Going small(er): Trading spinning disks for SSDs

Going small(er): Trading spinning disks for SSDs

Solid-state drives can give a significant boost to system performance, but at the cost of storage space.

Here’s how to sort out the data on a big spinning-platter drive and fit what you can onto a smaller SSD.

Migrating down to a smaller system drive

Install a solid-state drive, and it’s love at first boot. The minutes it took to load Windows suddenly become seconds. Everything is faster; you’ll never want to go back.

There is, however, a cost to that extra speed. SSDs cost far more per gigabyte than hard drives and typically come in smaller sizes. As I write this, a 120GB SSD typically goes for U.S. $90 to $100; a 256GB drive will set you back about $200. A 512GB SSD from one of the well-known drive manufacturers could cost you $400. By comparison, you can buy a traditional 1TB hard drive for just $70.

So unless you’re rolling in cash or need only a small amount of storage space, trading your primary spinning-disk drive for an SSD requires making some hard decisions about which files you’ll keep on the new drive. Moreover, the simple task of cloning your old drive to a new one probably won’t work — you can’t clone 500GB worth of files onto a 120GB drive.

Bottom line: Migrating to an SSD will probably be more complex than you might at first assume. Along with those hard decisions, the process of transferring Windows and data to a new SSD will require a few more steps. I’ll discuss those steps below.

Using an SSD on desktops vs. laptops

In most cases, adding an SSD to a desktop system is considerably easier than upgrading a notebook. Technically speaking, the issue isn’t really desktop versus laptop; it’s whether the system has room for two internal drives. But practically speaking, the vast majority of desktop PCs have extra drive bays — and most laptops don’t.

With multiple drive bays, you can easily keep all files within the computer. Whatever doesn’t fit on the SSD stays on the old hard drive — which remains in the computer. The performance boost will be almost as good as having everything on an SSD.

With most laptops, the files that won’t fit on the new SSD will have to be kept on an external drive. This can be clumsy, especially when you’re on the road. And if your laptop doesn’t have a USB 3.0 port, you’re going to suffer a major performance hit when you access big files or large batches of files from the external (non-SSD) drive.

If you’re upgrading a laptop, keep in mind that the new SSD needs to fit completely within the hard-drive enclosure. Check the SSD retailer’s return policies so that you’re not stuck with the new drive if it doesn’t fit. Also, check out Fred Langa’s July 5, 2012, Top Story, “Some ugliness installing an after-market SSD.”

What goes to the SSD; what stays behind

Assuming you can’t fit all your data on the new SSD, what should you transfer and what should you leave behind on the old drive?

That decision could be based on several factors such as your work habits; the ease of separating current projects from older ones; and/or the size, number, and type of files. Documents associated with current projects, files you open regularly, recent photos, and possibly a few favorite songs are all good candidates for the SSD. Files rarely accessed should stay on the original hard-disk drive.

My work habits made this file reorganization fairly easy. I keep my current and recent projects within the Dropbox folder in My Documents. I also keep recent and favorite photos in Dropbox. It’s the only folder I really need to have with me at all times. Any file stored elsewhere is one I rarely need to access.

Once you’ve decided how to divide up your files, it’s time to get to work on your SSD upgrade.

The basics of transferring files to a new drive

So you’ve got a brand-new SSD; what else do you need?

• A screwdriver is probably the only physical tool you’ll need.
• If you’ve got a desktop, you might need an adapter bracket to fit the drive into a full-sized bay. (If you’re lucky, an adapter came packaged with the SSD.)
• On laptops, you’ll need a SATA-to-USB enclosure (or docking station or connector kit) to set up the new SSD as a temporary external drive. (With an enclosure, you can turn the old hard-disk drive into a more or less permanent external drive.) You can buy an enclosure for as little as $10 to $20. Whether enclosure or connector kit, be sure it supports USB 3.0.
• You might also need an external drive — but we’ll get to that later.

Your first step before anything gets transferred, of course, will be to make a full image backup of your current system. (It should go without saying, but I’m obligated to say it anyway.)

With that done, you’re ready to connect the SSD to your PC. On a desktop, install the SSD into a spare drive bay and connect the data and power cables. If you have a laptop, connect the new drive with your SATA-to-USB enclosure. (Use the laptop’s USB 3.0 port if it has one.)

Next, if the SSD came with cloning software, give it a try. But keep your expectations in check — the app included with my Samsung SSD 840 EVO (more info) was, for the most part, useless. It would not let me select specific folders — just file types, and only a limited number of those.

If the SSD’s bundled software proves inadequate to the task, try one or more of the following options.

The free method (with a spare external drive)

This process requires paring down your old hard drive so that what remains will fit on the new SSD. To do that, you’ll need an external hard drive with enough spare room to store all files removed from the primary drive. Plug in the drive and create folders with names such as Extra Documents, Extra Music, Extra Pictures, Extra Video, etc.

Now open your Windows library and move the extra files and folders (see Figure 1) to the folders you created on the external drive. Don’t move the library folders themselves (e.g., C:\Users\{user name}\My Documents, C:\Users\{user name}\My Pictures, and so on) — just move their contents (or, more precisely, the parts of their contents you don’t want on the SSD.

Figure 1. When moving extra files, select the contents of Windows libraries, not the library folders (e.g., My Documents) themselves.

On my system, for example, I would open My Documents, press Ctrl + A to select everything in the folder, then hold down Ctrl and click the Dropbox folder to deselect it. Next, I would drag the highlighted folders and files to the external drive’s Extra Documents folder. (You can also use Ctrl + X and Ctrl + V on smaller batches of files if you have difficulty with drag-and-drop.) Repeat the process with the other libraries.

Once the total data content on the primary drive is small enough, any decent cloning program should let you migrate Windows, apps, and data to the SSD. I recommend EaseUS Todo Backup Free (more info), which clones as well as backs up. (At this point, to be completely safe, you might want to make an image backup of the slimmed-down primary drive.)

Once the program is up, select Clone/Disk Clone. Select your old HDD as the source and the SSD as the target, as shown in Figure 2. At the bottom of the drive-selection window, check Optimize for SSD, but leave Sector by sector clone unchecked. If you click Next and get an error message, you need to move more files off the HDD and try again.

Figure 2. EaseUS Todo Backup Free is an easy-to-use cloning tool — and it's completely free.

Once the SSD becomes the system boot drive (more on that below), you can move the extra files back to the old hard drive.

A faster, simpler, and relatively cheap solution

With a smart drive-cloning program, you shouldn’t have to bother with moving your files to an external backup drive. I know of only one program adept enough to do this properly — Paragon Migrate OS to SSD ($20; more info).

The program’s wizard walks you through the steps. The really impressive options are found on the Change copy options page. There, you can select specific files and folders to transfer (see Figure 3) — or not to transfer.

Figure 3. The inexpensive Paragon Migrate OS to SSD makes it easy to select which documents should be migrated to the new drive.

Note: Paragon Migrate OS to SSD isn’t perfect. When I booted the newly cloned SSD for the first time, Windows Explorer failed to launch, and Windows put up a “Server execution failed” error. It seems Windows was looking for the default library folders in now nonexistent locations. Fortunately, the fix was easy — as I’ll explain below. I can’t say whether this is a common problem.

Setting up the SSD as your new primary drive

With cloning over, it’s time to make the SSD your boot drive.

On a desktop, launch BIOS setup and change the boot order so that the SSD is higher on the list than the old HDD. I won’t tell you explicitly how to make the change because it varies with the brand and version of BIOS. If you need a refresher, the PC’s manual should have instructions.

With laptops, you’re going to have to perform a hard-drive transplant. Remove the old drive from the laptop and replace it with the SSD. Then put the old drive into the external enclosure that formerly housed the SSD. Assuming that goes well, the SSD should boot on powerup, and the old drive — with your excess files — will be available on the external drive.

Once you’re booted from the SSD (and recovered from the speed rush), make sure that your libraries are where they belong. Try opening Windows Explorer. If it opens, follow the instructions below. On the other hand, if you get the aforementioned “Server execution failed” error, open Notepad, press Ctrl + S, and follow those steps inside Notepad’s Save dialog box.

Click Libraries in the left panel. Right-click Documents and select Properties. The Documents folder on the SSD (which should be C:) should have a checkmark next to it (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Use the Documents Property dialog box to set library locations.

If the new C: drive isn’t listed, click Include a folder and add it to the list. If it doesn’t have the checkmark, select that folder and click Set save location (which basically means “Make it the library’s default location”).

You might want to add your old Documents folder — now on the old hard drive — to the list. But don’t make it the checked “Save location” folder (the default Documents folder). You can add a folder on an external drive to a library, but you should never make it the default location.

Repeat with all of your libraries.

For the time being, you can keep your old hard drive as your secondary drive — either internal or external. You might one day want to remove Windows from it or even reformat it. But you can save that chore for another day.

Wise to try more than one antivirus program

It wasn’t that Lounge member Miv was recklessly doing without an anti-malware program when his machine was infected by a virus.

Rather, his antivirus software failed to detect and remove the interloper. He asked for advice in the Other Applications forum and received effective counsel.

The following links are this week’s most interesting Lounge threads, including several new questions for which you might have answers:

Office Applications
General Productivity	Office 365 renewal
Word Processing	Word: Style doesn’t appear in TOC
Spreadsheets	Excel: Lost Recent list
Databases	Need last five days of stable values
Presentation Apps	Playing two videos at same time
Visual Basic for Apps	Need VBA code that changes field name in table
Microsoft Outlook	Edited message text in Outbox not always saved
Non-Outlook E-mail	Why does Hotmail take so long to be usable?
Other MS Apps	SkyDrive and changes in PDFs
Windows
General Windows	USB devices suddenly slow down
Windows 8	Can’t run program as administrator
Windows 7	Low memory — or none
Windows Vista	Need help with Windows Vista drives
Windows XP	Most compatible move up from XP?
Windows Servers	How to set two default gateways
Internet/Connectivity
Internet Explorer	Address bar shows about:blank
Third-Party Browsers	Personal device’s browse history shows up on work computer
Application Servers	SharePoint home page
Social Media	Output of macro varies: why?
Software Development
Windows Programming	VBA: Authenticated Web access
Web Design & Development	Override CSS style in HTML
Other Technologies
Non-Microsoft OSes	Translate inside Android apps?
Security & Scams	PUP malware
Maintenance	Macrium issue
Hardware	Need USB 3.0 expansion-card recommendations
Graphics/Multimedia	VHS capture software
Other Applications	Trying to get rid of virus

starred posts: particularly useful

If you’re not already a Lounge member, use the quick registration form to sign up for free. The ability to post comments and take advantage of other Lounge features is available only to registered members.

If you’re already registered, you can jump right in to today’s discussions in the Lounge.

From the sidelines: They crushed his cape

Super Bowl Sunday is almost upon us. Millions of Americans will be parked on their sofas, ingesting chips and beer while watching the action on the field — and off. Sometimes the most interesting performers are the players and coaches stalking the sidelines. Just what are they saying and thinking as they monitor the field? This week we find out, thanks to subtitled translations brought to you by the producers of the newest “Bad Lip Reading of the NFL” video. Click below or go to the original YouTube video

Post your thoughts about this story in the WS Columns forum.

How to correct failed updates and hotfixes

Sometimes, Windows updates and hotfixes can fail or install improperly. Here’s how to remove and reinstall problematic patches.

Plus: More on SSD maintenance, driver-update questions, and some advice on moving programs to a new system.

Removing and replacing a failed Windows update

Windows updates, fixits, and hotfixes usually work fine. But there are exceptions, as readers of Susan Bradley’s Patch Watch column know full well.

Whenever some sort of Windows fix goes awry, your system can be left without a critical update, develop problems, or even suffer an infamous Blue Screen of Death.

Take, for example, the enhanced Win7 Disk Cleanup wizard, delivered about a year ago via Windows Update as KB 2852386. The hotfix put Win7’s ability to detect and remove potentially gigabytes of obsolete files on a par with Win8’s.

On reader William Peek’s Win7 machine, KB 2852386 appeared to install correctly — at least according to Windows Update. But when he ran Disk Cleanup, he discovered that his system was still stuck with the original, more limited Disk Cleanup wizard. The hotfix had failed.

William’s question is specific to KB 2852386, but my answer can be applied to just about any other malfunctioning update, in any version of Windows.

• “Fred, I looked at your Jan. 9 ‘Best of LangaList Plus from 2013’ item about using the Windows Disk Cleanup wizard.

  “You said, ‘The Disk Cleanup wizard (cleanmgr.exe) built into Windows 8 — and optional in Windows 7 — detects and easily eliminates obsolete update files.’

  “I used the procedure you described to activate cleanmgr in my Windows 7 system but found that Win7 lacked the new Clean up system files option. I realized that I still had the older Disk Cleanup wizard.

  “I used the article’s link to download the newer version, but when I went to install it, I was told the update was already installed on my system!”

  “Help!”

William, Microsoft lists only one prerequisite for the new Disk Cleanup wizard. You must have Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) installed and running. (KB 2852386‘s MS Support page is titled “Disk Cleanup wizard addon lets users delete outdated Windows updates on Windows 7 SP1.”)

If you’re not running Win7 SP1, you really should be. It’s freely available via another Microsoft Support page. As with KB 2852386, some Windows updates require SP1.

On the other hand, if you already have SP1 installed, it’s possible that the new cleanup wizard didn’t install properly. That should be easy to fix by simply uninstalling and reinstalling the update. Here’s how:

• Open Windows Update and, in the lower-left pane, click Installed Updates (see Figure 1).
  

  Figure 1. To uninstall any Windows Update item, start by clicking on Installed Updates.

• Next, type the number of the target item in the search box — in this case, KB2852386. When the listing for the update appears in the lower section of the right-hand pane, right-click it and select Uninstall, as shown in Figure 2.
  

  Figure 2. Use the search box and Uninstall to remove an update.

• The uninstall process typically takes about a minute. When it’s done, reboot your system.
• Finally, download and reinstall the update or hotfix. You can try this via Windows Update by clicking the Check for updates link; or, simply download the update directly from Microsoft — typically by going to the update’s info page at MS support. You can typically do so by adding the update’s number to the following Web address:

  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/{number}/en-us

  For example, to download the enhanced Disk Cleanup wizard, enter

  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2852386/en-us

  and then scroll down the page to find the links to the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. If using the above link doesn’t work, try entering the update’s KB number into Microsoft Support’s search box.

If installing the hotfix fails again, you might have to back up a step. Again, this particular hotfix requires SP1. So the next option would be to uninstall/reinstall Win7 SP1. Follow the instructions in the MS Support article, “How to uninstall Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1).” But first, make a full, verified backup of your system.

Once SP1 is correctly installed, you should then be able to install the new Disk Cleanup wizard hotfix — and get your Win7 system fully up to date.

But with luck, simply uninstalling and reinstalling the new cleanup wizard (KB 2852386) will do the trick!

Seeking more solid state–drive maintenance info

After reading the Jan. 16 Top Story, “Keep a healthy PC: A routine-maintenance guide,” Shereen Southam requested additional information — specifically on solid-state drives (SSDs).

• “The ‘routine-maintenance guide’ article contained the passage:

  “‘Chkdsk, defrag, SMART: Windows’ built-in ‘Check Disk’ (chkdsk.exe) and defragmentation (defrag) tools might be all you need to verify and maintain your disk’s basic health. (Note: Win8 calls its defragmenter ‘Optimize.’) In Win7 and 8, the built-in tools know how to recognize and correctly handle solid-state drives (SSDs). For more information and how-tos, see the Jan. 10, 2013, Top Story, ‘Let your PC start the new year right!’; skip down to the section titled “Check the hard drive’s physical/logical health.’

  “I was very keen to read how Windows 8’s built-in tools knew how to recognize and correctly handle SSDs. But I could find no explanation of how the operating system does it.”

My apologies — the syntax of that paragraph wasn’t exactly clear. I was trying to cram too much information into too few words!

The “For more information …” link actually refers to additional details about chkdsk, defrag, and SMART — the main topics of that paragraph. The sentence about SSDs was an aside.

But don’t worry; Windows Secrets has information on SSD maintenance, too! You’ll find what you’re looking for in two places. In that same Jan. 10, 2013, Top Story, skip down to the section titled “Defrag (or optimize) data on hard disks.” Next, see the Jan. 7, 2010, item, “Windows, solid-state disks, and ‘trim.'” That article is about Windows 7, but Win8 has the same feature.

The upshot: Both Win7 and Win8 recognize most SSDs, and they automatically adjust their drive-maintenance routines to accommodate SSDs’ special requirements. No user intervention is needed.

Leave those (still perfectly OK) drivers alone!

Hellmut Golde asks a question that comes up again and again in reader mail:

• “I recently installed several driver-update programs, and they all show different sets of drivers that need updating. I have no problems with any of the drivers currently installed. So which of the programs (if any) should I believe?”

None, Hellmut.

If your hardware is working OK, then your drivers are working as they’re supposed to — and no updates are needed.

It’s a bad idea to constantly chase the newest drivers solely on the basis of a new version number. By “fixing” something that’s not actually broken, you risk introducing new bugs, instabilities, and other trouble for no good reason. All you’re accomplishing is needless system churning.

This is especially true now that most hardware vendors are using unified driver architectures — simplified driver libraries, often with one driver package that supports a wide range of hardware products and versions.

A newly released driver package might be intended to correct a bug or glitch in one or more products. But none of the bug fixes is necessary for your specific hardware!

That’s why using driver-update tools that rely on version numbers can lead you astray. They might warn you that your drivers are outdated when, in fact, the drivers are actually fine.

Bottom line: If hardware is working properly, leave its drivers alone!

For more information on this topic — including the rare exceptions to the above rule of thumb — see the Feb. 21, 2013, LangaList Plus item, “How and when to update your system’s drivers.”

For more information on driver-update tools, see the July 26, 2012, Top Story, “Software that updates your other software.”

Techniques for moving apps to a new system

Mark Trevithick is getting a new Win7 PC, and he’s seeking help with migrating his software to the new system.

• “My new PC will be here any day. I need help with moving my many programs from my old Win7 Ultimate machine to my new machine (also running Win7 Ultimate). The new system will have an SSD as the primary drive plus a standard HDD as the second drive.

  “Back in the day, there were many applications for migrating software; doing so without breaking the OS was a piece of cake. Now, many forums say this is no longer possible. Is that true?”

No, you can still transfer installed programs between systems.

The simplest option is to use Win7’s free, built-in Windows Easy Transfer (site). It can usually migrate most programs and settings between two Win7 PCs with relative ease. It can also assist in migrating from Vista and XP.

If for some reason that tool doesn’t work, you can try a commercial product such as Laplink’s PCmover (U.S. $30 and up; site). It, too, can move most apps for you and set them up on the new system with minimal hands-on intervention. (PCmover also works with Windows 8.)

Because you’re moving your files between two copies of the same Windows version and edition, you have another free option: a brute-force image transfer from your old system to your new one. It’s not hard, but it will likely result in driver issues due to differences between the old and new hardware. If you want to try this route, write down the product key of both copies of Windows (so you can activate the new installation with the correct key) and then do the following:

• Make a disk image of the old system (we’ll call it “System A”). Store the image someplace safe, such as on an external drive.
• Make an image of your new system (“System B”) and store the image somewhere off System B’s drive.
• Visit the vendor support site for System B and locate all drivers: mainboard, video, audio, networking — everything. Make note of the driver-download URLs and then download (but don’t install) the drivers to a safe location (again, off System B’s drive).
• Restore System A’s image to System B (overwriting the contents on System B’s drive).
• When System B restarts, Windows will probably throw up a blizzard of New hardware found messages. As the OS tries to figure out what to do with each hardware subsystem, it’ll probably ask you to provide the correct drivers. Point Windows to the location where you stored System B’s drivers — or to the correct download location (via the URL you saved earlier). Install a fresh copy of each requested driver.
• When you’re done and everything’s working, use a Registry cleaner to remove the inevitable mess left behind in the Registry.

None of these methods is perfect or foolproof, of course. Many veteran PC users believe the best method is reinstalling everything, from scratch, to the new machine. Yes, it’s time-consuming, but it almost always works. It’s also free and will give you the cleanest possible initial setup.

But if you’re set on using a “transfer everything at once” method, by all means try Windows Easy Transfer first. It usually does an acceptable job — and it’s free!

Microsoft tightens security for Microsoft accounts

Your Microsoft account is the gateway to the company’s many online services such as email and online storage.

Recently, Microsoft rolled out a few enhancements to help make monitoring and protecting MS accounts easier. Here’s what you should know.

Many Microsoft services; one sign-in name

If you use just about any product or service from Microsoft, you have a Microsoft account. A Microsoft account unlocks various cloud-based services such as SkyDrive (soon to be renamed OneDrive), Outlook.com, Office 365, Internet Explorer synching, and Xbox Live. The single set of credentials makes using Microsoft services more convenient, but it also means users are at greater risk of having their accounts compromised.

Aware of this potential peril, Microsoft recently introduced a handful of new features that help users keep their MS accounts secure. Last year, Microsoft (site) took its first step toward tighter security by introducing an optional two-step verification. That’s a significant change. In fact, those who’ve taken advantage of two-step verification will find the subsequent security enhancements to MS accounts generally unnecessary. That said, it never hurts to have more security — especially if you haven’t opted for two-step verification.

The most recent security improvements include:

• A way to view all recent MS account sign-in activity
• An option to create a secure recovery code, so you can access your account if you lose your password
• Greater control over how security notifications are delivered.

Recent activity is an especially valuable tool; it lets you monitor your account for unauthorized sign-in attempts. More importantly, you can also check whether those attempts were successful. Recent activity will now show up as a link in the left pane (see Figure 1) in the MS account summary page. It will display a history of sign-in attempts, including the time and origin of the sign-in try plus the result of each attempt (see Figure 2).

Figure 1. Access recent sign-in activity via the link (highlighted in yellow) in your MS account summary page.

Figure 2. The Recent activity window displays a list of successful and attempted efforts to sign in.

If, for example, there was an unsuccessful sign-in attempt from a foreign country in the dead of night while you were asleep, you have cause for concern. The activity summary includes buttons to let Microsoft know that a given sign-in attempt wasn’t you. (Microsoft probably won’t solve your particular case, but it could help the company provide better security in the future.)

(Note: The first time you attempt to open the Recent activity tool, you’ll have to go through a somewhat clumsy user-verification system that either sends a special numeric code to your alternate email address or sends the code via text message to your given phone number.)

The new recovery codes feature gives those who enabled two-step verification some peace of mind. By definition, two-step sign-in procedures require two separate methods of authentication. For an MS account, you might use your email credentials and a phone number. In theory, a hacker might guess or discover the credentials for your email, but only you should have possession of your phone. To sign in to your MS account, Microsoft texts you a one-time code that you enter when accessing the account.

The problem with that system arises when you change or lose one of the methods you’ve established for two-step verification. If you get a new phone number and forget to update that information in your Microsoft account, you’ll no longer receive text messages with the one-time sign-in code — and that would lock you out of your account.

The recovery code is a fail-safe backup that lets you access your account when two-step verification fails (or even when you haven’t enabled two-step verification). Obviously, once you create the code, you need to save it in a very safe yet memorable place — should you ever need the recovery code.

The last new feature — Notifications — provides more control over security notifications. Click Notifications in Microsoft account’s left pane (just above Recent activity, as shown in Figure 2), and you’ll see three links: Security, Email, and Marketing. Microsoft will not allow you to opt out of receiving security notifications at the primary email address (see Figure 3), but you can choose whether to receive security notifications at secondary email addresses or as text messages to any phone numbers associated with your Microsoft account.

Figure 3. Microsoft can send your security alerts to an alternate email address.

None of these three new features directly improves or strengthens the security of Microsoft accounts. But they do give users more control and more insight into the security of their own accounts. Recent activity and security notifications can warn you whether there’s suspicious or malicious activity targeting your MS accounts, and the recovery code is a “get out of jail free” card that ensures a legitimate Microsoft account owner has access to his or her password-protected MS services, no matter what happens.

Two sign-in codes are always better than one

The best tool for strengthening the security of an MS account remains two-step verification. The recent-activity and security-notifications tools are somewhat after-the-fact warnings that you might have been compromised; two-step verification is a true preventive measure that will almost always make unauthorized sign-in attempts fail.

Microsoft’s two-step verification relies on the traditional username and password plus one other means of verification. You can choose to have a one-time sign-in code sent to an email address, but having a text message sent to your smartphone is typically faster and easier. An email address can be compromised without too much difficulty, but the odds that a potential attacker will also have physical possession of your smartphone are remote.

Microsoft provides the Authenticator app, which can be used to generate valid one-time access codes even when the smartphone is offline — such as when you’re on an airplane. You can, for example, sign in to your MS account without paying for onboard Wi-Fi.

It seems there’s a massive breach of customer data every other week. We’re also putting more and more sensitive information online. So it’s imperative that users monitor and protect their online identities. Check out Microsoft’s new tools for keeping your MS accounts safe and secure.

MS gives us all a bit of good patching weather

With much of the U.S. focusing on cold and snow, at least Windows updates from Microsoft aren’t adding to the pain.

But what Microsoft gives, Apple takes away — the latest iTunes for Windows is having some serious installation issues.

MS13-081 (2862330)

Still not ready for KB 2862330

Last October, Microsoft released one of its most troublesome patches — KB 2862330. The side effects from this update included Blue Screens of Death, USB-device failures, and — apparently — Bluetooth devices losing their settings. The update was reissued in January to fix the USB 2.0 core-stack flaw that afflicted specific computer configurations. But that update to the update apparently didn’t correct all problems.

To avoid KB 2862330 and other problematic updates, you need at the very least to set Windows Update to Download updates but let me choose whether to install them. In other words, make sure Install updates automatically isn’t set.

It’s generally good practice not to hide problematic security updates such as KB 2862330; eventually they’re either recalled, updated, or deemed acceptable for most Windows configurations.

If you’ve been impacted by this update, uninstalling it should return your system to working order. To do so, click Control Panel/Windows Update. Next, click the Installed Updates link near the bottom of Windows Update’s left panel. Enter the update’s identifier (in this case, KB2862330) into the search box, located in Installed Updates’ upper-right corner. That should filter the list of installed updates down to the one you’re looking for. Right-click the update and then click Uninstall.

Note: If KB 2862330 was installed and you’ve not had problems with your USB devices, leave it installed.

What to do: Keep KB 2862330 on the shelf until further notice.

iTunes update causing some major iHeadaches

Apple just released iTunes 11.1.4 — an update that includes nonsecurity enhancements plus various security fixes, as noted in Apple Security bulletin HT6001. Unlike nearly all prior iTunes updates, this one is proving extremely frustrating for many Windows users. (No gloating, hardcore Windows fans!)

The problem appears related to iTunes’ automatic updating system. In some cases, the installation process fails, leaving a cryptic error message stating that you should go to Tools and perform a manual download. What the message doesn’t say is that the “Tools” you’re supposed to click is back at the Apple Software Update (ASU) dialog box. (I’m going to guess that many, if not most, iTunes for Windows users have never really noticed those menu items at the top of ASU box.)

Unfortunately, the manual install also fails; you get more error messages about a problem with Visual C++ and/or “The program can’t start because MSVCR80.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.” (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. One of the error messages you might see when trying to install iTunes 11.1.4

What will work is to uninstall all Apple software on your PC and then reinstall iTunes from scratch. (Don’t worry; you should not lose your iTunes library, playlists, or settings.) To uninstall the apps, click Control Panel/Programs and Features. Sort the list of installed programs by clicking the Publisher header; that will group all installed Apple software together. Now, one by one, uninstall everything but the Apple Mobile Device Support software. I could not uninstall this app along with the rest — fortunately, you probably don’t need to. (If you try to uninstall the app, and you keep an eye on the progress bar, you’re treated to a slightly frightening sight: it runs almost to completion, then reverses direction and slides all the way back to the start. Zombie apps come to mind.)

If you do need to uninstall Apple Mobile Device Support, click Control Panel/Administrative Tools and then open Services. Select Apple Mobile Device Service and click the Stop the service link. Next, delete the app’s Uninstall Registry key, if it exists. Look for it at

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{2EF5D87E-B7BD-458F-8428-E4D0B8B4E65C}

(A KW Support & Consulting post has another way to remove Apple Mobile Device Service.)

Now, delete the Apple Mobile Device Support folders in Program FilesCommon FilesApple or Program Files(x86)CommonFilesApple.

You can now download iTunes from Apple (site) and install it manually. Again, you won’t lose playlists or content.

What to do: If you have not installed iTunes 11.1.4, I suggest skipping it for now — or budget some time to install it manually and deal with its issues. If you’ve already run into problems, take some comfort in knowing you’re far from alone.

Microsoft Update for XP finally fixed

In the Jan. 16 Patch Watch, I noted that Microsoft expired many Internet Explorer updates from the Windows Update servers, and I theorized that the long-awaited fix for the XP Svchost.exe problem was at hand. I asked Microsoft for confirmation and received a reply from Microsoft Trustworthy Computing group manager Dustin Childs that my theory was correct.

What to do: Microsoft made the fixes for Svchost.exe on its side — no action is needed on your part. XP users should now see their systems scan for updates much quicker.

MS14-003 (2913602)

January’s Windows 7 kernel fix is good to go

The October kernel patch might be causing fits, but KB 2913602, released this past Patch Tuesday for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, appears to be well behaved. With no significant issues to report, I’m ready to give KB 2913602 the all-clear.

Kernel updates are important. They prevent new exploits that could allow malware authors more access to systems. Typically, kernel vulnerabilities can’t be exploited via remote access. So malicious hackers often resort to phishing techniques that lure users into installing malware themselves. It’s a bit frightening that even Microsoft employees can fall for the bait, as reported by Woody Leonhard in a recent InfoWorld story. What hope for the rest of us in staying safe?

What to do: Install KB 2913602 (MS14-003) soon.

Some notes on updating to Windows 8.1

For those that made the leap to Windows 8.0, the jump to Version 8.1 isn’t without issues. When Win8.1 was released, upgrading OEM and retail computers was a long process of downloading a 3GB file from the Windows Store. Time has not made this process any easier — the official Win8.1 upgrade process remains via the Store.

Those pioneers that installed Windows 8.1 Preview are now well overdue for updating to the final release. In fact you’re probably getting warnings that you need to update. A Microsoft webpage describes the two ways to move to the shipping version of Win8.1, depending on how you installed the preview.

As you know, I’m not a fan of installing nonsecurity updates along with security updates. However, you don’t want to completely pass on rollup fixes for Win8 and 8.1. For example, December’s KB 2903939 addresses numerous flaws in Windows 8.1, such as a mouse freeze with some games and battery consumption when connected to Bluetooth devices.

If you needed more evidence that Windows 8.x is a work in progress, there’s the rumored Windows 8.1 Update 1 release scheduled for March 11, as reported in a ZDNet blog.

What to do: If you haven’t yet updated to Windows 8.1, stay tuned for my upcoming article on how to get there.

Nonsecurity updates are ready for installation

For those of you who followed my usual advice and put January’s nonsecurity patches on hold, I can now give the all-clear for the following updates:

• KB 2850061 – a fix for Outlook 2013 crashes
• KB 2903938 – a rollup update for Windows RT, Win8, and Server 2012
• KB 2904440 – a servicing-stack update for Windows RT 8.1 and Win8.1
• KB 2911101 – another rollup for Windows RT, Win8, and Server 2012
• KB 2911106 – a rollup for Windows RT 8.1, Win8.1, and Server 2012 R2
• KB 2913270 – Windows 8.1 Store improvements
• KB 2913431 – a fix for the Win7 Windows Filtering Platform (possible crashes due to conflicts with antivirus apps)

Also, here are a couple of leftover patch recommendations.

• KB 2687455 for Office 2010 SP2 — okay to install
• KB 2858728 for .NET 4.5.1 — workstation users can take a pass on this update; admins should watch out for issues with the SBS 2011 platform, as documented in a Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server blog.

What to do: Install all the above updates except KB 2858728.

Regularly updated problem-patch chart

This table provides the status of recent Windows and Microsoft application security updates. Patches listed below as safe to install will typically be removed from the table about a month after they appear. For Microsoft’s list of recently released patches, go to the MS Security TechCenter page.

See our “Windows Secrets master Patch Watch chart” post for a more extensive list of recent updates.

Status recommendations: Skip — patch not needed; Hold — do not install until its problems are resolved; Wait — hold off temporarily while the patch is tested; Optional — not critical, use if wanted; Install — OK to apply.