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Yes, yes they are. They want it to die ASAP, or three years ago, but with ~40% market share, it’s gonna take a few bullets to do the job. Or time, as in EoL January 2020.

Wonder if the hardware vendors and software devs have any skin in the game? /sarcasmoff

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

I’m sticking with Win 7: Because I love it, the few games/sims I play aren’t supported by Linux, and I’m not going to/can’t pay Apple’s double price/half performance ask.

Until late 2019 or so, I will stay in my happy holding pattern with 7 and re-evaluate then. Because I hate Windows 10.

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

Good morning @GoneToPlaid,
I’m going to PM you a raw text dump of your telemetry check batch file’s run on my PC, in case you were wondering how it was working.
To my view, it works very well.
-Grond

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

Hiyas GoneToPlaid,

Again, thank you very much for going to all this trouble and for your hard work in helping me out! I am running out of time for doing this tonight, as I typically wait about 15 minutes after a reboot to make sure everything is settled down (I have a single 1TB HDD).
But, it appears that I only have one instance of 3150513 on my PC and I will get to work on this first thing tomorrow!

C:\Windows\system32>dism /online /get-packages | findstr KB3150513
Package Identity : Package_for_KB3150513~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.4

You da Man.
-Grond

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

Thank you so much, GTP!
If I need to do it manually, should I uninstall/remove them using the “dism /online /remove-package /PackageName:” from the elevated prompt method, or just from WU?
-Grond

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

As an addition/edit to my above post, it appears I only have one instance of 2952664 installed on my PC:

C:\>dism /online /get-packages | findstr KB2952664
Package Identity : Package_for_KB2952664~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.17.5

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

Hi all. This is a modified repost from about a month ago. I don’t like reposting, but I
deal with a partial disability and this is the easiest way for me to get my query for
advice across.

I’m running a Win7 SP1 x64 Home Premium self-built PC as my main/only box.

Due to the great help from AskWoody’s site here, and Josh Mayfield’s most timely and
excellent GWX Control Panel, I avoided the GWX Win10 upgrade campaign/malware of 2016.
This PC’s last reformat/reinstall of Win 7 was on 3/3/2015. I’m a Group A (modified)
updater; i.e. I typically wait until after Patch Tuesday for the Defcon 3 go-ahead to
install anything from WU; I have since disabled Windows Defender. I use Kaspersky as my
AV and MBAM as my malware defenses. My WU setting is “Never Check for Updates,” with
Recommended Updates checked. I’m currently (safely?) updated through June 2018.

To my dismay, a month or so ago ago, I checked WU’s “Installed Updates” and found these:
These were all installed prior to my discovery of AskWoody’s site, and I’d like to get
rid of them and burn them with fire.

KB2952664 4/8/2016
KB3150513 5/6/2016
KB3021917 3/3/2015
KB3068708 6/17/2015
KB3080149 8/19/2015
KB3022345 5/7/2015

A fresh reformat/reinstall of Win 7 is on the horizon, but I’d really like to eliminate
these updates first. I need a better backup solution before I reformat.

I realize that 2952664 may require @GoneToPlaid ‘s great script, and that I need to
keep hiding it as I’ve been doing when it is offered every couple of months or so (it’s
so bizarre, that it keeps being offered, having already been installed), but as for the
others, can I just safely remove them by uninstalling them from WU?

Is there any particular order in which I should proceed?

Will I need to reboot after each removal?

And finally, are there any other patches I should be wary of? I’m pretty sure the rest of
my PC is clean, update-wise, but I don’t think it hurts to ask.

I really, really appreciate any/all advice on this!
-Grond

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

Home-built Win 7 x-64 desktop.
KB4284826 & MSRT were only Importants listed, both checked. Both installed quickly, no muss, no fuss. Hid the two July Previews (SMQR & .NET).
And as noted earlier by @GoneToPlaid, I also noticed a perceived (by the Mk. I Eyeball test, anyway) slight improvement in performance.

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

2 users thanked author for this post.

GoneToPlaid, OldBiddy

I’ve noticed it with Win 7 SP1 x64 as well. Had to update mine manually from the MS site on 6/21 after not having any updates since 6/11.
Maybe MS is telling us more about how how any other of their OS’es besides 10 are so much less secure. :rollseyes:

ETA: The current info on MS’s site is as follows:
Version: 1.271.47.0
Released: Jun 26, 2018 02:59 PM UTC

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

2 users thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth, Elly

I very much appreciate you looking out for me and the advice.

I also run up-to-date premium versions of Kaspersky for my AV and MBAM for my malware solutions. Defender is, for me I guess, a last line of defense.

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

TYVM for the link. Downloaded & updated.

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

anonymous wrote:

Sorry if this is off-topic, but during the weekend I received an update through Windows Update for Windows Defender. It reset Windows Defender, and I received updates for some old updates like Silverlight and C++ Redistributable. It reset the last check for updates to never, and on further checking I found that it had changed my settings for Windows Update to “Automatically download and install updates” from “Check for updates but let me choose to download and install them”. Needless to say, I soon reversed these settings. Windows 8.1 Group B and sometimes W.

Has anyone else seen Defender not being able to be updated manually? I have always updated it manually since the GWX campaign but haven’t seen any updates since 6/11/18. That’s 11 days now and by far the longest I’ve seen between updates.
Win 7 SP1 x64 Home Premium home-built desktop
The last WU updates I’ve installed (besides the Defenders) were on 6/3/18:
KB4103718 (2018-05 SMQR for Win 7 x64-based systems
KB890830 (MSRT x64 – May 2018
KB4099633 (2018-05 SQR for .NET 3.51, 4.52, 4.6, 4.61, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.71 on Win 7 / Server 2008 R2 for x64
I haven’t even looked in WU since 6/3/18 to see what’s in there, but has anyone else noticed Defender not updating? The above quoted post has me a bit leery ATM.
Thanks, Grond

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

Hi all. This may not be the best place to post this, and I am sorry if it is, but:

I’m running a Win7 SP1 x64 Home Premium self-built PC as my main/only box.

Due to the great help from AskWoody’s site here, and Josh Mayfield’s most timely and
excellent GWX Control Panel, I avoided the GWX forced Win10 upgrade campaign/malware of
2016. This PC’s last reformat/reinstall of Win 7 was on 3/3/2015. I’m a Group A
(modified) updater; i.e. I typically wait until after Patch Tuesday for the Defcon 3 go-
ahead to install anything from WU, with the exception of Defender, which I keep updated.
I use Kaspersky as my AV and MBAM as my malware defenses. My WU setting is “Never Check
for Updates,” with Recommended Updates checked. I’m currently (safely?) updated through May 2018.

To my horror, a couple of days ago, I checked WU’s “Installed Updates” and found these:

KB2952664 4/8/2016
KB3150513 5/6/2016
KB3021917 3/3/2015
KB3068708 6/17/2015
KB3080149 8/19/2015
KB3022345 5/7/2015

Since it appears Microsoft *may* be renewing a GWX-style initiative, would it be best/safe to uninstall these updates?
I do fairly regular folder/file backups to optical media and it’s way past time for a reformat and fresh reinstall of Win 7.

Thanks much for any advice!
-Grond

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

Hello Noel & jelson, and thank you very much for your replies and advice.

I wasn’t very explicative in my particular backup needs, so I will attempt to clarify. I purchased the USB portable BD burner for two reasons:

(1) [and this is the least important reason] To watch Blu-Rays on my one and only PC, an i5-3470 home-built desktop, 1 TB spinner HDD which is a bit over a third full, internal DVD burner is toast, Win7 x64 SP1, Group A (modified, which is to say, update when Defcon is at 3), and

(2) For portability of backups. I do folder/file backups on my PC, not system images, though that is something I *need* to start doing, and for which an external HDD (or an array) is probably the best answer.

The reason I need portability and BDs is that my girlfriend has several Windows desktops that are in various states of disrepair, inherited from her late mother and father (who is now in assisted living), who, along with her younger (but adult) son were horribly imprudent web surfers. They clicked on any and everything which caught their wandering eyes. I looked at these PCs when they were “working,” told them they were likely infested with viruses/malware, and made suggestions on how to ameliorate the problems. This advice fell on deaf ears. These PCs have mostly IDE HDDs, and my girlfriend would like the family documents/data/pictures from them. So I am going to have to find the most reliable of these (some don’t even have USB ports), mount one or two HDDs at a time, and back up what I can, while keeping the contents as air-gapped as possible from my main PC. I’ll either try to use one of the seat licenses from my AV and malware suites or use freebies to deep-scan the resulting collected data before burning it to BDs. I then have an AIO Dell PC (inherited from my recently late uncle) that my girlfriend can have for her own
use. She *is* a prudent Web user, after some gentle advice and hand-holding from yours truly.

Also, please correct me if I am misinformed, but don’t BDs have a much longer blank *and* burned shelf life than CDs/DVDs? I can’t afford Sony or Panasonic or archival-quality blanks, but Verbatim has a pretty solid reputation. I’ve always been extremely careful in my handling of my optical media.

Thanks very much for any advice and help!

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC

I don’t see WaaS going away any time soon, if ever. This is Nadella’s twisted vision for us.

And the specter (pardon the pun) of Windows 365 is, I believe, very real, i.e. an integrated subscription-based “OS.”

Windows 10 Pro x64 v1909 Desktop PC