Ignore Susan Bradley’s Patch Watch at your peril

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PUBLIC DEFENDER By Brian Livingston They say a cobbler’s children have no shoes. I proved this aphorism — the hard way — when I absent-mindedly clicke
[See the full post at: Ignore Susan Bradley’s Patch Watch at your peril]

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fisher75, DLivesInTexas, rc primak, a, lmacri, abbodi86, windbg

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B. Livingston wrote:

Use Steve Gibson’s InControl software to schedule Windows updates.…
InControl is his free answer to the many updates Redmond releases. The app allows you to pause all nonsecurity patches until you’ve verified that they’re safe to install.

InControl doesn’t schedule anything or pause all non-security patches:

Susan Bradley wrote:

Incontrol only sets feature release, it does not control the monthly updates.

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rc primak

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Thanks.  I have a long ongoing problem with updates (Windows 10). I have this message

“Your device is missing important security and quality fixes.”

“There were some problems installing updates, but we’ll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help: (0x80070643)

I  repeatedly tried this operation with the same result.  I have downloaded and used Windows repair tool.  Still no luck!  I am 88 yo and go back to the days of MS DOS.  No luck with this one.  I would appreciate any suggestions.  Patrick Kirkwood.

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Perhaps I’ve read this article too fast but I’ve gone over it two more times and I can’t help but feeling that Mr Livingston has overlooked the obvious in his initial complaint that MS Update’s patch KB5032190 made the “Quick Access” area in Windows Explorer disappear.

The update has not made Quick Access disappear, it has simply renamed it to “Home.”  You can even see this in the Figure 2 attachment in his article.  What Microsoft has forgotten to do is rename the context menu commands “Pin to Quick Access” and “Remove from Quick Access.”  They should now read “Pin to Home” and “Remove from Home.”  Indeed, if one right-clicks on any folder and chooses the command “Pin to Quick Access” even now, the folder is, as one would expect, immediately added to the Home (formerly Quick Access) area.

Aside from this unfortunate cosmetic oversight (which will probably be fixed by Microsoft within another update or two), of the issues Mr Livingston brings up, this one is really a non-issue to those who have noticed the new nomenclature.

Regards.

--
PBear.SF

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b

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In fairness, this change has been very poorly documented by Microsoft
(or anyone else that I can find) since first released to Dev/Beta Insiders more than 18 months ago:

[File Explorer]

The default homepage of File Explorer is now called Home. The name Quick access has been repurposed for the pinned/frequent folders section and Pinned files is now called Favorites to align with Office and OneDrive.

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22593 — April 6, 2022

I can’t even figure out for sure which update thrust it upon the masses, but it appears to have been part of “Moment 1” for Windows 11 version 22H2 in October 2022.

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rc primak

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The update has not made Quick Access disappear, it has simply renamed it to “Home.”

I hardly noticed that shift until today. It occurred even for those of us who stuck with 22H2. But it can be populated and otherwise remains functional for users who are on 22H2. I am not a fan of Quick Access, and have to constantly manually clean it up to prevent its list from automatically adding locations which are on my backup drives only. Among other unwanted additions.

-- rc primak

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I don’t think anything gets added to the “repurposed” Quick Access unless you have manually pinned it there (beyond the six default folders; Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos).

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By default, frequently accessed locations do get added to the Windows 11 Quick Access List. I find myself constantly having to remove from Quick Access items which Windows has automatically added during my backup operations. These items are not exactly pinned to Quick Access, but they are listed until they are removed. There is a way to modify or disable the Windows behavior of adding them in the first place:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-stop-folders-from-automatically-adding-into/7738f993-2e8c-46a3-a9a0-bbb6dcfaee47

But you have to take this action to opt out. The default Windows 11 File Explorer behavior is to automatically add these items.

-- rc primak

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b

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I am aware that the update renamed “Quick Access” to “Home.” But when I was having these problems with the update, there was no down-arrow to expand Home, thereby making the Quick Access links unavailable (as shown in the figure). Clicking “Add to Quick Access” also did nothing to make the area visible and usable.

Not everyone experiences these issues. As I wrote, my Win11 machine is a sample of one. The real point of my column was that people should check Susan’s Patch Watch List (and the other resources that I listed) before approving updates.

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rc primak

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B. Livingston wrote:

I am aware that the update renamed “Quick Access” to “Home.” But when I was having these problems with the update, there was no down-arrow to expand Home, thereby making the Quick Access links unavailable (as shown in the figure). Clicking “Add to Quick Access” also did nothing to make the area visible and usable.

Quick Access hasn’t been renamed. It now appears only at the top of the content pane of Home, not in the navigation pane. And it’s now only for pinned folders, not pinned files.

For pinned folders to appear below Home in the navigation pane, select Show all folders at …, Options, Folder Options, View tab, Advanced Settings, Navigation Pane.

Files can now be added only to the Favorites section in the content pane of Home, not to Quick Access (and not to the navigation pane).

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rc primak

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I like these changes. But making adding items to Home or Quick Access opt-in by default would also be nice.

-- rc primak

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I may have found another problem caused by this update to Windows 11. I installed the update around the middle of November, and soon realized I had a couple of problems that occurred if I left my PC running and walked away for a while. When I would return I found that the icons on the task bar were no longer responsive. Clicking on them did nothing. Also, I found I could click on a desktop icon and the associated program would open, but the menu bar for the program was also dead and unresponsive. Through trial and error I discovered I could clear these problems by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL, selecting Task Manager, then closing it. I am running Stardock’s Start11, so perhaps there was an issue between these programs, but I really do not know if that is the case or not. At any rate I took your advice and uninstalled the Microsoft update, and now the problem appears to be gone.

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I for one am no fan of Quick Access, Home, Libraries, etc.  I have had a multi-partitioning data storage scheme in use for more than two decades, and Microsoft’s “Features” muddle it up.  I disable/uninstall/delete registry entries for all of them, and get along quite nicely without the fluff.

As for updates/upgrades, I always have drive images at the ready for any issues, and have had only two (which were actually the same issue, I’m reasonably sure) eight years apart.  I have four Windows 11 installations on three sets of hardware (including unsupported hardware) and all are fully updated/upgraded with everything Microsoft has to offer through Windows Update.  Whenever the “Features” get re-installed, I re-uninstall them.

Of course Susan’s Patch Watch is very useful, vital even, for those who need/want/use it, particularly business entities.  But I don’t need it.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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rc primak

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Just unbelievable. Another nail in the coffin for Windows. Microsoft has been treating customers like beta testers for a long time, but releasing patches that break the system is beyond the limits of acceptable behavior. I refuse to use an OS that forces so much unnecessary work on its customers.

This article has solidified my resolve to switch to Linux for web browsing and day-to-day tasks. I’ll use a separate, air-gapped Win10 computer (without updates) for the handful of Windows-based programs that have no good Linux alternative.

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Many millions have installed that update without any issues.

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rc primak

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Another nail in the coffin for Windows. Microsoft has been treating customers like beta testers for a long time, but releasing patches that break the system is beyond the limits of acceptable behavior. I refuse to use an OS that forces so much unnecessary work on its customers.

No, this has nothing to do with the usability in general of Windows 11. It remains a solid, useful operating system. I say this as one who uses Ubuntu-Unity as my daily driver OS. I mostly go into Windows for Zoom meetings. (You can only usefully share with Windows users a Windows desktop. They won’t understand what you are showing them if you are using even a Mac, let alone a Linux, desktop.) But this use alone forces me to come to terms with any changes in Windows 11.  Thanks everyone here for keeping us up to date on what’s happening.

While we’re sidetracking into Linux territory, let me assure everyone that Linux can have spectacular breakage from its own updates. Then you have to really scour the discussion threads at the forums to gain insights into what may be happening, and how to fix the damages. In terms of Linux kernel upgrades breaking stuff, this is called a regression. And regressions are common in patching, updating and upgrading any OS.

One key difference is, in Linux, you typically retain the ability to boot into any of the last three kernel versions. Windows and Apple’s OSes don’t offer this option. Neither do phones or other devices like Cable Boxes. Windows users can, for a limited time, roll back a Feature Upgrade or a Full Version Upgrade. But ten days is a very short time-frame.

-- rc primak

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Will Fastie, windbg

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