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I don’t agree.  It looks like Pro is changing.  Previously (or currently) Pro could delay updates by up to 365 days.  But in the new version (1903) it looks like they’re cutting back the maximum delay setting from 365 days to just 35 days.  So that would be a major crippling of the ability to delay updates in Pro.

On the other hand, it appears that the Home version may also be changing — assuming that the reported/proposed changes hold up when 1903 gets finalized.  That would allow Home users the ability (for the first time) to delay updates — and it would be by 35 days also, just like Pro.

Admittedly this is all still speculation; since Microsoft and transparency seem to be mutually exclusive of each other.  But assuming that 1903 ends up looking like the reports from Leopeva64, then most likely both Home and Pro will be able to delay updates by the same amount of time — up to 35 days.

If that’s the case, then there’s no longer any justification for spending $100 to upgrade from Home to Pro at this point — not unless you need Pro for something other than delaying updates.

I know that Woody says we’re at MS-DEFCON 4 currently.  But where are things at with KB4487000 on Win 8.1?  Susan’s Master Patch List says that it’s OK to install it if you don’t have Access 95 (which I don’t).  But there’s no mention of the BSODs that have been reported on systems where KB4487000 got installed.

I’m really nervous about installing that update on my Win 8.1 system; since I really don’t look forward to having to roll it back to recover from a crash.

Has there been any new info on this issue for us folks with Win 8.1?

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banzaigtv, b, DrBonzo

Well now I’m really glad I held off on upgrading my Win 10 systems from Home to Pro.   I had a sneaking suspicion it was only a matter of time until Microsoft crippled the ability to delay updates in Win 10 Pro.  Now it looks like I was probably right about that (unfortunately).  To anyone who got suckered into spending $100 for the Pro upgrade, you have my sympathy.  But this is just further proof of why Microsoft can’t be trusted anymore.

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Cybertooth, banzaigtv

The issues that Woody raised back in March 2018 were these:

The core of the problem: Pavlov refuses to add ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) to the product, and won’t compile 7-Zip with the /GS Buffer Security Check flag.

So I would think that the questions now should be these:  (1) Does version 19.00 add ASLR?  And (2) Has version 19.00 been compiled with the /GS flag?

I haven’t seen anyone directly address those two questions yet about this new 7-Zip version.

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rc primak, EspressoWillie

Hey Woody, back in March 2018 you were asking if it might be time to give up on 7-Zip due to multiple security vulnerabilities and concerns with it:  https://www.askwoody.com/2018/is-it-time-to-give-up-on-7-zip/

Does this new version 19.00 address all those concerns?  Are you comfortable with using it now — and recommending it again?

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Morty, SueW, Microfix, EspressoWillie, Great Lake Bunyip, ve2mrx

a technician rang immediately and talked me through the whole process to prevent it happening again.

Could you elaborate a bit as to what that “process” was exactly?  Also did the tech say anything about this process being able to stop or delay Feature updates (as opposed to the normal monthly Security updates)?

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b

I guess I should have read thru all the comments on that article.  Well, so much for relying on that registry change method.  It would have been nice if Martin Brinkmann had updated that article of his to say that this method does not apply to Win 10 Home Edition.  Oh well.  At least now I know.  I’ll mark my post here as “Resolved”.  Thanks for the reply.

I’ve thought about maybe upgrading my Win10 systems to Pro; but just like you’ve seen reports of Windows reversing the registry changes on Home editions, I also recall hearing reports of Windows ignoring the deferral settings on Pro editions too.  So I have my doubts about whether spending an extra $100 per system will actually buy me anything.

I couldn’t find any posts here in these forums where anybody tried the specific settings recommended by Martin Brinkmann on a Home Edition system.  If you know of someone who actually tried it, and (especially) if they found that Windows reversed those settings, it would be really helpful to know the details about what happened, and exactly how they had the system settings configured.  I’d appreciate it if you could point me to their posting.

** UPDATE **

OK, this is embarrassing.  Looks like the password problem was on my end.  Please ignore my earlier post here.  Everything on the website is fine.

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Customer Support, Elly

Hey Woody, I saw your post here, and I just signed up for a Plus Membership with a credit card.  Everything went smoothly as far as signing up and making the payment.  BUT … after doing that I found that I could no longer sign in to the AskWoody website.  I tried several different times — with both Firefox and Chrome.  And I tried logging in with both my Username and my Email address.  But each time my login was rejected.  I finally had to use the Forgot Password link, and reset my password to the exact same password that I’ve always used.  Once I did that reset, I was able to login again.

So everything seems to be OK now.  But I just wanted you to know that this happened.  I’ve never had any login problems on your website before — not until after I signed up for the Plus Membership.  Just FYI.

** Please ignore.  See update below **

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Elly

** UPDATE **

First off, sorry for the delay in updating my post here.  And also thanks to Microfix and BobbyB for the advice given.  However, it looks like the issue resolved itself.  As indicated above, I let the System Update Readiness Tool (KB947821) keep running overnight to see if it would ever finish.  Well it did finally finish.   As best I can tell it wrapped up after running continuously for somewhere between 17 hours and 23 hours.  Ridiculously long!

The worst part though is that after all that time the final result from SURT was a single small dialog box that I found on the screen in the morning with the following message:

=====
Some updates were not installed.  The following updates were not installed:
Hotfix for Windows (KB947821)
=====

That was the sum total of the information from SURT.  No explanation as to why the update wasn’t installed.  No explanation of what the tool was off doing thrashing away on the system drive for over 17 hours.  No recommendation as to what other actions I might want to take or try.  Nothing!  How typical of Microsoft — especially lately.

After restarting the system, I went and did a manual Check for Updates.  Since I happened to be doing this right before Patch Tuesday (on Monday, Jan. 8), I somehow got lucky (unlucky) enough to get presented with the January patches:  KB4480970, KB4481480, KB4461625, as well as the MSRT, and (yes) the Definition Update for Windows Defender again — the same Definition Update that refused to install, and started me down this path of the 17 hour failed run with SURT.

I unchecked all 5 of the listed updates, including that Definition Update for Windows Defender.  And, after my bad (and useless) experience with SURT, I also changed the setting from “Install updates automatically” back to “Never check for updates”.  I followed that by restarting the system, then going back and doing a manual Check for Updates again.  Of the 5 updates listed previously, now there were only 4.  The one missing one was that Definition Update for Windows Defender.  That puzzled me since I never selected it for downloading and installing.

But when I went checked the Update History.  I saw two new items there.  The earlier one was an entry for SURT — listed as “Hotfix for Windows (KB947821)”.  And it confirmed that the status of the installation was “Failed”.  But then immediately after that entry was one for the Definition Update for Windows Defender, showing a status of successfully installed.

So bottom line:  After letting SURT run its course for over 17 hours — and failing to install — I got the Definition Update for Windows Defender to successfully install itself, even though I never selected it again to be installed.

I’m marking my post here “Resolved”, even though I don’t have a clue as to what really happened, or why.  It just seems that Windows Update gets weirder and less reliable with each passing month.  But I guess that’s just what Microsoft expects us to roll over and accept these days.  Thank goodness for Woody and this website.

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wEarwOlf505cole, Elly, geekdom, Microfix

You’re right.  I forgot to mention that.  This system is running Win 10 1709, HOME edition.

* Task Scheduler – I had to disable the tasks under Application Experience and CEIP (again) as they were turned back on. Some of the other Tasks that I have been disabling I no longer have permission to change the setting.

Which other Tasks (other than those in AE and CEIP) were affected by the update — the ones that you no longer have permission to change now?  Also, is it possible to change permissions or take ownership of those Tasks via some other method to work around Microsoft’s insistence that we leave them alone?

PK, this is in reply to your advice:

It is probably safe to go to Windows Update and install the updates for your current version. BUT Never Never click on “Check for updates,” particularly if you are on Home edition.

Please forgive me if this is a newbie question here; but how can I get and install updates from Windows Update without clicking on the “Check for updates” link?   I’m using wushowhide to select the updates that I want to get.  But nothing’s getting installed.  The Windows Update page shows a status of “missing important security and quality updates.”  But it doesn’t attempt to download and install anything.  It just tells me to select the “Check for updates” button to “get going”.

This seems confusing to me.  How can I download any updates if I don’t click the “Check for updates” button?

This is just one more reason why switching to Linux (and LibreOffice) might not be such a bad option for folks.  If the only Windows/Office support available is from fellow users — and not from the vendor (MS) — then why spend money on the software?   If users are going to be stuck with providing their own tech support for each other anyway, then they might as well go with the open source (and free) solution … and cut Microsoft out of the deal altogether.

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Jan K., lanceboil, David F, Cybertooth, WildBill