Newsletter Archives

• Windows 11 is officially vulnerable

  Posted on October 18th, 2021 at 02:41 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Call me silly, but I never consider a Windows release as “official” until the first security updates come down on Patch Tuesday.

  Windows 11 has 39 vulnerabilities; two of the fixes are deemed critical and 37 are important. KB5006674 also includes several fixes that, according to reports, impact performance on specific computers.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.40.0 (2021-10-18).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Windows 11, Windows Updates

• Untrustworthy OEM updaters cause trouble

  Posted on July 26th, 2021 at 02:43 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  Keeping a PC up to date gets harder as the system ages, especially when OEM and vendor update tools start missing things entirely — or actively making bad suggestions!

  Here are several ways to help ensure that your PC’s BIOS, hardware drivers, operating system, and software are getting all the updates they need — and not getting any updates they don’t!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.28.0 (2021-07-26).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, Vendor Updates, Windows Updates

• Yet more Office 2010 updates?!

  Posted on December 13th, 2020 at 21:05 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Well … we thought we’d seen the last of Office 2010.

  Last month (November), I was surprised to see updates for the then newly obsolete suite. (It reached its official end of support this past October 13.) But here we are again: Microsoft has released another round of updates for Version 2010.

  Years ago, Office 2007 received a similar reprieve of additional updates for several months after its end of life. So we might see additional updates for Version 2010 in coming months.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.49.0 (2020-12-14).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office Patches/Security, Patch Watch .NET Core, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Domain servers, Office 2010, Office updates, Windows Updates

• It’s the end of the line for Office 2010

  Posted on October 18th, 2020 at 21:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft is closing the book on two business workhorses: Office 2010 and Exchange 2010.

  From a productivity-app perspective, 2010 was an excellent vintage for all Windows users from individuals to small businesses to the Enterprise. Whether it was managing email, building massive spreadsheets, or creating complex documents, Office and Exchange gave us an excellent foundation. But as of October 13, Microsoft dropped all support for both platforms.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.41.0 (2020-10-19).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office updates, Win7 vulnerabilities, Windows Updates

• I’m almost ready for Windows 10 2004 … almost!

  Posted on September 27th, 2020 at 21:10 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  The fall release of Windows 10 — 20H2 — is rolling into the station. But we’re still waiting to board Version 2004.

  If you’re a prudent patcher like me, you see a new release of Windows as the call to prepare for the most current release — i.e. Version 2004. As we’ve said more than once, even if you’re not ready to catch 2004, download a copy and save it for later. Next, take stock of your system and acquaint yourself with any Win10 2004 issues.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.38.0 (2020-09-28).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Domain-controller threats, Feature updates, Win10 2004, Win10 20H2, Win10 Preview updates, Windows Updates

• August patching: One less thing to worry about

  Posted on August 30th, 2020 at 21:10 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  We may have numerous events keeping us awake at night — COVID-19, fires, hurricanes, elections, and more — but August patching isn’t one of them.

  The Windows and Office updates I installed on my business and personal systems were well mannered: no printing issues, no blue screens of death, no major hiccups! It’s nice to have a break from month after month of patching issues.

  Microsoft decided that enterprises need a break, too. It’s once again pushing off Windows 10 1803’s end of life (more info). The final security updates for business editions of Version 1803 will now be released on May 11, 2021 — not November 10, 2020.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.34.0 (2020-08-31).

  Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office updates, Out-of-band patch, Preview patches, Win10 2004 upgrades, Windows Updates

• A new threat to the Windows print spooler

  Posted on August 16th, 2020 at 20:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  The 2020 virtual Black Hat USA 2020 and DEF CON 28 security conferences are now history.

  These were two for the books: totally virtual conferences. Instead of masses of hackers, hacker wannabees, security researchers, and government employees gathering in hot Las Vegas, everyone was online and watching from home.

  One of the highlights of these shows is the development and unveiling of new exploits — by security researchers, not malicious hackers. Typically companies such as Microsoft scramble to patch the vulnerabilities revealed at these two conferences.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.32.0 (2020-08-17).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Def Con, Office updates, Print Spooler vulnerabilities, Virtual Black Hat, Windows Updates

• July’s Outlook Click-to-Run update lays an egg

  Posted on July 20th, 2020 at 01:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Yes, it’s a bit macabre, but I affectionately call the day after Patch Tuesday “dead-body Wednesday.”

  I coined that term because Wednesday morning is when we get to see whether our systems survived the updates installed the night before. (These are, of course, my test platforms; I would never subject my production machines to immediate/automatic updating.)

  There’s always some anticipation as to which Windows or Office component will be wounded by an update. This time around, it was Outlook’s turn to be placed on the life-support list.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.28.0 (2020-07-20).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Chromium Edge, Microcode, Office Click-to-Run, Office updates, Outlook failure, Windows Updates

• June updates crash printing

  Posted on June 29th, 2020 at 01:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  In a normal monthly Windows and Office patching cycle, I almost never roll out any optional updates that Microsoft releases between Patch Tuesdays.

  It’s hard to say what’s “normal” with Windows updating, but June is atypical even by the usual patching tribulations.

  Soon after the Patch Tuesday security updates dropped (on June 9), there were reports of printing failures. The problem hit close to home; after patching my systems, I could no longer print to any of my large multifunction Ricoh printers — a huge problem for my business. As a quick workaround, I updated the printer drivers from PCL5 to PCL6.

  Subsequently, Microsoft posted optional fixes on the MS Update Catalog for Windows 10, Win8.1, and Server 2012.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.25.0 (2020-06-29).

  Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office updates, Patch failures, Patch Tuesday, Windows Updates

• Windows 10 2004 is slowly rolling off the assembly line

  Posted on June 15th, 2020 at 01:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  The Win10 May Update is coming to a PC near you — sooner or later. Best to make it later.

  The other news for June is vulnerabilities — lots of them. On June 9, Microsoft started sending out updates with an astounding 129 security fixes ranging from remote-code-execution threats to privilege escalations.

  And yet the number of actual patches is virtually unchanged from previous months.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.23.0 (2020-06-15).

  Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Win10 2004, Win7 vulnerabilities, Windows Updates

• Windows 10 2004 has left the barn

  Posted on June 1st, 2020 at 01:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft’s latest “feature” update is being offered up. Here’s my immediate recommendation: Don’t install it!

  No newly released version of Windows has ever been problem-free, and Win10 2004 (aka May release) is no exception. For example, there are already reports of driver issues. As always, we need to give Microsoft time to iron out the wrinkles.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.21.0 (2020-06-01).

  Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Win10 2004, Win7 vulnerabilities, Windows Updates

• Is it safe yet?

  Posted on May 4th, 2020 at 01:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Every month, Windows users have to ask the same question: “Is it safe to patch yet?”

  As is all too common, the issues and concerns I had at the beginning of this month are not the ones I have a few weeks later. Case in point: I thought for sure we’d have more screams of frustration when the recent Office updates started blocking Web information requested by Visual Basic apps.

  But no: I’m mostly tracking possible issues with the Windows 10 1909 update. It’s sort of similar to how we’re feeling these days about staying in or going out; I don’t think you’ll see any issues, but I also can’t guarantee you won’t. It’s confusing, I know.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.17.0 (2020-05-04).

  Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Visual Basic, Win7 ESU, Windows Updates
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