Newsletter Archives

• Server updates fail to download

  Posted on March 18, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The March updates for Windows opened the month on a bumpy road.

  The most significant bump relates to the update for Windows Server, demonstrating that it’s not just client PCs that have problems. Fortunately, the problem seems to have been fixed quickly.

  KB5035849 is the culprit.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.12.0, 2024-03-18).

  Patch Watch Backup, CVE-2024-21407, Hyper-V, iCloud, iPhone, KB5034441, KB5035845, KB5035849, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Windows Server

• When is a system beyond repair?

  Posted on March 11, 2024 at 02:41 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I’m giving up. I hate giving up.

  It annoys me, but I’m giving up on repairing operating systems. Why? Because we’ve reached the point where an operating system can become so damaged that not only can we not fully identify the cause, but also the system cannot be repaired with the tools provided for that purpose.

  There’s a reason I’m in this state of mind.

  The other day, someone in the forums asked me to start a section of Patch Watch to track those updates that did this kind of damage to the extent that the system became unbootable. But here’s the thing: no update is designed to make systems unbootable.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).

  Patch Watch Device Manager, DISM, KB5001716, KB5034441, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Registry cleaners, SFC, System File Checker, VMWare, vSphere

• Vendors force changes

  Posted on March 4, 2024 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Whether your operating system is Windows, Apple, Chromium, or even a variation of Linux, there comes a time when a vendor draws a line in the sand regarding support.

  How vendors handle this, and what you plan to do with that support mandate, depend on what sort of computer user you are.

  The loss of support can be obvious and overt, such as when a vendor bluntly tells you a device is no longer supported. Or it can be slow and silent, such as updates making a device slower over time. In both instances, you must decide what you plan to do. In addition, there are times when the vendor starts pushing you to upgrade to a new version, even when you may not be ready for it or do not wish to expend the effort and downtime to install the upgrade. Both Microsoft and Apple like to nudge you toward a newer version.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.10.0, 2024-03-04).

  Patch Watch CVE 2023-36871, Fluent UI, KB5014754, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Windows 11, Windows 11 22H2, Windows 11 23H2

• Microsoft’s groundhog — Copilot

  Posted on February 19, 2024 at 02:43 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Will you see it, or won’t you?

  In the United States and Canada, on a day in early February, a certain rodent is observed emerging from its burrow. Based upon an old Pennsylvania Dutch superstition, if the groundhog sees its shadow, it retreats into the ground for six more weeks, signaling that much more wintry weather.

  I feel a bit like this with Microsoft’s release of Copilot — I never know whether a machine is going to see it or not.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.08.0, 2024-02-19).

  Patch Watch Apple Vision Pro, Copilot, CVE-2024-21351, CVE-2024-21410, CVE-2024-21412, CVE-2024-21413, KB5034441, KB5034765, KB5035606, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, SmartScreen, Windows Copilot

• KB5034441 has led us astray, in a horrible way

  Posted on January 22, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.04 • 2024-01-22

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  What’s with this Windows recovery partition thing?

  If you’ve been following along, you know we’ve been discussing the update associated with a BitLocker vulnerability (described in KB5034441) that may require a resizing of the Windows recovery partition to resolve.

  Microsoft’s handling of this problem has been so terrible that I was driven to raise the MS-DEFCON level to 1, just the fifth time I’ve considered it necessary.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.04.0, 2024-01-22).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Patch Watch CVE-2024-20666, Disk Management, KB5034441, KB5034957, MiniTool Partition Wizard, MS-DEFCON 1, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, REAgentC, Recovery Partition, Windows Recovery Environment, WinRE

• BitLocker-related update triggers install problems

  Posted on January 15, 2024 at 02:41 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  January starts off the year with a bang, in the form of an install problem that may affect some of your Windows 10 PCs.

  Fortunately, this problematic update is a separate security patch, not part of the normal cumulative Windows update nor of the .NET security updates.

  The problem occurs as the result of a recovery partition whose size is smaller than the patch requires. The size may have been set by the OEM. It may have been fine at the time of release, but the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) now needs more.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.03.0, 2024-01-15).

  Patch Watch CVE-2024-21305, CVE-2024-21325, KB5002500, KB5033920, KB5034123, KB5034441, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Surface, Windows Recovery Environment, WinRE

• A new patching year

  Posted on January 8, 2024 at 02:43 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Tomorrow, as usual, Microsoft will release the January patches.

  Today, as usual, I’m recommending that you not install the patches right away. If you’ve been dealing with and following patching as long as I have, you’ll know that it takes about a week or so for problems to bubble up.

  Side effects are somewhat sporadic — some see them, some don’t. Those who see none sometimes move along to the next vulnerability. Lately, however, Microsoft has been taking a long-term look at vulnerabilities thus and taking several months to implement changes. 2024 looks to be no different, with many long-term issues needing resolution.

  This week’s edition of Patch Watch focuses specifically on business patching and what we may see in the coming months. For consumers, you probably will not have the same side effects or concerns as business patchers.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.02.0, 2024-01-08).

  Patch Watch CVE-2021-42291, CVE-2023-24932, Exchange Server, KB5008383, KB5025885, Newsletters, NTLM, Patch Lady Posts, Secure Boot

• The patching year in review — for consumers

  Posted on December 26, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We’re closing another patching year for consumers and home users (aka the “unmanaged crowd”).

  Will and I have an ongoing, two-year struggle with a phrase I commonly use, “consumer and home users.” Will thinks it cumbersome and that there is no meaningful difference.

  I define consumers as anyone running Windows Home or Professional editions but not configured in a domain or not using patching tools favored by businesses. Consumers don’t have an IT department (assuming you don’t call the teenager next door an IT department) and don’t use a managed service provider. Consumers usually have a peer-to-peer network (because who doesn’t have multiple devices connected to their Internet service these days?) and may use it to connect to shared devices such as printers. Consumers tend to blur the lines of technology and will use Apple iPads or Android phones right alongside Windows machines.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.52.0, 2023-12-26).

  Patch Watch Apple, Consumers, Drivers, Home PCs, KB5025885, Microsoft, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Repair Install, Secure Boot, Very Small Businesses

• Closing the year on patching

  Posted on December 18, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We need a little Copilot, now.

  I have a favorite Christmas song called “We Need a Little Christmas” (now). That comes to my mind because for those of you who want to partake in the artificial intelligence experiment know as Windows Copilot, you may end up humming the slightly modified song “I Need a Little Copilot” (now).

  The December updates start to bring Copilot into Windows 10. I say “start” because, like many things in Microsoftland, features and changes are no longer released en masse to everyone in the form of a service pack. Instead, the changes are dribbled out or limited to certain geographical areas.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.51.0, 2023-12-18).

  Patch Watch Apple, BitLocker, CVE-2023-20275, CVE-2023-35628, CVE-2023-35636, KB5008383, KB5025885, Newsletters, NTLM, Patch Lady Posts, VPN, Windows Copilot, Zero Day

• How to do a Windows 11 repair install

  Posted on December 4, 2023 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.49 • 2023-12-04

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Most of us install updates every month with no issues whatsoever. But then there are times when updates don’t install.

  Sometimes updates fail for obvious reasons. I’ve seen cases where one update will inadvertently trigger a reboot while a second update is in the works. This is an easy fix — just ignore the reboot message and wait for the machine to kick a reboot later on in the day or evening.

  Other errors may point to corruption in the operating system.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.49.0, 2023-12-04).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Patch Watch Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Repair Install, Windows 11, Windows 11 22H2, Windows 11 23H2

• A serving of zero days

  Posted on November 20, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  In a lighter-than-usual November release, Microsoft is patching 63 vulnerabilities, including three already under targeted and limited attacks and three deemed critical.

  Even though you and I will see the same number of patch installs, the number of underlying vulnerabilities for the month is down compared to past years. But that doesn’t mean you should change how you install updates — wait to see what side effects may occur, my usual recommended practice.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.47.0, 2023-11-20).

  Patch Watch CVE-2023-23583, CVE-2023-36025, CVE-2023-36033, CVE-2023-36036, CVE-2023-38545, Exchange, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Remote Desktop Connection, VMWare, Windows 10 22H2, Windows 11 23H2

• Keeping your devices up to date

  Posted on November 13, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Are you monitoring your devices?

  Just the other day, I tried to update an app on my dad’s iPad. That didn’t work, instead messaging that the device itself needed to be upgraded first. Apparently, the iPad had not been left on continuously long enough for it to get the word from Apple that an update was needed.

  A simple solution is to connect to power and leave it on for an extended period, such as 24 hours. That should be enough time for the device to be notified about updates. It’s not different from Windows PCs in this respect — keep them offline long enough, and they will miss the notification, too.

  Of course, you can be proactive and check the device every so often to see whether the O/S is current. That’s my recommendation.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.46.0, 2023-11-13).

  Patch Watch Android, Apple, Backup, iCloud, Jamf, MaaS360, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, updates
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