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Now you see the problems that arise when MS puts all of the patches into one.  If one assumes that one patch in 20 (for example) is going to have a problem or some sort (whether major or minor), and MS puts 20 patches into one mega-patch, then the probability that the mega-patch will have a problem approaches 100%.  I assume that there are no major security-related patches in this mega-patch.  If there were, then the user (or sysadmin) would have to decide whether to install the patch to get the security fix or non install it due to other problems.  I know about mega-patches from my previous work as an IBM mainframe system administrator involved with reviewing and installing patches.

I would like to install multiple patches each month – each one to fix a specific problem.  Then I could ignore patches that have problems while still getting the benefits of the other patches.

 

False alarm on the Windows 8.1 patch problem.  When I did a shutdown, the shutdown did not complete.  It has never done that before.  Google told me to hold the power button down, and that caused the machine to finish the shutdown.  It successfully booted after that.

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Elly

I manage a Windows 8.1 laptop for a society.  This morning I installed the two 8.1 patches – one for .NET and one for Windows.  I then rebooted and backed up the C-drive.  Then I shut down the machine.  I noticed that the power light and the orange wi-fi lights were still on.  When I hit the power button, nothing happens.  I have to assume that one or more pieces of the Windows 8.1 patch caused a problem.  And I do not know how to recover.

I am running Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.  I have not yet installed the Windows 7 nor .NET patches, as I am awaiting any reports on this forum.  I did install the new MRT.exe (KB890830).  Before it ran the MRT scan, it presented me with an End User License Agreement (EULA) that I had to accept.  That EULA referred ONLY to Windows XP.  Very strange.  Usually, IIRC, MRT.exe runs without any agreement to acknowledge.

My settings:

Important updates: download but let me choose when to install
Recommended updates: checked
Who can install: Any user (I am the only user on this computer.)
Microsoft Update: checked (Give me updates for MS products.)
Software Notifications: checked (Show me about updates MS software.)

Here is an update.  This morning, after my weekly MSE full scan, the MSE icon in the system tray was brown.  So I opened it, and it said that my definitions were out-of-date.  So I told MSE to update.  It sat for a long time (20-30 minutes) searching for updates.  I was watching the network graph in Task Manager, and nothing was being updated.  Then I open Windows Update to see what it told me.  It said that pattern 691 was available, so I tried the installation from WU.  Just before I had WU do the download, I saw that MSE was doing a download.  Wu told me that 691 failed with error code 80070714 at 08:42.  I wish that Microsoft would give a real error message instead of a hex code that requires an Internet search to investigate.  I know from experience that that error code means that the update has already been installed.  The log (via my awk script) said that the update had occurred at 08:40 (probably via the MSE window).  But when I got the error code, MSE said that the update (number not given) was being installed.  Eventually the MSE window told me that the (unknown) update failed at 9:01 due to Internet or network connectivity problem.  And MSE tells me that my definitions are at version 140, installed 10/19 at 7:09PM.

I do not care how the MSE patterns are updated; I usually check via WU a few times each day.  When I see a pattern update that I have not installed via WU, I really do not care if it was installed via WU automatically (these pattern updates are the ONLY updates I have WU install automatically) or via MSE.  I am assuming that the updates are installed in the same place in the operating system, independent of how they were installed.  MSE should not tell me that the update it download was not installed (due to a network problem), when it DID download and install an update.  And why does MSE sit and think for 30 minutes, when WU thinks and downloads within a few minutes?

To answer previous questions:

> Do you have KB3177467 installed?
> Is it -v1 from 2016, or -v2 from 2018?

Yes. #1 on 09/22/2016 and #2 on 10/09/2018.

> Does your WU setting ask to recieve updates for Microsoft products along with Windows Updates?

I think so.  I am not sure what is meant by “Microsoft products”.  I am not sure what WU setting I can check.

Another problem with Windows Update that I currently have on my Windows 7 Professional system – MSE updates.  My MS Security Essentials icon is brown, not green.   It tells me that my definitions are out-of-date.  I ran Windows Update, and it told me that I needed to install update 1.279.572.0 .  I try to install it, and it did not install.  I checked the log (which I process with an awk script), and that 572 update was installed at 11:53 this morning.  I did another “check for updates”, and it still told me that I needed to install 572 (along with two preview updates that I will not install).

And there was a case earlier (Oct 21) when WU told me to install definition update 102, when I had installed 102 on Oct 19, and the last pattern update I had installed was 247.

 

My manual install log (I keep track of every change I make to the machine) shows:

04/30/2015 21:39  KB3020369 (Upd Win 7) (Fixes 2819745)

Note that this is from 2015!  And I do not have a record of ever installing KB2819745.

I run Windows 7 Professional 32-bit, and I have not experienced the Windows Update problem.  On Tuesday, WU told me that there two updates:

KB4462923 2018-10 Security Monthly Quality Rollup Win 7
KB4459922 2018-10 Security and Quality Rollup for .NET

I usually wait one day, per Woody, before I install them, but I installed both as soon as they were available.  No problems and a reboot.  Then I did another WU, and

KB3177467 Upd Win 7 (Servicing stack update)

appeared.  I was curious as to why this did not appear with the first batch (now I know why), so I checked my manual install log.  I had installed this previously on 22-Sep-2016.  I then installed the new version, and a reboot was not required.  I do not like MS’s re-use of patch IDs.

 

 

I am running Win 7 Professional 32-bit.  I have always installed the patches as soon as they are released.  And I have never had problems with a quick install.  This month I held back on KB4345590 (.NET) and KB4343900 (Win 7) to see what would be reported here.  I did install an  MSE definition update and the monthly MRT.exe .  The only problem I had was this: Windows Update tells me that it is creating a restore point and then does not tell me when the patches are being installed.  I could tell from the Task Manager when MRT was running and when it had ended.  And I have a script to parse the c:\windows\window~1.log file to tell me when the MSE definition updates are installed.  I keep a manual log of all changes I make to the machine.  At 12:09 the MSE update was installed, and at 12:18 the MRT.exe started running.   At 15:11 the Windows Update window still had the status “Creating restore point..”, and I had to click on “Stop installation”.  I knew that MRT had already finished.  I have no idea why Windows Update did not finish and tell me that I still had two Important updates to install.

Here is a quick update.  This morning I took the 8.1 laptop, changed the date so that it was tomorrow’s date, and restarted.  I did NOT experience the problems that I had experienced the one previous time that the clock was incorrect.  So, I have no idea what was happening to cause the problems, and I still have no idea how the clock got to be wrong.

Today’s Windows Update (roll-up Tuesday) showed me the

KB4103472 2018-05 Preview of Quality Rollup for .NET 3.5.1,…

update, so that preview from May has not been released officially for June.  I assume that .NET patches would be separate from the base operating system patches.  Does this imply that that .NET patch is “not yet ready for prime time”?

I have one problem with the response about “preview” updates.  In May, the Tuesday after Patch Tuesday, I saw for my Windows 7 system two preview patches:

KB4103472 2018-05 Preview of Quality Rollup for .NET 3.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1
KB4103713 2018-05 Preview of Quality Rollup for Win 7

According to what PKCano wrote, these two patches  (or similar ones with different numbers) should have appeared as non-security patches on Patch Tuesday in June.  I saw no non-security patches last week.  What happened to these two patches?  (I am awaiting the  “preview” patches to be released today.)  Thanks.

 

I have another patch question – What are the “Preview of Quality Rollup” patches?  I saw two 2018-05 for Windows 7 the Tuesday after May Patch Tuesday, and, per AskWoody, I did not install them.  When will these be officially released?  Will there be 2016-6 Preview of Quality Rollup” patches released this coming Tuesday (a week after Patch Tuesday)?  I know that security-related patched are released on the second Tuesday of each month, but what exactly are the patches released the following Tuesday?

You are correct; I did install KB4284815, not KB4284878.  After I powered-down the laptop Thursday evening around 7PM, I had the laptop off until about 1PM this afternoon (Sunday).  The system clock had the correct time, so I do not know if the CMOS battery is running low on power.  So, I do have a definitive answer as to why the system clock did not have the correct time 48 hours after I patched, rebooted, and backed up.  Now, if Windows Update had told me that my system clock might be wrong instead of the cryptic “error 80072F8F”, I would have been able to diagnose and fix the problem promptly.