Blog Archives

• MS-DEFCON 3: Get the February patches installed

  Posted on February 28th, 2020 at 13:49 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  The “disappearing desktop” temporary profile bug is still in the February cumulative update for Win10 version 1903 and 1909. Looks like the bug’s in the “optional, non-security, C/D Week” update, too. Nonetheless, we’ve seen a lot of reports of problems, and they all appear to be solvable.

  So it’s with some trepidation that I’m moving us to MS-DEFCON 3. You should get the Feb patches installed. (NOT the “optional, non-security, C/D Week patch, of course.)

  As an added surprise… I’m moving my production machines to Win10 version 1909. It looks like the File Explorer Search bug was fixed in the regular Cumulative Update — and I don’t see any persistent bugs in 1909 that aren’t also in 1903.

  Details in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security February 2020 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 3

• MS-DEFCON 3: No rush, but you should get the January Patch Tuesday patches installed

  Posted on January 24th, 2020 at 14:55 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Usually I wait until near the end of the month before giving the all-clear to install Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday patches.

  This month’s different.

  On the one hand, this month’s patches look pretty darn clean. Part of the reason for our good fortune, I’m convinced, is that we haven’t had any non-security patches since October.

  On the other hand, there’s the looming threat of CurveBall — the CVE-2020-0601 security hole advertised by the NSA. I don’t think CurveBall will hit the mainstream any time soon, but ya never know.

  Putting those together, and I figure now’s a good time for normal folks to get their machines patched.

  I’m only moving to MS-DEFCON 3 this month because it’s still very early in the crowdsourced bug catching phase. If you hit a problem with a patch, let us know loud and clear! But get patched.

  Full step-by-step details in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  UPDATE: If you’re having installation problems with the Win10 1903 and 1909 cumulative updates, it may be caused by a missing Connect app. See Günter Born’s post.

  Windows Patches/Security January 2020 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 3

• MS-DEFCON 3: Get your September patches installed — but stick to the mainstream patches

  Posted on October 2nd, 2019 at 11:28 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Lots of people will tell you that you need to install strange (very strange!) patches to protect yourself from the “Exploited: Yes” zero day patch for CVE-2019-1367. I say meh. Stick to this month’s normally distributed patches and you’ll be OK.

  Details and step-by-step instructions in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security MS-DEFCON 3, September 2019 Black Tuesday

• MS-DEFCON 3: Time to get the August 2019 patches installed

  Posted on September 6th, 2019 at 07:34 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Lingering bugs await the unwary. Make sure you understand them before you take the August patching leap.

  Details in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  For those of you new to the MS-DEFCON system… every month I send out warnings to block updates, and then an all-clear (possibly with assorted caveats) when things appear safe. We just hit the “sorta safe” mark, and we’ll descend back to the “block updates” part on Monday. Details on how to handle both transitions appear in Computerworld.

  Windows Patches/Security August 2019 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 3

• MS-DEFCON 3: Get Windows XP, Win7 and associated Servers patched

  Posted on May 15th, 2019 at 07:59 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  If you’re running Win8, 8.1, 10 or related Server versions, stay on MS-DEFCON 2. Don’t install this month’s patches just yet.

  But if you have:

  • Windows XP (including Embedded)
  • Windows Server 2003, Server 2003 Datacenter Edition
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2

  you need to get patched right away. The sky isn’t falling — there’s no worm making the rounds just yet — but at this point it looks like the benefits of patching outweigh the risks.

  If you’re running Vista, hang tight. Looks like Microsoft forgot to document that one.

  For XP and 7 users, I’m moving to MS-DEFCON 3: Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems.

  Details in Computerworld Woody on Windows. And I’ll have an AskWoody Alert out soon.

  Windows Patches/Security May 2019 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 3

• MS-DEFCON 3: September patches are as baked as they’re gonna get

  Posted on October 1st, 2018 at 10:36 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  We had quite a ride with the last-minute patches to Win10 1803 and 1709. I think I’ve found out why MS released that huge bunch of kitchen sink fixes late in the month.

  Full details in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  We’re now at MS-DEFCON 3: Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems.

  Windows Patches/Security MS-DEFCON 3, September 2018 Black Tuesday

• MS-DEFCON 3: The June Windows and Office patches look safe, but Win7 users need to be wary

  Posted on July 2nd, 2018 at 08:37 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  The Win7 patches still have the oem<number>.inf bug that can bring down your Network Interface Card. Win7 users should also double-check that they’re no longer using Windows Defender.

  I still can’t recommend 1803, but I’ll be moving my production machines from 1703 to 1709 over the holiday.

  Full details in Computerworld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security June 2018 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 3

• MS-DEFCON 3: Time to patch, but be aware of Network-busting bugs in Win7

  Posted on June 2nd, 2018 at 17:37 woody Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Full description now up on Computerworld. Weekend updates from the Computerworld team, thanks folks!

  Realize that installing the Win7 patches may knock out your network card. Susan Bradley has advice if you can’t connect after installing this month’s patches.

  Of course 1803 is a basket case and your best course of action is to roll back to your previous version of Windows, if you still can.

  (For those of you who actually believed the ridiculous assertion that 1803 now powers 50% of all Win10 machines, you need to learn more about statistics, AdDuplex style. Ed Bott has an excellent takedown on ZDNet.)

  I’m moving us to MS-DEFCON 3:  Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems.

  Full step-by-step instructions in the Computerworld article.

  Windows Patches/Security May 2018 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 3
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