Microsoft releases KB 4103714, the second cumulative update this month for Win10 1709

Win10 version 1709 is now up to build 16299.461.

There’s another long, long list of updates in the KB 4103714 article, none of which seem particularly pressing.

I’m still waiting for the second May cumulative update for Win10 version 1803. We’ve seen a whole lot of bugs with 1803 lately. Maybe MS can fix some of them.

Really. Did anybody at Microsoft test version 1803 on their own hardware?

Now it looks like installing Win10 version 1803 on one of those expensive ($3,000 to $4,300) Surface Studios may cause your mouse and keyboard to kick out intermittently.

Computerworld Woody on Windows.

The ongoing odyssey of Qi Lu

Yesterday, Baidu announced that Qi Lu is leaving in July. That’s a tectonic event, from my point of view.

You may recall that Lu left Microsoft in Sept 2016, under strange circumstances ascribed to a bicycle accident. At the time, he was in charge of Office.

In Jan 2017, I was shocked to hear that he had become the COO of Baidu, a huge (current market cap $100 billion) Google-like company based in Beijing, with offices all over the world.

Jordan Novet at CNBC reports:

Lu said in the [PR] statement that he can no longer work full-time in China for “personal and family reasons” and will spend more time in the U.S. He will retain his role as vice president of Baidu’s board and will focus on research and development, although he won’t be working full-time for Baidu.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Lu’s one of the smartest people on the planet. He’s a superstar in applied AI. I also hear that he’s generally well-liked and highly respected.

Wonder what he’ll be up to next?

Incoming! Monthly Rollup previews for Win7, 8.1; “critical” Servicing Stack updates and cumulative updates for Win10 1607, 1703; nothing so far for Win10 1709 or 1803

Something of a yawner.

Of course, you shouldn’t install any of them.

Computerworld Woody on Windows.

New post testing forum and topic

Following a great suggestion by @twbartender, I’ve created a new Testing Forum, and a new Test Topic, that you can use to see if your posts are going to look OK.

There’s a link to the Testing Forum down at the bottom of the Forum list on the right side of the screen.

And the Test Topic is the first topic in the forum.

If you aren’t sure about the formatting of what you’re about to post, then post your new Topic in the Testing Forum, or your new reply in the Test Topic, and — if it turns out the way you want — copy the entry over to the “live” forums.

Note that this is totally self-service. If your post looks good, the monkey’s still on your back to post it where it belongs.

Anonymous posts are not suitable for the testing topic, as Anonymous posters cannot modify their own posts. Any anonymous test post is subject to trashing without review.

Ramadan Mubarak

To my many Islamic friends, may Allah bless you with health and happiness.

Patch Lady – .NET previews but…..

So this is the third week of the month when normally we should see previews for next month’s 7 and 8 platforms.

….and   well the word “normally” is actually a misnomer as we have no real normal anymore.

We do have a .NET preview for next month:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dotnet/2018/05/15/net-framework-may-2018-preview-of-quality-rollup/

I’ll be updating the master chart list accordingly.

We do not have a Windows 7 or 8 preview (yet) so I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any 7 or 8 preview updates that “normally” should be out yesterday.  We are still tracking networking issues in Windows 7, and 1803 still is to be deferred.

As an aside I’ve seen a fair amount of HomeGroup folks impacted by the removal of HomeGroup in 1803.  If your devices suddenly can’t see one another try this:

Go in the control panel, then into services.  Find  Function Discovery Resource Publication, and set it to automatic and start the service.

Sorta-low-cost Surface tablet coming

Mary Jo Foley nailed it:

Microsoft looks to be ready to try to tackle the low end of the PC market with a new low-end, low-cost Surface line-up. But the big question is why.

So we can expect a tablet the size of a small iPad Pro, with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, for $400. Plus $100 for the pen. Plus $120 for the keyboard/cover.

Yawwwwwwwwwn.

Lots of little patches, but nothing that puts a dent in this month’s big bugs

Then there’s the “upgrade privacy warning” patch that looks like more advertising, the bizarre “Surface – HIDClass 4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM – 3.3.206.0” driver for non-Surface machines, Spectre v2 microcode fixes for Win10 1803… and no Monthly Rollup Previews.

Weird month.

Computerworld Woody on Windows.

Single-purpose patch for CVE-2018-8174, the VBScript 0day, available from 0patch

This isn’t an endorsement.

If you read my summary of this month’s patches, you’ll recall that there’s one potentially important patch:

Microsoft released an explanation for the one “critical” Windows patch this month that is being actively exploited — a zero-day. Called CVE-2018-8174, the security hole involves the way Internet Explorer (mis)handles VBScript programs.

That’s the one big security hole staring at us so far this month. I still haven’t heard of any exploits other than the ones identified by Kaspersky and Qihoo 360 (remember – they involved PDF files in Yiddish/Hebrew sent to Chinese organizations), but it’s still a potential problem.

And then Microsoft screwed up the Windows 7 patches this month, breaking networks on some Win7 systems.

Given the current state of affairs, you can either fix the VBScript 0day and possibly break your network card in the process, or you can avoid the update entirely until Microsoft finally fixes it. Whenever that may be.

I was surprised to discover that 0patch, a well regarded patching platform from ACROS Security, now has a free patch available that plugs the 0day hole by simply, well, plugging the 0day hole. What a novel idea. Microsoft should do that… he says, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

I’m NOT recommending that you run out and install the 0patch patch. It always gives me the willies when I see a non-Microsoft product offered to fix a Microsoft bug. But in this case, if you read the description, the analyst there who wrote the patch (Mitja Kolsek) knows what he’s doing.

So rather than recommend that patch, I’m putting out a feeler to see if any of you have installed this patch — or if you have experience with other 0patch patches.

Whaddya think?

How and where to find ISOs for old versions of Windows 10

You’ll find lots of torrents and pirate download sites, but I still strongly recommend against using them (yes, even if you check the hashes).

Instead, read this article by Ed Tittel and Kari Paajolahti. They look at downloading through the UUP Dump MiniServer and HeiDoc.net (an old friend). They both offer links into Microsoft’s own copies of the old ISOs.

That’s the way to go.

Win10 version 1803 shoots PowerShell dropdown list

I’m still amazed at how many bugs are floating around.

If you’re in the Windows Insider program, I recommend that you look at Thomas G’s feedback and vote it up:

When using commands, PowerShell no longer shows a list of suggestions of commands (dropdown list).

It just shows a . below the command as if it’s unable to open the list.