• The trials and tribulations of Windows 7

    PATCH WATCH

    By Susan Bradley

    We’re starting the Windows 7 extended-support era … with more than our fair share of confusion.

    Before I shed some light on making Extended Security Updates (ESUs) work, here’s a bit of good news for all Win7 users.

    You might recall that the final free Win7 updates (January’s) included a bug that broke the “Stretch” wallpaper setting. Some systems ended up with black backgrounds. The easy fix was to use another “Choose a fit” option. But if “Stretch” is important to you — or you’d just like your Win7 copy to be as bug-free as possible — Microsoft released KB 4539601 to fix the flaw. Currently, however, you must manually download and install the patch.

    The February launch of extended-support updates got off to a shaky start.

    Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.7.0 (2020-02-17).