Patch Lady – this is what drives me insane about preview releases

[Susan Bradley]

Today we got preview updates for 2004: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/net-framework-july-2020-cumulative-update-preview-for-windows-10-version-
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – this is what drives me insane about preview releases]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady

5 users thanked author for this post.

Great Lake Bunyip, abbodi86, GreatAndPowerfulTech, Elly, woody

[woody]

… and tomorrow’s “A Week”…

[Barry]

I noticed a oddity. When i hit check for updates it offered the .net update and and below that it had a message click here to view optional updates (or something close to that i should have done a screenshot) it then took me to a different screen where i had to check the box next to to the Cumulative update then click download and install. Must be something new in 2004.

Barry
Windows 10 Home V 2004

[anonymous]

I saw the same message. Quite odd considering they don’t even make it that hard to install a feature update.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Barry

[bbearren]

KB4562899 Cumulative Update Preview for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 2004 for x64 is installed, no hiccups so far.

Create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates, in case you need to start over!

"When you're troubleshooting, start with the simple and proceed to the complex."—M.O. Johns

"Experience is what you get when you're looking for something else."—Sir Thomas Robert Deware

Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[abbodi86]

It’s not the first time they release D Week CU on last days of the month

KB4568831 have been in Release Preview Channel since 2020-07-24, and got two versions

2 users thanked author for this post.

ymo1965, woody

[woody]

I wonder if we can start calling these “F Week” patches?

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doriel, Elly

[pHROZEN gHOST]

“Remember – we don’t install preview updates …”

Otherwise, you will be an unpaid beta tester for Microsoft.

Byte me!

[doriel]

I feel it the same. And you know what? MSFT will blame users like us, that Windows are broken, cause we didnt test in public 🙂

Dell Latitude E6530, Intel Core i5 @ 2.6 GHz, 4GB RAM, W10 1809 Enterprise

HAL3000, AMD Athlon 200GE @ 3,4 GHz, 8GB RAM, Fedora 29

[glnz]

Same thing for 1909.  Installed it by mistake and now uninstalling.

[mcbsys]

IMO there something wrong with how the .NET preview KB4562900 is coded.

Previews should be optional, i.e. with BrowseOnly=True. But this one has BrowseOnly=False, meaning that when you seek for updates on Win10 1909, the Preview gets installed:

Is there some way to tell Microsoft to fix this? In the meantime, the only safeguard I can think of is to use wushowhide to hide it.

Here are the details from my PowerShell script:

Checking for update 4562900
--------------------------------------------------------
            KBArticleIDs: 4562900
                   Title: 2020-07 Cumulative Update Preview for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64 (KB4562900)
                UpdateID: d8cbe3a9-bcf6-4b76-8e21-e6b063bdc2a9
          RevisionNumber: 201
LastDeploymentChangeTime: 7/21/2020 12:00:00 AM
            MsrcSeverity:
            IsDownloaded: False
                IsHidden: False
             IsInstalled: False
             IsMandatory: False
               IsPresent: False
              BrowseOnly: False
         IsUninstallable: False
         MinDownloadSize: 0
         MaxDownloadSize: 77610497
          RebootRequired: False
           AutoSelection: 1
            AutoDownload: 2
     SecurityBulletinIDs:
     SupersededUpdateIDs:
                          299949d5-edf0-4ab7-ad37-4d0a62fd664d

• This reply was modified 6 days, 14 hours ago by mcbsys.
• This reply was modified 6 days, 14 hours ago by mcbsys.

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doriel, abbodi86

[abbodi86]

First of all, the new .NET CU Preview is nothing different from all previous non-security .NET CU
it just has the term “Preview” in label

in my understanding, BrowseOnly attribute has no effect on Windows 10, thus not used

if you compare the attributes of .NET CU Security vs non-Security you notice this difference

.NET CU Security
AutoSelectOnWebSites : True (automatically selected by Windows Update as important update)
AutoSelection : 0
AutoDownload : 0

.NET CU non-Security (Preview)
AutoSelectOnWebSites : False
AutoSelection : 1
AutoDownload : 2

this is the visible difference
there are also another hidden difference related to Interactive configuration in the search criteria, which

only WU can set and change

in the case of Interactive scan (i.e. Seeker):
.NET Preview CU will be offered and installed regardless

in the case of non-Interactive scan (i.e. scheduled scan):
– if .NET Security CU is not yet installed, .NET Preview CU will be flagged as potentially superseded, and WU will not offer it
– if .NET Security CU is already installed, .NET Preview CU will be offered and installed

p.s. how did you managed to insert the details here as block code? 🙂
for me it won’t work and get the code in one line

1 user thanked author for this post.

mcbsys

[mcbsys]

Block code:  I pasted text, selected it, then set drop-down to Preformatted.

Thanks for this info. I’ve added that important AutoSelectOnWebSites field to my script.

Still having trouble wrapping my mind around how anything flagged as a Preview can be automatically installed, even if I “seek.” To me, “Preview” implies a look ahead at something we plan to release for real in the future. Which I’ve always interpreted as, “ignore this while others test it.”

You’re right though. On a machine where I haven’t installed 4562900, the previous CU, which is still installed, is coded the same way but does not include the word “Preview”:

Checking for update 4565633
--------------------------------------------------------

KBArticleIDs: 4565633
Title: 2020-07 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 1909 (KB4565633)
UpdateID: a4fa30a1-592f-4d6a-9bec-d8220c91459d
RevisionNumber: 200
LastDeploymentChangeTime: 7/14/2020 12:00:00 AM
MsrcSeverity: Critical
IsDownloaded: True
IsHidden: False
IsInstalled: True
IsMandatory: False
IsPresent: True
BrowseOnly: False
IsUninstallable: True
MinDownloadSize: 0
MaxDownloadSize: 42914096
RebootRequired: False
AutoSelectOnWebSites: True
AutoSelection: 0
AutoDownload: 0
SecurityBulletinIDs:
SupersededUpdateIDs:
63ea98c8-f7c8-4581-bf9f-30c453d3bb8c

By the way, I tried using a script to uninstall 4562900 on the first machine, but it seems

IsUninstallable: False

is correct–it didn’t uninstall.

[abbodi86]

Thanks

Preview is just bad choice of words, non-security updates exist since XP
but, Windows 10 lost control on updates since day one, Microsoft believe that all updates would/should be installed 😀

i doubt if KB4562900 itself is permanent (like servicing stack updates)

however, starting v1903, if you ran Disk Cleanup – Update Cleanup or Dism /StartComponentCleanup, all updates will become not Uninstallable
until you install the next releases of the updates and the old ones are superseded

[mcbsys]

Okay, here’s a difference.

The previous CU KB4565633 is offered through WSUS.

The new “preview” CU KB4562900 is not on WSUS (yet).

[mcbsys]

Well not sure what I did differently before–maybe failed to reboot–but

wusa.exe /uninstall /KB:4562900

works now to uninstall that uninstallable update.

[Alex5723]

Windows 10 1909 Pro July updates.
Quality updates deferred for 21 days.
Feature updates deferred for 365 days.
GP Notify don’t download = 2

Just got notification for a new update – KB4562900 CU preview .NET.

Why ?

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[abbodi86]

Quality updates deferral affect Windows Security CU
Feature updates deferral affect Windows Preview CU, and feature update

other updates are not affected (except if you paused)

[Alex5723]

Never have I received preview updates of any kind since 1803. This is the first time.
Quality deferrals should block any update.

[dmt_3904]

I just got that too.  Did you install it?  I ran wushowhide, but it doesn’t come up in there! It only shows one Windows Defender update (and there are two of those).  What is the current advice on 2020-07 Cumulative Update Preview for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64 (KB4562900)?

I have my GP settings to ask before downloading – so it’s waiting.  I would have to clear my update Q to get rid of this if advice is to not install.

[Alex5723]

The advice is not to install preview updates unless you have a sever bugs fixed by the preview.
.NET updates are commutative so Aug. patch Tuesday .NET will replace the preview.

wushowhide on my 1909 showed the preview which I have hidden.

• This reply was modified 3 days, 1 hour ago by Alex5723.

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