Getting caught up with Win7 patches

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We’re at MS-DEFCON 3, and it’s a very good time to get caught up. Either that, or wait for everybody to start bugging you around the holidays. I just
[See the full post at: Getting caught up with Win7 patches]

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Windows MSRT 64 bit for W7 November, 2017, KB 890830 is still unchecked this month. I have not installed it because it is still unchecked.  Am I right?

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Windows MSRT 64 bit for W7 November, 2017, KB 890830 is still unchecked this month. I have not installed it because it is still unchecked. Am I right? – anonymous

I am also running Windows 7 64-bit. MSRT was not checked for me either. First I installed the November Roll-up on its own. Then, after rebooting, I installed MSRT to stop the nagging. I had no issues.

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I have a problem similar to the posting by Anonymous of December 7,  2017.   I have 32-Bit Windows 7,  and MSRT has been unchecked for almost a month-and-a-half (since October 28, 2017).  I corresponded with Woody by e-mail back on December 1, 2017,  and he said he has no idea why it’s unchecked,  but don’t check it.  More than a week passed and it was still unchecked,   so I corresponded with Woody again on December 9, 2017,  and he recommended I post it to this website to see if anyone else is experiencing this specific situation.   So,  is anyone else out there with Windows 7 experiencing this problem of  MSRT (Malicious Software Removal Tool)  being unchecked for a long period like this?    You can look in your update history to see the last time MSRT successfully updated.   In my case,  it was October 28, 2017,  and it hasn’t updated since then because I haven’t been checking any boxes that are unchecked.

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Yes L95 I too have the same situation with the MSRT. It was “unchecked” when it was released on November 14th and it remains “unchecked” in the Important section of the WU service.

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@anonymous 150647

PKCano wrote:

NOVEMBER patches that are CHECKED in the “important updates” list are safe to install. DO NOT install anything that is UNCHECKED. DO NOT install anything that has a DECEMBER release date yet – Dec. patches have not been vetted yet

The quoted post by PKCano is the policy on the matter of unchecked updates.

So long as a person has a locally installed AV, all should be well.

Win 8.1 (home & pro) Group B, W10/11 Avoider, Linux Dabbler

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woody

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After I installed the November updates, I now see KB4011617 (Excel update).  Is it safe to install?  Win 7 –64 with office 2010.

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If it has a NOVEMBER (or before) release date and it is CHECKED in the important updates – YES

If it has a DECEMBER release date, it has not been vetted yet – NO

If it is UNCHECKED – NO

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I fully understand that the advice here is oriented toward the masses, not to computer engineers, but this might deserve a little elaboration:

There’s no reason to disable Windows Update.

That kind of depends on 1) whether you want to retain ultimate control over your system and 2) whether you know what you’re doing and can recover from unexpected things.

I personally keep the Windows Update service disabled (along with my firewall configured to block attempts at updating the system should the service become started spontaneously). I don’t regularly enable/disable any “diagnostics” as mentioned. I’m not even sure what “diagnostics” are being referred-to; perhaps they’re in one of the updates I’ve hidden in the past. I also have a number of services and scheduled tasks that I don’t need disabled permanently.

Regarding the mechanics of actually getting through a Windows Update…

About once a month, some time after updates have become generally available and when I’m well and ready for their application, I reconfigure my firewall, enable and start wuausrv, and ask the Windows Update applet to start the process by pressing the [Check for Updates] button. I vet each of the entries listed so that I fully understand what’s about to be done, hide any that I’ve identified that I don’t / never want (this list is very small), and finally instruct the applet to apply them. Just before the reboot I configure the firewall back to its less permissive state and the Windows Update service back to Disabled.

I do all the above first on a set of virtual machines I maintain for testing, and finally on my hardware systems after I have done sufficient testing and online research to ensure there is no loss of functionality that I rely upon.

I’ve found this approach fully sustainable for both Win 7 and 8.1. All my systems are running efficiently and without faults. I can’t remember the last time I had to work around or recover from a problem unexpectedly introduced by an update, and my systems are posting Reliability scores that are the best they’ve ever achieved.

FYI, I HAVE on at least one occasion seen the Windows Update service get started spontaneously even with it’s Startup set to Disabled. This is why I’ve configured my firewall as I have. It’s MY computer system, not Microsoft’s to do with as they please, when they please. As an entrepreneur I can’t afford any downtime. Microsoft has already proven that they care less about my productivity than I do.

By the way, regarding disabling the Windows Update service between updates, Win 10 is another story entirely. I’ve found that if you don’t do things just their way, Microsoft has made the Windows Update process so that it just stops working without ANY indication of what’s gone wrong. And worse, the rules keep changing, so it’s difficult to develop and maintain a consistent strategy of control. My conclusion: A system I continually have to second-guess and tweak to keep working the way I want is simply not for my business hardware.

-Noel

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SueW, HiFlyer, satrow

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Today installed the Nov 2017 Security Only Update KB4048960 for Win7 Pro x64 – which wiped out direct access to Windows Media Player. I was presented with a WMP Welcome screen when I tried to open WMP. Went thru the process provided through the Welcome screen. Discovered that I now have WMP version 12.0.7601.23930, which apparently fixes the Content Protect problem previously created for Security Only updaters.

So….., I can rip and burn CDs again and play them on CD players other than this computer, which has not been possible since the Content Protect fiasco. (This problem was apparently fixed for those who install Monthly Rollups with the Sept 2016 KB3185278 rollup which included WMP version 12.0.7601.23517.)

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MrBrian

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