutes, so that’s not an issue.

But, over time, I have accumulated the below hidden updates, some of which may go away if I restored all and ran update again. Maybe a good 1st step.

Regardless, I need advise on which updates I should always avoid and never install and on which ones I may have incorrectly hidden. A general reply would e fine .. as it’s a case by case situation:

Update for Windows 7 (KB2952664)
Update for Windows 7 (KB2999226)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3013531)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3040272)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3054476)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3068708)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3080079)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3080149)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3102429)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3107998)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3118401)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3139923)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3140245)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3147071)
Update for Windows 7 (KB3172605)

Thanks!

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I’ll defer to the people who keep lists of such things. My general advice is to install the security patches, avoid everything else – and let’s see whether Microsoft’s going to improve the situation.

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Install the security patches, pass over the rest.

And do it now, before the August Patch Tuesday patches appear.

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My advice: In the Windows grouping of updates proposed by Windows Update, select ONLY those updates that start with the word Security. Reject all others. There has not been an update that improves Windows 7 since 2014. Any update that is not a security one is most likely only one that greases the skids to Windows 10 or enhances MS ability to track your behavior.

Reject those updates by right-clicking and choosing hide.

Set Windows Update to NEVER, but monthly do your Security updates manually. Doing updates more often than monthly is a wasteful exercise.

Wait a few days each month after Patch Tuesday to do those updates

Follow advice in the Answers forum for how to make WU work more reasonably.

CT

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Thanks, good and sensible advise. At any rate, I restored all and re-checked and they were all there .. with one exception, KB2999226. Eleven Important and 3 Optional: I’ll keep them hidden for now.

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I should probably turn my question upside-down and try to figure out which non-Security Updates I can remove of the ones I have installed. To make W7 meaner-leaner!

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Dear Woody,

From half July Windows Update stalled on my Win 7 machine.

Since I’m no expert, I searched Google for a solution.

I found several solutions, some of which were quite elaborated.

After having tried them (which took several hours in total) none of them solved the problem.

Finally I found your article and guess what? Problem solved!

I have bookmarked your site

I’m curious about the – presumably – upcoming updates for Patch Tuesday tomorrow …

Many thanks
Tom

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I had hoped to get a step-by-step tutorial out this morning, but other things erupted over the weekend. Now the plan is to get it out by tomorrow morning, in time for Patch Tuesday.

Fortunately, I don’t have to catch a Delta flight.

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Woody, will your article be published in enough time of Monday so we can follow the process Monday night (before Tuesday’s patches)?

“Looks like I’ll be writing it this weekend. Hope to have it published Monday morning.”

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I blew the deadline – had too much happening this weekend. I’ll get it out by Tuesday morning, though, before Microsoft releases the Patch Tuesday updates.

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Do you know what time Microsoft usually makes the Patch Tuesday updates available (morning, afternoon, night)? Just trying to see if I will have time to follow your steps before the new Tuesday updates cause confusion and interfere with the previous outstanding patches. I don’t like to install the new updates until you give the “All Clear”. Thanks.

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They start rolling out around noon, Redmond time. Unfortunately, documentation frequently lags by hours – many hours, in some cases.

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Hi, I’m not as regular about coming here as I should be so I am often in the following situation: Today (August 15) we are at DEFCON 2 so I should not be installing anything. However, I am almost certain I missed the August 1 DEFCON 3. Today I’m back on track and would like to get my computer up to date. Would it be better to wait for the next DEFCON 3 (and take the risk of missing it), or should I just run Windows Update today while I’m here and install all available updates in the categories listed in your post (incidentally, thanks for giving the list of exactly what needs to be installed; it’s nice to have the information all in one place and so clearly expressed, including what optional updates to install)?
Or should I install all of what I was supposed to install on August 1 and leave anything that’s been released since then until next DEFCON 3 (hopefully I can figure out which ones they are)?

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There wasn’t anything pressing in July’s crop. If you were caught up in June, you’re fine – as long as you don’t use Internet Explorer, Flash or Adobe Reader.

I tend to switch MS-DEFCON ratings toward the end of the month. You can drop by then, or follow me on Twitter @woodyleonhard, or hook AskWoody.com into your RSS reader, if you have one, or watch the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/WoodyOnWindows/ .

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OK, I’ll watch the Facebook page and check in at the end of the month. Thanks!

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