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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
ISSUE 18.45.1 • 2021-11-22 By Susan Bradley The big news last week was Microsoft’s finally releasing Windows 10 version 21H2 and aligning the Windows
[See the full post at: MS-DEFCON 3: We’re not out of the printing woods yet]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I have to manually flip it and went to bed last night before doing so. Apologies.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Go into windows update history screen and can you list what updates have been installed?
start
Settings
Windows update
View update history
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Hi Susan,
besides being almost computer illiterate, i am also a one finger typist, so i tooka screen shot, which is sitting on the Taskbar as a word pad (my only means of copying) Document , But besides being able to open it , i cannot place it in the Gmail Entry sending Box.
Also as forbeing i the Forum , thatwas suggested by a response to my original email to you, as i stated , i am almostcomputer illiterate, but things hav echangedfrom XP, and Windows 7, and i am having prob[ems keeping up, withthe rate at whuch things are now changing.
Regards, roger3
You can pop me an email at sb – at – askwoody.com (change the – at – to @)
Y0u aren’t computer illiterate at all! Save it to a place on your computer – like “downloads” and then in the gmail interface find where there is a paperclip. Now click there and browse to the downloads folder and attach the file you created and send it to me.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
@glnz & PKCano
this is normal for the warnings to show up in recent Firefox & Chrome versions (esp. Chrome 95 & later and with Firefox 93/94 & newer)
I don’t get the warnings when using alternative browsers like Palemoon, Seamonkey or K-meleon to download files from MS Update Catalog http server
This recent security feature “default” in newer versions of Firefox can be disabled as described by Martin Brinkmann here …
1. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
2. Confirm that you accept the risk.
3. Search for dom.block_download_insecure.
4. Use the toggle icon to set the value to
1. TRUE: to keep the security feature enabled.
2. FALSE: to disable the security feature.
Win7 - PRO & Ultimate, x64 & x86
Win8.1 - PRO, x64 & x86
Groups A, B & ABS
That makes me wince a bit if you disable that. It’s not just for downloads that you are disabling that.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Since you’re on the Pro edition, you don’t need to pause updates; instead you can use the Group Policy editor to manage settings. It’s worth taking a good read through AKB2000016 – Sections 3 & 4 in particular as they pertain to relevant settings for Windows 10 Pro.
I’d suggest staying on 20H2 for now, or 21H1 – either is fine. You should be able to prevent 20H2 from installing by setting the Target Release Version settings in Group Policy.
See an earlier post of mine #2400272 where another user was having similar issues getting set up properly with GP/WU settings. Once it’s done it’s much easier to manage.
On my Win 10 Pro 64-bit computer (limited to 21H1 per Susan’s group policy method), new update KB5007186 is taking forever. More than three hours and I’m only up to 74%. Slowest update I’ve seen so far.
Hope it finishes before Thanksgiving.
That update was the slowest for me, but still “only” took maybe 15-20 minutes. Funny thing is, I was also stuck at 74% installed for awhile, but in my case “awhile” was maybe 5-10 minutes.
Susan, why do you say to defer the dot net updates?
.NETs are confusing. There are no new security content in them and depending on your deferral settings, you may not see them. If you get them, I’m not tracking any side effects so they are okay to install. If you don’t get them, don’t worry.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I’ve only seen it in relation to Kaspersky Endpoint. No other application.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Did a clone and a restore point of one of my computers and went for it this morning.
MSRT, KB 5007186 Cum 21H1 19043.1348, SSU 10.0.19041.1310. So far all is ok, I printed a test page from my HP Officejet Pro 8100 ok so the printer problem hasn’t affected me so far.
Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).
If they can keep it to be non disruptive, it’s better than the old service packs that were extremely disruptive.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
I can certainly appreciate your point of view, but think for a moment – why shouldn’t an operating system upgrade be disruptive?
I’m all for compatibility with older releases, and continuous integration (implying only incremental change) feels SO comfortable, but where are the real improvements in recent history to prove out the approach?
What does Windows 10 REALLY do better than Windows 8.1 did some 8 years ago?
From what I can see it’s just got more bloat; things that used to be a lot faster are now slower, the UI is certainly not as elegant looking, nor is it as configurable to do what I need. And it’s not as reliable or polished at interpreting my inputs. In short, it’s gotten clunkier. Please provide examples if you think this is not so!
Recently I tried to nail down a list of Windows 10 features and behaviors that are better for what I do – software engineering and business management – than when I used its predecessors, and I seriously could not even begin to make a significant list…
For a while I thought multiple monitor handling might be better, because my icons on my desktop had stayed in place for a long while, but no, just the other day they all got jumbled. I suspect 8 years of maintenance on Windows 8.1 would have led to fewer desktop glitches too.
Does it stay up longer? No! Notwithstanding monthly updates REQUIRING reboot (remember when they were trying to get away from forcing that?), I still have to reboot a few times a month. Windows 7 and 8.1 could run for years.
Is the UI easier to use? No. I have to deconfigure most of the “handy” snap and whatnot to keep it from unpleasantly surprising me. And I have to add software to help keep the mouse from catching at the corners of my monitors. And the security hoops folks have to jump through so often – do they make it any easier to get work done?
Is it faster? No. Slower! Today I get, on modern high-end hardware, virtually the same UX performance as I got on my prior workstation running Win 8.1. There’s so much software bloat added that it has taken a machine with more than double the performance specs in every area and made it act the same or even more sluggish than its predecessor. You may wonder how I could judge that but I have been using both the older and newer environments simultaneously. I also have hard evidence – benchmark results taken over decades – to prove Windows 10 has just been getting slower and slower at doing the same things… So often in the name of “Security” (remember the Spectre and Meltdown hype?), yet does anyone really feel we’re more secure today taking a Windows system online than we were 10 years ago?
Maybe a whole new version number release shouldn’t just be a “rebranding” but actually a whole redesign every 3 to 5 years.
You might think I’m asking for disruption, and lord knows as my hair gets whiter the last thing I personally need is disruption, but I can’t be the only one who feels we’re simply stagnated and making no more progress in high tech here. Hanging more apps on an OS and interweaving them in ways no one undo isn’t progress.
-Noel
What does Windows 10 REALLY do better than Windows 8.1 did some 8 years ago?
I dual boot. I’m running Windows 10 on the same hardware on which I was running 8.1. I have upgraded some drives from HDD to SSD, but Windows has booted from the same SSD. Windows 10 boots to a usable desktop faster than 8.1, which was on a par with Windows 7. I dual booted 7/8, then 7/8.1. When 10 was released, I started dual booting 8.1/10, so I got a very direct comparison. After I tired of 8.1, I was dual-booting two configurations of Windows 10.
… the UI is certainly not as elegant looking, nor is it as configurable to do what I need. And it’s not as reliable or polished at interpreting my inputs. In short, it’s gotten clunkier.
I haven’t used a Windows UI since Windows 8, when I installed StartIsBack (and have kept updated through its various iterations). It looks, acts and feels just like Windows 7, for a whopping $4.99 lifetime license fee. I got mine for $2.99 back in the Windows 8 days.
So my UI has not changed in all these years. I often wonder why those folks who complain so bitterly about the UI don’t simply change it? There are free versions available that mimic Windows 7 UI very well indeed, and are quite configurable.
For a while I thought multiple monitor handling might be better, because my icons on my desktop had stayed in place for a long while, but no, just the other day they all got jumbled.
I have a 32″ monitor, so I don’t really need multiple monitors. After pricing multiple monitors, one big one was less expensive.
Does it stay up longer? No! Notwithstanding monthly updates REQUIRING reboot (remember when they were trying to get away from forcing that?),
I dual boot, so that is not an issue. As far as rebooting for an update/upgrade, overwriting a system file that is open and in use is not a trivial matter; rebooting is understandable and not that big a hassle for me. How is a restart after “Active hours” disruptive? I never actively update/upgrade my NAS, it gets the push from Microsoft. It stays updated and I never notice any disruption, because I’m asleep when it happens.
Is the UI easier to use?
Why is that an issue when there are other (many free) UI’s available to use? The first thing I did with Windows 8 was change the UI. StartIsBack has a Windows 11 version called StartAllBack that retains the Windows 7 UI and completely gets rid of the Mac-ish UI of Windows 11. I have never felt compelled to stay inside the Microsoft box.
Is Windows 10 faster? Without a doubt, and I can say that with conviction because I dual boot, and I have checked each Windows version against its predecessor by booting back and forth between older and newer. I’m running it on the same hardware platform that I used since Windows 7 Pro.
I have made some hardware upgrades.
I have also made some Windows alterations. But in every case, I evaluate older versus newer via dual boot. I’m now dual booting Windows 10/11. So far I see Windows 11 (under the hood, after getting the Mac UI out of the way) as a very minor update for Windows 10.
For my use as a platform supporting the things I want to do with my PC, Windows 10 is more reliable, efficient and stable than its predecessors. Networking is more reliable.
LOL, I’m speaking from anything BUT my own perspective here.
I used to be able to
I used to be able to
I used to be able to
It seems I’ve missed your context there.
Even with a system that changes incrementally, I noticed that neither of you above have named anything useful that actually got better. It’s an operating system… It should not NEED to be rebooted.
I dual boot. I have been doing so for more than twenty years. As a consequence, I do reboot fairly often. On the other hand, by running two iterations of an OS on exactly the same hardware, I can get a meter and measure of how the two compare in doing the things for which I use a PC. I use the same software in both sides, primarily audio editing and video editing, as well as coding for my website.
I always compare the older with the newer, with the one that performs better as a platform for the things I want to do as my primary OS. Windows 8 never became my primary OS.
When I was dual booting 7/8.1 (with StartIsBack as my menu) I found myself spending more of my time using 8.1. Both were reliable and efficient, with Windows 8.1 getting the nod for less futzy networking.
When Windows 10 was RTM, I upgraded the Windows 7 side of my dual boot in order to compare 8.1 to 10. Windows 10 quickly became my platform of choice. Networking was improved.
What is better in Windows 10? I don’t see it unless I want to. My network is readily available in File Explorer. Task Scheduler does numerous routine maintenance odds and ends with alacrity. I’m finding that Windows 11 is equally adept at these tasks.
When I start my coffee Sunday morning I plug one of a pair of 3TB drives into the drive bay on my NAS and copy my latest drive images. When they’re finished, I plug in the other and do the same. I have daily triplicates of all my data, with live updates to OneDrive.
I used to be able to have the things I want on the right-click context menu. Now that menu (with Win 11) has gotten more difficult to get to.
I use StartAllBack in Windows 11.
In addition I have some .reg files that I have developed, cultivated, pruned and expanded over various Windows installations that keep Windows out of my way. I’ve used these .reg files since Windows XP, so all versions of Windows get a pretty even comparison in my dual boot scenario.
The master patch list has always been reserved for plus members even when Woody was here. Remember a mere $1 donation is all you need to obtain this information. You can use any number of sites with throw away email addresses to register. If you have a question about a specific patch, please ask. But to say that Woody never placed my information behind a paywall, you are forgetting that my Master patch list has always been reserved for plus members.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Updated my two PCs with November patches through WUMgr as follows, no apparent issues to report:
1) Windows 10 Pro 21H1 -> installed 2021-11 Cumulative update (KB5007186) and MSRT 5.95 (KB890830);
2) Windows 10 Home 20H2 -> installed 2021-11 Cumulative update (KB5007186), MSRT 5.95 (KB890830), and several Office 2013 November patches.
Sorry I’m late for this month’s report but I’ve been busy later. :0
November patches installed with no problems to report on Win 8.1. 🙂
Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: 2021-11 Security and Quality Rollup for .NET Framework 3.5, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8 for Windows 8.1 for x64 (KB5007301)
Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: 2021-11 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 8.1 for x64-based Systems (KB5007247)
Win 10 ver. 22H2 x64
Thank You for the 8.1 report!
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