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Having deleted the first installation of UpdateHub with Revo, I went to your link and was informed that the AppInstaller was already installed, so I went ahead and got a new UpdateHub from OlderGeeks. It installed, loaded, and said again I needed the appinstaller. I went back to b’s link, clicked on the blue box since the install-shaped box said “Share,” whatever that means, and that downloaded and installed itself with no further ado.

I then restarted UpdateHub and followed Deanna’s instructions and I now have a list of programs to update. Onwards and upwards! Thanks to everyone who got me this far, Wayne

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b

So, you recommend I download/install the winget app from your link and then the UpdateHub from Deanna? I’m gathering that Winget is a command-line app—definitely beyond me—and UpdateHub is a UI to simplify using it for semi-dummies like me that will put an icon for loading it when desired on my desktop.

I got blocked from the faded folder icon, and it got too complicated from there. The link from b is over my head as a “home consumer” and I dare not risk the install process to see if the folder turns yellow to let me in, never mind adding UpdateHub on top of it.

Updatehub installs but before the scan will work, it requires something called WinGet, described as Desktop app installer from the MS Store. However, the Store takes me to some kind of widget app and further exploration I found a Win 11 only notice for WidgetsUI (or something like that).

An MS Store search for “Desktop app installer” got me nothing and nothing useful from a “WinGet” search either. Did I do something wrong or is my Win 10 PC inadequate? I’m not quite sure what widgets are, though I suppose they’re some kind of active icon like the wow7 weather icon on my samsung phone?

Thanks for any info.

Reading more above, I found Ray’s entry and read the link he provided. It appears that Winget and UpdateHub are two different updating programs, though the demand in UH described above suggests it depends somehow on WinGet. Or WinGetUI, Or whatever. Somewhat confusing, to say the least. Why should I need both? And the added MB’s?

It appears that checking for updates via Help when loading a rarely used program or browser might be the simplest solution, like if I load up VLC after a long absence or decide to see if Firefox has anything worth returning to from Brave, which I currently use.

OK, what did I do to end up waiting for moderation for so long? Did I earn my way on to a watch list? There’s no swearing or inappropriate references in this entry as far as I know, so what’s up?

Being a sometimes thick old dude, I can’t visualize the steps or screens involved in the new PIN sign-in process. My laptops’ current bootup screens show my name under the (empty) picture circle and below that a white box to enter my password and then my desktop screen appears.

My desktop PC boots straight to the desktop screen every morning when I start my news browsing, no password request involved. I live way out in the country with only one nearby neighbour so I’m not worried about someone directly accessing my computers. The password-less  bootup saves me time and brain cells, and one of my minor worries is that an update may suddenly require a daily password entry and I have no idea of how to return to the current no-sign-in process. I assume I’ve configured the appropriate bypass settings but I’ve long since forgotten where to find them. And I’m reluctant to look for them and possibly complicate stuff . . .

The laptop my wife uses requires a password but mine does not and obviously has the same non-sign-in settings as my PC. Again, I have no idea why or how.

My Win 10 PC (and probably the two laptops, all updated faithfully on Susan’s monthly OK) does have the Hello PIN option available so I could go for it, but I’d like a picture sequence showing the steps in the coming newsletter. Figure 3 is no doubt clear enough to the more technically minded and experienced readers but “Intranet Resource” and “authentication token” go way over my head, WAY over!

The free version is by definition a teaser to attract Plus subscribers. As far as I can tell, copying the url of the Plus version to send to a friend doesn’t work. Maybe my buddy didn’t scroll down to it, but I don’t think he could read past the RAM article to see the ChatAI article I wanted to share. I’m guessing the Plus version is somehow linked to my logging in and can’t be forwarded, which seems fair enough.

Anyway, the point is having an easy link available in the Plus version to send our (younger) friends and acquaintances.

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Travasaurus

The article mentions passing the word about AskWoody to our younger friends, but it occurred to me that I don’t know how. For example, I have a former ESL student who moved to the States to work for a major tech company who might be interested but I’m not sure how to send him a sample free newsletter. It would obviously not be right to enter his email into the Get newsletter form, so what are my options?

Assuming many of us oldies have younger friends and relatives who might be interested enough to become paying subscribers, how about some instructions for spreading the good word and/or a permanent link to the free newsletter in each issue for sending via email or copying into Skype or WhatsApp or whatever else is usable.

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rc primak, Travasaurus, Will Fastie

I suppose it would be an invasion of privacy or something like that, but it’s interesting how many of us are older folks who’ve enjoyed the full lifetime of Windows Secrets and AskWoody, so is there a way to design a forum survey to see what percentages of our membership fall into what age ranges? Maybe a section on self-rated skill level, use, or professional status as well.

I, for example, am late 78, use Brave, Skype, and email regularly but not much else beyond running CC Cleaner and Malwarebytes (both free versions) scans occasionally, and the Avira (free) firewall. Prior to retiring I made a decent living as a translator and copy editor or translations using Word and then WPS Writer when Word appeared to get more complicated and entered the cloud, which I never bothered to figure out how to do.

My main technical achievement in the last year was getting my first smart phone and I’m still enjoying the thrill of reading QR squares with my bank app to pay bills instead of the tedious web site form filling process (which got rather more complicated when a two-part password system was introduced) and using the camera to take an occasional photo to share to the Skype app before returning to the desktop version.

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Fred

Please note that I took the lines quoted from Patch Watch December 19 to illustrate my question regarding which KB update numbers appear in the weekly Patch Watch column compared to the KB update number that gets installed when Defcon is raised at the end of the month.

My impression is that very few non-business/home/pro users had problems with the KB…170 update if they installed it. Glad you were among the lucky majority!

I took “Tentative” at the end of December to mean “Probably OK for most of you, go for it with fingers crossed” given the improved Defcon status so I did as described above in early January and all was well with my desktop and both laptops. I was again puzzled that the CU number ultimately installed didn’t match any of in-between patches previously discussed, but hey, all’s well that ends well.

Thank you for taking the time to respond (as always).

 

From Patch Watch December 19:

Microsoft has re-released KB5012170, the security update for Secure Boot DBX, so that it will be offered to PCs running Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 22H2. I do not recommend that consumers and home users install KB5012170; if BitLocker encryption is enabled, installing the fix may trigger the request for a BitLocker recovery key.

There have also been some reports (Reddit) of Blue Screens of Death in Windows 10 22H2. This may be related to KB5012170.

————–

However, on January 5, I resumed updates and installed KB5021233, an update number I don’t recall seeing before. Since I install updates according to the Defcon advice, it usually happens between the first of the month and the second Tuesday, after which I Pause Updates for five weeks. Unless you specifically tell us to install an emergency patch earlier, I would never consider installing one like the KB5012170 discussed on December 19.

Even when the final “Do it now!” advice has been given, I don’t recall seeing the installed KB number cited. Hence my puzzlement . . .

As a long-term reader at 78, I consistently delay updates until your all clear signal at the end of each month, and so far so good.

Thank you Susan, again, for taking over when you did and keeping it all going.

My only question is how come the KB number of the cumulative download in the basic sequence of Resume downloads, the download of CU and .Net and monthly anti-Malicious Crap files, and the installation never seems to appear in the Patch Lady articles? I assume that during the month many (most even?) readers do not download KB files or any of the individual updates normally described and like me may have no idea what to do with the information offered. Is it correct that the end-of-month CU allowed the Defcon 4 rating includes all the updates previously described?

Is KB~12170 an individual update or the monthly CU? I usually feel a bit thick when I read the defcon updates because they apparently list a whole bunch of single-repair downloads that I assume the IT experts install (or don’t install) to fix problems identified during the month.

I always wait until a week or so before the next early-month Update Tuesday before I hit Resume Updates on my PC and two laptops and let the CU, .net, and anti-malicious software downloads install themselves. Usually Susan is pretty clear in her post-23rd-of-the-month-or-thereabouts column, saying “Go for the CU now but take the usual backup precautions” but her statement today—“But if you are a normal user, with normal levels of paranoia to get you through the normal security risks of daily life, I’m not convinced that this update is mandatory“—is as clear as mud to me. Does “not mandatory” mean I should skip this month’s CU update? Or will there be another defcon notice later this week to say the issue is fixed or not dangerous or is now part of the complete CU package?

If the advice is to NOT install this month’s CU, instructions on how to reset the update delay date to early October without hitting Resume Updates first and starting the download would be very useful.

As a pre-boomer at 78, one main reason aside from the fact that I like it to keep using Pegasus is that I don’t want to lose (or lose access to) my stored emails. Do other programs or webmail systems—I use my ISP’s webmail site to get my NYT newsletter into my browser, but I don’t delete anything there that I want to save in Pegasus—allow the transfer into their storage systems of emails saved in standalone programs like Pegasus?

In truth, I don’t think I’ll quit Pegasus, but I’d still like to know what’s possible relative to my stored memorabilia emails.