Replies

PKCano wrote:

So far, there has been a different Win7 SSU every month.
The SSU has to be installed exclusively (by itself). It will not show up in the WU Important updates queue unless/until there are no other pending updates (checked of unchecked). There are several ways to get the SSU:
+ You can install all the other Important updates, reboot the computer, and if there are no other updates available the SSU will appear.
+ You can hide all the pending updates, check for updates, and if there are no other updates available the SSU will appear.
+ You can download the SSU and install it manually, but it still has to be installed exclusively.

I appreciate the additional detail, but I’m not seeing why the SSU, different each moth or the same, can’t–and shouldn’t–be included in the update process and its install automated. Isn’t that the major function of the RunOnce entry in RegEdit?

GaryK

1 user thanked author for this post.

bassmanzam

[gkarasik]

Anyone care to take a shot at explaining why the Servicing Stack update that has to be rerun every month in order to get the following month’s ESU update(s isn’t simply included in the monthly ESU update(s) so we don’t have to rerun it every month on however many machines we might have to rerun it on?

GaryK

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by gkarasik.

opti1 wrote:

Say time has passed, maybe a few years, and the “doomsday” Win7 disk(s) need to be restored to a completely different desktop, laptop, or (who knows) other device, and many, if not all, of the drivers on the doomsday disk(s) are obsolete . . .

How could potential driver issues be handled?

This is a classic exercise in over-complication. As everyone before me has said, buy a cheap HD (that’s redundant), make an image, and occasionally refresh it. (Caveat–make sure you test any image you make to be sure it boots.)

I keep in the attic a spare PC that is the exact same model as the one I use daily. It cost $35.00. I also have a spare keyboard, mouse, power supply and monitor ($10, $4, $13, $25). If I’m still using this system years from now–which, despite my hatred of being artificially forced to upgrade to anything when what I have is working for me just fine, I probably will be–I’ll switch out the parts as I need to and keep working. The only problem I foresee is getting re-authenticated the paid software that is license-tied to my hardware. If the software manufacturer is OOB, then I’ll be SOL. Of course, by that time, it’s likely nanobots will have embedded my smart phone in my cerebral cortex so that I won’t be using a physical PC or phone at all. (Which makes me wonder what my internet antenna will look like.)

GaryK

3 users thanked author for this post.

wdburt1, Cybertooth, Myst

Paul T wrote:

gkarasik wrote:

Please find a solution that doesn’t mess up my desktop and hurt my productivity

Can’t be done unless you run the same size screen and resolution.
That is the least inconvenience your users will have to put up with during this crisis.

cheers, Paul

I don’t how “this crisis” relates to this question.

GaryK

Damian wrote:

gkarasik wrote:

Damian wrote:

Any concern for Key Loggers on the Home PC that could record RDP Credentials?

Sure, but wouldn’t those be the same concerns you’d have for any credentials for any remote software?

Currently we only allow VPN using corporate computers that are firewall locked down to our VPN.   I am worried about my corporate machines but I would be concerned about random home machines that are not governed by our corporate protection.  This does not seem like a safe option if their corporate credentials are freely read by the home PC.  Maybe my viewpoint is unique?

Gosh no. Or at least I hope it’s not unique. Your point is well taken, and it’s a thought that should be terrifying every admin contemplating people working from home. How many of these home machines are also being used by others in the house to look at who knows what? My point, no doubt poorly expressed, is only that this isn’t a concern unique to RDP. The danger from key-loggers or other MITM attacks is the same for LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, TeamViewer, or any other remote-control software. A panicked, poorly-thought-out policy to send people home to work that doesn’t take into account the security of those home machines will have–not could have–major malware consequences for some businesses.

GaryK

1 user thanked author for this post.

Damian

Damian wrote:

Any concern for Key Loggers on the Home PC that could record RDP Credentials?

Sure, but wouldn’t those be the same concerns you’d have for any credentials for any remote software?

GaryK

techweenie wrote:

It is ok to fire clients. I’ve done it. But I’m busy enough that I can do that and not lose a dime. A stress free life is worth more than a problematic client.

As have I, as have many of us, but what’s not clear is why I should fire a client who’s making what seems to me to be an entirely reasonable request: Please find a solution that doesn’t mess up my desktop and hurt my productivity, which is what produces enough income so that I can pay you the exorbitant amout youre charging me to keep my computers running well.

GaryK

1 user thanked author for this post.

Elly

[gkarasik]

Susan Bradley wrote:

1. Buy same size screens
2. Buy Fences, it keeps the icons arranged
3. live with it.  No it hasn’t been fixed.

It’s not me who has to “live with it.” It’s clients who have to live with it, and because they yell and scream and threaten to fire me, I have either to find a way to make it work or to find alternatives. Some clients think my job is to satisfy them, not to adapt their work habits to my choice of remote software. Some clients are funny that way.

My preference is TeamViewer, but it’s very expensive. I think the best in terms of user experience is the original version of PCAnywhere, it’s got serious security problems. Really Remote Desktop would be a great solution if MS would fix the icon-location problem. Others have done it, so it’s a mystery why MS won’t.

GaryK

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by gkarasik.

[gkarasik]

I have been unable to find a satisfactory solution to this problem: Remote Desktop changes the location of icons on the client desktops, and some of my clients find this so discombobulating that RD is not usable. Is this resolved in the latest RD version?

GaryK

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by gkarasik.

Thanks. Just signed in.

GaryK

zero2dash wrote:

Not excusing the behavior, but…
This is exactly why they rely on the telemetry data that users are so paranoid to opt out of.
Testing a patch vs a million hardware and software configurations is not something any company can do.

Again, not excusing the behavior, just trying to put some reason and sense behind the practice.

This is true if you think quality testing must cover millions of computers and find/fix every conceivable error. But it doesn’t, and no one expects it to do that. People do have a right to expect a reasonable amount of testing on the majority of configurations, and they have a right to expect that an update won’t trash their clients businesses. Not every client has the resources to have sandbox systems. The perfect is the enemy of the good, but the current Microsoft isn’t even producing good.

GaryK

The only surprise is that they’re admitting to something we’ve all known for years. This is the reason they release the update “preview.” I love that they call it “application compatibility” testing as opposed to “find our s**** ups” testing. “Beta” testing is itself a euphemism, so they’ve eupemized a euphemism (along the way to euthanizing quality control).

GaryK

4 users thanked author for this post.

wavy, Charlie, woody, Mr. Austin

Apparently MS doesn’t even do a good job beta-testing its own updates. That’s perversely comforting in a misery-loves-company kind of way. Of course it’s not comforting to their client who are depending on MS to competently and reliably deliver email and other services those clients have been seduced into depending on.

GaryK

2 users thanked author for this post.

David F, Cybertooth

No one thinks less of Microsoft than I, but on this issue, so what?

GaryK

1 user thanked author for this post.

b

RDRguy wrote:

@gkarasik … ooooops, sorry I misread your post.

Just guessing but maybe you’re only seeing the SSU update because it needs to be installed first now that you’re ESU licensed?

The SSU update installed. I rebooted and ran WinUp again, but still nothing shows. I downloaded and installed the updates manually. On another machine I installed the BypassESU patch from My Digital Life, but that too shows no updates available. I can do them manually on the rest of my Win7 machines; it’s a pain though because three out of five require individual reboots. There’s a way to use the Windows installer to create a bat file to install multiple updates with but a single reboot, but it’s been so long since I’ve used it that I’ve forgotten the process.

GaryK