MS-DEFCON 2: Final patch ever! @ AskWoody

MS-DEFCON 2: Final patch ever!

Posted on December 9, 2021 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

ISSUE 18.47.1 • 2021-12-09

MS-DEFCON 2

By Susan Bradley

We’ve come to the last patch we ever have to worry about.

Well — for 2021, anyway. Of course, in January we start the whole patching process all over again. But wait! For those of you with Windows 10 2004, this is really the final update.

During the month of December, Microsoft takes a break, with only one update planned due to the holiday season. As Microsoft noted in its Windows message center, there will be no preview updates released during the third or fourth week of the month. This also means that, should there be any side effects from this month’s updates, there won’t be optional preview updates to fix any issues. I’ll be paying close attention to side effects of this month’s updates as a result.

Consumer and home users

Windows 10 Installer Download Click on Start, Settings, System, and then About on your Windows 10 computer to check your version. If you are still on 2004, this is the very last month that you will receive an update. In that case, I recommend that you visit the Windows 10 download page and click on Update now under “Windows 10 November 2021 Update.” This will download the installer for upgrading — Windows10Upgrade9252.exe, as shown to the left above. Follow the prompts to install Windows 10 21H2. I’m comfortable with that version at this time and recommend it.

Once you get yourself onto Windows 10 21H2, ensure that you are set to defer updates. I recommend you defer until after Christmas. Click Start, Settings, Update and security, Advanced options; choose to defer updates until December 28.

Printing side effects seem to be on the wane. If you haven’t already installed the November updates, do that now.

Business users

For business patchers, if you are still having issues with printing, ensure that you either install the out-of-band updates released at the end of November or test the December releases as soon as they come out — to see whether they fix your issues. For Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2, Microsoft has indicated that Windows print clients might encounter the following errors when connecting to a remote printer shared on a Windows print server.

I’m seeing this reported most on peer-to-peer shared printers in a business setting. The optional updates released in late November specifically address these issues. For Windows 10 2004, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2, this update is KB5007253. This fix will also be included in the December updates, so you may wish to wait until that patch is released to see whether this fixes the printing issues you are dealing with.

References

AskWoody Master Patch List

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Alert 18.47.1 (2021-12-09).

AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts

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